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Wessex Devolution Deal Promises Local Control over Transport, Housing and Skills
The government will back ten new devolution deals, and councils say the Wessex plan could bring £460 million a year in funding.
- On Wednesday, Chancellor John Healey confirmed the Wessex devolution deal, promising "radical devolution of powers and resources to local leaders," with mayoral elections scheduled for May 2028.
- The Wessex Partnership, uniting Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole councils, successfully lobbied to transfer powers and funding from Whitehall to the region.
- Somerset Council leader Bill Revans estimated the deal will bring £460m annually to the region, with leaders welcoming the move as a "significant vote of confidence" for growth.
- Councillor Diogo Rodrigues, leader of the opposition Conservative group, cautiously welcomed the funding but warned against adding "another layer of bureaucracy," citing Liberal Democrats' management of Somerset Council.
- Health Sciences University and Bournemouth & Poole College pledged to help shape the authority, as leaders emphasize the deal's potential to tackle the housing crisis and revitalize town centres.
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Fiscal devo roadmap aims for 100% business rates retention
Local and regional government is set to retain 100% of all business rate income in place of grants by the end of the decade, according to a Treasury paper today. Mayors are also set to retain 20% of local business rates as of next year,… The post Fiscal devo roadmap aims for 100% business rates retention appeared first on Local Government Chronicle (LGC).
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