East Midlands Mayor ‘impatient’ to start making a difference
The Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward has told TheBusinessDesk.com that she is “impatient” for the newly-formed East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) to start making a difference across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
On the day that the King’s Speech outlined new powers for metro mayors and combined authorities, Ward said: “I’ve enjoyed every moment of my time as Mayor since I was elected, but I’m also impatient.
“We’re building a team at the EMCCA and we’ve got some fantastic people on board, but I’m looking forward to the time when we have enough resource to be able to get past the building phase and onto tackling the many things that need doing to make devolution a success in the region.”
Ward also told us that she is looking to build on cross-Midlands work already undertaken to build the Midlands into something akin to the Northern Powerhouse.
She added: “I’ve been genuinely excited about the reaction to what we’re trying to do in the East Midlands from people I’ve met since I was elected; we know we have the backing to take the region forward.”
Ward was speaking to us immediately before the King’s Speech was read. Among it were plans to introduce legislation to give new powers to elected mayors in the regions through an English Devolution Bill.
Laura Hughes, head of public law at Browne Jacobson, who played a key role in the setting up of the EMCCA, said: “The further rollout of devolution in England has been welcomed by local leaders who feel they are best equipped with the knowledge of their areas to make the best decisions.
“Providing greater powers on issues such as local bus services will help to ensure a co-ordinated approach to transport
“However, devolution has become very fragmented with just over half the population covered by a devolution deal and varying degrees of power handed down to different areas. At the same time, these powers have taken on a degree of standardisation rather than addressing unique and complex sets of circumstances in each local area where devolution is present.
“So while we’ve seen some great examples of devolution delivering transformative benefits to trailblazer areas like Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, it’s debatable whether we can replicate this efficiently and effectively in other places without a more bespoke devolution model.
“For devolution to truly work, we need to get back to recognising that areas will require specific powers to deal with specific issues, and we hope the English Devolution Bill reflect this, allowing tailored deals driven by what the areas want and need.”
We’ll have more from our interview with Claire Ward tomorrow
