Burnham ready to ‘crack on’ after historic £630m funding settlement with government

The Government has confirmed that Greater Manchester will receive an historic new £630 million funding settlement, as part of its “trailblazing” devolution deal.

The new integrated settlement replaces a system of separate funding pots from different Government departments, and gives Greater Manchester more freedom and flexibility to fund local services and invest in priorities decided at a city region level.

The funding will also be directed towards plans in Greater Manchester to “turbocharge growth” and create new homes and jobs.

Over the last week Greater Manchester has launched an ambitious economic growth strategy covering six new economic development zones in Greater Manchester to unlock investment and job opportunities, and a long term tourism plan to attract international and domestic visitors to the city region.

The certainty of funding is designed to help unlock private investment. Last night (30 January), speaking at an Investment Delivery Form organised by the Association of British Insurers, Cllr Bev Craig, also Greater Manchester Combined Authority portfolio lead for Economy, Business and Inclusive Growth, welcomed a potential £100bn investment over the next ten years into green and good projects across the UK.

“Greater Manchester has a reputation for its ability to work with business, and that comes from a place where we as political leaders recognise with a bit of humility that things that we are best placed to lead on, and the things we are best placed to convene, ask for advice and seek investment.”

Welcoming the new settlement, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “This is the biggest step yet on Greater Manchester’s devolution journey, and we are ready to crack on and deliver for our residents.

“With more freedom and flexibility we can be even smarter about funding local services. We can take a preventative approach, getting to the root causes of the issues facing our communities and delivering more practical everyday support.

“We’ve set out an ambitious long-term vision to deliver thousands of new homes and jobs at a pace and scale not seen in the past 20 years. This game-changing integrated settlement will be the key to unlocking that growth for generations to come.” 

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said the settlement was designed to give powers on what to spend the money on directly to Mayors, and a new reporting system that replaces “the complex and fragmented reporting processes that have existed to date”. 

She said the Combined Authorities of the West Midlands and Greater Manchester will have flexibility to move funding between policy areas, “helping to deliver better value for money and improved outcomes for citizens.”

In a statement to the House of Commons Rayner said the government is “already working rapidly” to bring these settlements forward for Mayors in the North East, Liverpool City Region, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authorities from the 26/27 financial year.