Following a meeting of partners involved in the North Midlands Devolution Deal at Mansfield District Council’s offices today (March 4), the following joint statement was issued on their behalf by Councillor Anne Western, Leader of Derbyshire County Council, and Councillor Alan Rhodes, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council:
“We have worked well together over the past 12 months and we have come a long way in the ambition to get the North Midlands to be a player on the national stage.
“Clearly the situation may have changed but we remain convinced that this is an opportunity we can’t afford to miss for the sake of our residents and local business.
“Now is the time for strong leadership – we remain committed that we want to move forward.
“We have 13 authorities that are keen to progress with a deal that benefits residents and we need to talk to Government about what that could be.
“We leave this meeting with fresh resolve to move forward in a united way to build a stronger economy across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.”
Local authorities in the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership area of Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire have been working with D2N2, East Midlands Chamber and business leaders to create a single Combined Authority for the area, and a North Midlands Devolution Deal which would see some central Government powers and budgets devolved to the area.
The Combined Authority and a new ‘Metro Mayor’, elected by the people of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, would be granted powers and resources currently held in London and gain responsibility for delivering a raft of new measures to boost economic growth, create jobs, build new homes and improve the quality of life for people living in the area.
The North Midlands Devolution Deal partners will now enter into further discussions with Government on their deal.
For more information about the proposed North Midlands Devolution see website www.northmidlands.org.uk
