A devolution deal for Devon and Torbay that will reduce democratic accountability has been approved by the government despite a county council consultation finding majority opposition to the plans and all eight Devon district councils decrying them.
The Devon and Torbay devolution deal will take away control of housing and prosperity funding from Devon’s district councils, which include Exeter City Council, and move transport policy powers out of reach by creating a new, unelected layer of local government.
The deal comes with just £16 million of new funding – less than one thousandth of the area’s current economic output – which amounts to £16.77 for each of the 953,800 people who will live under the newly-created Devon & Torbay Combined County Authority.
The government will retain control over both the funding and the new authority’s delivery plans.
A majority of respondents to a county council consultation on the draft deal disagreed, strongly disagreed or opposed it. The consultation also recorded widespread criticism of the proposed new combined authority governance and delivery arrangements in particular.
Critics of the deal also pointed out that it is introducing greater centralisation, not devolution, and could be the first step towards a single Devon-wide authority.
The county council ignored the consultation outcome, ratified the deal in April then submitted it to central government. The new government signed off on the plans last week.
Announcing its adoption, Exeter City Council simply repeated much of what Devon County Council said about the deal.
The city council added that the deal does not involve any local government reorganisation and does not need an elected mayor, a claim repeated by council leader Phil Bialyk.
However Devon County Council leader James McInnes described the deal as a “starting point” and said the county council’s “ambition is to deepen the deal”.
He added: “The door, of course, is still very much open for Plymouth City Council to be in the partnership, and we will continue to work closely with them as we move forward.”
Plymouth City Council walked away from devolution discussions last November when it became clear it would lose control of local transport provision as part of the new arrangements.
Devon & Torbay Combined County Authority governance structure. Only the “constituent” members vote and make decisions. Source: Devon County Council.
The government echoed the county council, saying it would encourage Devon’s leaders to “deepen” the deal and to “take strides towards mayoral devolution as a gold standard”.
It said it was also minded to progress four other, similar, “level two” deals, including a deal with Cornwall Council, but was “encouraging these areas to continue working to explore the next steps towards deeper and wider devolution”.
It added: “The government strongly believes that the benefits of devolution are best achieved through the establishment of combined institutions with a directly elected leader.”
Institute for Government devolution deals options maps. Image: Institute for Government.
The following day the Institute for Government published a nationwide analysis of options to ensure all of England has a devolved settlement by the end of the current parliament.
It said that the “big strategic choice facing ministers is between smaller, simpler, county-based deals and larger regional arrangements that offer greater potential for ambitious growth strategies”.
Adding that a “fully ‘bottom-up’ approach is unlikely to complete the map” it concluded that “ministers have to stand prepared to take the final decisions over boundaries”.
Pointing out that Plymouth’s population of 265,000 placed it just under the devolution deal threshold, it said it would instead “have to be incorporated into a deal with at least one of its neighbours”.
It added: “Plymouth has historically been a part of Devon, Plymouth’s travel to work area extends further into Devon than into Cornwall, and the deal is better aligned to public sector boundaries.”
Pointing out the small scale of the Cornwall devolution deal, which covers 578,000 people and an £18 billion economy, as well the county’s close economic ties with Plymouth, the Institute for Government also suggested that a new devolved authority combining Cornwall, Devon, Plymouth and Torbay would provide “better scale” with a £49.4 billion economy and a population of 1.8 million.
Citing reports of talks between the leaders of Cornwall and Plymouth’s councils, which said Plymouth City Council was keen to see a peninsula-wide deal, it nevertheless said this option would be “more challenging to implement” for various reasons, not least the “strength of Cornish identity”.
Plymouth City Council leader Tudor Evans looks best-placed to play regional deal-maker, if such a deal is to be struck.
Not so much because of the economic significance of the new Plymouth and South Devon Freeport, but because his seat on Labour’s National Executive Committee gives him direct access to the party’s leadership.
