Three councils are set to take on a range of new transport powers after voting to approve a £1bn West of England devolution deal, which would also bring in a directly elected ‘metro mayor’.
Bristol City Council, Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils have all voted to approve the deal, which could be worth more than £1,000 per head of population. North Somerset Council voted to pull out last month.
The three remaining authorities will now open a public consultation on the creation of a West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.
Bristol mayor Marvin Rees
New transport powers for the region would include bus franchising and responsibility for a key route network (KRN).
All relevant local roads maintenance funding would be devolved to support the KRN, as part of a mayoral consolidated, multi-year local transport budget and local highways and traffic powers could also be transferred to the mayor's office.
Bristol’s new mayor, Marvin Rees, said: ‘This deal has the potential to unlock a billion pounds of funding across crucial areas such as housing, transport and skills. It brings decision-making powers, on issues that were previously held in Westminster, closer to local communities here in Bristol.’
A new single policy and delivery body would be created for the region to determine, manage and deliver the metro mayor's transport plans and the delivery of an integrated public transport network for the city region.
Highway and traffic management powers would be transferred to the proposed combined authority to support the creation of a single asset management plan for the local network and a streamlined contractual and delivery arrangements.
The West of England Combined Authority would also aim to sign Memoranda of Understanding on joint working arrangements with Highways England and Network Rail.
The arrangement could see the combined authority bring forward business cases for the transfer of rail stations or infrastructure assets from the national operator.
The deal provides:
- Control of a new additional £30m a year funding allocation over 30 years, to be invested in the West of England Single Investment Fund
- Bus franchising powers, subject to the Bus Services Bill, which will support the combined authority’s delivery smart and integrated ticketing, local branding and provision of minimum standards across the network
- Responsibility for a KRN of local roads - defined and agreed by the constituent local authorities and managed and maintained at a city region level.
- The combined authority shadow board will bring forward proposals that would enable the mayor and combined authority to implement Clean Air Zones in the combined authority area. This will help achieve Air Quality Plan objectives at both the national and local level.
The public consultation on the combined authority will run between 4 July and 15 August. The communities secretary will then decide, with reference to the consultation outcome, on whether the West England devolution deal should go ahead.
In the autumn a final decision will be given at local cabinet level to put the deal in place.
An election for the West of England Mayor would take place in May 2017.
