Gloucestershire County Council leader Cllr Lisa Spivey has accused the Government of leaving the county behind after the latest devolution announcement failed to include Gloucestershire.
Deals were announced elsewhere in the South West, but Gloucestershire remains without an agreement or a published timetable for securing greater powers. Cllr Spivey is now seeking urgent answers from ministers and a clear route towards increased investment and local decision-making.
The dispute matters to local authorities, businesses and residents because the county is seeking a greater role in decisions about housing, employment, skills and economic development. Cllr Spivey said Gloucestershire needed certainty so it could plan for those priorities rather than remain in what she described as an uncertain position.
Gloucestershire’s preferred route
Political leaders in Gloucestershire have repeatedly told the Government that they want the county to join the West of England Combined Authority, known as WECA. They have written to ministers several times to set out that preference.
That request has not yet produced a devolution deal. While arrangements elsewhere are moving forward, the county has been left without either an agreement or a clear timetable for reaching one.
The Government has previously presented devolution as the potential benefit of going through the disruption of Local Government Reorganisation, or LGR. However, that reorganisation process was paused on September 7. The pause has placed more attention on whether separate devolution arrangements can be secured for Gloucestershire.
“I am angry and deeply frustrated that Gloucestershire has been left behind. Gloucestershire is ready.”
Cllr Spivey said Gloucestershire had a strong case for devolved powers because it already had established partnerships, a clear economic direction and substantial strengths across several sectors. Those sectors include secure technologies and digital industries, agri-tech, advanced engineering and manufacturing, and the energy transition.
Call for investment and clarity
According to the county council leader, greater powers would help Gloucestershire put its existing plans into practice. She linked devolution with building more homes, creating jobs, improving skills so they match employers’ needs and growing the local economy.
She also welcomed the Government’s commitment to devolving more growth funding. However, she said Gloucestershire’s businesses and residents should receive a fair share of that investment. She warned that the county must not be disadvantaged while new strategic authority arrangements are being developed.
The next step announced by Cllr Spivey is another letter to the minister, written jointly with other leaders. The letter will invite the minister to visit Gloucestershire and see the county’s economic potential directly.
“Along with other leaders, I will be writing to the minister again inviting him to come here to see for himself the enormous potential Gloucestershire has to offer and demanding that we are not kept in limbo a minute longer.”
The county council leader said clarity about Gloucestershire’s future devolution arrangements was necessary if local businesses and residents were to benefit from investment and increased decision-making powers.