BCP Council backs Heart of Wessex devolution plans
The authority's voted to be part of the idea
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council has decided to join a devolution plan for the Heart of Wessex region.
The idea's been put forward by authorities in Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset - to ask the Government for greater powers for local decisions.
It's thought the idea would bring greater economic opportunities and could unlock further investment potential.
Councillor Millie Earl, Leader of BCP Council, said;
“Devolution will be a once-in-a-generation opportunity that will affect our residents for the next 50 years. It was heartening to see the rich debate that took place at our Extraordinary Council meeting last night.
“I am proud to say, at a time when politics is often seen as divisive, this was democracy at its best. After a clear decision from the chamber that BCP Council wants to join the government’s Priority Programme we spent time and thought considering the two options open to us – to look east to Hampshire or west to Wessex.
“Ultimately members voted to join the proposed Wessex Strategic Authority.
“My role as Leader, now, is to drive forward the next steps for devolution to make sure we get the best outcomes for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole residents.”
If devolution goes ahead, it wouldn't be a merger of the councils - they'd all still remain in place as they are now, but there would be an elected Mayor for the region.
The process hasn't been as smooth as the authorities involved might have hoped though.
The Leader of Wiltshire Council has told us the devolution idea has been proving to be very frustrating.
Cllr Richard Clewer says the Heart of Wessex Mayoral proposals was put forward 'reluctantly' and councils weren't left with much choice:
"The white paper makes absolutely clear that everywhere we'll end up in a Strategic Mayoral Authority and if you don't pick your footprint, it'll be picked for you."
But despite the reservations, he says they're determined to maximise the benefits of having a Mayor:
"We're all large rural areas with market towns the same sort of economy, the same sort of challenges for delivery of things like housing and social care, so there's some really good synergy, I think, between the issues that that all three councils are facing.
"The work that's been going on between Somerset and Dorset and Wiltshire behind the scenes has been really good and we've forged some really strong links there, despite having different political parties in control.
"I think that work puts us in a good stead to make sure that going forward we can we can drive this in a way that is going to be of benefit to the one and a half million people that live in those Council areas, which is has got to be the main aim of from our point of view of this process."
But Cllr Clewer admitted that the process has been stressful.
He said: "This has been a very frustrating process as leader of Council, honestly it's made life miserable.
"We've been getting government reports with a requirement to respond in two weeks to do whatever it is that they fill in whatever form they want, or give whatever criteria they want, but the democratic process doesn't work that quickly."