Three Counties partnership is best devolution option for county, says MP
Cameron Thomas says Gloucestershire should align itself with counties such as Herefordshire and Worcestershire
Gloucestershire would be better served joining a Three Counties group of councils than playing second fiddle in a Bristol-centric in a West of England Combined Authority.
That is the view of Tewkesbury MP Cameron Thomas as moves are afoot to change the political map of England.
Local government across the country has been in flux since December after the Government announced its plans to restructure councils across the nation.
In Gloucestershire, there are proposals to merge district councils with Shire Hall and create one or two unitary authorities.
And, as part of the English Devolution White Paper, there is also a push for these new councils to partner up with their neighbouring areas under combined or strategic authority areas.
These regional bodies deliver devolved powers from central government and focus on strategic issues like transport, economic development, and skills training across a wider area than individual councils can manage alone.
Mr Thomas believes Gloucestershire would be an equal partner to Worcestershire if it were to join a Three Counties strategic authority.
Gloucestershire has a population of around 659,000 while there were more than 614,000 people living in Worcestershire as of 2023, while Herefordshire has a population of around 180,000.
One of the options on the table for the county is to join the West of England Combined Authority which is centred around Bristol.
It has an elected mayor who covers Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset representing a combined population of more than 1.16 million.
But the Liberal Democrat MP, whose constituency includes parts of Cheltenham and Gloucester, believes the county would be at a disadvantage joining such an arrangement and he firmly believes that pairing with Herefordshire and Worcestershire would be better for the county.
“I think if Gloucestershire were to join the West of England Combined Authority we’d be late to the party and would be very much the junior partner,” he said.
He says this would not be good and speaks from experience of 23 years in the junior service while in the RAF.
“I can tell you that even after 100 years, the RAF is still considered by its sister services to be the junior partner at the table.
“That raises challenges around dogma and sentiment, neither of which have any place in military matters, at every level of Defence.
“It is my understanding that an application to join the well-established West of England Combined Authority is being considered by some in Gloucestershire. I would offer a word of caution.
“I recently explained to an audience at the Gloucestershire Business Show that Gloucestershire must consider its future in the context of large population centres such as Birmingham and Bristol.
“Both cities dominate their local authorities, and we must defend against our voice, and our ‘offer’ being lost against such overwhelming centres of gravity.
“To my mind, Gloucestershire would be better served by aligning with nearby counties of similar composition, such as Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
“Both are largely rural, both enjoy a significant agricultural base and the effects of flooding by the River Severn are experienced by both Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.
“Indeed the opportunities to mitigate fluvial flooding exist largely to our north, in Worcestershire and beyond.
“Gloucestershire and Herefordshire both proudly host some of the UK’s most prestigious, top-tier defence and security assets.
“Gloucestershire’s booming advanced manufacturing industry is a perfect partner for a combined resilience-based output and would make our county the largest economic contributor.
“Gloucestershire will only continue to attract world-leading aerospace manufacturers if we can deliver the workforce.
“Likewise, our burgeoning cyber tech industry will benefit, if we make this offer to Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Mr Thomas also believes Gloucestershire should remain as one in plans to reorganise local government in the county.
Splitting the county would not work and a single unitary would provide more cost saving, he believes. And he also hopes the government will devolve more power to parishes.
“Gloucestershire’s focus should be on resilience: both its own, but also on the resilience it can deliver to the UK,” he said.
“Its future relationship with other authorities should augment that, rather than dilute it.”