Sussex closer to having directly-elected metro mayor
Brighton and Hove's council leader has been meeting other bosses to discuss the idea
Brighton and Hove City Council is preparing to take the first step towards having a directly elected mayor, councillors were told yesterday (Thursday 26 September).
The move was announced by the Labour leader of the council Bella Sankey at a cabinet meeting at Hove Town Hall.
Councillor Sankey, who also chairs the Greater Brighton Economic Board, has held talks with fellow council leaders about a way forward.
The outcome could be a directly elected mayor taking political charge of a bigger geographical area that includes Brighton and Hove and some of its neighbouring councils.
Councillor Sankey said: “On devolution, soon after the general election in July, our Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, announced that the government would be inviting applications for devolution deals in areas where none currently exist.”
Ms Rayner sent a letter to the leaders of the biggest councils in the country, including Brighton and Hove, inviting them to express an interest in devolution.
Councillor Sankey said: “I believe that this presents an excellent opportunity for our city so over the summer I have engaged as many leaders as possible across Sussex and I look forward to continuing those conversations.
“Brighton and Hove will be submitting an expression of interest and I look forward to continuing to working with all neighbouring authorities to identify a devolution option that would deliver maximum benefits for the residents of our city and the wider Sussex region.
“We also eagerly await more detail from government on the English devolution bill and a white paper that is expected at around the same time as the budget next month.”
The letter from the Deputy Prime Minister said: “Devolution underpins our national mission to deliver economic growth for everyone, everywhere, raising living standards across the UK.
“This government will work in partnership with local leaders to implement ‘local growth plans’ and I am excited to establish a Council of Nations and Regions to bring together the Prime Minister, the leaders of the devolved administrations and metro mayors.
“I want to see more places represented at that council, with more mayors at the table.
“Together, we can drive growth in every corner of the country. That is why we are inviting more places to use these enhanced powers and play a leading role in our national renewal.
“Now is the time to come forward and work with this new government to deliver growth in your area.
“Many of you will have struggled to get devolution settlements over the line or were in the process of negotiating a settlement before the general election.
“You may have been held up by lengthy negotiations over powers, geographies or governance. This government will begin to work with you to resolve those issues.
“While we will not force places to take on a metro mayor, we will not shy away from making the case for their huge advantages, with some powers continuing to be reserved for institutions with directly elected leaders, such as mayoral combined authorities.
“We continue to believe that new devolution settlements should be tailored to sensible economic geographies so that local leaders can act at the scale needed to effectively deploy their powers.
“In the majority of cases that will require local authorities to come together in new combined or combined county authorities.
“I encourage you to begin discussions with your neighbouring authorities on this basis.
“The Minister for Local Government and my officials stand ready to meet to discuss proposals and to support you so you are ready to board the train of devolution as we surge along this journey to give every community a voice in the future of Britain.
“I would welcome proposals by the end of September to participate in a first set of devolution settlements.”
Various configurations have been suggested in the past, including in the 1970s when the local government map was redrawn and historic counties such as Middlesex were scrapped.
One suggestion at the time was that the coastal conurbation from either the River Adur – or even the Arun – to the Ouse should be served by one council.
This would in effect cover places between the South Downs and the sea from Littlehampton or Shoreham in the west to Newhaven or possibly Seaford in the east.
Brighton and Hove Council was created in the late 1990s by a merger of Brighton Borough Council and Hove Borough Council. The new council also took on staff and duties from East Sussex County Council.
Just after the turn of the millennium, the new council proposed having an elected mayor and put the idea to voters in a referendum but it was rejected by a significant majority.
In April, Councillor Sankey criticised the previous Conservative government for telling Brighton and Hove City Council to form a “local growth hub” with neighbouring West Sussex County Council.
She said: “We completely oppose the government’s plans for West Sussex and Brighton and Hove to become one ‘functioning economic area’.
“Not only are the economies of Brighton and Hove and West Sussex clearly distinct and operate across different geographies, Brighton and Hove is a city that drives jobs and investment across a larger functioning economic area.
“The government’s decision is so illogical that I can only conclude that this is one of the many last-ditch attempts by this failing Tory government to bolster its support in the counties to the detriment of our city.
“I have written to the minister and requested a rethink of this approach and will continue to lobby on behalf of our city.”
The proposed marriage of inconvenience was brought about by the government’s decision to stop funding local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) including Coast to Capital (C2C).
C2C covers an area that includes not just Brighton and Hove and West Sussex but the Lewes district as well as East Surrey, with Gatwick airport at the heart of the area.
In place of LEPs, the government wanted regional growth hubs made up functioning economic areas with a minimum population of 500,000.
The Conservative government was also behind the recent drive to bring in bigger all-purpose councils and more directly elected mayors.
The former Tory Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine spent a significant part of his political career pushing for the change.
The only Sussex-wide votes have been the police and crime commissioner elections, each of which has been won by the Conservatives, although the party won fewer seats than ever in the recent general election.
The marriage of Brighton and Hove has not been duplicated in Sussex, although Adur and Worthing reached a cohabitation arrangement and more recently so did Lewes and Eastbourne.
But the engagement of the fire authorities in East and West Sussex fell though at what might be described during pre-nuptial talks about finances, with pension liabilities proving too much of an obstacle to a union.
Elected mayors have had a mixed reception in other parts of the country, with London mayors Ken Livingstone, Boris Johnson and Sadiq Khan each having a high profile.
Andy Burnham has won plaudits across the political spectrum in Greater Manchester as did the former John Lewis boss Andy Street in the West Midlands.
But the record elsewhere is patchy, with people in Hartlepool electing the football club’s mascot H’Angus the Monkey – Stuart Drummond – before voting to abolish the post of elected mayor.
In Middlesbrough, Ben Houchen has been the subject of considerable scrutiny and criticism, and in Bristol, the post was scrapped by a referendum, with voters opting for the return of old-fashioned council committees.
The next steps for Brighton and Hove and its neighbours could start to take shape as soon as the end of next month, with the government expected to publish initial policy proposals alongside or shortly after the budget.
The carrot may come in the form of better funding for those councils that join forces and where voters are asked to choose a directly elected mayor.