Warrington Youth Zone on Wednesday played host to the landmark inaugural meeting of the Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority, comprising Cheshire East, Warrington and Cheshire West and Chester councils.
While each council will remain intact, the combined authority will have control over things such as skills and transport, with a budget of £650 million over the next 30 years, (ITALICS writes local democracy reporter Mark Smith).
Residents in Cheshire and Warrington will get to vote for an elected mayor for the authority next May, but for now a board made up of each council’s leadership will be at the helm.
Addressing the meeting, chair Louise Gittins, who is also leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, said: “From today, we can start to use new powers and funding secured from Westminster to invest in our people and places.
“Today is a genuine milestone, and that moment where those powers transfer from Westminster to us in Cheshire and Warrington are where we begin a new chapter – one where we take control of our own destiny and start to shape decisions about our future.”
The authority will function in similar fashion to those in the Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester, led by Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham respectively.
Backers have said that having a sole leader enables regions to have a “seat at the table” when big decisions are made nationally.
Nick Walkley is the chief executive of the new authority, having previously led Government housing agency Homes England.
He said he accepted that some residents still did not understand what the authority did due to the amount of “political speak”, but said its primary aim was longer-term, strategic planning.
He said: “When people say ‘I don’t understand what it’s going to do for me’, part of the reason for that is it’s not collecting the dustbins.
“It’s not doing things tomorrow – it’s doing things that you would want to do, because they’ll be better in the future.
“Think of it as the equivalent of that conversation you have if you’ve ever had a mortgage, knowing full well you’re making a commitment, but it’s the right commitment – for potentially the next 25 years.”
Opponents of the authorities say they add unnecessary expense and complication and are nothing more than an extra tier of local government, but Mr Walkley said that he was determined that the Cheshire and Warrington authority would not be a “big beast”.
He said “I’ve been here coming up for six weeks and I’ve quadrupled the size of the combined authority – there are now eight of us.”
He added: “But joking aside, the number one priority is we mustn’t be a large organisation, but to recruit the people who carry out the things we’ve got to do, one of those is run an election for a mayor for next year.”
The meeting itself dealt largely with procedural matters such as confirming the board’s chair and top-tier positions.
Pictured: Cath Salt, monitoring officer, chair Louise Gittins and chief executive Nick Walkley at the first combined authority meeting.
