Telford & Wrekin Council submits devolution proposal

As part of its devolution agenda, the Government has invited local authorities to submit their proposals for the devolution of powers and responsibilities to the Treasury by today.

Telford & Wrekin Council has developed a proposal for the devolution of a series powers and responsibilities to continue supporting economic growth and jobs. This Council is leading the drive for growth in the West Midlands and we want business growth and investment in the borough to continue.

The council wants to designate the borough as an enterprise area – Enterprise Telford. This would allow the council to exploit the unique position it has with Homes & Communities Agency land deal assets, which enables investment in skills and infrastructure to maximise the potential for the borough’s growth and to drive the competitiveness of Telford as a place to invest. With local freedoms and flexibilities, Enterprise Telford would allow the tailoring of the council's offer to potential investors – ultimately supporting the sale of HCA land assets.

Councillor Kuldip Sahota, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, said: “We believe that effective partnership working is essential for the prosperity of the borough and this includes working with neighbouring local authorities when it works for us.

“Let us be clear we are not part of the West Midlands Combined Authority proposal but will keep a close watch on how this develops and if there are opportunities for Telford and Wrekin, we will seek to maximise these.”

Councillor Shaun Davies, Cabinet Member for Business, Neighbourhood and Customer Services, said: “Our devolution proposal is about delivering a better and more efficient response from the public sector.

“We are already supporting local people into employment but want to go further by joining together national and local programmes built on our local understanding of communities and the labour market and improving connectivity, to create local employment opportunities across the borough and tackle unemployment.

“We want to ensure that economic growth in the borough provides local people with secure jobs and higher paid jobs.”

Paul Hinkins, Chair of Telford Business Board, said: “Telford & Wrekin is leading the drive for growth in the Midlands and is fast becoming a big success story in the region.

“This is happening because of effective partnership working between the private and public sector and this devolution proposal would only benefit further the local business community.”