One of the leaders behind the East Midlands devolution deal says people won't have to pay more council tax to fund the new authority that it will create. Nottinghamshire County Council leader Ben Bradley was one of four leaders from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire who signed the £1.14 billion agreement in August.
It will give money and powers currently held by the Government to a new East Midlands authority, headed up by a new mayor for the region. This new authority and mayor will be able to make decisions on a range of local issues including housing, transport and the environment.
Some councillors had expressed concern that the East Midlands Combined County Authority would be asking Nottinghamshire councils to raise more money from their taxpayers under an arrangement known as a precept. But at a meeting of Nottinghamshire County Council on Friday (November 4), where the devolution deal was discussed, Mr Bradley, who is also the Conservative MP for Mansfield, said: "Members in this chamber have been wondering about whether this will have a direct cost to local residents in terms of precepts.
