A deal which will inject £1bn into the East Midlands over three decades and is hoped to potentially tempt business giants similar to Rolls-Royce into the region has been signed. And Mansfield's Conservative MP and leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Ben Bradley, says he will not be 'ruling out' becoming the mayor.
The Conservative Government has now set in stone a devolution deal worth £1.14 billion, which will pass down powers and money from top brass in London to local leaders in the East Midlands. A new combined authority covering 2.2 million people across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire will be created with an accountable mayor.
It will bring the region on par with areas such as Greater Manchester, with Labour's Andy Burnham as mayor, and the West Midlands, with Conservative Andy Street.
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Barry Lewis, leader of Derbyshire County Council, Ben Bradley MP, leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Chris Poulter, leader of Derby City Council, and David Mellen, leader of Nottingham City Council, met with Greg Clarke MP, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, on Tuesday (August 30) at Rolls-Royce in Derby, where the leaders signed the deal after months in discussion.
But what does it mean for you, exactly?
'Can you imagine if we can attract even one more business on the scale of Rolls-Royce?'
Ben Bradley, who is woven into Nottinghamshire's political fabric with two major jobs, started by emphasising how the £1.14bn can be invested, and the returns kept, which may then be invested once again in the region. Investment in skills, jobs and transport infrastructure will be in the firm control of local leaders, who may choose where best to put resources and, in turn, encourage further investment.
Mr Bradley says: "That is our money devolved to us. Which is a huge amount. We don't have to bid to treasury, we spend a lot of time at the minute putting together bids and projects that we put in, don't meet the criteria, gets rejected, you have spent a lot of time and energy for nothing.
"We will be able to go back to Government when there is a spending review and say, 'we want more of this, thank you'. More money, more powers, as has happened in West Midlands and Greater Manchester.
"From a resident's point of view it just gives us that local control over transport, what jobs are created and where, how you tie those things together. For a local resident if it is: 'I want to work at Rolls-Royce but I can't get there', we have the ability locally to decide where the buses go, where the new transport infrastructure goes to put things in place that currently are decided in London or by private companies.
"You need the skills to come and Rolls-Royce but we have the ability to direct where the funding goes and into what qualifications in the local area. What are our skill shortages?
"We can direct that. We will be able to bring forward sites and infrastructure for business investment. Can you imagine if we can attract even one more business on the scale of Rolls-Royce, 12,500 employees into the region, that will be a game changer for thousands of people."
And responding to whether he will go for the role of mayor, Mr Bradley added: "I would not rule it out. I have always said it is really interesting.
"Whoever is the mayor will have so much ability to drive and shape the future. But it is still 18 months away, we need to get the legislation through in Parliament, we need to build the Governance and structures locally, frankly look at the uncertainty nationally at the minute, Lord knows where we will be in 18 months time so I'm not thinking that far ahead."
Levelling Up secretary Greg Clarke, who was recently appointed to the cabinet amid turmoil in Government, also emphasised the deal may lead to more high-quality jobs.
"I think the best way to think about its impact is more and better jobs," he says. "There are two examples, one is that there is a billion pounds of money that was previously in London, controlled by Government, that is now going to be put in the hands of the East Midlands.
"Secondly is across the region the more skilled you are, the better the job you have, and yet there are skills shortages in some industries and again what this does is take the whole adult education budget and put it in the hands of Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. I think people who work with Rolls-Royce know more than the people in central London to know what is needed in Derby."
'If we look at Greater Manchester or the West Midlands, they are a long way ahead of us'
There is some level of scepticism, however. Concerns have been raised by opposition groups, including Nottinghamshire's Labour Group leader, Kate Foale, who also represents Beeston Central and Rylands.
She says the annual revenue budget for Nottinghamshire alone is close to £500m, which must go towards providing more than 400 services to around 830,000 people and, as such, £38 million over 30 years across the D2N2 region with a total population of close to 2.2 million will add up to £17.27 per person per year.
Councillor David Mellen, leader of the city council who represents the Dales ward for Labour, echoed her fears. He added: "We've complained and I've complained long and hard about Nottingham being underfunded, and, although what we have agreed today is not going to sort that out, it is a start of putting in the place of where the Government is choosing to put more resources.
"There will be £38m per year over the next 30 years coming to our region. It might seem a lot of money, it isn't really, but it might enable us to attract more resources. If we look at Greater Manchester or the West Midlands, they are a long way ahead of us, in terms of Government's resourcing and it is about time the Government started resourcing the East Midlands properly. It is only the start."
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