Bickering and mistrust among the region’s political leaders has landed the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) on a government “watchlist”, it has been revealed. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) is “keeping a close eye” on how the organisation responds to a damning report by external auditors who effectively ordered them to stop fighting, play nicely and heal their “strained relationships”.
Labour metro mayor Dan Norris, the elected head of Weca, and the leaders of the three councils that make up the regional body – Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset – unanimously approved an action plan in December to fix the issues. It committed the politicians and senior officers to cooperate better, along with a “peer review challenge” where outside experts come in to root out the problems and sort them, which is being carried out by an organisation called Solace (the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives).
But it has now emerged that DLUHC has placed Weca on alert and is closely monitoring “whether any further action is necessary” after the work is completed – raising the prospect that it could send in government "best value" inspectors. It follows a series of high-profile bust-ups, name-calling, dysfunctional public meetings with hours-long intervals and even one boycotted by the three council leaders, since Mr Norris became West of England mayor in May 2021.
