Devolution plans for Northamptonshire in the offing, but why is it only coming to the council chamber now?

The county's unitaries could join forces with councils from Beds and Bucks to form a South Midlands devolved partnership, but little has been said so far in the council chambers.

By Sarah Ward

Deputy PM (pictured on a visit to Corby during the election campaign) wants to devolve Westminster power to local areas.

Last month Labour’s new deputy prime minister Angela Rayner sent out a letter to all local authorities who are not part of any devolved deal, to say the new government was ‘laser focused on pushing power out of Whitehall and lighting the touch paper of growth across our regions.’

She said that for too long areas had been held back and the government would be moving ahead with a programme to devolve funding and decision making for schemes such as transport, housing and skills growth out to local areas.

Tonight the issue will be discussed for the first time by the North Northamptonshire unitary council, and members will be asked to vote on recommendations that would see it join forces with the West unitary, plus councils in Bedford and Milton Keynes to create a joint committee, called the South Midlands Authorities Joint Committee. 

This would take on decision making powers for some projects - typically those which used to be under the control of the local enterprise partnership SEMLEP (which was wound down earlier this year and powers transferred to the councils who could make up the new joint committee). The joint committee would be the first step towards devolution which could involve the creation of a formal partnership with an elected leader and possibly an elected mayor.

For many unitary councillors, this will be the first time they are hearing about the plans, as up until now the meetings have been taking place at a leader and senior officer level, as part of the Central Area Growth Board (CAGB), which has been running since 2017. The meetings have been in public, but only the most eagle eyed observer would have spotted them, as they have not been advertised on the calendar of meetings of either Northants unitary authority, instead only mentioned on the Milton Keynes City Council website, which does the administration. (We asked both councils why they have not informed the wider council or residents about the meetings and await an answer).

And while South Midlands Authorities may be a new concept to most, it has been in the offing for some time and even has its own branding, which was commissioned by the growth board earlier this summer.

Council leader Adam Brown (left) and Jason Smithers (right) have been involved in power sharing talks with other councils from Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. (WNC image).

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The new Labour government has asked all councils to make an expression of interest in devolution by the end of September (the full council of the West authority will only meet on September 26), and also to express which other areas they would like to combine with for any devolution deal.

But an alliance with the Bedford and Buckingham councils appears to be only one option on the table currently.

The report to be discussed by all 78 councillors on the North unitary tonight, says:

“There is strong appetite from some of the other authorities in the South Midlands grouping that this should form the preferred geography for devolution. At this stage, it is based largely on the recent history of joint working involving SEMLEP, rather than any specific analysis of issues or devolution proposals.

“Officers are working with the Leader of the Council and Executive lead member to explore options on what the most appropriate partnership arrangement looks like to inform the response to the initial EOI [expression of interest]. This includes discussions with neighbouring authorities and others that the council currently works with through existing joint arrangements, including the South Midlands through the CAGB, and wider groupings. It also includes analysing socio-economic data and functional linkages to help understand where there are shared issues and challenges that could form the basis for specific devolution proposals.

“The submission of the initial EOI will not commit the Council to a specific geography, but it will provide a signal of intent to pursue devolution proposals and work more closely with the Government and other local authorities to explore the options available following the publication of the devolution framework.”

Leader of the opposition Labour group on North Northamptonshire Council Matt Keane told NN Journal he thinks devolution is the ‘right way to go’ for Northamptonshire as it is an opportunity to unlock more investment. But he does have some concerns about the geography and also the lack of reporting back from the Conservative group to the rest of the authority’s members about what has been discussed in recent months.

Cllr Keane.

He said:

“The problem is that North Northamptonshire does not really sit anywhere. I’m in favour of unlocking investment into North Northamptonshire, but it has to be something that works. We don't want to be the poor relation to Milton Keynes.”

He says the unitary council system - which was imposed by central government in the late 2010s after the collapse of the county council - has not yet delivered what it has promised, as the authority is in many areas still operating along the former local authority areas of Corby, Kettering and East Northants, without a concept of what North Northamptonshire is.

Leader of the Kettering Green Alliance Emily Fedorowycz also expressed annoyance at how late in the day the matter is coming to the wider council for consideration, saying it appears to be the common way for the authority, which has existed since 2021, to operate. Her group is discussing how to respond to the devolution plans.

Labour MP for Northampton South, Mike Reader, says he and his Northants MP colleagues had not as yet been briefed on proposals from the councils, but was hoping this would happen imminently. He said he would not be in favour of an elected mayor - as is the system in Greater Manchester and the West and East Midlands - due to the lack of an established geographic relationship, and that there was not a ‘simple solution’ to devolution for Northamptonshire. 

He said:

“I think consultation with the public is important. I would like to see informal citizen assemblies for people to engage with. We need to hear from our parish councils and to get views and a consensus. What we don’t want is a load of ‘last minute charlies’ to come in at the end and throw a wobbly.”

Councillors tonight will be expected to vote on recommendations to move ahead with a joint committee and agree to an expression of interest, without knowing what the financial implications will be.

The report before the important meeting, which could be the first step towards devolution for Northants, simply says:

“There is no information available on the potential financial implications for the creation of a Joint Committee.”

And the public have not been consulted, with the report saying:

“At this stage, consultation relating to devolution will focus on neighbouring local authorities to understand their views. Once there is more detail from the Government and the options are clearer, consultation will take place with local stakeholders prior to any decisions being made.” 

A business board for the South Midlands Authorities is also currently being recruited to. 15 representatives from across the Northants, Beds and Milton Keynes who have experience in various business sectors, such as SMEs and large corporations are being sought.

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Read again

In 2021 we reported on where the money from SEMLEP was going and how the West of Northants had fared better financially than the North