Northamptonshire councils snubbed over devolution deal ahead of urgent meeting

The Northamptonshire councils have been snubbed from joining a South Midlands strategic authority, as other councils have excluded mentioning them in their devolution bids.

In December, the Government published a devolution white paper encouraging the uptake of strategic combined authorities to transfer greater powers locally.

Last year, the North and West joined forces with the Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes local authorities to express interest in creating a South Midlands Authority (SMA).

West and North Northants Councils (WNC and NNC) are both set to discuss their bids at special meetings tonight (January 9).

However in a shock blow to the unitary authorities, Luton and Milton Keynes have indicated a preference to go ahead with the devolution deal without Northamptonshire.

WNC reported that the six councils had been working together in local enterprise since 2011 and passed the government’s initial tests for a strategic authority.

Councils interested in joining the Devolution Priority Programme, which would aim to hold the first mayoral election in 2026, were told that they must submit bids to the government by Friday, January 10.

A spokesman for Milton Keynes Council said: “We have a duty to maximise the benefits of creating a Mayoral Strategic Authority and this means setting conditions we feel will give us the best chance of delivering improvements to our local area and positive change to our communities.

“The four local authorities of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Luton, and Milton Keynes, with a combined population of over one million, have excellent partnerships and connections in place including through our long-standing joint health and care services.

“This strength is an opportunity to bring real change to the lives of our residents through greater access to better jobs, improved integrated health and social care, more affordable housing with appropriate infrastructure, better public transport, and increased sustainability.

“We will continue to work with those authorities we believe offer the best chance of ensuring a successful devolution settlement for our area.”

Leader of Luton Council, Cllr Hazel Simmons, also shared the same statement with the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), indicating their preference to pursue a BLMK (Bedford, Central Beds, Luton and Milton Keynes) authority.

The position of the final two partners, Bedford Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC), is not clear. On Monday, the devolution deal was discussed by CBC at an extraordinary council meeting.

It passed a motion which endorsed further discussions to take place with the government to create a new strategic authority with ‘some of its neighbouring authorities’.

A council spokesman said they could not comment on the specifics of which councils were included in their statement of interest.

A statement issued by a Bedford Borough spokesman said: “Our focus will always be on ensuring that any future arrangements align with the best interests of people in Bedford Borough.”

In council papers published last week, ahead of the WNC and NNC extraordinary meetings, it stated that all councils and SMA partners must submit expressions of interest to progress the plans.

It added that delaying the council’s decision to join devolution partners would leave Northamptonshire with less choice over the deal and push back any intended benefits.

Both Northamptonshire councils have been contacted for comment.

WNC will call in all members to a meeting at the Northampton Guildhall today at 5pm. NNC’s meeting will be held at the Corby Cube, from 6pm.