Points Of View

Letter From: Couns Kevin Bentley, Leader of Essex County Council, Tony Cox, Leader of Southend City Council and Andrew Jeffries, Leader of Thurrock Council.

SIR, your recent article reporting a question from Mark Francois MP on the devolution of Government powers and budgets to Greater Essex (the Essex County Council, Southend-on-Sea City Council and Thurrock Council areas) and the creation of a Combined Authority to oversee them unfortunately contained some inaccuracies, which we are happy to set the record straight on.

It stated: “A combined authority would represent a fourth tier of local government in Essex above 1. Town/Parish, 2. District/Borough/ City and 3. Essex County Council itself.”

This is incorrect. Devolution would not change council structures or council powers in Essex. We and the Government have been very clear that devolution is not about local government reorganisation. Our councils would remain fully independent, sovereign bodies under any devolution deal.

The article goes on to state the Combined Authority would “…mean more politicians, more officers, and more bureaucracy.” Again, this is untrue. There would be no new elected members for the Combined Authority.

It would make use of existing resources and it would have no tax raising powers. In fact, the devolution deal involves commitment from government to millions of pounds of additional capital funding into Essex that will be lost without a deal.

The claim devolution would “override local wishes, for instance, over the sensitive issues of planning and housing development” is also inaccurate. The Combined Authority would have no involvement in local plan making, or development control.

Devolution is all about the transfer of powers and funding from national to local government. It ensures decisions are made closer to the local people, communities and businesses they affect. It enjoys the support of the Chambers of Commerce, the Universities, health bodies, and many others – all of whom understand that without a devolution deal, Essex runs the risk of missing out compared to other parts of the country.

If we are able to negotiate a deal with government, then any decision to proceed would be subject to full public consultation, so your readers would be able to see the facts for themselves and have their say before anything is decided.

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