West Midlands Combined Authority

West Midlands Combined Authority

The West Midlands Metropolitan County within England
Type
Type
Houses Unicameral
Term limits
 None
History
Founded 17 June 2016
Leadership
Chair
Bob Sleigh [1]
Vice-chair
Pete Lowe [2]
Seats 7 members
Elections
Indirect election, directly elected mayor from 2017
Website
www.westmidlandscombinedauthority.org.uk

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), also referred to as the Greater Birmingham Combined Authority, or simply Greater Birmingham,[3][4][5] is a combined authority for the West Midlands metropolitan county in England. It was established by statutory instrument under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009.[6] It is a strategic authority with powers over transport, economic development and regeneration.

History

The abolition of the West Midlands County Council in 1986 left the county without a single authority covering the whole area, although some council functions continued to be provided jointly, through the West Midlands Joint Committee, the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority, West Midlands Police (initially under the oversight of the West Midlands Police Authority and currently overseen by the directly elected West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner) and West Midlands Fire Service.

Organisation

The authority's initial priorities will involve co-ordinating the city-region to act as one place on certain issues, such as international promotion and investment; reforming public services such as mental health services; and improving internal and external transport links.[7]

Transport for West Midlands

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is the executive body of the WMCA that oversees transportation (road, rail, bus and Metro) within the metropolitan county. The organisation carries over the previous responsibilities of Centro and the WMITA.[8] TfWM currently has similar powers to Transport for Greater Manchester; from 2017, TfWM will take over responsibility for franchising bus routes, alongside the ability to set standardised fares across all operators, similar to Transport for London.

TfWM's initial priorities will be the expansion of the Metro through East Birmingham, Brierley Hill and Birmingham Airport, improvements to the M5 and M6 motorways, and new cycles routes as part of a metropolitan cycle network. There are also plans to work with central government over the future of the underused M6 Toll.[9]

Housing and planning

The WMCA has the ability to create a regional spatial development strategy, similar to the London Plan and the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework. While local planning will remain in the hands of the seven boroughs, the WMCA will be able to analyse county-wide brownfield sites and decide where new homes should be built.

Health

A mental health commission was formed in order to create a reformed mental healthcare system in the county.[10] The WMCA will not, however, have control over a devolved NHS budget as is the case in Greater Manchester.

Mayor of West Midlands

From 2017, the West Midlands, along with several other city regions, will elect a 'metro mayor' with similar powers to the Mayor of London. It is expected that an interim mayor will head the authority from its creation until the first public poll, as is currently the case in Greater Manchester. The mayor will absorb the role of the police and crime commissioner. The date of the first mayoral election will be 4 May 2017.[11]

A directly-elected mayor for the combined authority area was described as 'inevitable',[12] as such a role has been stated as a conditional requirement for a more powerful devolution deal. The WMCA shadow board submitted proposals for a combined authority with and without a mayor leader, and decided which plan of action to take based on the devolution proposals from the government for each.[13] Powers sought for a regional metro mayor and the WMCA were first revealed in a leaked bid document first reported by Simon Gilbert, of the Coventry Telegraph.[14] Those powers included the ability of the mayor to levy extra business rates from companies in the region. Negotiations also included the desire to take away the ability of local councils to retain future business rates growth and to hand that cash to the WMCA, who would decide how it was spent across the region instead of by individual local authorities.

Membership

The authority consists of the seven local authorities of West Midlands as constituent members, three Local Enterprise Partnerships as non-constituent members, and several local authorities covered by the LEPs as non-constituent members.

The membership of the combined authority is expected to be as follows:

Party key Conservative
Labour Party
Name Nominating authority Position within nominating authority
Mayor
(Vacant) West Midlands Combined Authority Mayor of the West Midlands
Constituent Councils
Cllr John Clancy Birmingham City Council Leader of the Council
Cllr George Duggins Coventry City Council Leader of the Council
Cllr Pete Lowe Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council Leader of the Council
Cllr Steve Elling Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council Leader of the Council
Cllr Bob Sleigh Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council Leader of the Council
Cllr Sean Coughlan Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council Leader of the Council
Cllr Roger Lawrence Wolverhampton City Council Leader of the Council
Non-constituent Councils
Cllr George Adamson Cannock Chase District Council Leader of the Council
Cllr Dennis Harvey Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council Leader of the Council
Cllr Bill Hartnett Redditch Borough Council Leader of the Council
Cllr Daniel Cook Tamworth Borough Council Leader of the Council
Cllr Shaun Davies Telford and Wrekin Council Leader of the Council
Local Enterprise Partnership
Stewart Towe CBE Black Country LEP Chair
Jonathan Browning Coventry and Warwickshire LEP Chair
Steve Hollis Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP Interim Chair

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Portfolios announced". West Midlands Combined Authority. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "Portfolios announced". West Midlands Combined Authority. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "Business groups give backing to 'Greater Birmingham' combined authority". Birmingham Mail. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "West Midlands Combined Authority is such a dismal title – you would expect no less from a committee". Birmingham Mail. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "Greater Birmingham councils bid for £8 billion devolution deal". Birmingham Mail. 5 September 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "SI/SR Template" (PDF). Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "Launch Statement" (PDF). West Midlands Combined Authority. July 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Centro to be abolished as WMCA takes charge of transport « Chamberlain Files". thechamberlainfiles.com. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "West Midlands Combined Authority - £4 billion of transport infrastructure over coming decade". westmidlandscombinedauthority.org.uk. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  10. ↑ WMCA Devolution Agreement: Key Points. West Midlands Combined Authority.
  11. ↑ Gilbert, Simon (12 May 2016). "Date of election to choose Greater Birmingham mayor". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  12. ↑ Elkes, Neil (16 June 2015). "Elected Mayor for West Midlands by 2019 according to council leaders group". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "Dale's Devo Diary: West Midlands hatches 'to be or not to be' Metro Mayor plan". Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  14. ↑ "Revealed: Leaked document shows full details of West Midlands 'super council' bid". Simon Gilbert. Coventry Telegraph. 25 September 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.

External links

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