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Ruli Pennington
Thursday, August 3, 2017
15:08 GMT
Ruli Pennington - Talking Local Government podcast producer @CLGdotPOD executive producer @CLGdotTV. Passionate about better public services, devolution, chess, malt whisky, women's football.
@UnruliPWest Midlands mayor meets with PM to push the case for greater powers and funding
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Image:© West Midlands Combined Authority
Andy Street, the mayor of the West Midlands, has met with PM Teresa May to argue the case for further devolution of powers and funding from Whitehall.
The West Midlands mayor met with Theresa May at 10 Downing Street following last week's announcement that the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) had now started negotiations with Government over a second ‘devolution deal’.
This will build on the first deal signed in November 2015 which was seen as a starting point in an evolving process of further devolution of funding and powers. The first deal enabled investment worth £8bn and committed the region to a directly elected Mayor.
While at Number 10, the mayor also took the opportunity to speak to the Prime Minister about the transformational opportunities for the region, in particular the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games bid, the Coventry City of Culture bid and the relocation of Channel 4. “The region has presented a really strong case for each of these, strengthened even more by the Government’s continuing commitment to HS2. I was delighted to have the opportunity to continue reinforcing this with the Prime Minister” said Street.
The combined authority is committed to a collaborative approach by local authorities and other organisations involved in economic development in the West Midlands region. There is a cxlear feeling at WMCA that this approach is now being recognised by Government.
