West Midlands Combined Authority

Investment priorities

Devolution means we will get the power to make our own decisions about investment in the West Midlands. This will ensure balance and region-wide benefits for communities and businesses alongside effective targeting of resources on strategic priorities. All areas will benefit, be they areas for new employment, those that will benefit from new jobs or skills training, areas for new homes or places that will be better connected.

• The £4.4bn HS2 Growth Strategy to ensure maximum economic benefit from the HS2 investment. The 20 HS2 Connectivity schemes will ensure that nowhere in the WM is more than 40 mins from an HS2 station.
• A £200m land remediation fund. This will enable brownfield land to be brought back into use for housing and employment.
• A £500m housing investment fund (mainly locally funded). This will be brought forward to support the development of new homes.
• A £1bn Collective Investment Vehicle (locally funded) to help companies invest and grow.
• A £30m employment, education and skills programme for the three LEP area.

Half a million new jobs

• The deal will enable the delivery of the Super SEP across all three LEPs, which has the potential to help support the creation of up to 500,000 new jobs.
• The power to make HS2 benefit the people of the West Midlands. The HS2 Growth Strategy alone will create an additional 100,000 new jobs.

Better training and improved skills – enabling local people to get the jobs on offer

• Better skills planning and a local strategy – identifying the skills that local people need for the jobs that local businesses need to fill
• Local control of public funding for adult skills training by 2018/19 – meaning local decisions about what training to invest in
• Better employment support – working with a range of government departments, including DWP to co-commission the Work Programme, building on the expertise of local councils. The deal is also the first stage in the development of a better, locally run system of support for people who find it the hardest to get back into work.

Better public services – helping people into the labour market and reducing the public finance gap

• Pioneering a new approach to mental health for the whole country – A new Mental Health Commission, chaired by Norman Lamb MP and supported by NHS England and Public Health England
• A new approach to troubled individuals – working with DWP to design a new system for people with complex dependencies and then piloting new ideas in 2016
• Reforming the youth justice system – building on the nationally recognised work of West Midlands Police, designating the West Midlands as an accelerator site for testing and developing youth justice reform.

Better business support services to accelerate innovation and growth

• Government will work with the 3 LEPs to develop an integrated business support system linked to the Growth Hubs that joins national and locally funded activity in a seamless manner, making it simpler for business to access and benefit from services
• A devolved approach to delivering national business support schemes will be in place by 2017, linked to support for start-ups, growth companies, and those needing access to finance
• Developing an integrated national and local support structure for businesses wanting to invest in the WMCA area, focused on sectors of national strength such as advanced engineering linked to auto, rail and aerospace. This will be supported by the joint planning and promotion of a portfolio of regeneration sites for future investment
• A jointly agreed West Midlands Export support plan. A devolved approach to business support from 2017, including start-ups and business finance.

More and better homes

• Devolved compulsory purchase powers, to help drive housing delivery
• A Land Commission to develop ways to make more land available for employment and housing use
• A locally managed housing investment fund.

Faster, more convenient and affordable transport

• A bigger and more certain budget – over £5bn of investment over ten years, integrated and locally controlled
• Getting back control over buses - controlling fares and ensuring they run when and where people need them
• One smart ticket, allowing passengers to use any combination of bus and rail across the region and an integrated travel information service
• Better integration between local and national transport networks through joint working with Highways England and Network Rail. This includes working with the government to examine ways to reduce congestion on the strategic road network
• Powers to regulate freight vehicles to improve safety and to create Clean Air Zones to achieve Air Quality Plan objectives.

Why are combined authorities being created?

Combined authorities are a way of devolving power, funding and decisions currently made in Whitehall to regions so councils can work together as a group or combination to make decisions based on sub-regional, not national, priorities. They help councils work together - they do not replace them.

Combined authorities are about better collaboration between local councils on issues that are more effective when delivered together or ones they cannot decide alone, such as transport investment or strategies for skills and economic development.

Why is Rugby joining up with Birmingham and other councils?

Combined authorities mean devolving powers from Whitehall to councils in the West Midlands, not devolving powers from Rugby to Birmingham. By working together with councils from across the West Midlands we will be able to make important decisions that affect Rugby here in the West Midlands region instead of the government making them in London.

Rugby Borough Council will lose none of its current powers as a result of being part of a combined authority; the new powers would move from Whitehall to the region. The Council will remain at the heart of civic life in the borough.

What does it mean for Rugby?

It will mean plans for economic growth, transport, housing and regeneration can be made locally in the West Midlands and not in London.

All councils who are part of a combined authority make joint decisions about spending – decisions previously made in London by Whitehall civil servants and government ministers.

Why are we considering this particular area?

A combined authority is required to cover an area that makes sense economically – such as an area in which many people commute to work or where there are strong links between local firms, universities and other institutions.

Forming a combined authority based on the same geography as the three local enterprise partnerships in the West Midlands has many practical advantages. It means that a West Midlands combined authority would be the largest of its kind in the country - and second only to London - representing the interests of four million people in the region.

A combined authority needs to be big enough to be able to compete in the world and to pull together the resources needed to support more economic success.

Would we lose control over local decisions, like house building or planning approvals?

No. Rugby Borough Council will continue to make the decisions over local issues such as rubbish and recycling, planning permission, and council housing.

Will it mean a single big council that means we will lose our local identity?

No, a combined authority is not a replacement for existing councils and councils do not merge to form a single new body when they create a combined authority. Each member council continues to provide local services and to represent the local area in the same way that they did before. But by working together they will be able to make important decisions previously made by the government in London.

The leaders of the councils within a combined authority are accountable to their own council and their councillors and through them to their local residents and businesses.

What about an elected Mayor for the region?

The combined authority will have a directly elected Mayor who will be able to make some decisions. However, Rugby Borough Council has decided to be a "non-constituent" member of the combined authority, which means that those decision will not apply to residents and businesses in the borough of Rugby.

Residents will not get to vote for the elected mayor, but nor will they have to pay any additional council tax to fund the role.

Rugby will still have a ceremonial Mayor, who is the first citizen of the borough.

You can view the combined authority's priorities and associated reports and meeting minutes on the West Midlands Combined Authority website.

Get involved

We will shortly be asking residents and businesses in the borough of Rugby to let us know how they think the combined authority can help them. Details of this consultation will be published here.

If you have questions about the combined authority, or want to tell us something about the council's membership, you can email us at communications@rugby.gov.uk. We will do our best to help you.