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Leaders, Chief Executives and colleagues from three
County Councils, 23 District and Borough Councils, the South Downs National
Park, East Sussex Fire
Authority and the three Local Enterprise Partnerships gathered in
Horsham for a seminar to discuss the vision for devolution in the region last
week.
They agreed
there would be real benefits for residents and businesses from a successful 3SC
bid. Delegates asserted that confidence, boldness and ambition are needed to
develop the right final proposal.
Councillor
Louise Goldsmith, spokesperson for the bid and leader of West Sussex County
Council, sent this message to delegates after the event.
“Firstly, I would just like to thank
everyone who gave up their time last Friday to attend the 3SC Seminar. It was
really good to have so many partners in the room to share their views around
the 3SC proposition and the potential significant benefits for residents and
for our businesses too.
“We all accepted that there is more
work to be done and we have to take a long-term view, but more importantly we
are already beginning to see benefits of the burgeoning relationship which we
hope will grow and develop.
“As we all agreed our 3SC bid is big
and commensurate with the wins or gains, which is indeed why we were all in the
room. I thought it would be useful to remind you of the five key themes
endorsed:
- We recognise that there is healthy scepticism but we can be pragmatic and see whether the deal is worthwhile.
- Success will be delivering real tangible benefits for residents and businesses - and that is the prize. Failure would be our inability to put together a strong devolution bid that benefits residents and businesses.
- Need to be bold and make sure we demand what we need. Growth and prosperity are central.
- Strong and fair governance are needed but not at the expense of making progress – importantly, we need to work together and build confidence. Pragmatic and get on with it.
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Our destiny is in our hands: the onus is on us to lead our way through the challenges. We can take control and make progress. So let’s get on with it.
“There is much for us to do,
however, with the commitment in the room last Friday and the potential gains
for our residents and area it was evident we are now committed to working
together on the next phase when we meet again in July.”
On Monday
(18 April) five representatives of the 3SC bid will meet officials at HM
Treasury to discuss the Sussex and Surrey proposal in more detail.
The purpose of
the meeting is to further explore the economic proposals involved in the 3SC
bid, which has growth and prosperity at its core. The region is a major
contributor to the UK economy and can offer even more with greater control of
infrastructure and skills provision.
This would
entail increased fiscal autonomy – with more decisions on how to spend within
the 3SC region being taken at the local level. Ideas for how this could be
achieved in the 3SC bid, which has a fiscal programme as one of its key
workstreams, will form the basis of discussion with the Treasury.
Meanwhile, the
3SC partnership will continue to have discussions with the Department for Communities
and Local Government, which have already been productive and successful.
Support from both government departments will be essential to a successful bid.
An update from
the meeting will be included in the next newsletter.
Creaking
infrastructure, unfunded and growing demands on public services and a
population that will balloon to 3 million by 2037 are three of the drivers
behind the 3SC devolution bid.
3SC, a
partnership of borough, county and district councils and partners in Surrey and
Sussex, is calling for a devolution deal with government that will improve
outcomes, increase growth, enhance productivity and transform public services.
The
partnership’s initial pitch to government earlier this year got the green
light. The meeting with Baroness Williams, Parliamentary under Secretary of
State, was described as “extremely positive”.
3SC was
encouraged to carry out further work, and to continue discussions with
government, before making a final submission.
The devolution
proposals, if accepted, will deliver four key outcomes across three counties:
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Improve road, rail and
digital networks.
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Increase and improve the
range of housing.
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Improve the skills offer,
helping to meet business and organisations’ needs.
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Secure a share in the
financial proceeds of growth to invest in improved infrastructure.
Mustering a
large partnership creates a significant workload. The devolution programme is
being steered by a Strategic Oversight Group (SOG) chaired by the chief
executive of Surrey County Council, David McNulty.
The SOG
provides strategic direction to the programme under the political steer of
council leaders. Two reference groups support SOG, with chief executives from
all partner authorities represented. Political leadership is exercised through
regular meetings of council leaders.
The detail
around the emerging final bid is being fleshed out in six work streams. These
cover key areas of work associated with the bid: double devolution; governance;
housing and planning; fiscal; infrastructure; and skills. Each work stream has
a chief executive sponsor and lead officer.
A
Communication and Engagement Group, which sees communications professionals
from boroughs, counties and districts working together, has been established to
support the work of the SOG and work streams. West Sussex County Council leads
this group.
The Programme
Office, which is run by Surrey County Council, ensures that the overall
programme functions efficiently and manages all key documentation.
Authority to
sign off the final bid to government rests with partner authorities. These will
have a final say on whether their council will be part of the final submission.
More detailed information
on our devolution proposals is available here in the form of:
We hope you find this newsletter useful.
If you have questions or comments, you can get in touch at
3SCdevolution@eastsussex.gov.uk
If you’ve been forwarded
this newsletter and would like to sign up to receive future editions, sign
up here.
All the best,
The 3SC communications
team
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