This update covers the latest developments on devolution, local government reform and the Lower Thames Crossing and draws attention to an international trade conference aimed at exporters which some members may wish to attend.
On these and any other issues, including general economic conditions and the impacts of the recent Budget, we will want to truly reflect members’ views so please do not hesitate to contact Iain McNab, Head of Policy at the Chambers at iainmcnab@essexchambers.co.uk or on 07929 522 951 if you wish to find out more, discuss or comment on any of this. We very much welcome your input.
Devolution for Essex
We continue to be engaged in how the process set out in the Devolution White Paper unfolds and we wrote a letter to the Leaders of Essex councils to express our support for the direction of travel i.e. towards a mayoral authority, linked with reform of local government into a series of new unitary authorities replacing the current county council and districts.
You can review the government English Devolution White paper here.
This has big implications for Essex, which currently comprises two unitary (i.e. single tier) authorities in Thurrock and Southend, a county council (upper tier) and twelve districts (lower tier). The ambition will be, over time, to abolish the county council and districts and move to a fully ‘unitarised’ county. Essex needs to submit outline proposals for local government reform by May 2025 so the discussions will be well underway around the county on what the future might look like. They will pick up in earnest if Essex is included in the government’s ‘priority programme’ on devolution. Details of which areas are to be included in that are yet to be announced but in the north-east of Essex three districts – Colchester, Braintree and Tendring - have already stated their ambition to join together to form a new unitary authority.
On the face of it, this would be good fit as their combined population is around 500,000, which is the government’s preferred ideal size. This would imply that Essex could in theory be divided into four similarly sized unitary authorities. But there are many ways to slice the cake and agreeing a new geography is likely to be difficult. One might suppose that those three together plus three additional unitaries based on SE, SW and NW Essex would perhaps be logical – but maybe five would be the right number if projected housing growth is taken into account.
Our position at the Chambers will be neutral on the geography at this stage. We will want to see what emerges by way of consensus among the local authorities. However, it’s very important that whatever the final proposed shape is determined to be it is sensible and works for business as well as residents – and we’d be very interested to hear members’ views, please.
What will be devolved to local areas under devolution deals?
The idea is to transfer responsibility away from central government in the following areas:
- transport and local infrastructure
- skills and employment support (key here is the LSIP, which the Chambers has led on)
- housing and strategic planning
- economic development and regeneration
- environment and climate change
- health, wellbeing and public service reform
- public safety
Greater Essex Business Board
This new advisory board, which includes strong representation from Essex Chambers, was set up to help set the priorities and direction for economic growth in Essex and will meet for the second time on 7 February. It will contribute to the production of an Essex Local Growth Plan, which will be an expression of the national Industrial Strategy as it applies to Essex (the English Devolution Bill, will create a statutory requirement for all Mayoral Strategic Authorities to produce a Local Growth Plan, setting out a long-term vision for growth in their region over the next decade and a roadmap for how this can be achieved).
Do please feed any views or comments in to Iain McNab or Denise Rossiter at Essex Chambers.
You can review the Industrial Strategy launch here.
Lower Thames Crossing (LTC)
The Chambers has been a strong supporter of the need for a new river crossing to relieve congestion at Dartford and open up new economic opportunities in Essex and beyond. A significant step forward was made on 29 January when the Chancellor made clear in her speech on economic growth that the government wants the crossing to be built and is exploring ways of bringing private finance into the funding package. This is not the final hurdle as a decision on the development consent order (DCO) is due in May but it’s a very strong indication that the project will go ahead and therefore very welcome.
International Trade
Boosting international trade is a priority and the British Chambers of Commerce, to which we are affiliated, is holding a ‘Driving International Trade’ conference, on 20 March in central London. Key speakers include Baroness Poppy Gustafsson CBE, Minister for Investment, and John Denton, Secretary General of the ICC, alongside Ambassadors and officials from Australia, Germany, Turkey, the EU, Southeast Asia, and India. We have a number of members who are significant exporters so we encourage interested members who export to apply to attend the conference and help shape the future of trade via this expression of interest form, designed for exporters with significant activity or high turnover.