Cumberland Council and Westmorland & Furness Council have both responded positively to the news that Cumbria will be included in the Government’s Devolution Priority Programme.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner made a statement in Parliament this afternoon (Wednesday 5 February 2025) providing an update on the Government’s Devolution Priority Programme.
Cumbria has been included within the programme, alongside Cheshire and Warrington, Greater Essex, Hampshire and Solent, Norfolk and Suffolk, and Sussex and Brighton.
Leader of Cumberland Council. Cllr Mark Fryer, said:
"This is good news for Cumberland and Cumbria as a whole.
"Being included in this priority programme is a vote of confidence in our ability to drive investment and deliver for local communities.
"Devolution will unlock more funding and more powers for our area, with decisions being made in Cumbria rather than in London."
Westmorland and Furness Council Leader Cllr Jonathan Brook added:
“We are pleased the Government has recognised that Westmorland and Furness, and Cumbria as a whole, deserves this opportunity to drive forward economic growth by being included in the priority programme for devolution.
“This shows they share the confidence we have for the area and we now look forward to working with Government on making sure devolution will deliver the best results for the people and communities we represent.
“We encourage local people to respond to the Government’s soon to launch consultation as we will carefully consider local opinion before a final decision on establishing a strategic mayoral authority is made in the autumn.”
Both councils had agreed to join the Government’s Devolution Priority Programme.
The councils were invited to join the Priority Programme after earlier expressing interest in exploring what greater devolution of powers could mean in Cumbria. The new Government has set out its intention to widen devolution across England, giving regions more powers and decision-making over matters such as economic development, transport, employment support, planning, and housing.
The decisions pave the way for the next stages of looking at creating a new strategic authority for Cumbria with a directly elected Mayor. This will see a Government-led public consultation exercise held with both unitary councils then required to make a final decision later in the year.
