Inaugural meeting of the new Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority takes place in Warrington Youth Zone as chair tells LBN: ‘whatever we do is for the future of our young people’. Tony McDonough reports

A new era of devolution has begun in Cheshire and the chair of the new Combined Authority has told LBN she wants to give the region’s young people “a voice at the table”.

Louise Gittins, who is also leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, spoke to LBN following what she described as a “brilliant’ first meeting of the Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority (CWCA).

Cllr Gittins said the three local authorities, Cheshire East Council, Cheshire West and Chester Council and Warrington Borough Council, had been pushing the Government for devolution for 10 years.

However, unlike neighbouring Liverpool city region and Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Warrington had not secured Combined Authority status – until now. It is a diverse region, stretching from the Peak District in the east to Ellesmere Port on the edge of Wirral.

In 2027, a Mayor will be elected to head up the CWCA and he or she will sit alongside Liverpool city region’s Steve Rotheram and Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham (unless he returns to Parliament) to form a powerful devolved alliance in the North West.

There has long been a view that the conurbation covering Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cheshire could be an economic powerhouse to rival London and the South East if given enough freedom and Government support.

“We have worked with Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham for a few years but with us now becoming a Combined Authority that has given them the confidence to involve them even more with our thinking,” said Cllr Gittens.

“This year we will be pulling together those business cases to see how we can move forward with those big regional growth opportunities.

“Cheshire West and Cheshire East used to be Cheshire County Council and various districts so we still have shared services. Our devolution journey actually started 10 years ago and we all came together as three local authorities to get devolution.

“We have never got it over the line until now but we were very active in our Enterprise Partnership, working very closely together. To get devolution over the line has meant we have had to support each other. I think we have a really good, strong relationship.”

This first meeting came after the region was given the government green light in March to form the CWCA and take control over powers related to transport, skills and investment including a 30-year investment fund worth £20m a year (£10m in the first year).

Once a Mayor is elected he or she will, says the CWCA, “have a voice on the national and international stage” and will “bang the drum” for a region home to almost 1m people.

It also has national strengths in clean energy, life sciences and advanced manufacturing, 41,000 businesses, and a £4bn tourism economy.

“Our first meeting was brilliant and we held it at the Warrington Youth Zone and that really stressed our intent about working with young people and putting them at the heart of what we are doing,” she added.

“Before the meeting we met with some of the kids who came here and we talked to them about their hopes and dreams. It was really good and one of the things that really came out clearly was that they want their voice to be heard at the table.

“They want people to be listening to them and we are happy to do that because whatever we do is for their future.”

In the decade or so since they secured devolution, Liverpool city region and Greater Manchester have gradually accrued more powers. Steve Rotheram has only just secured a single funding settlement, freeing him from some of the Whitehall funding shackles.

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Cllr Gittens is hopeful that, as part of new Government legislation, CWCA’s devolution evolution will be accelerated.

She explained: “You will see in the new bill there is something about the ambition for all new mayoral authorities to get to the same level as places such as Liverpool city region. But we need to show our competence. That may take two or three years.”

Transport and housing are two big areas where she believes the Combined Authority can make a big impact in a relatively short period of time. There is a focus on existing transport hubs such as Chester Gateway and Warrington Bank Quay and utilising brownfield land around them for new homes.

“Because of the way funding works each of their local authorities has their own strategic transport plan and we will be working to develop a plan for the region. Bus franchising is going to be really important,” she said.

“We already work closely with Liverpool city region and Greater Manchester over transport because buses don’t stop at borders. Steve’s buses come into Cheshire West and the Bee Network comes to Cheshire East.

“Buses and transport are really big issues for the people we have spoken to so that is something that could quite quickly make a tangible difference to people.”

Skills will also be a critical focus for the CWCA, with a particular emphasis on green skills. Cheshire is home to the multi-billion pound HyNet hydrogen and carbon capture and storage project and Cllr Gittens is keen that it benefits the region’s workforce.

We have had some funding for skills but we are at the stage now where we have been working on our strategies that we have been developing for the past year to actually try to lever in some extra monies and extra powers.

“We have been part of a skills pilot with the Department for Education. We looked at short, medium and long-term green skills and we got some funding to run skills bootcamps to upskill people in the net zero industry.

“We have agreed with Liverpool city region and Greater Manchester that we all need to work together across the region and not compete over who delivers what. Ensuring people get the skills they need in the right place at the right time.”