Leaders across Lancashire are back in discussions with Government ministers over a devolution deal after a positive meeting last week.
Fourteen of the 15 Lancashire councils agreed to form a ‘Lancashire Leaders’ partnership, which will see them look to strike a deal with Government, which could devolve power and money from Whitehall.
The latest move is a great step forward for the county after negotiations to create a Combined Authority broke down last year.
Councillor Geoff Driver CBE, Leader of Lancashire County Council and chair of the Lancashire Leaders group, said: “All the leaders know it is in the best interests of the county to work better together but the important thing is that we get the mechanism for how we do that right.
Each of the council leaders, with the exception of Fylde Borough Council, agreed on a set of principles that will lead to a Lancashire Strategy, terms for a devolution deal and a new set of governance arrangements.
“We had the leaders from all councils, except Fylde, at the meeting and while it’d be great to have everyone around the table they are keeping a close eye on what’s happening and as we drive this forward I hope they will join our group and take an active part in shaping the future of Lancashire,” said Councillor Driver.
“We’ve let the Government know about the progress we are making and we’re just waiting to hear back to see how they would like to progress discussions around a devolution deal.
Each of the leaders will be taking these proposals back to their respective councils to update colleagues and get ratification on the updated plans as required.