Council leader calls out "frankly incorrect" rumours over devolution meaning council merger

Council leaders have quashed rumours and confirmed that there are no plans for Staffordshire Moorlands to become part of Stoke-on-Trent following a potential future devolution deal for Staffordshire. 

Currently the government is currently preparing an English Devolution Bill, and has invited local leaders to come forward with ideas for their areas. The leaders of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Staffordshire County Council, and the county’s eight district councils which form the  Staffordshire Leaders Board have now written to the government to start devolution talks.

However in recent months there have been rumours that a devolution deal could involve the merger of the Moorlands with another council, namely Stoke-on-Trent City Council. However Staffordshire Moorlands District Council leader, Mike Gledhill said these were “frankly incorrect.” 

He said:“There have been one or two things said by individuals in the last few months that have been frankly incorrect and this is the opportunity to make those points crystal clear. We didn’t talk about some of the rumours at the time simply because we respected the confidentiality of the leaders board to get a statement over the line to the government by the due date and after that we’re able to say a little bit more about it.

“In this expression of interest it says very clearly that devolution does not involve changes to council boundaries or involve any form of local government reorganisation. There’s an expectation that devolution would come with extra funding from government that’s not available for existing local authorities. 

“So no devolution deal, no extra money and we want that extra money in order to boost our local economy and raise living standards.”

One of the key areas that were mentioned in the recent cabinet meeting was investment in and improvement to public transport which can be unlocked through a devolution deal. It was confirmed that all political groups at the district council have agreed a strategy for the council.

However the possibility of an elected mayor for the region was ruled out. Councillor Gledhill added: “There’s a clear view amongst the leaders of Staffordshiree that an elected mayor is not necessary in our devolution deal. There are several reasons, perhaps the prime one is we already have a system of local government that involves three tiers, our valuable town and parish councils, our district councils and the county council.

“An elected mayor would bring a fourth tier of government and that we feel we’ve got enough strength across the leaders board and across the chief executives to do devolution our way without a mayor.”