Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when legislative provision will be made for the (a) establishment of the role of metro mayor for the West Midlands Combined Authority, (b) cancellation of the Police and Crime Commissioner election in the West Midlands and (c) establishment of the West Midlands Combined Authority.

James Wharton

As stated in the devolution deal agreement which my rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced on 17 November 2015, we intend the first election for a West Midlands metro mayor to be held in May 2017, subject to the passage of the necessary legislation through Parliament.

As that agreement also explains, there will be local consideration of the appropriate relationship between the functions of a mayor and the police and crime commissioner role; at this stage there has been no decision to transfer police and crime commissioner functions to an elected Mayor for the West Midlands and there are no plans to cancel the 2016 police and crime commissioner election in the West Midlands.

As to the establishment of the West Midlands Combined Authority, we are currently considering the governance review and scheme for a combined authority which the West Midlands councils published in October 2015, before undertaking any statutory consultation on establishing that Authority, as required by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009.