West Midlands Mayor Andy Street: Government paralysis has left region's plans in limbo
Levelling up plans for the West Midlands have been left in limbo due to government "paralysis", Andy Street said today.
In a direct plea to new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the West Midlands Mayor called for more powers on a local level to end the region's "dependency on London funding".
He said the current system had created a "bottleneck for decision making" and reiterated his long-standing call for greater devolution to the regions.
Mr Street said he has been through four Prime Ministers in five years since taking office. He urged Mr Sunak to "reach out to the regions" to spur growth.
He also called on the new PM to honour the West Midlands' trailblazer devolution deal – negotiated when Boris Johnson was in Number 10 – to allow greater powers over homes, education and careers.
Mr Street said: "Given the intense challenges facing the West Midlands, we want to get on and take the decisions needed to deliver for people here.
"We do this as best we can, but without the powers, the cash, and the responsibility we are hamstrung."
Mr Street, who backed Liz Truss in last summer's Tory leadership contest, said he was frustrated that so many decisions were "dependent on Number 10’s seal of approval".
He said a bid for cash to build more affordable homes on brownfield land "remains stuck after months of negotiations", while plans for investment zones still had "no guarantee" of the 25-year business rate growth retention needed to make them work.
"These are practical steps to make a real tangible difference to people’s lives, but have got stuck without urgency in the Westminster machine," he added.
"I’ve no doubt the new government will address them, but the fundamental point is are they really decisions that need to be taken at a national level?
"They are local decisions that can, and should, be taken in the West Midlands."
Mr Street also called on the PM to "unite the whole country" by embracing the levelling up agenda.
"The Prime Minister has inherited the 2019 mandate," he said. "And now his Government has to deliver on the levelling up promise."
