Budget to Give Liverpool City Region More Powers and Cash

Liverpool City Region is due to receive more power and more money under government plans that Chancellor John Healey will put into Wednesday's Budget, his first. Healey and Prime Minister Andy Burnham say the aim is to end a culture of communities going "cap in hand" to Westminster.

The Budget will make what ministers call a "downpayment" on the plan. It confirms Good Growth funding for local leaders, among them Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram. They would be free to invest in what they see as local priorities for growth without asking Whitehall for permission. The Treasury says that could mean new homes where they are needed, empty shops and left-behind high streets brought back to life, or better transport links.

Where the money comes from

An initial £285 million of transitional seed funding is to be allocated next year to support mayors and local leaders across England. It is meant to reduce reliance on scattered bidding pots run from Whitehall. Areas that are not yet strategic authorities will be able to claim a share during the transitional period.

The government will also work with mayors to design a new £1.5 billion borrowing facility, available from 2028, for priority projects in their areas. Strategic authorities get a further £150 million next year to build up their capacity and expertise as they take on more powers, bigger budgets and more complex investment programmes.

Healey said: "Local people have the right to decide their own future. The North West is full of potential - but it has gone untapped and wasted while money and power has been held in Westminster."

Rotheram said devolution "isn't an end in itself" but a way to give places like his the tools to create good jobs, build decent homes and put more money in people's pockets. He added that he was pleased to have a government willing to push the region further "with real investment, new powers and greater freedom to deliver".

The Budget will also back the North's ambition to host the Olympic Games in the 2040s. UK Sport is to be commissioned to carry out a full feasibility study, which is expected to report in 2029.

Source: Liverpool Echo