Isle of Wight vote against Solent devolution plan

A DEAL to bring more devolved powers to the Solent has been dealt a setback.

By The Newsroom

Published 20th Oct 2016, 10:03 BST

Updated 25th Oct 2016, 19:56 BST

The Solent devolution bid, which will see Portsmouth, Southampton and Isle of Wight councils join up to get more powers for central government, was voted down by councillors on the Isle of Wight last night.

Councillors narrowly voted the deal out, however the final decision will be taken by the council’s executive next week.

Southampton City Council voted in favour of the move last night, as did Portsmouth City Council last week,

The final decision will be made by the government.

Councillor Donna Jones, leader of Portsmouth City Council, said she was pleased to see Southampton backing the deal and she was optimistic of it being backed by the Isle of Wight’s executive.

Cllr Jones said: ‘I am very optimistic about the future. I am looking forward to gaining greater power and having an extra £30m per year from government to spend on infrastructure and creating jobs.’