Failed £900m Solent mega-council deal branded a 'Whitehall bribe' by councils boss
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The outburst came from Councillor Roy Perry, who blasted the proposal which had almost united councils in Portsmouth, Southampton, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to receive a £900m windfall for the area over 30 years.
In a fiery shot at Downing Street, the former county council leader – who opposed the Solent Combined Authority devolution bid, which collapsed in 2016 – said the proposal would have made authorities ‘subservient’ puppets to Whitehall.
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Hide Ad‘That was not devolution,’ he said. ‘That’s dancing on the head of a pin to the paymasters in London who are telling you “yeah, you can have this so long as you do what we want”. That’s not devolution.
‘This was local government reorganisation and the government handing out bribes – some might say blackmail – to do what they wanted.
‘It was making us subservient to Whitehall, not autonomous.’
The Solent Combined Authority would have been headed by an elected mayor, with the government promising £30m a year in support to the area.
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Hide AdBut this proved a sticking point for Cllr Perry, who later backtracked on supporting the deal.
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Now the Tory – who is the chairman of the South East England Councils which oversees 74 local authorities – has demanded Boris Johnson to take action.
‘The Conservative Party’s manifesto commitment to deliver “full devolution” must see more town hall and less Whitehall – Boris now has to deliver,’ he added.
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Hide AdPushing for the radical overhaul, Cllr Perry said the separation of local government from Whitehall could help cash-strapped councils drum up more money and give people greater power in how their communities develop.
It could throw open the door to new ways of taxation, including things like a tourist tax for the region, he added.
Cllr Perry said: ‘In America, for example, you have things like a tourist tax and a sales tax and certainly given that the south of the country has a lot of tourists that could be a source of revenue that currently isn’t open… We’re certainly going to need to look at that.’
Outdated business rates for shop owners could also be overhauled if councils were given more devolved powers.
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Hide Ad‘Business rates date back to the Elizabethan poor law,’ he said. ‘Even the government has now come to realise that it’s time-expired and there needs to be a new tax. What about a tax on the big internet companies?
‘That’s something that will be looked at nationally but could maybe be looked at locally.’
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