Draft Combined Authorities (Borrowing) Regulations 2018

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Monday 23rd April 2018 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Jake Berry)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Combined Authorities (Borrowing) Regulations 2018.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Ryan—I believe for the first time—and to learn just before this sitting that you were the northern powerhouse before it was even invented.

The regulations, which were laid before the House on 12 March 2018, will implement a commitment, made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to extend the borrowing powers of mayoral combined authorities that have agreed debt caps with Her Majesty’s Treasury. The extension of borrowing powers is an essential further step for mayoral combined authorities in England, which wish to be able to invest in economically productive infrastructure, giving local government the tools necessary to stimulate local economic growth and, crucially, productivity.

At present, primary legislation provides that mayoral combined authorities can borrow only for transport functions, with the exception of Greater Manchester, which inherited its predecessor organisations’ borrowing powers in relation to its fire, police and waste functions. In comparison, a local authority may borrow for any purpose relevant to its functions or for prudent management of its financial affairs.

The Chancellor announced in the 2016 autumn statement that he would extend mayoral combined authorities’ borrowing powers. That followed commitments made in the devolution deals with each mayoral combined authority, which consider that their limited borrowing powers could weaken their ability to drive and deliver growth for the people they have the privilege of representing.

The draft regulations confer additional borrowing powers on the six mayoral combined authorities to allow them to borrow in relation to all their existing functions. The six mayoral combined authorities include: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, under the leadership of its Mayor, James Palmer; Greater Manchester, under the leadership of Andy Burnham; Liverpool City Region, under the leadership of Steve Rotheram; Tees Valley, under the leadership of Ben Houchen; the West of England, under the leadership of Tim Bowles; and the West Midlands, under the leadership of Andy Street.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Minister and I both hope that there will be more elected Mayors in future, and certainly there will be one in Sheffield, and possibly others in Yorkshire. Will we have to come back here again, or will these regulations also cover the new authorities?

[Jake Berry]

I have a bottle of fizzy water on ice, ready for the outcome of the election of the Mayor in South Yorkshire—I hope it is a Conservative. If by some chance a Labour Mayor is elected, he will not be affected by these regulations. These regulations, if approved today, are the secondary step that Parliament will take to agree the additional borrowing powers if—and only if—they agree the debt cap with the Treasury.