Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether shire counties, including Staffordshire, can receive devolved additional powers without an elected mayor; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing other governance models to enable shire counties to exercise those powers.

For all places across England, including shire counties, who are interested in pursuing a new devolution deal, a mayor will not be a pre-requisite. However, we do believe that high-profile, directly elected leaders (such as a mayor) will be most effective for levelling up: providing a single point of accountability to local citizens, acting as a champion for their areas and attracting investment and opportunity to their places. As such, the most comprehensive devolution package will only be available to areas with a directly elected mayor. The devolution framework - published in the Levelling Up White Paper - sets a clear and consistent set of devolution pathways for places, enabling them to widen and deepen their devolved powers subject to meeting certain pre-conditions.