Today (Wednesday, 5 February) the Government has confirmed that the Kent and Medway region has not been selected for the Devolution Priority Programme.
Commenting on the announcement, Cllr Vince Maple, Leader of Medway Council said:
“It is bitterly disappointing to learn today that the Kent and Medway region has not been selected for the Devolution Priority Programme. We believe that we had a very strong case to offer and had unanimous support across all 14 councils for our proposal and had made it clear to Government that we were ready and willing to meet its ambitious timeline and work towards a mayoral election in Kent in 2026.
“The rationale for the decision by government needs further explanation and clarity which I will be seeking.
“This decision that other parts of England will have priority access to resources and devolved opportunities that will be denied to the 1.9million people of Kent and Medway is particularly frustrating.
“I welcome Jim McMahon’s praise for the work that Kent and Medway had put into our submission and for the positive and cooperative way all councils across our region had worked together to put forward our application to be part of the Devolution Priority Programme. I wish to personally thank hard working officers and councillors from across our region for the effort they put into this process.
“We are encouraged that the Government has confirmed that they will continue to work with us as they remain committed to rolling out devolution to the rest of the country and we are confident that we will begin the process in our region before too long.
“In the meantime, we will make best use of this pause to learn from the experience of others, and we wish our local government colleagues and their regions in the next wave of devolution all the very best in this process.”