THE WEST of England has secured new powers to make more decisions locally.
The landmark English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act is great news for our transport, strategic planning, economic development, and health services – just like the overnight visitor levy (or ‘tourism tax’) powers, which are similarly set to come our way.
Important decisions in these areas will be made for people who live and work here, by people who also live and work here.
We want the West to be somewhere everyone can grow and thrive. Our Child Poverty Action Plan is focused on reducing the cost of living for families, supporting children, connecting our young people and families to opportunity and services, and pioneering new approaches for children and families.
In May, I announced that Kids Go Free will return on our buses until 2029 for every summer, Christmas, and Easter school holiday. Journeys from low-income areas doubled year-on-year thanks to the offer. That is alongside our regional fare freeze, which will keep children’s regular bus fares fixed at £1 until 2029.
Last month we launched our Child Poverty Partnership Board. Across our region 67,500 children are growing up in poverty – enough to fill Ashton Gate, the Memorial Stadium, Twerton Park and the Bath Rec at the same time, and more.
These numbers will fall dramatically with the abolition of the two-child benefit cap, making families in our region £23 million better off.
We also have big ambitions to get our region moving. I visited the new Charfield station, which is under construction, in May; it will be so exciting to see passenger trains return to this part of South Gloucestershire for the first time in 60 years when it opens next spring. Bristol Brabazon is also taking shape and is set to open this autumn.
The contract for building new stations in Portishead and Pill was also signed recently – a historic moment for the whole of the West of England. Through this new £200 million train line, the West of England and North Somerset can connect more people to work, nature, and leisure.
It seems particularly fitting this should happen at the same time as North Somerset Council have voted to join the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.
We already work closely together on so many projects, so this feels like a natural next step.
With our region’s geography soon to match the reality of life here, which doesn’t stop at council boundaries, we are in a great position to secure even more funding and deliver more change that people can see and feel.
I’m thrilled to announce that Councillor Tony Dyer, the leader of Bristol City Council, is my new deputy mayor for the next 12 months – the first appointment of a Green Party politician as deputy mayor of any combined authority.
I’m very grateful for the support and dedication of Cllr Kevin Guy over the past year, and will continue to work with all our council leaders across our region as we start this new chapter, with the role rotating each year.