Combined Authorities: Finance
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which government funding streams have been available exclusively to Mayoral Combined Authorities since January 2024; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of this on areas without a devolution deal.
Answered by Jim McMahon
Most government funding streams delivered by Mayoral Combined (and Combined County) Authorities (MC(C)As) in England are devolved from national government. In areas where there is not yet a Combined Authority in place, national government continues to oversee these funds.
Several ongoing funding streams are targeted only at MC(C)As in England, but in certain circumstances are paid to a broader range of recipients including in the Devolved Administrations or local authorities.
Funds in England exclusive to MC(C)As include:
- Investment Funds (also known as ‘Gain Share’), which were agreed through Devolution Deals and support multiple themes including transport, infrastructure, skills, culture and enterprise & innovation within MC(C)As.
- City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (from 2022-2027; 8 MCAs were eligible). From 2027-2032 9 of the current 13 MCAs are eligible for its successor, the Transport for City Regions fund.
- The Department for Transport also provides a small number of grants to a subset of Mayoral Combined Authorities for the purposes of supporting transport networks specific to these areas; these grants generally pre-date current devolution arrangements.
The government has not commissioned analysis on the impacts of devolved funding to those without devolution agreements in England.
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