Bath business leaders have joined calls for regional politicians to urgently unite the West of England by allowing North Somerset to join its powerful combined authority.
North Somerset Council declined to become part of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) when it was set up in 2016.
Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire had already agreed to be included in WECA, which has strategic and spending powers in key areas such as transport, infrastructure planning, housing and skills training.
Business West Chamber and Initiative, the regional business organisation representing thousands of local employers and which includes Bath Chamber of Commerce and the Bath & North East Somerset Initiative, said the continued absence of North Somerset had ‘fractured’ the region at a time when it needed a united voice to ensure it received its fair share of government support for the post-Covid economic recovery.
Under central government rules, North Somerset cannot be accepted into WECA after this year – meaning, according to Business West, time is now running out to give the region a more powerful voice.
Bath businesses were key in a campaign waged over many years to persuade central government to set up WECA and so bring to the West of England some of the devolved powers and funding enjoyed by Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.
North Somerset’s towns include Weston-super-Mare, Portishead, Nailsea and Clevedon. It also includes Bristol Airport and parts of Bristol Port – both key elements of the region’s infrastructure.
Business West director James Durie, pictured, said: “North Somerset is an integral part of the West of England region – it has thousands of businesses that work and operate here and deep connections between employees, visitors and the rest of the region.
“Local businesses don’t want to see fractured local government, but want leaders working together to make the strongest case for regional investment, co-ordination and jointly tackling the problems that businesses and communities face.”
He said most now viewed the failure of North Somerset to join WECA in 2016 as a significant mistake, including residents, businesses and the current leadership of North Somerset Council.
“We should now warmly welcome them wanting to join. We know the current arrangements are highly unsatisfactory, create confusing and overlapping governance arrangements that make it harder to co-ordinate regional efforts for greater prosperity and making the case for increased transport, skills and infrastructure investment,” he said.
“With increased competition for central government resources from other Northern city regions and the growing economic strain from Covid-19 being felt by our region, we believe that a more powerful case can be made with North Somerset in WECA.
“We want and need a strong and joined up region to fully prosper, help us make the argument for further investment and pull together most effectively. We call on the local leaders of WECA and the four authorities to work together to deliver this outcome.”
The leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council, along with the leader of South Gloucestershire and the Mayor of Bristol sit on WECA, which is headed by an elected ‘metro’ mayor.
