Vikki Slade MP Demands Fair Funding for Wessex After Mayoral Elections Cancelled — Dorset and BCP Lose Out on £300m

Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, Vikki Slade, along with her colleagues, yesterday challenged the Government over the decision to cancel the upcoming Mayoral Elections planned in parts of England.

The move means there will now be a two-year delay before the affected areas elect Mayors — yet those regions will still receive part of the new funding which comes with the Mayoralties. Dorset [which would have had a Mayor as part of Wessex] was excluded from the original Mayoral programme after the Government said the area was “not ready”, leaving the region without access to the additional investment.

Vikki is now demanding that the funding is redistributed fairly to areas such as Dorset, arguing that the justification for restricting funding only to areas with Mayors no longer applies if those elections are being suspended.

Speaking during the debate on the Devolution Bill, she asked Ministers:

“Can she confirm that those areas excluded from wave one of the programme, like Wessex, will now be able to access funding, given that we were told the reason we couldn’t have any funding was we hadn’t a Mayor."

"Now that the Mayors don’t exist, that money should be given to other areas like Wessex as well.”

Despite her calls, the Minister refused to commit to making funding available to regions outside the first wave of the programme.

Vikki Slade, has extensive experience in this area, having served on the English Devolution Bill Committee where the Government’s proposals were scrutinised and as the former Leader of BCP Council, she said:

“It is shocking that despite months of assuring the country that elections would go ahead, the government has performed another U-Turn, claiming that there is insufficient time to reorganise the affected councils and move forward with the new Mayors. Whilst this does not directly affect us, one of the reasons given for Wessex Combined Authorities not being part of Wave One of the Devolution Programme was that it was not ready."

This decision shows that the Government themselves rushed the programme and as a result, Wessex – which is made up of BCP Council, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire – was denied huge levels of funding.

Documents issued by both local councils estimate that the combined authority area could have accessed an additional £300m. During last week’s Parliamentary debate on devolution, Vikki highlighted that this is equivalent to £160 per resident of Wessex — meaning missed business opportunities, stalled education investment and slower progress on vital transport improvements.

Vikki Slade reiterated her call for the Government to ensure that funds being allocated to the delayed Mayoral areas are redistributed fairly — and that Wessex communities are finally able to access their fair share of investment.