Mayor 'vetoes' North Somerset council joining combined authority

A proposal for North Somerset Council to join the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) is being vetoed by Bristol's mayor, it has been claimed.

The leaders of three councils have accused Marvin Rees of "putting party politics before doing the right thing for the region".

North Somerset wants to join Weca which currently represents three of the four councils in the greater Bristol area.

Mr Rees said he supported the move if there was a "clear financial offer".

Weca is currently made up of three of the councils in the region - Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol City and South Gloucestershire.

It is understood North Somerset Council joining could potentially see up to £900m of additional funding brought to the region.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Toby Savage, Dine Romero and Don Davies, who are in charge of South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset councils respectively, and metro mayor Tim Bowles, said "party politics had got in the way".

In a joint statement they said: "We are bitterly disappointed that residents right across the region are being refused the chance to potentially see hundreds of millions of pounds of additional investment brought to the west of England because the mayor of Bristol is putting party politics before doing the right thing for the region.

"Despite early agreements among all of the west of England's leaders that it is the right thing to do for the region, we regret that party politics has got in the way."

The leaders had been in discussions with the government about Weca's proposed expansion, but these have now stopped because political consensus to begin the first stage of the formal process fell through.

"We are ready to restart these conversations as soon as there is a political consensus to do what we all know is the right thing and in the best interests of everyone in the region," they added.

Mr Rees said: "This was an ongoing internal debate and should have remained so.

"I support the expansion of Weca to include North Somerset but only when there is a clear financial offer that benefits Bristol and the West of England economy."

He added that Weca had not been able to achieve clarity from the government on a financial settlement for the region.

"The failings of Weca governance have already meant Bristol has not had enough support for our plans and has failed to recognise that Bristol is the economic hub of the region.

"A strong Bristol economy drives a strong West of England economy."

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