transport, housing, and skills programmes

projects is just the start of bringing that to fruition.

“The East Midlands has long been overlooked in terms of funding. This deal can offer Derby and our wider region real opportunities for much needed investment, which we are starting to see already.”

David Mellen, Leader of Nottingham City Council, said:

“It’s important that we reduce the number of homeless families and individuals in B&Bs and support them into housing, so it is great that this £2 million will help create a new long-term private rental scheme in Nottingham City and Derby City.

“This is just the start of the investment the region would get with this deal. Devolution gives us the opportunity to bring in more money and to fund more projects like these for the benefit of Nottingham and the whole region.

“We will continue to champion the city and the East Midlands area to get the investment we need. The Devolution deal collectively will help create jobs and training opportunities and improve transport infrastructure and create more homes for local people.”

Devolution would mean a new guaranteed funding stream for our region of £38 million a year over a 30-year period. Covering Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Derby, and Nottingham, the devolved area would cover around 2.2 million people, making it one of the biggest in the country.

The devolution deal includes an extra £16 million for new homes on brownfield land and control over a range of budgets like the Adult Education Budget, which could be better tailored to the needs of people in our communities.

The regional mayor would lead a new combined authority, which would include representatives from existing local councils, with decision making powers and resources moving from London to the East Midlands. Local businesses would also have a voice, as well as other organisations.

Devolution would not mean scrapping or merging local councils, which would all continue to exist as they do now and would still be responsible for most public services in the area. The mayor and combined authority would instead focus on wider issues like transport, regeneration, and employment across both cities and counties.

The public consultation on devolution, open to residents, businesses, community groups and other organisations, took place from 14 November to the 9 January. For more information, please visit www.eastmidlandsdevolution.co.uk.