West of England Mayor

[whole diary]

[simonw]

It appears that George Osborne, in todays budget announced a West Of England Mayor (source Guardian Online).

Does he mean, Bristol Metro area, Avon or something else?

What of transport?

Could be a interesting few days, and what of the current Bristol Mayor elections?

[ChrisB]

He's announced various cities & Mayor schemes

[JayMac]

Just after the Bath and North East Somerset electorate voted in a referendum and turned down the idea of an elected Mayor. 79% said no on a 29% turnout. BANES folk probably saw what's happened next door.

Bristol's electorate hardly gave a ringing endorsement to an elected Mayor in their referendum. 53% said yes on a 24% turnout.

In Bristol, after the honeymoon period, it is becoming abundantly apparent that city councillors don't like the idea of having a council leader foisted on them. Particularly one with no party affiliation.

All other areas that had Mayoral referenda in 2012 said no. Does George Osborne seriously believe the electorate are any less apathetic this time round?

[ChrisB]

He's put more money on the table this time, plus extra devolved responsibility

[simonw]

Not sure if GF^▸ (Ground Frame) , or local authorities had any real say in the matter.

The government offloads a bundle of cash and loads of responsibility to a logical authority to cover an area.

My issue is that I want transport fixed in the whole Bristol area by an integrated mixture of Rail, Bus, Light Rail, Tram, Subway and Cycle Paths.

As things stand, we have a vague announcement, with no details of timescales, geographic area, responsibilities and abilities to raise extra cash if needed.

[ChrisB]

oh, the details will all be there, just buried in acres of paper....wait a while and everything will become clearer

[Red Squirrel]

oh, the details will all be there, just buried in acres of paper....wait a while and everything will become clearer

Greater Bristol West of England deal outlined here.

Rail is mentioned:

The West of England Combined Authority will bring forward alternative proposals for the management of current and new rail stations in the Combined Authority area (i.e.the areas of the constituent councils). If any of these proposals would lead  to  the  transfer  of  any  rail  station  or  infrastructure  assets  to  the  Combined Authority,  the  Combined  authority  will  be  obliged to  bring  forward  a  business case for consideration by the government.

Not very exciting really. Did I miss something? Are we heading back to the Avon-esque situation where left/green-leaning Bristol will be hamstrung by its right-leaning neighbours?

[simonw]

Avon had control of Education, Transport and a few other bits. Local authorities everything else.

As I remember the Avon Metro was backed by Avon Council, bill of Parliament passed and funding addressed, when another arm of government abolished Avon Council. None of the new authorities had money raising powers or the inclination to carry the scheme forward, hence the light rail system was lost and the mess we are in now.

[SandTEngineer]

...mmm.  Well I thought that I lived in the West of England (Devon).....oh cancel that, I have just remembered that I now live in the Western Peninsula, wherever that might be

[Red Squirrel]

...mmm.  Well I thought that I lived in the West of England (Devon).....oh cancel that, I have just remembered that I now live in the Western Peninsula, wherever that might be

If it helps, I too think that where you live is the West of England.

It's a strange old world where you have to pretend that there's a city called 'West of England' to appease the good burghers of Thornburyshire. If Salford folk can stomach living in Greater manchester, then Saltford folk ought to be grown-up enough to admit that they live in Greater Bristol. But apparantly not.

If you want an example of how well Avon worked, let's talk about fallen leaves: Dry leaves were litter, and therefore the responsibility of the local authority, e.g. Bristol. Wet leaves were a traffic hazard, and therefore fell within the remit of the Highways Authority, i.e. Avon. Imagine the fun when the weather was changeable and budgets were short...

[Surrey 455]

Is this like the elections for new police commissioners that most people couldn't see the point of voting in? The police should be led by someone qualified to do so, not a lay person with no experience who got elected on the basis of their political leanings / loud mouths.

[Tim]

In Bristol, after the honeymoon period, it is becoming abundantly apparent that city councillors don't like the idea of having a council leader foisted on them. Particularly one with no party affiliation. [my emphasis]

precisely why I voted for a Mayor in Bath.   

[simonw]

Its shame that instead of West Of England Mayor the government had not created a West Of England Transport Board with total responsibility for

all local trains that travel through the area
all local bus routes that travel through the area
developing a full integrated transport system
ability to collect local funding to implement local transport infrastructure

whilst a local mayor may deliver an integrated transport system, there is no guarantee.