City mayors to be scrapped in Plymouth

But referendum could still take place

A question mark hangs over whether a referendum will take place in Plymouth next month after the government confirmed that city mayors will be scrapped if a new act of parliament is passed.

Minister of state for local government and English devolution Jim McMahon said in a statement this week that Labour wants regulations to “freeze processes that are underway” as it plans to simplify local government.

He said the 13 directly elected local council mayors currently in place across the country would continue but no new ones would be created.

“We must ensure precious time and resources are not spent moving Plymouth to a new governance arrangement while parliament is considering legislation that would prevent new council mayors,” he said.

But whilst any election for a directly elected mayor in Plymouth has been delayed by a year to 2027 to allow the English Devolution Bill to pass through parliament, the referendum to decide whether Plymouth residents want a mayor instead of a council leader and cabinet could still go ahead on 17 July.

The government’s move is to avoid confusion caused by establishing new regional mayors for strategic authorities which are set to be at the top of a forthcoming change to local government structure.

These authorities would oversee a small number of unitary councils in Devon  responsible for all local services, and the current two tier structure of county and district councils would disappear.

The Mayor for Plymouth campaign, spearheaded by businessman Angus Forbes, got enough support from the public to trigger a referendum at the cost of £410,000.

Mr Forbes said it wanted strong accountable leadership directly chosen by all Plymouth voters with politics taking a back seat.

Earlier this year he said his interpretation of the white paper was that Plymouth could have an elected mayor provided it is part of a strategic authority.

A ‘coalition’ group called Plymouth Knows Better was set up to urge the public to vote against it in the referendum.

It said it welcomed the confirmation today from the minister that no new city mayors will be created.

“This decision confirms that the government won’t create any new city mayors – making Plymouth’s referendum not just unnecessary, but now entirely redundant,” it said

A spokesperson added: “Local people will be rightly angry that public money is being spent on a vanity project that never had any future, all because the lead petitioner and millionaire Mr Forbes wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“The cross-party Plymouth Knows Better coalition has, from the start, tried to inform people that this position was being scrapped – and today’s news proves we were right.”

Plymouth and Sutton MP Luke Pollard said the money should be spent on filling potholes or looking after children in care.

The Mayor for Plymouth campaign has not yet commented on the minister’s statement.