The draft North Midlands Devolution Agreement (24-page / 4.9 MB PDF), which was sent to UK chancellor George Osborne and communities secretary Greg Clark at the end of last year, proposes that the new combined authority may participate in pilot schemes to investigate revised planning application fees, to test the operation of 'permission in principle' for certain types of land and to streamline plan-making.
The document said the combined authority would also work with the government to explore ways to strengthen and streamline the compulsory purchase process and to "tackle the non-take-up of planning permissions, including fiscal and regulatory measures".
The proposal would see a directly-elected mayor acting as chair for the combined authority and controlling a £200 million housing investment fund, which would be provided over 10 years from within existing budgets in the form of "recoverable loans and long-term equity". The mayor would also co-ordinate an overarching strategic growth vision to help deliver on the local plans of the participating councils.
The draft agreement proposed the establishment of a joint assets board to review land held by the public sector, to identify surplus pubic land and all brownfield land suitable for development and to co-ordinate its retention, development or disposal. Direct delivery of housing and growth sites "where appropriate" would be delivered by the combined authority's own development company under the agreement.
Planning expert Ben Mansell of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "If confirmed by the government, the North Midlands would follow hot on the heels of the West Midlands in adopting devolution. The North Midlands draft agreement is a broad proposal that encompasses issues such as employment, policing and transport."
"Planning and housing also features heavily, with a number of innovative draft policies proposed to speed up the planning and housing process," said Mansell. "One such policy is that the government will grant the combined authority a right of first refusal, for 28 days, on all central government land and assets due for disposal. If granted, the North Midlands agreement would be the latest in a fairly lengthy line of devolution ‘deals’. The question now is how and when the devolution agreements translate into action."
If accepted by the government, the deal would be subject to local consultation and ratification by the 19 individual councils and the enactment of the Cities and Local Government Devolution, which is currently awaiting a date for royal assent.