£500 million investment in Suffolk scrapped by Government

The additional funding – which would come with new local decision-making powers over areas including housing, transport, adult education and regeneration – is no longer being offered to Suffolk. The deal would mean local people who know and love Suffolk would be empowered to make more decisions about the county’s future, rather than people in Whitehall.

Key aspects of the deal included:

• Control of a new investment fund worth £480m over the next thirty years
• Local control of the Adult Education Budget each year (worth £9.4m in 2025/26)
• £5.8m one-off funding to prepare brownfield sites for development
• Multi-year transport funding plus an additional £500,000 over two years to finalise Suffolk’s Local Transport Plan
• The leader of Suffolk County Council would be directly elected by the people of Suffolk – rather than by county councillors.

Most people who responded to an independent survey, run by Ipsos, were in favour of the proposed deal. 63% of people supported or strongly supported it while 7% disagreed. 21% of people were unsure. In a separate but linked poll run by Suffolk County Council, 49% of people who responded supported or strongly supported the deal, whilst 40% did not and 11% were unsure.

Suffolk County Councillors were expected to vote on the deal after the General Election in July.

Cllr Matthew Hicks, Leader of Suffolk County Council, said:

“This feels like a real slap in the face for Suffolk from a Government that won’t listen to what local people are saying. First, they waved through the Sunnica application, showing little regard for the communities affected. Then, they scrapped the winter fuel payments, which will adversely affect older people living in rural areas. Now, our proposed devolution deal – which has widespread public support – is in the bin.

“Governments of any colour should be pro devolution because councils know how best to serve local people. Local councillors have now been stripped of the opportunity to support or reject the proposed deal which is a sad day for democracy by any measure.”