Osborne not giving city mayors Boris-style control, suggests Commons analysis

Osborne: leading the drive for devolution - and for directly-elected mayors

Osborne: leading the drive for devolution - and for directly-elected mayors

It is "not clear" that directly-elected mayors for combined authorities proposed for conurbations will "be the strong leader its proponents desire and its detractors fear," according to the House of Commons library.

In an analysis of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill, the Commons library notes that individual orders for each combined authority will specify powers to be held by the mayors, and powers held by the combined authority. "Many decisions will have to be taken by majority vote amongst the combined authority members, giving ample opportunity for a mayor's programme to be frustrated - or drive - by the combined authority. This is emphatically not the 'London model' of a strong elected mayor." 

A move to not give the control enjoyed by Boris Johnson may make the requirement for directly-elected mayors more palatable for individual council leaders. Indeed, the library notes that the leader of Essex County Council moots the establishment of 'county governors,' mayors of county areas, that would allow non-urban areas a way of accepting the Chancellor's condition of any devolution of power. 

However, the library also highlights that the powers for elected mayors to set a precept on council tax bills, and for combined authorities to levy on their constituent authorities, are "a far cry from demands for fiscal devolution". Powers to borrow "may" be made available - depending on the terms of the individual orders for each local area.