Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council have confirmed - in a letter to the UK Government - their commitment to joint working across their council boundaries.

A letter, signed by the Leaders of each council, has been sent to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Jacob Young.

The councils’ letter is in response to an offer of support from the government to begin to explore devolution for the area. Both councils have welcomed the offer and have confirmed that they are happy to meet with members of the Levelling Up team to explore the level and type of support available.

Joint working is already demonstrated within the council areas. Earlier this month the councils confirmed that they are working together on the transfer of the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (CLEP) functions across Cumbria. A new Cumbria Economic Growth Board is also in the process of being established. 

This requires both Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness Councils to work together to support the integration of CLEP functions. The councils have agreed that a Joint Executive Committee will provide the basis of joint working and collaboration on strategic economic growth across the Cumbria geography. 

Leader of Cumberland, Cllr Mark Fryer, said: “We continue to work with Westmorland and Furness Council on a variety of hosted and shared services. The relationship between the two councils is as strong as ever, and the CLEP transfer is a catalyst for us working together on the economic prosperity of Cumbria.

“We are fully supportive of key developments underway within the wider region and know there is real benefit to us working together to create a strong voice for Cumbria.”

The MP for Carlisle, John Stevenson, has previously called for a Cumbria to have a ‘metro mayor’ similar to those in the Tees Valley and Greater Manchester.

Mayors of different political parties have made significant policy decisions in their respective areas with Labour’s Andy Burnham bringing Manchester’s public transport system under public ownership and Conservative Ben Houchen reopening the Tees Valley airport in the north east.

Critics of the mayoral system have said that it adds an additional layer of bureaucracy to local politics and that if power is to be devolved to the regions, then elected councillors should take those decisions rather than elected mayors.