Devon and Torbay: Delivering change through devolution

Executive Summary

The Devon and Torbay devolution deal offers Government an early opportunity to deliver growth. With a focus on housing, economic growth and skills, decarbonisation and better meeting the needs of our residents, the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority will provide the foundation for catalytic change at the heart of the South West.

Following consultation during Spring 2024, our level 2 deal is currently with Government to be set in legislation. We want to support the Government’s aspiration for devolution nationwide, driving growth through the provision of new powers for the area, taking full advantage of a new integrated settlement, and leaning into the improved accountability our Combined County Authority will provide, to go further and faster.

This document identifies what we’ve already agreed with Government, as well as providing a framework for additional opportunities for economic growth, poverty reduction, integrated transport provision, affordable housing development, social justice and green jobs and skills. We are keen to move at pace around its content, accelerating and driving forward growth and prosperity for our community.

To achieve this ambition we now need Government to take the following three crucial steps:

  • Complete the approval of our submitted devolution proposal, agreeing that the formal consultation during spring 2024 was comprehensive, and progressing the associated statutory instrument before Christmas.
  • Complete the approval for our associated £16m Devolution Capital Investment Fund, working with local partners to approve the suite of business cases already submitted to the Department.
  • Work with us over the next 12 months to launch and operationalise our new Combined County Authority, completing the transfer of powers and functions to the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority.

Introduction

Devon and Torbay has enormous potential in its businesses, people and places. The area has a rich history and culture and a dynamic economy, is known for its stunning natural environment, supporting a world-renowned food and drink sector and welcoming 30 million visitors a year. With an increasing reputation as a centre for international environmental science, it is home to the Met Office, is one of the UK’s largest offshore renewable energy resources and is a destination of choice to visit, learn and invest.

With a population of 966,000 and an economy of almost £24.5 billion (2022) (larger than Tyneside or Cambridgeshire), Devon and Torbay offers enormous potential. With nearly 50,000 businesses, around 420,000 jobs we saw growth of 21.4% between 2019 and 2022, faster than Cornwall, Bristol, Cambridgeshire, and the City of London.

Devon and Torbay is a coherent economic area and has significant sectors with growth potential, including advanced manufacturing and engineering (worth £1.03bn per annum); environmental technologies, data and clean industries (worth £290m per annum); digital business, electronic and photonics; health and pharmaceutical manufacture; and defence industries. It has traditional strengths in areas such as agritech, food production and tourism, with a visitor economy that supports over £3.3bn of business spend annually.

Green growth will be a strong focus of future activity, maximising the skills and business opportunities from significant energy investments, such as the Celtic Sea floating offshore wind farm. This includes related new industries, working with our local Universities, such as green hydrogen generation, clean mobility and aquaculture.

However, Devon and Torbay also faces challenges impacting on productivity levels and the ability to grow. Productivity lags behind the UK average, requiring a 30% increase to close the gap, and public spending per person trails the rest of the UK. Rural, urban and coastal areas of Devon and Torbay suffer from nationally significant levels of poverty, with parts of northern Devon amongst the 5% worst affected areas of England. West Devon and Torbay have the lowest and second-lowest wages of any authority in the country, and life expectancy in Ilfracombe is among the lowest in the UK.

Social mobility, youth aspiration and progression are particular areas of concern, with around 40% of all young people leaving the area due to a lack of available housing and career progression in many communities. The area faces significant challenges with skills and educational performance, with pockets of nationally significant educational need and some of the lowest Level 4 achievement rates in the country.

We must respond with strong collective leadership working for the common good. Our prospectus sets out how we will deliver transformational change through devolution, unleashing the huge potential for green economic growth, creating new pathways to the skills of the future, raising living standards and building homes local people can afford.

Our deal

The Devon and Torbay deal, agreed in January 2024, provides a ready to go opportunity to take forward devolution in the heart of the South West of England. Through our work with Government over the past two years, we have agreed to the creation of a new Combined County Authority covering the Devon and Torbay area. Central to our approach is a focus upon accelerating our delivery of additional prosperity and growth for our residents, as well as providing reinforced accountability and improved mechanisms for joint working with partners, residents and Government.

The current agreed deal seeks to support us to achieve six shared priorities:

1. Maximise our economic potential

We will make sure we have the skilled workforce our local economy needs for the future. We’ll work to secure new investment to help create additional high value jobs.

2. Better address local housing pressures

In partnership, we will deliver investment in affordable housing schemes for local people, reducing homelessness. Greater Community Land Trust-led delivery will support rural and coastal affordable housing delivery.

3. Improve local transport

We will strengthen our joined-up approach as equal partners, helping to improve the efficiency and co-ordination of public transport. Shared responsibility for strategic transport will support economic growth.

4. Meeting our net zero ambitions

We will unlock Devon and Torbay’s huge green economic potential, with more investment in green business growth and attracting inward investment to the area. Our transition to a net-zero economy will be accelerated, capitalising on our area’s world-leading expertise in green science and technology.

5. Deliver investment in Devon and Torbay

There will be local democratic accountability for big investment decisions in the local economy. Business and skills representatives will have a strong voice and a direct route to locally-elected decision-makers.

6. Create a stronger and more sustainable local economy

We will support high growth business sectors such as marine engineering, defence, photonics and digital, as well as our traditional strengths of tourism, agritech and food production. Through creating a strong and sustainable local economy, we can increase productivity and pay across Devon and Torbay.

In order to the deliver these priorities and meet the Government’s ambitions for growth, we now need the Government to work with us to get the statutory instrument and next steps involved in creating our Combined County Authority over the line.

How the Devon and Torbay devolution deal benefits the new Government

The Devon and Torbay devolution deal provides an early opportunity for the Government to accelerate delivery within the heart of the South West of England. Through the transfer of powers and resources from Whitehall to County and Town Hall, the deal will empower the communities of Devon and Torbay to better tailor solutions to their needs, drive accelerated and inclusive growth, and support the local enhancement of public services.

At the heart of the deal are seven shared opportunities for Government and local partners to come together to better deliver upon the Government’s policy agenda. These are:

1. Governance and leadership

The Devon and Torbay devolution deal will empower local leaders to better make decisions that reflect the specific needs and aspirations of their communities. By granting greater autonomy and resources to the locality, the Government will enable the area to more quickly implement policies and strategies that drive regional development, incentivise shared decision making and responsiveness, improve accountability, and build local capacity to deliver the Government’s new agenda.

2. Finance and investment

The successful implementation of devolution within Devon and Torbay will enable a new impetus for local economic development and growth. Through empowering the local community to develop a shared economic agenda for the area, and providing the resources to deliver upon it, the Combined County Authority will ensure that investments are targeted where they are most needed, fostering innovation and creating jobs.

Through the CCA’s new economic leadership role, the area will seek to prioritise nationally significant growth opportunities (such as advanced manufacturing, electronics and photonics, digital technologies, health and pharmaceuticals and green industries), as well as enable and accelerate the growth of our small business community, which makes up the majority of our local economy.

3. Skills and employment

Devolution of adults and wider skills and employment services will provide Devon and Torbay with additional opportunities to enhance achievement rates and technical and higher skills outcomes across the local area – areas where the South West has traditional trailed the rest of the country.

Working in conjunction with our business community and education partners through the Local Skills Improvement Partnership and other approaches, devolution will give us greater ability to meet local needs, tailor provision to meet labour market gaps, and reach out to those outside of employment or with a barrier to work.

The flexibilities within the Universal Support and Adult Education Budget in particular will allow us to better meet the needs of our most vulnerable communities, working with local partners to flex curriculum and funding options to best support individuals to progress. This in turn will allow us to support the better development of a skilled workforce, and assist in the need for lifelong learning across the economy.

4. Housing and land

Covering the Devon and Torbay Functional Economic Area, the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority will provide a reinforced mechanism for local partners to work with Government to accelerate housing delivery and improve strategic alignment and joint programme management over the next five years.

5. Transport

With our Joint Local Transport Plan currently being finalised, the Combined County Authority will provide Government with a new strategic partner on which to engage on transport matters, investment and the delivery of public transport to just under a million residents of the South West. The new authority will enable the local area to come together to better facilitate transport solutions across the Peninsula, aligning local partners with national priorities, and accelerating growth and infrastructure enabled development across Devon and Torbay.

6. Net Zero and climate adaptation

Partners in Devon and Torbay believe that addressing climate change and seeking to reach Net Zero must be a central ambition of our shared activity.

The Combined County Authority offers a route and pathway for working together around environment and climate matters, from landscape management planning, to joint investment into mitigation, to action on infrastructure and community resilience.

Net Zero however also represents a significant economic opportunity for Devon and Torbay. With the potential for one of the world’s largest floating offshore wind projects in the Celtic Sea, onshoring for green energy from North Africa, nationally significant expertise in renewables, environmental consultancy and waste, marine and nuclear technologies, and with green and blue space to both trial and test, Devon and Torbay has the potential to be a green technology and investment hub within the UK.