BCP will be part of a new Wessex mayoral authority with Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire, the Budget confirmed. £8.69m is pencilled in for 2027/28.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is set to join a new Wessex authority led by an elected mayor. The government confirmed the plan in Wednesday’s Budget.

The Budget document says the government is “in the final stages of agreeing 10 new devolution agreements”. Eight of them are mayoral strategic authorities, and Wessex is one.

The other seven are:

  • Devon, Plymouth and Torbay
  • Hertfordshire
  • Lancashire
  • Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
  • Stoke and Staffordshire
  • Surrey
  • Thames Valley (Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Swindon)

Who is in Wessex

BCP Council’s announcement carries a joint statement from four council leaders:

  • Cllr Millie Earl, BCP Council
  • Cllr Nick Ireland, Dorset Council
  • Cllr Bill Revans, Somerset Council
  • Cllr Ian Thorn, Wiltshire Council

“We warmly welcome the Chancellor’s commitment today to support devolution for Wessex,” they said. They said it would bring “greater local control over decisions affecting transport, housing, skills, regeneration and economic growth”. They added: “Wessex is ready.”

The plan is for a new authority covering all four council areas. Neither the Budget nor BCP’s announcement says any of the four councils would close.

The money on the table

The government has pencilled in £8.69 million of capital funding for Wessex in 2027/28. It comes from the new Good Growth Funds, according to the allocations paper published alongside the Budget.

The sum is set per head of population, at the lower rate given to areas that will not have a mayor in place during 2027/28. It is “contingent on an agreed devolution deal and geography by 2027 to 2028”.

The Budget also sets out what mayors in general will get:

  • business rates: mayoral authorities keep a 20% share from April 2027
  • income tax: a share assigned to every mayor, beginning in 2028
  • a visitor levy: the government plans to legislate so every strategic authority can introduce an overnight visitor levy

That last power matters more here than in most places. A levy on overnight stays would fall on Bournemouth’s hotels, guest houses and holiday lets. No one has proposed one for Wessex, and the law to allow it has not been passed.

What has not been decided

The Budget does not say when a Wessex mayor would be elected. BCP’s announcement does not give a date either.

The government says its next step is to “launch local consultations with key stakeholders” in each of the ten areas. No Wessex consultation has opened yet. The final list of powers and the authority’s exact boundary are still to be agreed.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes yet. No agreement has been signed, so BCP Council runs the same services as before.
  • You will get a say. A consultation should come first. We will publish the link when it opens.
  • You will get a vote. A mayoral authority means a mayoral election. No date has been set.
  • Transport, housing and skills are the powers the four leaders name first. Our Local Transport Plan story sets out what BCP and Dorset have already planned together.

For BCP’s own finances, which a deal would not fix, see BCP Council £38m Budget Gap.

Sources