Written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Labour) on Tuesday, 22 March 2016, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 24 March 2016. It was answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm (Conservative) on Friday, 1 April 2016 on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Local Government: Devolution

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many full-time equivalent officials in his Department have worked on devolution deals in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: The first devolution deal was agreed with Greater Manchester in November 2014. Since then, the agenda has expanded and accelerated and the Government has resourced accordingly. Devolution is cross-governmental and supported by officials in all relevant departments. The Cities and Local Growth Unit is a joint BIS-DCLG team that supports areas in developing and agreeing devolution deals with the Government. It has over 150 full-time equivalent staff—over 70 of whom are based in DCLG—working on a range of local growth agendas and has six local teams based across the country.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 32168
Session: 2015-16
Subjects: Devolution Local government Staff Department for Communities and Local Government
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk