“WECA area to lose millions of pounds in split”

Former senior figures at the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) have warned the region is losing millions of pounds in public funding.

In May, WECA was put into effect with special measures being monitored by the government. It follows a report by auditors warning of a “sense of division” with “delays and misunderstandings”.

WECA is chaired by Labor Mayor Dan Norris and includes Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset. It covers regional transport, housing and adult skills, but has of seen lines with the heads of these councils.

Mr Norris told the BBC: “More than a third of a billion pounds has come into our region under my leadership.”

In 2022, Mr Norris accused Toby Savage, then leader of South Gloucestershire Council’s Conservative party, of “living in a parallel universe” and having “megalomania”.

On Thursday, Mr Savage said the WECA meetings had been difficult. “We saw with this metro mayor that willingness to play politics, and politics was an important feature of his tenure.”

Mr Savage, who is no longer a councillor, advises other local authorities on effective governance.

There was also an internal struggle. A number of senior officers came and went.

After the mayor painted his image on a bus, the then chief executive wrote a highly critical report warning it was “illegal self-promotion”.

He has since left.

Some warn that such division and disagreement has cost the West.

For three years, Winston Duguid chaired the Supervisory Committee of WECA.

“I saw some conflict, but I’ve never seen this kind of conflict before,” he said.

“There is a real danger that we are losing some opportunities.”

Jeff Gollop, who chaired WECA’s audit committee until May, has similar concerns.

“We were incredibly dysfunctional. That should have played a role in considering whether money could come here for projects – or go to other parts of the country.”

Mr Gollop added: “We’ll never know how much we could have lost, but a lot of it was the fact that the amount of funding going into future deals was not as significant as it has been with some other combined authorities.”

Dan Norris will stand down next May following his election to Parliament to represent North East Somerset and Hanham.

He considered doing both positions, but the Labor Party prevented him from doing so.

Former Bristol City Councilor Helen Godwin has been selected as Labour’s candidate for next year’s WECA mayoral election.

Meanwhile, former Lord Mayor Steve Smith has been announced as the Conservative candidate, while deputy council leader Heather Mack has been announced as the Green Party candidate.