West of England metro mayor Tim Bowles is today leading calls for the government to devolve more spending to the regions after Brexit as he hosts a summit of regional mayors in Bristol.
The mayors will call on the government to fully-fund and devolve the Shared Prosperity Fund, which is being set up by the government following the UK’s exit from the EU. 
The government has promised to introduce the new funding stream to replace EU money worth at least £2.4bn a year to the UK.
The mayors will say that devolving this to the regions will ensure it is spent on priorities defined by local areas.
The call will be discussed at the meeting later today where the metro mayors will also push the government to remove unnecessary layers of bureaucracy, moving from decentralisation to full devolution to cut down on red tape.
Tim Bowles , pictured, leads the West of England Combined Authority, which brings together Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils.
He said: “Metro mayors are directly-elected by the regions they serve; we know our regions best and need additional funding, flexibility and tools to deliver for our communities. Brexit provides a real opportunity to take back control and re-think the way money flows from Whitehall to combined authorities. The benefits of devolution are being felt in the West of England and now is the time for government to move away from decentralisation in order to truly empower communities.”
The gathering of England’s metro mayors – the first of its kind – coincides with the final day of the Global Parliament of Mayors (GPM) taking place in Bristol, which has brought around 80 civic leaders to in the city to discuss key issues facing cities across the world.
The GPM, which was invited to Bristol by Mayor Marvin Rees, will this afternoon sign a declaration pledging to support negotiations with national governments and international institutions and to work with global city networks to meet challenges affecting cities around the world.
At today’s metro mayors meeting with Tim Bowles were Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, Ben Houchen (Tees Valley), Steve Rotheram (Liverpool city region), Andy Street (West Midlands), James Palmer (Peterborough and Cambridgeshire) and Dan Jarvis (Sheffield city region). Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was not able to attend but supports the call from the mayors.
