The leader of Warwickshire County Council hopes scope for more independent decision making can help address financial challenges.

The council last week announced the approval of its level two devolution deal, meaning some nationally-led powers will now be handed over to the council which recently identified an anticipated £27 million gap in its finances for 2024-25.

Tighter controls over managing staff vacancies, the use of agency staff or contractors and overtime, plus spending on catering and hospitality, training and development, attending conferences and external venue hire have been implemented as a result.

The new deal will see the county given autonomy over certain government funding streams but that money will still have to be ring fenced for particular purposes.

Leader Cllr Izzi Seccombe told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it would strengthen the council's relationship with government.

"They see us as a trusted partner for delivery and I think that is an endorsement," she said. 

And while it does not involve a sudden influx of money, she also believes having fewer hoops to jump through can save the council money.

There are greater powers to acquire and bring together plots of land to push forward projects with the deal also suggesting partners like Homes England may "explore the potential for investing" in a "shared development pipeline". 

"There are opportunities for us to look at how we can do things quicker, take out some of the time-consuming processes that not only delay projects but also increase costs," said Cllr Seccombe. 

"There are powers around compulsory purchase and land assembly. Thinking back to things like Transforming Nuneaton, that would have been a lot quicker and would have taken out some cost.

"There is the opportunity to work closer with Homes England. We have a reasonably close relationship but it is closer with the districts and boroughs.

"If we can start to do that, we can then look at the infrastructure that comes with larger projects, those conversations can be had at an earlier stage and I think that will be useful. 

"On that front, it is about efficiency and more value." 

While councils budget for many different things through a series of separate pots, the prospect of saving cash will be welcome amid growing pressures on budgets, particularly statutory services like social care and education where there is ever-increasing demand.

The deal will deliver greater flexibility and autonomy around adult education budgets from 2026-27 with a focus on the jobs that are in or are coming into the region, including the development of green jobs. 

"We are trying to ensure we have aspiration and skills that are appropriate for the jobs that we have coming into the county, trying to retain the best businesses through having skilled people," said Cllr Seccombe. 

"Taking that a bit further, it gives us an opportunity through our influence with schools to try to start those conversations earlier and influence that through colleges and universities."

The county will also take over delivery of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) – which replaced what was EU funding – from the start of the next cycle from April 2025.

Beyond the current extra powers, there is the potential for the council to lead on things like bus franchising and the retrofitting of homes for energy efficiency, have "a meaningful role" in increasing the capacity of the county's electricity network and bring together work on water quality, nature recovery and flood risk with other partners. 

Cllr Seccombe said such matters were "at an early stage", adding: "We will have to go through it line by line and see what we want to take forward.

"Something that is as encouraging as anything else is the closer relationship with government but also that it opens the opportunity for more should that be something we want to take on and something they want us to do. 

"It is too early to say what that would look like but it is about those relationships."