In October 2025, both Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council gave their final consent to the Government’s devolution proposals, paving the way for a new era of locally based decision making and opportunity.
A new, Mayor-led strategic authority will have a range of powers and funding not available to the two existing councils, including access to a Cumbrian Mayoral Investment Fund of £333 million over the next 30 years.
Cumbria Combined Authority (CCA) will be established in early 2026, operating for a year without a Mayor, before Cumbria’s first Mayoral election in May 2027.
Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council will continue to deliver the vast majority of local government services in their areas, as they do now.
What devolution is and how it works
The Government has set out its intention to widen devolution across England, giving regions more powers and decision-making over matters such as economic development, employment support and transport.
Under devolution arrangements, central Government transfer powers and money to regions across the country. This allows people who know their areas best to decide where money is spent.
This has already happened in lots of areas, particularly in the North of England where Greater Manchester, the Tees Valley and more recently, North Yorkshire, have agreed to greater devolution.
A combined authority for Cumbria will be in addition to the two unitary councils, Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness.
The vast majority of powers would be transferred to the new authority from central Government with decisions being made in Cumbria rather than in London.
What would be included in a combined authority
The authority will have defined areas of competence, set out in law, covering:
- transport and local infrastructure
- skills and employment support
- housing and strategic planning
- economic development and regeneration
- environment and climate change
- health, wellbeing and public service reform
- public safety
Mayoral authorities will also have a seat on the Council of Nations and Regions and the Mayoral Council, offering an opportunity to influence the future development of devolution in England.
The proposed functions of a combined authority are explained in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. The Bill was published in July 2025 and is making its way through Parliament towards becoming law.
What happens now
The consent decisions were the culmination of developments that started more than a year earlier when the two councils were invited to express interest in devolution. Earlier this year they applied for and were accepted, alongside five other areas, to join the Government’s Devolution Priority Programme.
In the summer, the Government published a report on its public consultation into devolution for Cumbria and confirmed the area had met the statutory tests for progressing.
The councils, and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in Cumbria, have been collaborating on background work to assess the benefits and implications of consent. This work will now be stepped up to ensure CCA is in position to make the most of opportunities as they become available.
The Government has also confirmed £1million of capacity funding over each of the next four years to help set up the new authority, recognising that it will take additional resource to enable work to progress quickly and smoothly.
The new strategic authority is expected to become a legal entity in February/March, with leadership until elections in May 2027 coming from the two constituent authorities, Westmorland and Furness and Cumberland Councils.
Further information
The consultation summary response is available at Cumbria devolution - GOV.UK