Principals of the budget for the proposed Cumbria Combined Authority were agreed at a meeting in Carlisle on Monday (9th February)
Members of Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness Councils’ joint overview and scrutiny committee considered the budget proposal principles at Cumbria House in Botchergate.
According to the report members were asked to note the contents of the report and the principles underpinning the proposed Cumbria Combined Authority budget 2026/27.
In addition, they were asked to provide comments to the joint executive committee ahead of consideration of the Cumbria Combined Authority (CCA) budget.
It was claimed that having an elected mayor for the county would give Cumbria greater influence and there would be Government funding totalling £333 million available for a 30-year Mayoral Investment Fund.
The report stated: “There are a number of matters that require specific voting arrangements of the CCA, for example the approval or amendment of the CCA budget requires that the majority must include members of the constituent councils or, where any substitute members are acting in place of members, all members and all such substitute members.”
It added that the draft constitution included a single overview and scrutiny committee. The scrutiny of the mayoral budget (and any mayoral precept) will fall within the remit of the CCA’s overview and scrutiny committee.
The report added: “Both authorities have sought to nominate the first four members from each of their members to the O&S committee of the CA, with a delegation to the respective monitoring officers to make further appointments should the recommendation be one of a larger committee.”
However, during an earlier debate members suggested that the joint overview and scrutiny committee suggested that it should remain with the two unitary authorities.
According to the report on October 14, 2025, both Cumberland Council and Westmorland & Furness Council, the constituent councils, agreed to consent to the creation of the Cumbria Combined Authority (CCA) with the aim to deliver major opportunities for Cumbria.
It stated: “The benefits of increased investment, improved co-ordination and integration of services and stronger regional, national and international influence were recognised as considerable for the region.”
Despite the budget decisions a meeting of on the governance arrangements for the new Cumbria Combined Authority (CCA) decided to defer a decision on the constitution that the new authority will operate under to allow for further feedback.
Members of Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness Councils’ joint overview and scrutiny committee considered the proposed constitution at a meeting on Monday.
Members were told that work on the document was proceeding ‘at pace’ but the political make-up of the CCA’s panel was yet to be agreed by both unitary authorities.
Claire Liddle, the council’s chief legal officer and monitoring officer, told members: “This is a constitution that needs to be fit for purpose on day one.”
But one of the Cumberland members of the committee Councillor Roger Dobson (Corby and Hayton, Lib Dems) claimed that scrutiny had no place within the new Cumbria Combined Authority.
The new Cumbria Combined Authority will from May 2027 have a directly elected Mayor but will operate from March under the leadership of Westmorland and Furness Council and Cumberland Council.
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