Overview
- Suffolk County Council’s cabinet unanimously reaffirmed support for the deal on Tuesday, completing political consent alongside Norfolk and clearing the headline terms for a Norfolk and Suffolk Combined County Authority.
- The agreement guarantees a dedicated investment fund of £37.4 million a year, which equates to more than £1 billion over 30 years to back local projects and devolved powers.
- Safeguards in the deal require investment decisions to show benefit across both counties and bar the mayor and deputy mayor coming from the same county to protect regional balance.
- Before the new authority is legal, both councils must pass formal resolutions and the UK Government must lay a Parliamentary statutory instrument; if those steps go ahead the first mayoral election is scheduled for May 2028.
- Parties are already nominating candidates — including Reform’s David Bick, Conservative Tim Passmore and Labour’s Carli Harper — and the deal asks the incoming mayor to press the government for bespoke powers over fisheries, agriculture and regional transport priorities such as the Ely and Haughley junctions and Orwell Bridge contingency planning.