Who we are

Mayor

Andy Street, who was re-elected as Mayor of the West Midlands in May 2021 works with council leaders and the chairs of the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to deliver the West Midlands’ devolution programme.

Having a West Midlands Mayor is a key part of the devolution deal struck between the WMCA and Government in 2016, giving the region and its elected politicians greater powers and control over how funding should be spent.

Mr Street will have responsibility for some of the biggest issues affecting the lives of around 2.8m people in the West Midlands.

His powers include control over long-term budgets from central government to:

Work with business leaders to drive the region’s economic growth and recovery from Covid-19
Improve transport
Increase house building and regeneration across the region
Improve skills and jobs

The Mayor will also continue to lobby Government and act as an advocate and ambassador on the global stage, championing the West Midlands and the issues that matter most to local people.

He will hold office for three years instead of a four-year term after the scheduled Mayoral election in May last year was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Devolution

Devolution is the handing down of powers and money from central government (Whitehall) to local authorities so they are able to decide for themselves on how best to spend that money for the overall benefit of the region.

On the 17 November 2015 the Chancellor of the Exchequer agreed and signed a devolution deal with the members of the WMCA.

To read the first devolution agreement click here and to find out more about its key points click here.

The Budget of 22 November 2017 confirmed a second devolution deal for the region covering housing, skills, digital technology and more. You can read the key points here and the second devolution agreement in full here.

Governance

Leadership of the WMCA comes from the Mayor and the leaders of the seven constituent local authorities, which have full voting rights. The leadership also includes the chairs of the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) which are business-led organisations that help build relationships between businesses and local authorities. Non-constituent authorities, which include the LEPs and ten local councils from across the wider West Midlands region, have reduced voting rights but play a crucial role at board level, helping to inform policy and drive forward the WMCA agenda.

Elected members and officers lead on key policy portfolio areas, working in partnership with LEP colleagues.

There are also observer organisations who include other councils, LEPs and bodies awaiting non-constituent membership, as well as non-voting observers.

The Interim Chief Executive of the WMCA is Laura Shoaf, who took up the role in June 2021 and with the Mayor is building a leadership team to deliver the combined authority's agenda and policies.

To view the WMCA Constitution please click here or download the full version here.

To view the WMCA Assurance Framework, please click here.