Greater Essex Combined County Authority
 | This page is currently being created It is a new Wikipedia article developing through collaboration and successive edits.To help avoid edit conflicts and other confusion, the creator asks that for a short time this page not be edited unnecessarily, or nominated for deletion during this early stage of development.
|
Greater Essex Combined County Authority | |
|---|---|
 Area covered by the proposed Greater Essex Combined County Authority | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | April 2026 (planned) |
| Leadership | |
Mayor | TBD |
| Elections | |
| Directly elected mayor | |
Next election | 2 May 2026 |
The Greater Essex Combined County Authority (GECCA) or simply the Greater Essex Combined Authority (GECA) is a proposed combined county authority for the ceremonial county of Essex, also known as Greater Essex, in the East of England.[a]
History
[edit]Background
[edit]Historically, the entire ceremonial county of Essex was administered by Essex County Council in a two-tier system with lower tier district councils. This system continues in most of the county today, but in 1998 the districts of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea were granted unitary authority status, making them administratively independent from the county council.[3][4] Essex Police and the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service continued to cover the entire county after 1998.[5][6] In 2012, the elected county-wide position of Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner was introduced.[b] The three upper-tier authorities of Essex have also continued to work together on different issues since 1998.[4]
Since 1999, the UK Government has devolved powers to local parliaments, assemblies, authorities and mayors in the nations and regions of the UK.[10][11] In 2009, it introduced combined authorities which can be formed by volunteering groups of local authorities in England, to which the government can devolve powers to. In 2023, the similar combined county authority was also introduced. Both authorities can be led by directly elected mayors, or can be led by a body indirectly appointed by their member authorities.
Early proposals
[edit]Notes and references
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ Essex is the name of both the administrative county administered by Essex County Council and the ceremonial county which also includes the two independent unitary authority areas of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea. To distinguish between the two, the term Greater Essex is also used to name the ceremonial county in an administrative context.[1][2]
- ^ The office of Essex Police and Crime Commissioner was introduced in 2012.[7] In 2017, the office was granted responsibility for the fire service and renamed Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.[8][9]
References
[edit]- ^ "PURE Regional Profile: ESSEX, UNITED KINGDOM" (PDF). PASCAL International Observatory. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ^ "Greater Essex Devolution: Draft Expression of Interest" (PDF). Thurrock Council. 13 February 2023. p. 1. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ^ Meyler, Piers; Critchel, Matthew (16 December 2024). "Super authorities in Essex? 'Rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic'". East Anglia Bylines. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ^ a b "Greater Essex devolution consultation: Establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority across Essex, Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea". Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. 17 February 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ^ Williams, Judith (18 December 2017). The Little History of Essex. The History Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-7509-8514-7. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ^ "Essex County Fire and Rescue Service". Fire England. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ^ Reason, Matt (25 July 2017). "Essex Police and Crime Commissioner gets go ahead to take over fire service from October 2017". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ^ "Essex crime commissioner takes over fire service". BBC News. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ^ "Roger Hirst takes on role as country's first Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner". Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ^ "Devolution: A beginner's guide". BBC News. 29 April 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ^ Easton, Mark (7 November 2014). "UK What Next? Mark Easton's devolution road trip". BBC News. Retrieved 23 February 2025.