Council agrees to form strategic alliance in devolution push

Cabinet on Tuesday agreed to form the North East London Strategic Alliance (NELSA) with Barking and Dagenham, Enfield, Havering, Newham and Redbridge councils, pending the other borough's agreements.

A council report said if the council was not part of the group, it would miss out on opportunities for funding, shared service delivery and effective lobbying on shared interests, such as home building, employment and growth.

Under the terms of the agreement, Waltham Forest council would be the first to hold the position of chair of the alliance.

This responsibility would then rotate every two years between the local authorities alphabetically.

Each member borough would make an annual contribution of £10,000 to fund help from consultants, events, campaigns and publications.

Waltham Forest council leader Chris Robbins said: “NELSA brings together six boroughs that are perfectly-placed to put forward a clear vision for north-east London and to provide the strategic leadership to ensure this vision is realised.

“Together we intend to make sure that this London sub region is well represented at a national and regional level of decision-making.

"And in partnership with the Growth Boroughs, we will push for greater devolution of powers from central Government so that we can better enable growth and development in our areas – such as building more homes, helping more people into work and being able to do more to support schools, businesses and local investment.

“A bold new approach like this represents a landmark shift in the local government landscape – enabling our six boroughs to deliver real change to hundreds of thousands of Londoners.”

Council leader Chris Robbins said the alliance would push for greater devolved powers from central government