The two neighbouring UK regions battling to have their own powers in drastic move

Plymouth City Council wants Cornwall to be included in wider devolution discussions across the region.

Cornwall City Council however believes any autonomy deal should see the county stand on its own.

Plymouth City council wants to look at a deal that encapsulates the wider peninsula with a deal that would include Cornwall, Devon, Plymouth and Torbay and a “combined authority that stretches across the Tamar.”

One of the issues between Cornwall Council and Plymouth Council centers around the institution of a Mayor in the region as well as what parts of the counties will be included in the new agreement.

These particular issues centre around what level of devolved powers the region receives.

The cabinet agreed a ‘level two,’ deal at the end of 2023. Another deal, which would give the counties ‘level three,’ devolution powers, proved unpopular with Cornish residents as the bill included the introduction of an elected Mayor of the region.

The discussions come after Cornwall Council’s conservative cabinet introduced a “white paper,” which gauges public opinion and constituents' thoughts on new policies.

The document contained details of how the wider local authority would see Cornwall having greater powers to shape its own destiny around policy and funding decisions across the region.

This week Cornwall Council issued a press release this week stating that "leaders have joined Cornish MPs in calling for a devolution deal that will help unleash Cornwall’s potential.”

They added that the Council would look for this “without the need for a mayor or becoming part of a combined authority.”

Cllr Tudor Evans, leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “We want to play our part in the programme of national renewal and believe that a peninsula-wide deal for Cornwall, Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, bringing together a population of around 1.82m residents and 74,500 businesses, would constitute a strong growth alliance for the South West.”

He added that The Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner had “written to all areas without a devolution deal to kickstart conversations about potential proposals.”

At this moment those conversations are to “‘outline expressions of interest” and assess “who we would be willing to have conversations with to explore the art of the possible in the future.”