The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has signalled its intention to be designated an Established Mayoral Strategic Authority, a move designed to unlock additional powers and funding to drive growth, infrastructure investment and prosperity across the region.
In a letter to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Paul Bristow, set out the case for EMSA status, highlighting the authority’s readiness to deliver its ambitious economic plans and meet national devolution criteria.
Designation as an Established Mayoral Strategic Authority would provide CPCA with enhanced powers and potential access to increased funding, supporting delivery across key areas including transport and local infrastructure, skills and workforce development, and strategic planning and regeneration.
Crucially, EMSA status would also open the door to an Integrated Settlement at the next Spending Review, giving the Combined Authority greater funding certainty, flexibility and multi‑year budgets.
The move underpins the region’s Local Growth Plan, launched in December, which sets out a bold ambition to triple the size of the local economy and grow it to £97 billion by 2050.
The plan focuses on strengthening high‑value sectors that underpin the region’s economic success, such as life sciences, advanced manufacturing, digital technology, and defence.
It also identifies four opportunity zones where targeted investment and coordinated planning can maximise growth and productivity.
Delivering this level of economic growth will require significant infrastructure investment, with priorities including:
- More frequent and faster rail services, alongside new stations
- Upgraded road networks
- The development of mass rapid transit for Cambridge
The Growth Plan also highlights the importance of regeneration, delivery of new homes, and a skills system aligned with the needs of the region’s high‑growth industries.
The application for Established status has the unanimous backing of the Combined Authority Board, which is made up of local council leaders from across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
The CPCA has confirmed it meets all eligibility criteria for EMSA designation, including:
- Operating with a directly elected Mayor since 2017
- Maintaining strong governance and financial oversight
- Demonstrating a track record of delivering complex, large‑scale programmes
EMSA designation would allow the Combined Authority to progress towards an Integrated Settlement, consolidating funding streams into a simplified framework and providing long‑term budget certainty.
This would support more strategic decision‑making, allowing investment to be aligned more effectively with regional priorities, and ensuring local leaders can respond quickly to emerging opportunities and challenges.
Paul Bristow, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, commented:
“Established status would give us the tools to deliver better transport, more jobs, improve skills, and speed up the regeneration and housing our communities need. It’s about backing regions that are ready to lead and making sure we get our fair share of Government funding.
“We meet Government’s own criteria and we’ve proven we can deliver; ARU Peterborough fixed a decades-long gap in higher education; we’re the first predominantly rural Combined Authority progressing bus franchising, and we’re leading the UK’s largest Levelling Up project at Peterborough Station Quarter.
“My ambition in our Local Growth Plan is clear: let’s triple the economy and make this region healthier, wealthier, and happier. To do that, we need the deeper devolution, greater flexibility, and long-term funding certainty that Established status brings.
“It’s time to back Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and I’m looking forward to working with the Secretary of State to take this next step.”
The government will now consider the application, which represents a significant step towards deeper devolution and long‑term economic transformation for the region.
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