
The Government has confirmed Greater Manchester will receive a £630 million funding settlement for 2025/26 as part of the city-region’s ‘Trailblazer’ devolution deal.
Under new devolution arrangements, Greater Manchester will receive a single funding settlement, covering areas including housing, transport, employment support and skills with decisions on where the money is spent made at a local level. This arrangement replaces the existing system where GMCA would be required to secure Whitehall approval for funds for individual projects.
The £630 million figure was revealed for the first time by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner on Thursday 30th January 2025. The West Midlands Combined Authority, which also has a similar devolution deal, will receive £388 million.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Angela Rayner said:
“As set out in the English Devolution White Paper, we must rewire England and end the hoarding in Whitehall by devolving power and money from central government to those with skin in the game. Above all we need to free Mayors to direct funding to where it delivers the best outcomes and value for money.“
The Deputy Prime Minister also confirmed that in the coming weeks, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands would put forward outcomes they expect funding to deliver in order to establish how local government will be held accountable under a single framework.
Welcoming the new settlement, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said:
“This is the biggest step yet on Greater Manchester’s devolution journey, and we are ready to crack on and deliver for our residents.
“With more freedom and flexibility we can be even smarter about funding local services. We can take a preventative approach, getting to the root causes of the issues facing our communities and delivering more practical everyday support.
“We’ve set out an ambitious long-term vision to deliver thousands of new homes and jobs at a pace and scale not seen in the past 20 years. This game-changing integrated settlement will be the key to unlocking that growth for generations to come.”