A regional mayor would ‘impose’ authority over the councils of Berkshire, the leader of Wokingham Borough Council has said.

Leaders of all six unitary authorities in Berkshire have said that they don’t want a regional mayor as part of potential devolution plans -  in a bid to secure more funding from the government.

Devolution is the process of transferring powers from central government to secondary bodies, including parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and Metro Mayors across 12 regions of the UK.

The Labour government has pledged to expand current arrangements and give more power to local authorities through the English Devolution Bill. While this is yet to be drafted, councils have been asked their preferences for what this could look like.

At a recent Berkshire Prosperity Board meeting, comprised of leaders of Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell, Slough, West Berkshire and Windsor and Maidenhead, councils agreed that they would not like a regional mayor.

Explaining the decision, leader of Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) Stephen Conway told the News: “All of the councils believe that it would create an authority that would be able to effectively impose it’s will over the individual authorities.

“We want to make sure that the borough councils remain sovereign.”

He added that upon creation of the Berkshire Prosperity Board, members were keen to ensure that the body would not take away any powers of each council. This meant that every decision taken had to be unanimous.

The board would like to secure more funding from central government to work on ‘strategic infrastructure projects’ including transport links and affordable housing.

Councillor Conway said that by working together, the councils were hopeful to receive more financial support.

But leaders feared that by saying they didn’t want a regional mayor, they may be ‘bottom of the pile’.

The WBC leader said: “The government believes that the best way to get that strategic element is through an elected mayor, as we’ve seen in other areas of the country.”

Regional or ‘metro’ mayors across the country are ‘mainly in big city areas’, according to Conway, which makes the role less suitable for a place like Berkshire.

A council officer said at the Berkshire Prosperity Board meeting on Monday, September 16 that members had ‘ideal circumstances’ to approach government.

Councils work together in six key areas which are ‘broadly aligning with central government’, according to the officer.

These are health and inequalities, skills and education, affordable housing, sector development, strategic infrastructure and net zero.