Leaked bid reveals plans for West Midlands 'metro mayor'

Council leaders have sent a document to the government asking for sweeping powers for a directly-elected 'metro mayor', despite having publicly said they were yet to decide whether to accept one.

It includes an ambition to deliver 30,000 homes over a 10-year period.

But the leaked draft bid for devolved powers and funding from Whitehall reveals the scale of control that one person will wield.

It has already been revealed that the authority wants £15 million a year from the government to pay the private operators of the M6 Toll so it can make the road free to use, something it believes will bring £1.2 billion a year of benefits to the West Midlands by cutting congestion.

There are also proposals for a London Oyster card-style 'smart card' system across all forms of public transport.

The combined authority so far includes Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley, Birmingham, Coventry and Solihull, along with Cannock Chase and Tamworth and is being set up to oversee transport, regeneration and skills. But it is also asking for control over youth justice and the air passenger duty for Birmingham Airport.

It wants to keep all the extra business rates paid when new firms set up shop, rather than sending them to the government and to let the mayor increase charges.

The document asks for the elected mayor to have the 'power to levy a supplementary business rate based on electoral mandate'.

And it wants the mayor to have the 'power to set a council tax precept based on electoral mandate' and to have 'strategic compulsory purchase order powers'.

Separate to the mayor, the combined authority wants the funding that will come as a result of the high speed rail project HS2 ad the power to create more 'enterprise zones', offering discounts and incentives to companies who invest.

The document also mentions 'a World Expo bid for 2025'.

It wants to bring in 25m visitors to spend around £5.6bn, which it says will create 42,000 jobs.