West Midlands mayor Richard Parker has come under fire for rejecting the idea of Warwickshire joining his combined authority – and one region's councillors aren't taking it lying down.

Warwickshire is one of a number of areas tasked with abolishing its six councils and two levels of local government to form one or more unitary authorities to run all services. 

It plugs into wider plans to unlock more devolution across England with the government keen to delegate more power and financial control to strategic authorities above groups of unitary councils, leading the way on transport, big housing plans and infrastructure and economic growth. 

The government has stated a desire for strategic authorities to cover areas with populations of 1.5 million or more, meaning Warwickshire with its 600,000-plus population must consider who best to try to link with. 

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) would appear to be an obvious choice. All six current councils in Warwickshire are non-constituent members with limited voting rights.

The idea of them all achieving full membership was explored two years ago but put on hold due to the impending mayoral election which saw Labour's Mr Parker oust incumbent Conservative Andy Street.

However, in a letter to all Warwickshire councils last month, Mr Parker said he did not anticipate expanding full membership of the WMCA until after the 2028 mayoral elections.

Among other things, he did not wish to "risk the dilution of impact at this crucial stage in our economic recovery through a focus on the expansion of these boundaries".

It leaves Warwickshire to consider the prospect of trying to form its own smaller strategic authority along the lines of the model implemented in Cumbria, or joining with neighbouring areas such as Leicestershire and Staffordshire to the north or Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire to the south. 

The matter was discussed by Warwick District Council last week with councillors told in a report that demographic and economic differences between the north and south made it "extremely difficult to identify another county area which has close links with the whole of Warwickshire", while allowing the north and south to partner with different strategic authorities would see the pulling apart of services currently handled on a county-wide basis, potentially leading to greater costs. 

The former leader of the district Cllr Andrew Day was angry at the manner in which the WMCA door had been slammed shut so early in the process, particularly after the recent agreement of the West Midlands Investment Zone which will see a gigafactory come to the district of Warwick.

He also noted how the University of Warwick straddled areas inside and outside the current combined authority patch.

"Here we are with an embryonic investment zone, a first-rate university, opportunities in places like Wellesbourne and Gaydon that connect directly into the main industries of this area and the mayor just dismisses us out of hand," he said.

"I believe we have proven that we are good partners, willing to join in and help better performance for the whole area, so I am incredibly disappointed by the mayor's response.

"I think the former mayor (Andy Street) would have given us a very different answer and that it is rather fearful and disappointing – and I would argue political – that the constituent members are clearly not of the view that Warwickshire could add to the equation.

"The world is changing fast, so is politics. This decision is clearly a backward-looking one."

A telling contribution followed from Cllr Jonathan Chilvers, a member of the cabinet that runs the district council. 

"For the economy, transport and skills, I think the West Midlands Combined Authority is the best option for us by far and I don't think we should be taking no for an answer from Richard Parker," he said. 

The prospect of pushing back was supported by long-standing Liberal Democrat Cllr Bill Gifford.

"It is very important for us to point out to the secretary of state that it is not just in our interests to join the West Midlands, it is in their interests to join with Warwickshire," he said.

"South Warwickshire is an economic powerhouse. If the government is really interested in growth it would be using South Warwickshire as an example of how it should be developed because this is a powerhouse, not Birmingham.

"They need us almost more than we need them and if the government really wants growth then the secretary of state should override the outdated political desires of the mayor. There is no reason for not joining Warwickshire other than the politics of a couple of years ago."

The council unanimously agreed to note Mr Parker's position and continue work on what a future strategic authority would look like ahead of the deadline for submissions in late November.