Stoke and Staffordshire is one of 10 areas where a mayor deal is in its 'final stages', the Budget says. Mayors get a share of local income tax from 2028.

Lichfield district is set to come under an elected mayor for Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. The government said in Wednesday’s Budget that it is “in the final stages” of agreeing a mayoral strategic authority for the area.

Stoke and Staffordshire is one of 10 areas named in the Budget 2026 document, published on 28 October. The others are:

  • Devon, Plymouth and Torbay
  • Hertfordshire
  • Lancashire
  • Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
  • Surrey
  • Thames Valley (Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Swindon)
  • Wessex
  • Kent and Medway, which will have a mayor only if the area’s council reorganisation allows it
  • Cornwall, which will get a “foundation” authority without a mayor

The Treasury says this would give more than 90% of England’s population a devolution agreement. It also says “final arrangements will be confirmed in due course, subject to agreement with local areas”.

What happens next

The Budget gives no date for a Staffordshire mayoral election. It says the government will “now work with the relevant councils to launch local consultations with key stakeholders”. It calls that “the key next step in establishing new Strategic Authorities”. The government’s aim is devolution across all of England by the end of 2028.

What a mayor would control

The Budget comes with a Fiscal Devolution Roadmap, which sets out how mayors will be paid for. Mayoral authorities will be funded mainly by local and assigned taxes rather than government grants. The main changes:

Measure From when
Mayors receive a share of business rates, plus 20% of any growth, in place of several government funds April 2027
A £1.5 billion borrowing facility for mayoral authorities April 2028
Part of the income tax people pay goes to their local mayor April 2028
An Overnight Visitor Levy that local leaders can choose to introduce Plans set out by March 2028

The roadmap says the income tax change “is not a new tax”. Rates and thresholds will stay the same across England. Part of what people already pay would go to the mayor to spend on infrastructure and local growth.

The visitor levy is optional. The roadmap says mayors and local leaders could introduce one “where they choose to do so”, after consulting local businesses. Any money raised would go to local growth priorities, including the visitor experience. That would matter in a district whose visitor draws include the cathedral and the National Memorial Arboretum, now renamed the National Remembrance Gardens. The documents do not say whether Staffordshire would use it.

How this fits with council reorganisation

This is a separate process from the plan to abolish Lichfield District Council. The government paused its reorganisation programme in September, which halted the planned merger into a new South and Mid Staffordshire council (our September report). The Budget document says nothing about Staffordshire’s reorganisation.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes yet. There is no mayor, no election date and no change to your council tax or services from this announcement.
  • Expect a consultation. The government says it will work with the councils to launch local consultations as the next step. We will report the details when they are published.
  • Your income tax will not go up because of this. The roadmap says rates and thresholds stay the same; only where part of the money goes would change.

Sources