Kent County Council (KCC) is pressing the government to strike a deal to give them more powers but not everyone agrees it is the right move.

Leader of the county’s only unitary authority Medway Council, Cllr Vince Maple has said the offer “is not good enough” for the people of Kent and Medway.

He added: “We are not against devolution and we are certainly not against working with KCC.

“On some of the key issues like the climate emergency and transport infrastructure, of course those two upper tiers of councils need to be working together.

“But the reality is the offer that we have from central government currently is a kind of binary choice.”

The plans could mean Kent and Medway have a directly-elected mayor to manage and implement a devolution deal, known as the Mayoral County Combined Authority model.

The government says that the powers available under devolution will be greater where councils combine to create a single institution headed by a mayor.

The combined authority would assume sweeping powers over the entire transport budget; be responsible for all key roads; brownfield funding; an investment fund; programmes to boost jobs; Mayoral Development Corporations; Police and Crime Commissioner responsibilities and a public health duty.

It would also have the power to charge residents an additional council tax and a supplement on business rates.

Cllr Maple (Lab) explained the council could only go ahead with devolution if they agreed to this model but he said residents have not expressed this is something they would want to see.

Instead he said he would like to see the government trust local councils to say what powers they would want rather than having two binary choices.

He added: “Do we want more control and more powers and closer working? Of course we do.

"As somebody who loves local government, I want power to come from Whitehall right down to town halls, but it has got to be the right kind of devolution.

“And what is on the table – and that is not the fault of KCC particularly, this is what central government is offering councils like Medway and Kent – is simply not good enough.

“The binary choice is not where a sensible, progressive conversation about devolution should be happening.

“We are not against devolution, I support devolution, it is just the type of devolution that we are being offered I think would give a bad deal to the residents of Kent and Medway.”

KCC’s cabinet is due to consider a report this week which states devolution could work within the existing two-tier set up and having an elected mayor should be assumed in any plans put forward.

Leader of KCC Roger Gough said: “The purpose of my Devolution Position Statement is to seek cabinet agreement for us to consider submitting an Expression of Interest (EoI) to government.

“This would open a dialogue for a devolution deal for Kent and Medway to secure new funding and powers from government.

“I have been actively engaged in discussions with council leaders, including Medway Council.

“Some questions have been raised by partners over the suitability of the mayoral model in Kent. These are legitimate issues that will need to be considered through any negotiations with government.

“Following a discussion on the Devolution Position Statement at the KCC cabinet meeting tomorrow (June 29) it will be my priority to continue a strong level of engagement with all partners.”