'We're missing out on jobs without a mayor'

Being without a mayor is damaging the county’s job creating capacity, according to the chair of the Lancashire Business Board.

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Mo Isap, who sits as a nonvoting associate member of the LCCA, told the meeting at which the latest mayoral machinations were discussed that said that the deepest devolution deals - secured by having a mayor overseeing the arrangements - were about more than the money they brought from Whitehall.

"[Mayoral authorities are] able to leverage from the private sector - whether that’s foreign direct investment or direct investment from the private sector in the UK. That has a direct implication [for] job creation.

"A lack of clarity and confidence affects the private sector more than it affects anybody else.

"People who've approached me...are making investment decisions outside of our region, because they believe there is more support that’s being leveraged through that devolution situation [in other areas].

"We're already losing companies to Greater Manchester and elsewhere from our towns," Mr. Isap warned. He called for an analysis of exactly what sort of investment opportunities Lancashire could be missing out on.

With the Cumbria and Cheshire and Warrington regions now also signed up to mayor, Lancashire is on track to become the only area in the North without the all-powerful post.

Rossendale Council leader Alyson Barnes - one of the two representatives of Lancashire's district councils on the LCCA, neither of whom have a vote on the authority's business - said there was a “compelling argument why we do need to go down this path”.