HOW long a new devolved piece of local government in Devon can survive is already unknown according to its most senior officials amid Westminster’s revamped plans for councils.

The Devon and Torbay combined county authority, or CCA, only became a formal organisation last month and held its first meeting on Wednesday, March 19, but could soon become outdated amid significant forthcoming changes to how areas are governed.

The CCA, which secures government cash and uses it on local projects, was initially approved by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government last year. Labour continued to back the creation of the body when it came to power in July.

But already its future is already in doubt, given the Government’s desire to overhaul the way local government works.

Cllr David Thomas (Preston), Conservative leader of Torbay Council who was elected as chair of the CCA at the meeting, said it had taken between two and three years to set up the body, but that recent government aspirations mean it could be replaced in the coming years.

The CCA’s two core members are Devon County Council and Torbay Council, both of which are set to be restructured as part of Westminster’s plans to create fewer, but larger unitary-style councils.

But those new councils could not become the core members of the CCA, according to Cllr Thomas, meaning once Devon County Council and Torbay are no more, the CCA would also cease to exist.

Alongside the plan for larger unitary councils, the Government wants elected mayors to be responsible for a new type of body called a mayoral strategic authority.

These would cover populations of at least 1.5 million, and would sit above two or more unitary councils to help oversee strategic initiatives, such as those linked to housebuilding and transport infrastructure.

A mayoral strategic authority would essentially be a much larger version of a CCA.

In January Devon County Council asked the Government to delay its elections, set for May, by a year to help it pursue a mayoral strategic authority, as well as reorganise the two-tier council system into a unitary one.

But that request was denied, as the Government didn’t think Devon would be ready by May 2026 to create a mayoral strategic authority.

Outgoing county council leader James McInnes (Conservative, Hatherleigh and Chagford), who was elected as the vice chair of the CCA, said a mayoral strategic authority would probably need to cover both Devon and Cornwall, but Cornwall’s councillors don’t want to do that.

“But I’ve been talking to the leaders of Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council and the three of us agree we would like to move forward with a mayoral strategic authority and we can’t allow Cornwall to stop it,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service before the CCA meeting.

“Cornwall doesn’t want anything to do with it, but we are going to write to central government and say that if there is a second round of mayoral strategic authorities, then we would like to be in it.”

Bradley Gerrard