The leader of Hertfordshire County Council has formally asked the Government to consider having an elected mayor for the county.

Members of the county council and Hertfordshire's 10 district and borough councils have already been considering how the current upper two-tier local government structure could best be replaced by unitary authorities by April 2028.

But now, in a further step, a formal approach has been made to the Government seeking establishment of a mayoral strategic authority at the same time, with mayoral elections in May 2028.

The unitary authorities would still take on the lion's share of council services, including education, social care, highways, housing, planning and waste.

But the strategic authority – headed by an elected mayor – would take on areas that could include policing, the fire and rescue service, transport and skills, as well as spatial and infrastructure planning.

A letter seeking an elected mayor for Hertfordshire has been signed by county council leader Cllr Steve Jarvis and representatives of various bodies including the NHS, the police and crime commissioner's office and the University of Hertfordshire.

It says aligning the proposal for an elected mayor with the move to unitary authorities makes "economic and practical sense".

And it suggests the addition of a mayoral strategic authority would be "a win for Hertfordshire and for UK plc", increasing growth, driving innovation and delivering better services, while increasing contributions to the Exchequer.

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"In order to unlock the full potential of Hertfordshire, we share your view that a Mayoral Strategic Authority (MSA) will provide the coherent governance and strategic capacity to go further and faster," says the letter.

"The prize is to secure greater inclusive growth, drive innovation and deliver better public services across our 1.2 million residents and 60,000 businesses here in Hertfordshire.

"There would also be consequential growth and benefits across the wider sub region, driving up the net contribution to the Exchequer and reducing demand on hard-pressed public services."

The letter highlights ongoing work on the county's economic strategy, the 'Get Hertfordshire Working' plan and the local nature recovery strategy – as well as planned work on a new transport plan, digital/AI strategy and spatial development strategy.

This work, it says, would be the foundations that would give the new mayor the tools they need to develop the Herts local growth plan and investment priorities as soon as they were to take office.

And it suggests the mayor could quickly build on the investment pipeline created while minimising disruption to "critical" services, such as fire and rescue.

"Until [an MSA] is in place, our residents and businesses are missing out on growth opportunities, and UK plc is missing out on the fiscal and social benefits of more jobs and commercial activity," say the signatories.

"We are ready to move at pace and have the capability and collective leadership ambition to do so.

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"We ask for your support in enabling this next step in Hertfordshire's evolution and the UK's prosperity."