A new for the West Midlands is to be established to reflect an historic
The new body is to be created to run alongside a which is to be created in Birmingham and the Black Country to attract more funding and powers from Whitehall.
However, existing local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) will also remain, with a combined body co-ordinating their activities on issues which affect the entire area.
READ MORE: {}
The planned new body is a response to the Government's desire for the central West Midland towns and cities to speak with one voice to win powers over policies like housing and economic development.
A combined LEP will follow the same boundary as the combined authority once it is established across the region and could also include Coventry and parts of Warwickshire.
Stewart Towe, chairman of the Black Country LEP, told the Post: "Both major parties, Labour and the Conservatives, would like to see the urban core of the West Midlands working together in a combined authority.
"Once that is established, they would also like to see both the integrated transport authority and the LEPs covering the same area. That makes devolution of funding and powers from Westminster much easier."
Mr Towe said there was a desire to speak with one voice on issues like transport but he said it was also important to keep existing teams in place.
Most Read
The Black Country board includes Mr Towe, managing director of cold rolled steel manufacturers the Hadley Group, alongside other senior business figures, councillors and academics.
The Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP is chaired by Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis.
Coventry and Warwickshire LEP is chaired by Jonathan Browning, a former managing director of Jaguar, although Coventry has yet to sign up to the combined authority.
Mr Towe said: "We are not talking about merging the LEPs. We are keeping the local teams which have already been established and having something over that as a combined LEP."
A joint statement published by the leaders of Dudley, Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Birmingham councils stated that a new combined authority "will focus on strategic planning and delivery for economic development and transport".
In recent years, this has been the responsibility of LEPs, the business-led bodies set up by the Government, working closely with local councils.
For example, the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP oversaw the bid for funding which led to the Government announcing focused mainly on transport improvements such as extensions to Birmingham's light rail network.
Don’t miss
But the new combined authority will cover an area served by least two LEPs – Greater Birmingham and Solihull and Black Country.
Discussions are also taking place with Coventry City Council to see whether it should be included. If so, at least some of the territory served by Coventry and Warwickshire LEP will also be included in the combined authority.
Other combined authorities, such as Greater Manchester, the North East and the Liverpool City Region authorities, have a single LEP with the same boundaries.