We are passionate advocates for devolving as much power and money as possible out of central government down to our county. Local problems can and should be solved locally and residents and locally accountable decision makers who know our areas best should be in the driving seat coming up with solutions to the challenges we face.

The English Devolution Bill released last week is the Labour Government’s plan to give those of us with “skin in the game” the funding and the tools we need to make a real and lasting difference. This isn’t the weak tea offered by the Tories in years past on devolution.

The Bill lays out nothing less than a devolution revolution, which will deliver the greatest transfer of power and money from Whitehall to our communities in a generation, empowering those communities to realise their potential.

The plans set out a strong preference to see Mayors in place across the whole of England – making it the default status. And it is those areas which embrace the mayoral model and the local accountability that comes with it which stand to benefit most from the rich rewards that devolution has to offer.

Taking buses back into public control; a new statutory role in governing, managing, planning, and developing the rail network; control over adult skills funding and a role in employment support programmes; and new powers over strategic planning to build the homes we need. These are just some of the opportunities available to us in Cumbria if we seize the opportunity being presented.

Making this work for Cumbria would mean retaining Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness as two councils and introducing a combined authority led by a directly elected mayor for the county. It should mean merging the role of our Cumbria-wide Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner into the mayor’s office. This would mean no extra politicians in Cumbria, but access to a lot more funding than we currently have.

We as Cumbria’s Labour representatives are up for this and we know from speaking to many residents and businesses that there is an appetite for it among the public too.

Indeed at the recent Cumbria Economic Summit there was strong support from the business community. There is widespread and cross-party support for Cumbria to benefit from these opportunities, and we cannot let one party block the greatest transfer of power to Cumbrians in a generation.

We urge all parties to clearly back an ambitious Mayoral combined authority. Whether it’s Greater Manchester, Tees Valley or the North East, we are seeing our near neighbours move ahead with the powers and resources that come with a directly elected Mayor. The rest of England is moving towards this model of devolution and we in Cumbria deserve the same opportunities.

A Mayoral Combined Authority with the right powers and resources is our best route to improving local bus and train services, upgrading roads like the A66, A595 and A590, driving forward major regeneration projects, improving the health and wealth of our population and expanding access to opportunity in every corner of Cumbria.

We’ll continue making the case alongside businesses and civic leaders in the months ahead and we hope that we can work together to put Cumbria in the driving seat of our own future.

Michelle Scrogham, MP for Barrow and Furness

David Allen, Cumbria Police, Fire, and Crime Commissioner

Derek Brook, Leader of the Labour Group, Westmorland and Furness Council

Mark Fryer, Leader of Cumberland Council

Josh MacAlister, MP for Whitehaven and Workington

Markus Campbell-Savours, MP for Penrith and Solway

Julie Minns, MP for Carlisle