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• Andy Wood: "It's still part of the negotiation, down to leaders in the East of England to determine"
• Patrick O'Flynn: "I don't see the democratic legitimacy for it"
• Colin Noble: "How does one person represent such a diverse geography? He advocates a group of councillors working with a 'chairman of the board' as the mayor"
• David Cleevely: "We need a mayor to make big decisions but to deal with the politics, you need real politicians"
• Lucy Nethsignha: Hopes having a mayor "is not going to happen", and hopes the idea is "dead in the water"

Andrew Woodger
BBC News

It is estimated a new combined authority would have a £30m budget for transport.

Lucy Nethsingha, Lib Dem leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, said: "The transport funding through this deal is pitiful - nothing like what is needed for this region."

Andy Wood, head of the East Anglian Devolution Leaders Board, said: "This is the first part of unlocking a whole lot of further funding."

Harry is from King Edwards VI school in Bury St Edmunds.

He believes a devolution deal is needed for the whole of Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. 

He says borders need to be "broken down" to help the great education "inequality" across the counties. 

His head teacher, Jeff Barton, replied saying most parents feel devolution is "irrelevant".

Two vice-chancellors say they support the idea of devolution, when asked: "What's on offer from devolution?"

Prof David Richardson, from the University of East Anglia, said: "We see an integrated infrastructure across the region as very important for our students.

He said devolved powers "send the right message", adding it's "important we have regional businesses working together".

The vice-chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, Prof Iain Martin, says: "Devolution will help build a sense of identity, but devolution of what, where are the priorities going to be?"

Here's the latest figures:

Seventeen-year-old Jane Prinseley is from BBC Generation 2016, representing the views of the next generation.

She says it's "important we are listened to in Westminster and we're not sure devolution will give us that".

"We'll have a bigger voice, but without the powers to do it," she says.

"As a young person travelling to London it gets harder. This whole package feels likes it's increasing the isolation of Norfolk and East Anglia, and shouldn't we be trying to break the walls instead of building up new ones?"

In the audience, Jane Basham, a Labour activist, says she agrees with a suggestion made by Kevin Price, deputy leader of Cambridge City Council, that a public referendum is the way forward before deciding on whether there should be an elected mayor.

UKIP MEP Patrick O'Flynn agrees with Cambridgeshire County Council that the region is too big for one mayor.

He says it wouldn't be "proper devolution", adding in effect it would be "a blue rosette pinned on someone to have just one mayor".

Andy Wood, centre of panel, addresses the audience about devolution.

"It's not about usurping county identities. It's about creating a virtual economy of £65bn that we can go to government and say, 'we're contributing to the coffers, please take some notice of us'."

"Challenging", "Totally stuck" - these are two descriptions of transport in the region at the moment.

A businesswoman based in north Norfolk says her main concern is whether a new authority would listen to them. She says: "Will we be listened to as an industry?"

Andy Woods responds by saying: "Devolution would allow local people to decide where funding goes. This is about local people making decisions on key routes."

David Cleeveley: "The important point is: unless you can get transit times improved, how can you expect it to work economically?"

"There's no need to have a mayor. It's a reorganisation that's not needed," says Lucy Nethsignha (right of centre on panel).

"It would be more productive to focus on the work that needs to be done."

Colin Noble, the leader of Suffolk County Council, says they've been talking about devolution for many months, so it's "not a problem" to have a deal done by Friday week - despite Cambridgeshire and Peterborough wanting to break away.

Deborah McGurran
BBC Political editor, East of England

A new combined authority for Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk would not have the power to make new laws in the way Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland's devolved assemblies do.

Image source, Thinkstock

The new authority, heading by a directly-elected mayor, would not take powers away from existing local councils.

What it would do is be given some powers which are currently exercised in Whitehall, such as deciding where to spend money on transport, strategic planning and skills training.

Local businessman David Cleevely said: "Cambridgeshire is really part of London.

"From a business point of view we're looking at connectivity."

You'd still take away a huge amount of power from local councils with one mayor for East Anglia, says Lucy Nethsignha, as she explained why Cambridgeshire wants to branch out to have two authorities and two mayors instead of just one.

We need to have a devolution deal done by Friday week, says Adnams CEO Andy Wood.

Today's devolution debate panel members:

• Colin Noble, Conservative leader of Suffolk County Council
• Andy Wood, Adnams CEO and lead on East Anglia Devolution Leaders Board
• Lucy Nethsignha, leader of Lib Dem group on Cambridgeshire County Council
• David Cleevely, entrepreneur
• Patrick O'Flynn, UKIP MEP for East of England

This morning's debate on East Anglian devolution has just begun.

Over the next hour and a half, BBC Radio Suffolk, BBC Radio Norfolk, and BBC Radio Cambridgeshire will be broadcasting simultaneously from the Millennium Suite at the Rowley Mile Racecourse in Newmarket.

We'll keep you posted here on what the panel and the guests have to say.

Image source, bbc