Solent devolution bid 'must be right for Isle of Wight'

The government had provisionally allocated a reported £900m for the proposed Solent authority

An Isle of Wight councillor has said the authority would be happy to resume talks about a devolved Solent authority if it is "right for the island".

On Friday, it emerged a bid to create a new devolved body involving Southampton and Portsmouth was rejected by government.

In a joint statement, the councils said they were "shocked" by the decision.

Island cabinet secretary Chris Whitehouse said the rejection was no surprise, calling the bid "unworkable".

He said his colleagues had "long understood" it was off the table, adding: "We're frankly amazed that neither Portsmouth nor Southampton had grasped that obvious conclusion."

The councils previously said the Solent Combined Authority had been provisionally allocated £900m by the government to spend over 30 years.

At the time of the bid, in 2016, the island's council was run by an independent administration but is now controlled by the Conservative group, which has opposed the deal.

Mr Whitehouse said: "The Conservative administration on the island is very happy to discuss devolution or any other form of governance option but, we're very clear, it must be right for the island and properly recognise its unique opportunities and characteristics.

"We will not be bounced into new arrangements by anybody."

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said previously the government was "developing a devolution framework to clarify what devolution means for different administrations" to give councils "clarity" on how to progress.