Hertfordshire is one of 10 areas set for a mayor, the Budget says. No election date yet; local consultations come next. What a mayor gets and what leaders said.

Hertfordshire is set to get an elected mayor. The government named the county in Wednesday’s Budget as one of 10 areas where a devolution agreement is in its “final stages”.

The new body would be a Mayoral Strategic Authority covering the whole county, including Welwyn Hatfield. No date for a mayoral election has been given.

What the Budget says

The Budget 2026 document, published on 28 October, lists the areas in that final stage:

  • Devon, Plymouth and Torbay
  • Hertfordshire
  • Lancashire
  • Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
  • Stoke and Staffordshire
  • Surrey
  • Thames Valley (Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Swindon)
  • Wessex

Kent and Medway and Cornwall make up the 10, on different terms. The Treasury says the new agreements will put over 90% of England’s population under a devolution deal.

The next step, in the document’s words, is to “work with the relevant councils to launch local consultations with key stakeholders”. So the deal is not yet signed, and the consultation has not opened.

What a mayor would get

The Budget sets out powers and money that go to mayoral authorities in general. None of it is specific to Hertfordshire, and a new authority would only receive it once it exists:

  • Business rates: mayoral authorities get a 20% share of business rates from April 2027, under a plan for local government to keep all business rates income by the end of the decade.
  • Income tax: a share of income tax is assigned to all mayors from 2028.
  • Overnight visitor levy: the government plans to legislate so every Strategic Authority can introduce one.
  • Set-up money: £150 million for Strategic Authorities in 2027-28 to build staff and expertise.

The Treasury’s regional fact sheet says areas electing mayors for the first time in 2027 and 2028 will also join No10 North’s Priority Projects Programme. It does not say which year Hertfordshire falls into.

What Welwyn Hatfield’s leaders said

The council’s Leader, Councillor Rose Grewal, and Deputy Leader, Councillor Sandreni Bonfante, issued a joint statement on 28 October.

“This decision is good news for local residents and businesses across Welwyn Hatfield,” they said. They named affordable housing, the local economy and town centre regeneration as the priorities it would help.

The statement also pointed to the borough’s big employers, “including the headquarters of Tesco, as well as being home to the University of Hertfordshire”.

Welwyn Hatfield also signed a second statement with the leaders of Stevenage, North Herts and Hertsmere councils. It said the four had been making “the case for a Mayor for Hertfordshire for two years”. They listed council homes, transport and jobs as things a mayor would let them invest in.

The mayor is not the council merger

A mayor and the plan to abolish Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council are two separate things.

A Mayoral Strategic Authority sits above the councils. It takes on powers and money from Whitehall, on things like transport, skills and growth. It does not replace the borough council.

The reorganisation that would have abolished the council on 1 April 2028 was paused by ministers in September. The Budget document does not mention it for Hertfordshire. For Kent and Medway, by contrast, it says the strategic authority will be mayoral only if the council reorganisation there allows it.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes yet. Your bins, council tax and planning decisions stay with Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council.
  • A consultation is coming. The government says it will launch local consultations with the councils. We will report the dates and how to respond when they are published.
  • A county-wide vote, at some point. A Mayoral Strategic Authority means an elected mayor. No election date has been set.

Council tax for 2026/27 is on our council tax bands page.