West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has joined forces with mayors from across the country to demand greater devolution of powers and funding for skills.

England’s eight directly-elected regional mayors met in Liverpool to back a joint statement calling for further reforms to the skills system, including more control over apprenticeship funding.

Taking part were Mr Street; Tim Bowles, Mayor of the West of England; Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester; Sadiq Khan, London; Ben Houchen, Tees Valley, and Steve Rotheram, Liverpool City Region.

James Palmer, Peterborough and Cambridgeshire, and Dan Jarvis, Sheffield City Region, were unable to attend but have signed the joint statement.

The Government’s Apprenticeship Levy scheme is intended to fund new apprenticeships through a levy of 0.5% on the wage bill of employers with salary costs of more than £3 million per year. Funding can then be drawn down by employers to pay for apprenticeships.

Across the country as a whole, the levy raises around £3 billion a year.

Andy Street and Andy Burnham at New Street Station

The mayors said in a joint statement that with Brexit approaching it was more important than ever to ensure local workers have the right skills.

They urged the Government to give mayors and regional combined authorities control of the Apprenticeship Levy, as well as control of 16-19 skills policy.

They also urged the Government to provide additional funding to ensure that there are enough providers of high quality training.

Mr Street, a Conservative, said: “Skills is a huge challenge for the West Midlands, and we need the funding and flexibilities in order to make the apprenticeship system work as it should in our region.

“We need Government’s help to make sure that this system works for business and for people who want to gain the skills they need to get well-paid jobs.

“As we develop our Local Industrial Strategy, we want to bring business, Government and learners together to reshape the skills landscape in the West Midlands.”

Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “With the Whitehall machine creaking under the strain of Brexit it’s time that Ministers gave devolved regions the chance to get on.

“We are all primed and ready to make decisions on domestic issues that will help ensure a better future for our areas and a smoother Brexit process for the whole country.

“As we leave the EU we must make sure that people have the right skills to get the jobs that will power our economy.”