'Pre-mayor' to spend £117m to boost jobs
BBCWork has begun at the new Sussex and Brighton Strategic Authority on plans to boost growth, infrastructure and jobs with £117m of the future mayor's budget.
Bella Sankey, leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, has been elected first chair of the authority, with plans for the leaders of East and West Sussex to take turns in a rotating 'pre-mayoral' role.
When a mayor is elected in May 2028 they will automatically become chair of the authority and oversee a budget of £1.14bn over the next 30 years.
The new board visited engineering graduates and apprentices at Elekta, a developer and manufacturer of radiotherapy and cancer-care in Crawley, who welcomed a push for job prospects for young people.
Together Sussex and Brighton have a population of over 1.76 million people and the area includes nearly 74,000 businesses together with Gatwick Airport, the second busiest airport in the UK.
The area contributes about £51.75bn to the UK's economic output, about 15% of the wider South East's economy.
The authority's Prosperity Strategy is starting to set out how the authority will build on the area's strengths while tackling long-standing disparities.
Sankey said she was "privileged and overjoyed" and the authority had ambitious plans for transport connectivity, skills improvement, affordable housing and attracting investment.
Lucinda Adam/BBCOne of those they met, Ella Bolger, 24, a graduate mechanical engineer, said she felt "very lucky" to be using her degree in a graduate job whereas some friends had struggled to find opportunities and were working in coffee shops.
Originally from West London, she moved to Brighton and said she was "surprised" to find an engineering opportunity in Sussex.
She said: "I went to university in Nottingham and I knew there was lots of industry there. I expected to have to stay in the midlands or north, but ideally I wanted to move back down south because that's where my family is from, that's where my support network is."
Lucinda Adam/BBCDylan Turland Cowell, 25, says being on the electronics engineering graduate scheme has allowed him to return to Sussex from university to build his life.
He said: "The UK has got very skilled young workforce and excellent universities. It's just a shame that there aren't really enough jobs for them. And entry level jobs are diminishing due to AI."
Cameron Munday, 24, was born and raised in Crawley and is now his third year of an apprenticeship as a manufacturing technician and being sponsored to do an HND course in electrical and electronic engineering.
He said: "I think you need to get young people into work. For many decades there's been a loss of skills and trades in this country so we need to get local, homegrown talent into these industries learning skills and trades."
'Make Sussex great again'
Vice-chair Andy Woolley, the leader of East Sussex County Council, said it was "historic" for East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove to "sit around a table to talk about making Sussex great again".
He added he would focus on making sure all businesses like Sussex's farming and fishing industries were recognised, not just "those based in shiny offices in the middle of town".
Sam Raby, deputy leader of West Sussex County Council, said having a collective voice for the first time would bring positive benefits.
He said: "By being a single voice, you can get a focus on investment and also for lobbying to central government to get more money.
"That's the whole point of devolution is to bring down powers and to bring down money and to draw in investment."
