Breaking news: The end of the Western Gateway Partnership?

It’s not official yet, but the powerful voice representing Gloucestershire, the West and South Wales - the Western Gateway Partnership - is under massive pressure after its funding was cut.

After months of waiting and lobbying, even launching its plans for a new tidal power project for the Severn Estuary this week, the Western Gateway Partnership has learned it has lost its funding from Government.

The decision looks likely to bring to an end the pan-regional organisation as we know it, on which so much hope was placed in Gloucestershire following the demise of GFirst LEP, and across the rest of the West and South Wales.

Funding will cease at the end of this month (March).

The Western Gateway was launched by Cabinet Ministers in November 2019 to represent what was described as “the UK’s third powerhouse” after the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine, all charged with championing their regions and winning investment.

In short, to give a voice to the West of England and South Wales so it could be heard alongside the powerful voices elsewhere in the UK. It represented 28 local authorities across that patch and was widely supported by businesses too.

When the independent local enterprise partnership, GFirst LEP, was merged into Gloucestershire County Council in 2024 it was the Western Gatway’s John Wilkinson (pictured above) who was brought on stage in a strong hint it was this organisation that would fill the gaping hole to lead the county forward.

And since then it has fought to raise the profile and potential of the area it represented, a region it said was forecast by Oxford Economics to have the fastest growth outside of London (1.4 per cent per annum in GVA growth from 2024-2029).

Only in January MPs from across Wales and the West were lining up in support of the partnership aware that the Government was considering all options for saving money – even the very organisations created to help champion economic growth.

But letters have now gone out to its partners from James Cooke, the deputy director of the Western Gateway, confirming the worst, and Raikes has seen one of those and runs some of that detail below.

No official statement is due until Monday, but you can get the detail if you read on.