Clegg confirmed that all 20 cities that submitted bids to get a City Deal in October last year following a call by the Government have been successful in their bids. The cities that will be handed the new powers include Bournemouth and Poole, Brighton & Hove, Milton Keynes and the south east Midlands, Plymouth, Southampton and Portsmouth.
The deals will allow the cities to negotiate plans to get more freedom and power to control local spending, including autonomy over how to spend their training and skills budgets as well as the power to create local investment funds to build roads and unlock developments.
The first round of deals was announced in September last year and included agreements with eight of England's "largest and most economically important cities" outside London.
"Even more places will be free from Whitehall control and have the tools to power their own growth," said Clegg. "These deals help cities and their wider areas make once in a generation changes that will be felt by everyone across their region."
"Letting go of power and money doesn’t come naturally to Whitehall. Over time, the economic importance of other parts of the country has been devastatingly downplayed, as the economic elite have narrowed the debate towards a London-centric view," he said.
"Rather than let our industries and communities wither, we need to free up cities outside of London that have their own unique selling points," Clegg said.
"Britain’s economic success depends on our cities being successful – they are where most people live, work and study, and where most businesses are located," said Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Minister for Cities, Greg Clark.
"Each city is unique, yet for decades Whitehall has treated them as being the same – there has been too little sense of place in government policy," he said.
"City deals are a quiet revolution in the way Britain is governed. Rather than London laying down the law, cities have the right to do things their way. The stories of their own futures will be as individual as their unique histories," Clark said.
"Having begun with eight cities there has been enormous demand by other cities to be part of the action. Today’s invitation gives twenty more cities the chance to be part of this revolution," he said.
The Government said in a statement that it will now work with the cities to develop the proposals and finalise the deals. It said it aims to complete all 20 deals over the next year.
