THE year 2008 put Merseyside in the spotlight, and the challenge in 2009 is to build on that success.

In many ways, it is already ahead of the game and I, along with the Prime Minister and the rest of Cabinet, were here last week to see for ourselves the transformation the city has undergone.

However, the next few years are not going to be straightforward. The whole world is facing a downturn. Families are already worried about paying the mortgage, and more businesses are struggling.

In addition, Merseyside is facing tough times in the months to come, but one thing is clear – it is in better shape than ever before.

That’s a huge turnaround from the dark days of the 1980s.

The Government’s devolution agenda has given more money, power and controls to councils up and down the country because local leaders know their area best.

Today, that agenda is moving one step further. Representatives from the “Liverpool City Region” – Liverpool, Knowsley, St Helens, Wirral, Sefton, Halton councils – are going to Downing Street to sign a new partnership agreement with the Prime Minister to put in place a homegrown economic plan for jobs and skills.

Nearly all of us work and live across council boundaries. That means creating economic growth in a city-region like Merseyside needs a team effort.

The new Liverpool City-Region Multi-Area Agreement means councils across Merseyside will no longer have to work alone on their economy. They will now all work from the same blueprint, with more responsibilities devolved to deliver jobs, training, welfare support and economic resilience.

Liverpool city-region is already renowned for its creative industries, which already make the most of local talent, and new training programmes are going to help train a further 100,000 people with skills to match its economy.

New “fit-for-work advisers” are going to help almost 9,000 people in danger of falling out of work because of poor health, and there will be additional support for 18-year-olds, including a universal offer to support self- employment.

This is just the start, the Government wants to go further and devolve more power and more control over issues like transport, regeneration, skills and housing to the best city-regions and Merseyside's new agreement puts them in a prime position to benefit.