Questions have been asked about what the true cost of a new elected mayor for East Anglia would be - and whether a devolution deal could signal the beginning of the end for the current tiers of local government.

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Deal brokers were unable to say what the taxpayer bill for the new mayor and any administrative team might be, as a 26-page document with details of the proposal was released.

The deal for Norfolk, Suffolk and part of Cambridgeshire, which still needs to be put to 22 local authorities, will see the Treasury hand over £30m a year for the next 30 years, along with £175m of housing money.

The new mayor, as chairman of a combined authority, would get to draw up spending plans for transport - but with some transport schemes costing millions, it remains to be seen how many schemes can be covered each year - and how they will be prioritised.

And, while some leaders and communities secretary Greg Clark are adamant the new deal would not change the role of existing authorities, district council leaders in Ipswich and South Norfolk suggested the current two-tier structure of district and county councils might be re-examined.

South Norfolk leader John Fuller said: 'If devolution is to really mean anything it is probably to get us thinking about breaking the link between those historic medieval boundaries to a system that better reflects the economic and health geographies by which people live their lives.

'Has development and people's communications and transport moved to such an extent that now is the time for a new settlement?'

However, the budget day announcement that every school must become an academy - taking away part of the traditional role of county council in education - could be viewed as eroding the need for county councils.

Waveney and Suffolk Coastal district are also looking to merge. The new East Suffolk Council would serve a quarter of a million people - and would surely trigger a debate over whether powers currently wielded by the county council would be better in their hands.

Labour's Ipswich Borough Council leader David Ellesmere said, eventually, a regional mayor could lead to other changes to council structures.

He said: 'When you look at the announcement on devolution and the changes that are being made to education, it is clear that the role of county councils is being diminished.'

He said that while he knew there was no appetite for major reform, questions would be asked about county councils in the years ahead.

Great Yarmouth Borough council's political leaders said they were concerned about the governance and cost of the combined authority - and of the powers the mayor would have.

But Suffolk County Council leader Colin Noble insisted that the mayor's office would at the very least have to be 'cost neutral.'

While George Nobbs, Labour leader of Norfolk County Council, said it was 'ill-informed mischief making' to suggest the deal would create another tier of local government.

He said: 'The truth is a single person will be elected by the three counties and the combined authority itself will consist of, purely and simply, nothing but the leaders of all the councils taking part.

'When legislative decisions need to be taken, the leaders will get together with the mayor and all that needs to be found is a room for them to meet in.

'It doesn't affect the existing local government structure in any shape or form. Powers currently exercised by civil servants in Whitehall, who make decisions on our behalf, will be transferred to local representatives who know what is best for Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

'In the final analysis it is a question of belief. You either believe in it or you don't. I have never believed in anything so much in my life.'

What do you think? Email EDPLetters@archant.co.uk