Member Article

Fight for regional devolution begins in Yorkshire and the North as Scotland votes ‘No’

The fight for regional independence has now begun as Scotland votes by a margin of around 55%-45% to stay part of the United Kingdom.

Earlier this week leaders from Leeds and Manchester, Tom Riordan and Sir Howard Bernstein, met to discuss the devolution of power to regions and cities, particularly in the North, and how they could work together to accelerate economic growth.

Following promises to Scotland concerning the devolution of greater powers over tax and VAT, it is expected that the North will follow suit.

Deputy PM Nick Clegg acknowledged that there was a growing demand for devolution in the North, and suggested that there was a desire for constitutional reform and greater freedoms in Yorkshire and the rest of the North.

Stuart Watson, senior partner at EY in Yorkshire and Humberside said: “Although Scotland remains in the Union, change and further devolution of powers will still be forthcoming in the form of concessions from Westminster and greater control for Scotland.

“This is still likely to fuel discussions at local level on whether or not there should be further devolution within England and Wales.

“Noises have been made about Yorkshire as a potential candidate given its size in comparison to other UK regions. Business leaders across the region need to make sure they are a part of this debate.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: “A vote against independence was clearly not a vote against change and we must now deliver on time and in full the radical package of newly devolved powers to Scotland.

“At the same time, this referendum north of the border has led to demand for constitutional reform across the United Kingdom as people south of the border also want more control and freedom in their own hands rather than power being hoarded in Westminster.

“So this referendum marks not only a new chapter for Scotland within the UK but also wider constitutional reform across the Union.”

Richard Wright, executive director of Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, said: “A No vote is generally supported by the business community in Sheffield.

“We actually have a lot of businesses in the city region who either have head-quarters in Scotland or trade regularly with businesses there so this result was important to us.

“We can’t, however, ignore that there is going to be a push for devolution across the whole of the UK and that expectation may well accelerate and even increase the scope of the devolution of funding decisions and priorities going forward.

“To that extent, the fact that Sheffield City Region has a Local Enterprise Partnership and Combined Authority is a positive.”

FSB regional chairman Gordon Millward commented: “If the UK is to be a more competitive, attractive place to do business, it needs to release and harness the latent capacity of its major cities and enable those cities to ‘punch their weight’ on an international scale.

“It is acknowledged that there are two economies which operate in the UK: on the one hand London and the south east and on the other hand all the rest.

“The whole crux of this debate is to identify a means of replicating in the north the success and prosperity of the south east.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .