Council leaders believe a ‘strong workable economic partnership’ delivers a Yorkshire devolution deal

As announced yesterday, the Sheffield mayoral election planned for May has been postponed until 2018 following a High Court ruling.

The Sheffield City Region (SCR) was forced to postpone the mayoral election after a High Court judgement required that more consultation had to be conducted on whether Chesterfield in Derbyshire should join the combined authority, along with Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire.

In October 2015 the then chancellor, George Osborne, struck a £900m devolution deal with the Sheffield City Region. As part of this agreement, the region was to elect its own mayor this May, along with Greater Manchester, Tees Valley, the West Midlands, the west of England and the Liverpool city region.

Following yesterday’s announcement, however, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority has now proposed a devolution deal for the whole of Yorkshire, thus discarding the SCR option.

A joint statement has been released by West Yorkshire’s council leaders: Cllr Judith Blake, leader Leeds City Council; Cllr Peter Box, leader Wakefield Council; Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council; Cllr David Sheard, leader of Kirklees Council and Cllr Tim Swift, leader of Calderdale Council.

The statement read:

“We have always maintained that the Leeds City Region provides the best basis for devolution by driving growth in the fastest and fairest way and making sure everyone benefits. It is vital that we are in a position to shape our own destiny and make the decisions here that affect everyone across our City Region.

Nine out of ten decisions about Leeds City Region are taken outside of the area. This highly centralised system has led to gross unfairness. It is completely unacceptable for example that transport spending is 7 times higher in London at £1,900 per head than in Yorkshire where it is just £250 per head.

We believe in a devolution process that is based around economic issues that boost our economy including investment, transport and skills. We have put forward proposals, including the acceptance of an elected mayor, to achieve that aim. However, our ambition has so far been thwarted by a lack of agreement from Government. We are determined Leeds City Region cannot be left behind because of this.

In this situation we are willing to consider other options for devolution but these must be based on what is best placed to deliver economic growth and provide real identity and purpose. A Yorkshire deal underpinned by the existing combined authorities is one of these options that could unlock our Leeds City Region deal, along with those of our colleagues in Sheffield City Region, and the North and East of Yorkshire.

We are meeting with colleagues across Yorkshire to explore these options so that we get a strong workable economic partnership for the Leeds City region, which delivers the best deal for Yorkshire.“

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