South Yorkshire leaders agree devolution deal

Four years after the deal was initially announced, political leaders have agreed to move forward with a South Yorkshire devolution deal.

The leaders of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield councils have released a statement, with Sheffield City Region Mayor Dan Jarvis, announcing that the deal had been agreed and will be put to public consultation later this year.

They say that the deal will enable the regions to build a stronger and more sustainable region in which more people want to live, work and invest, and that this can be done ‘far faster, and with much greater impact’ under the new deal. A statement said that ‘we will ensure we make the most of the huge potential that exists both here in South Yorkshire and right across Yorkshire and the north of England’.

Jarvis said: "We stand at a critical moment for our country. As we leave the European Union, securing further powers and resources for South Yorkshire and building greater cooperation across Yorkshire will ensure we are best prepared for whatever Brexit brings.”

Henri Murison, Northern Powerhouse Partnership Director, said: “The Northern Powerhouse needs strong economic regions and the Metro Mayor Dan Jarvis deserves enormous credit for progressing the devolution deal for Sheffield City Region to implementation with powers and funding – a critical step towards our mission to secure Mayoral devolution across Yorkshire and a hundred per cent of the wider North. Devolution with the further powers we need, allows faster, more responsive decision making and delivery, stimulating economies and better addressing the causes of social problems, not just dealing with their consequences. The productivity increases we need to make the North more prosperous depend on those like Dan Jarvis and we have every confidence in his ability to deliver.
 
“We will see locally controlled and more effective skills system, improved local transport and further industrial strategy interventions across R & D, as we have seen with the private sector and research investment being secured on the back of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), and Dan Jarvis and his team’s wider work since his election, this devolution framework can truly deliver for people, communities and businesses right across Sheffield City Region. As a business led organisation we look forward to working with the Committee of Leaders from across Yorkshire in the future, and will seek to work with them on the areas they choose to focus on as we have done engaging positively with the current leaders board.”