Mayoral moves

Sheffield City Region’s landmark

AS orders are laid before Parliament, this is not the devolution deal for South Yorkshire – or the rest of the county – that Sheffield City Region mayor Dan Jarvis had sought.

He had hoped that the decision to acquiesce to the Government’s wishes was a compromise move that could, in fact, pave the way for the One Yorkshire devolution model which he continues to advocate.

Yet, with the Government preferring the city-region model, and Boris Johnson’s party securing a convincing election win last December, a more pragmatic view has had to be taken.

This also explains West Yorkshire’s own deal which, in turn, will lead to the election of Leeds City Region’s first metro mayor next May – and why North and East Yorkshire are looking at their future governance model.

Furthermore, Yorkshire’s economic challenges have been made even more pressing by the Covid-19 crisis and the area was at risk of missing out on countless funding opportunities if it wasn’t for the statecraft that has been provided by Mr Jarvis to get this far when there have been significant differences between Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster over strategy that have strained relations.

That said, co-operation between public bodies across Yorkshire, and with the Government, has never been more important. Yes, the priorities for individual areas do vary, testament to the county’s diverse economy, but many of the major issues like inward investment, skills training, transport, tourism and digital connectivity matter to all and explain why Yorkshire still needs to move forward as one if its potential is to be realised.