Call for £1.7bn to aid with region’s recovery
A CORONAVIRUS recovery plan from Whitehall will “only repeat the mistakes of the past”, it has been claimed, as an ambitious £1.7bn bid was submitted to government to rebuild the economy in South Yorkshire.
In a move which comes just days after the devolution deal for the Sheffield City Region was laid before Parliament, its Mayor Dan Jarvis used his platform to ask the Government to support a £1.7bn investment package to help the recovery from coronavirus.
He urged Ministers to ensure the recovery plan in South Yorkshire was overseen locally, adding: “The investment we are asking for will help not just rescue the South Yorkshire economy but level it up. It will back our people and our entrepreneurs when they need it the most.
“A recovery plan driven from Whitehall will only repeat the mistakes of the past, perpetuating inequalities between London and the regions. That’s why I have called for a New Deal for the North – an ambitious programme of investment and devolution in a stronger, fairer, greener future for South Yorkshire and the North.
“This plan is a first step towards that vision and an initial £1.7bn down payment will help lay the foundations for an economy built on high-skilled, highproductivity, high-paid jobs.
“We must take this opportunity to build back better, so we see not just recovery, but renewal.”
Mr Jarvis has written to both Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak with his request, which he said would make the region’s economy stronger, fairer and greener.
The plans would include and training and jobs guarantee, an investment and innovation fund for businesses, and a boost for infrastructure including transport links, remodelling town centres, and building flood defences.
It is predicted these measures
would support more than 55,000 training and job opportunities, back 30,000 businesses, create 3,000 apprenticeships.
It comes as a study found that the careers of young workers could be severely disrupted by the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, a new report warns.
Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found evidence that the economic lockdown has particularly affected young people’s work prospects, which could last well beyond the easing of measures taken to deal with the pandemic.
Over the last decade, young people starting jobs have increasingly been working in relatively low-paid occupations, many of which have been hardest hit by the crisis, such as hospitality and non-food retail, said the report.
Researchers from the IFS also found that the coronavirus pandemic threatens to have a prolonged negative impact on young people by reducing demand for the jobs that are typical among early-career workers and making it harder for employees to find better opportunities than their current roles.