Hammond leaves the door open on devolution
Electrification could still be on the table for region
CHANCELLOR PHILIP Hammond has declared the Government is ready to consider a proposal for a large swathe of Yorkshire to take control over its own affairs under a single elected mayor.
Mr Hammond struck a markedly more diplomatic tone over the emerging One Yorkshire plan compared to previous Ministerial interventions on the issue.
But the Chancellor underlined the Government’s focus for devolution is on economic development in major cities and their surrounding areas with Leeds and Sheffield a priority.
Mr Hammond was in Leeds having earlier met the metromayors in Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Tees Valley elected this year after those areas struck ‘devolution deals’ giving them powers to make more major decisions locally.
A similar deal in South Yorkshire has stalled and the rest of Yorkshire has previously failed to reach agreement. However, 17 of the region’s 20 councils have now backed the principle of a regionwide devolution deal. Mr Hammond told The Yorkshire Post: “Obviously if something is put forward to us we will look at it and the system is flexible enough to have different approaches in different regions.
“The short answer is, we definitely need Leeds and Sheffield at the table.”
Mr Hammond said it was a “disappointment” to the Government that the major urban areas of West and South Yorkshire had not secured deals, and elected metro-mayors, in the same way as other parts of the North.
“I know that there are new ideas formulating now, we will obviously look at proposals that are put to us but we have to look at what the purposes of these combined authorities is.
“It is to allow a functional economic geography to accelerate the rate of economic development, to harvest the benefits of working across the whole economic geography across the boundaries that sometimes separate city council areas from their hinterlands. That’s what it is all about and proposals need to be mindful of that driver.”
THE MAIN trans-Pennine rail route connecting Leeds to Manchester could yet be electrified, according to Chancellor Philip Hammond.
Mr Hammond insisted no final decisions have been taken on trans-Pennine electrification and all options for improving journeys are being considered.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling prompted an outcry before the summer when he scrapped electrification of the Midland Mainline between Nottingham and Sheffield and later suggested the long-promised electrification of the transPennine route could be downgraded.
A summit of northern leaders in Leeds last month called for full electrification and a clear Government commitment to develop a high-speed rail link in the longer term. Mr Hammond told The Yorkshire Post: “Just to be clear, no decisions have been taken on electrification, the Government’s position hasn’t changed.”
He said Network Rail was looking at “different options” for improving journeys on the transPennine route.
“My own view is, and I was Transport Secretary at the very beginning of my Ministerial career, my own view is that we should start from outputs and work backwards.
“What are we trying to deliver? On this particular route we are trying to deliver an increased frequency, higher capacity, shorter journey times and greater reliability.
“That may well be delivered through electrification, that may well be the way to do that, but I think we should be clear that what we are trying to deliver is a result for passengers not some conceptual thing based on inputs.
“It is a difficult piece of railway between Manchester and Leeds and people won’t want to sacrifice the benefits of local services stopping at the intermediate stations but at the same time they want faster journey times overall between Manchester and Leeds,” he said.
The controversy over rail electrification led to wider questions from council leaders on both sides of the Pennines over the Government’s commitment to the so-called Northern Powerhouse.
Mr Hammond’s comments on electrification and his similarly conciliatory tone on Yorkshire devolution made during a visit to Leeds yesterday appeared designed to draw a line under a summer of damaging headlines for the Government.
Earlier in the day the Chancellor had met the metro-mayors of Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Tees Valley where he promised the “commitment” to the Northern Powerhouse idea remains.
“Northern Powerhouse is not going to be one year or one parliament; it is a very long-term project, the objective of which is to get productivity levels in the northern cities up to the levels we see in London and the SouthEast,” he said.
“Doing that will do two things, it will help close the productivity gap with our foreign competitors, very important for our national economy, and it will help to close the North-South gap in incomes which is very important for national and social cohesion.
“Getting this right is a big part of our economic challenge for the next 20, 30 years, it’s that sort of timescale. We are not going to deliver this overnight.”
Mr Hammond is expected to set out more detail of the Government’s commitment to the Northern Powerhouse idea in the Budget this autumn when he may also review its approach to public-sector pay.
Strict limits on public-sector pay rises became an issue in this year’s General Election after an NHS worker questioned Theresa May in a television debate broadcast from York.
Mr Hammond described public-sector pay as a “complicated, dynamic balancing act” which needed to protect taxpayers while ensuring public services remain “sustainable”.
Northern Powerhouse is not going to be one year. Chancellor Philip Hammond.