Heseltine fears ‘tribal’ politics will jeopardise devolution bid
Delegation makes case for One Yorkshire
THE PROSPECT of a historic Yorkshire devolution deal could be put at risk by politicians “pursuing their tribal instincts to protect what they have now got”, former Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine has warned.
But the Tory grandee, a leading advocate of decision-making powers being transferred from Whitehall to the English regions, told a conference in Leeds there was no reason why the devolution deals in Manchester and Liverpool could not be replicated east of the Pennines.
He spoke as Yorkshire’s MPs and council leaders challenged Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid to agree an election for a region-wide mayor in 2020 during face-to-face talks in London.
Elected leaders from every one of Yorkshire’s councils bar Rotherham and Sheffield have signed a letter calling for the Sheffield City Region mayoral election this May to be followed by an agreement for a combined authority covering the widest possible geography.
During the meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire, Mr Javid did not rule out a One Yorkshire agreement or elections in 2020 but refused to commit himself to any particular timescale.
He called on Yorkshire leaders, who are due to meet again on Monday, to come up with more details about how such a regionwide arrangement might work.
Mr Javid said after the meeting: “Our door is open to any further proposals, any new proposals, including for a potential One Yorkshire deal, if that’s what local authorities want to come forward with, as long as it doesn’t jeopardise the South Yorkshire deal, because it is so important.
“£1bn of investment, going to that region, leading to thousands more jobs, I think that is really important.” Keighley MP John Grogan told
The Yorkshire Post: “What I took from it is that there is no longer a principled objection to One Yorkshire (from the Government), which there was at one stage, and they are not saying 2020 is impossible.”
Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake, who represents Thirsk and Malton, said there was consensus among the MPs and council leaders present to deliver a pan-Yorkshire deal.
He said: “(Sajid Javid) was quite clear that he wouldn’t stop One Yorkshire but that it had to be a universal agreement, that all the local authorities had to agree. The ambition is wonderful but if some of the local authorities don’t agree then it is going to be very difficult.”
Lord Heseltine, who spoke at the Northern Powerhouse Conference organised by the New
Statesman at Leeds Town Hall, said “very serious progress” was being made on devolution west of the Pennines, but that further east only the Tees Valley had a working mayoral authority.
Talking about the prospect of devolution in Yorkshire, he said: “I wonder whether those who are pursuing their tribal instincts to protect what they have now got realise the damage that does in the corridors of power in London.
“What it really says is that they can’t even agree on this or that, how can we trust them with the major resources and the major shift of power they are asking for, that they can’t even reach agreement. Reaching an agreement and implementing that agreement is a fundamental confidence-building factor, and I hope very much that I can say with humility that I can’t see why what’s possible west of the Pennines has so far not yet been achieved east of the Pennines.”
Our door is open to new proposals, including One Yorkshire. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid.
YORKSHIRE MPS have led calls for the Government to adopt a “bolder, more ambitious approach” to transport spending to help all the UK’s regions – and especially the North – to flourish.
Hull North MP Diana Johnson last night spearheaded a House of Commons debate on the issue, urging Ministers to abandon the current “skewed” formula for evaluating transport spending amounts – and put “fare-paying passengers and not dividendtroughing shareholders” first.
In a wide ranging debate, backbench MPs made use of a special Parliamentary procedure to scrutinise the spending of the Department of Transport, using a socalled “Estimates Day” debate.
In her opening speech, Ms Johnson said there were “significant longstanding problems” with the way the country both ran and invested in its transport infrastructure, adding that she wanted to press the case for a “bolder, more ambitious” approach which “leaves no city or region behind”.
And she stressed the urgent need for Transport for the North – the sub-national body formulating regional strategy in Yorkshire and beyond – to be given additional powers so it could have “the same clout and borrowing powers” as Transport for London. “We cannot increase productivity and close the gap between our regions unless we dramatically upgrade our transport infrastructure and make up for decades of underinvestment,” she said.
Judith Cummins, Labour MP for Bradford South, said the Government’s current formula for targeting investment was “deeply unfair” because it “targets transport investment in areas of high economic development, or places where people already use public transport extensively”.
“This is reinforcing inequalities rather than correcting them,” she said.
“Transport spending should be used for unlocking economic potential, and of course, investment in transport is one of the key ways to encourage people to use it,
“Bradford, like towns and cities across the North, is held back by a persistent lack of investment in our transport infrastructure.
“The North as a whole, and Yorkshire in particular, is getting a raw deal.”
She called for a “step-by-step” increase in per-person funding on transport until it is equal with London.
Transport Minister Jo Johnson told the Commons that the Government wanted to “devolve power away from Westminster so cities and regions play a greater role in managing their own transport services”.
However, he disputed the claims of widespread regional disparities.
He told MPs the Government would be investing £10 per head more in the North than in the South over the four years to 2020/21.
He added: “We are allowing local authorities to improve or replace the most important A-roads in their areas, and to tackle the bottlenecks and reduce congestion and connect new housing right around the country. This is a Government as committed to transport infrastructure as no Government has ever been.”
Meanwhile the debate was told that Britain should be “rather more French” in pushing ahead with major public-sector projects.
Conservative MP Sir Robert Syms (Poole) suggested the UK took inspiration from across the Channel “to get projects built”.
Transport spending should be used for unlocking potential. Judith Cummins, Labour MP for Bradford South, appeals for funding change.