Call to bridge divide with urban areas and tackle wide disparities
A LONG-AWAITED blueprint to tackle glaring regional disparities across the country must also look towards resolving the divide between urban and countryside communities, the chairman of the North Yorkshire Rural Commission has warned.
The Government has pledged to publish a White Paper on its levelling up agenda later this year, which it stated will set out bold new policy interventions to help improve livelihoods, increase opportunities for deprived communities and drive economic growth.
However, the commission’s chairman, the Dean of Ripon John Dobson, voiced his concerns that much of the funding will be diverted to towns and cities most in need, while rural areas will be overlooked.
He said: “There are very significant regional variations not just between the North and South of England, but also regionally between towns and cities and the remote countryside communities that do need to be tackled as well.
“There is a very real fear that the rural voice will not be strong enough to be heard when decisions are taken as to where funding and resources should be allocated.”
Efforts are underway to secure a transformative devolution deal for North Yorkshire and ultimately introduce a metro mayor to oversee decisionmaking powers to mirror those of Dan Jarvis in South Yorkshire and Tracy Brabin in West Yorkshire.
Two rival bids have been submitted to Westminster for the biggest overhaul of North Yorkshire’s local government structure in a generation to pave the way for a devolution deal for the county.
North Yorkshire County Council is behind plans for a single unitary authority, while the county’s seven district councils are proposing two east/ west authorities either side of the A1.
Ministers are expected to make an announcement on the way forward during the summer.