Responding to comments made by Keighley MP and
Communities Minister Kris Hopkins and Colne Valley MP Jason McCartney this week
at the launch of a cross-party Yorkshire Devolution document, West Yorkshire
Combined Authority Chair, Cllr Peter Box said:
“Reading Kris Hopkins and Jason
McCartney’s comments in the Yorkshire Post, I was astonished at these MPs’ lack
of awareness of what is actually going on in West Yorkshire.
“By joining forces as the Combined
Authority, West Yorkshire’s five districts - including Bradford and
Kirklees in which Mr Hopkins’ and Mr McCartney’s constituencies are located –
along with the LEP, have secured the country’s largest settlement of almost
£630m from the government’s Growth Fund to unlock jobs and growth. Uniquely
this included £420m to establish a 20-year £1.4bn West Yorkshire plus Transport
Fund, which will bring clear benefits to both Mr Hopkins’ and Mr McCartney’s
constituents.
“In its first 12 months the
Combined Authority has agreed a £14m, first-phase package of
strategically important projects that from April, will start to support city
centre regeneration, enable the development of housing and employment sites and
create new investment opportunities at a number of locations including
Bradford, Halifax and Leeds. Further phases of the programme include projects
in the Kirklees and Wakefield districts.
“It has agreed a programme of
almost 40 transport projects including road improvements, a new junction on the
M62, rail line upgrades and increased opportunities for park and ride at more
rail stations, scheduled for completion by 2025.
“And it has embarked on a landmark
programme that is helping residents install energy efficiency improvements in
12,000 homes across the Leeds City Region through the 'Better Homes Yorkshire’
project, which is bringing over £20m of investment into the region.
“In my view rather than looking enviously
across the Pennines, talking down West Yorkshire and proposing new, costly
layers of administration in the form of elected Mayors, Kris Hopkins and
Jason McCartney’s time would be better spent paying attention to what is going
on in their own constituencies.
“Instead of singing the praises of
Manchester, Mr Hopkins and Mr McCartney should be supporting the Combined
Authority’s achievement and ambition and pressing their government to agree the
long-overdue West Yorkshire devolution deal that will enable us to build upon
our existing successes.”
