Dull Devo Deal or No Deal - slammed....by Lord O'Neill

Dull devo proposals slammed

By Dan Peters | 04 October 2017

Just a handful of the 38 devolution proposals put forward from cities, towns and counties across the UK two years ago actually reached top politicians, a former Treasury minister has revealed.

Speaking at a recent conference hosted by the Southern Policy Centre think-tank, former commercial secretary to the Treasury, Lord O’Neill, admitted that ‘not many of them actually got beyond officials to the attention of the ministers and close advisers that were involved’.

Proposals were submitted through the Department for Communities and Local Government but the ex-minister suggested only a very small number actually reached his desk in the Treasury.

Lord O’Neill said one reason for this was ‘not that many had things that stood out that made them look particularly interesting’.

He said: ‘A lot of people would just come along and say: “Can you give us our GVA version of money that you gave to Sheffield?” What, that’s it? What is it you really want to do?’

Lord O’Neill said he was ‘sympathetic’ to frustrations that the Government’s approach to devolution was too focused on urban areas but defended the stance.

He continued: ‘If you want to make a difference nationally, by definition the places you have got to give the biggest amount of early attention to are the urban ones, which makes many people who are not in urban areas, say: “What about us?”

‘But, if you are approaching this from trying to change the national economy, it is reality that you must give primary attention to the urban areas.’

Lord O’Neill also blamed politics for the failure of a number of regions to elect a mayor.

He added: ‘There were at least two urban-based deals that didn’t happen, because of Conservative Party politics. It would be dressed up for other reasons publicly, but that’s why it didn’t happen.

‘The other big place where we never got a deal – and it’s sort of ridiculous – is Leeds. It gets dressed up in all sorts of crazy things, but it is because of the marginal Tory, or what is perceived to be marginal Tory seats in West Yorkshire.’

 

Just thought it was worth giving this a wider audience, what we have been saying in West Yorkshire for the past couple of years.

 

 

LEEDS CITY REGION GROWTH PROSPECTS

LEEDS CITY REGION – ECONOMIC PROSPECTS MARCH  2017

 

Leeds City Region unemployment rate fell to 5.3% in Q3 2016 down from 5.7% in Q2. This is lower than Greater Manchester at 6.3% and Greater Birmingham at 7.4%. Both these regions though performing worse are of a comparable size to Leeds City Region and have been granted devolution by the Conservative Government whilst Leeds City Region have been denied the deal they were originally offered.

In Yorkshire and Humber business activity continued to expand strongly and had the third highest pace of expansion of the English Regions.

The success of the region is driven by the economic strength of Leeds and has been aided by the Growth Deal struck with the co-illation government, the largest deal in the country. When the deal was announced, it was stated that it was in recognition of the partnership between Local Government and the private sector in the Leeds City Region and the success in growing the economy.

There is no doubt that the current growth has been aided by state aid from both Europe and the National Government and whilst that lasts there is a good chance the growth in Leeds City Region will continue.

Unfortunately, the ending of European support in two years’ time, or earlier, will make the region reliant on support from Central Government. All the indicators are that we will be left behind; now the only new investment we seem to attract from central government is the building of a new prison. Whilst deals are announced, with and without Mayors, on regions smaller and less cohesive than the Leeds City Region with no track record of delivering or of any partnership working, we are denied.

The Minister for the “Northern Powerhouse” told us bluntly that the Conservative MP’s in our area have vetoed our deal. Whilst Manchester MP’s meet weekly in the commons to decide how to lobby for their region, our MPs are more interested in gerrymandering and following their personal agendas and plotting against their local authorities.

Am I optimistic for the Region?  NO.  

HOW YORKSHIRE IS BEING STUFFED

HOW YORKSHIRE IS BEING STUFFED

Yorkshire and the North East are being "left behind" their Northern Powerhouse neighbours in the race to fund major projects.

 

 

More than £41bn of infrastructure spending is planned in the North West over the next five years, compared to £15bn in Yorkshire and the North East. We wanted the Autumn Statement to tackle the imbalance, it didn't.

Analysis by BBC News has found that there is a disparity in the amount of money planned to be spent on infrastructure projects across the North.Spending on infrastructure includes improving roads, railways and access to the internet and is seen as a way to boost the economy. Some of the projects identified include spending £375m on the A1 in Yorkshire and £600m on building a new bridge over the River Mersey.

The money spent on one London Railway Station, Kings Cross was more than was spent in the North of England for a full year.

Per person spending in the North West is earmarked to be three times higher than in Yorkshire and The Humber and twice as high as in the North East of England.

 

"I don't think the Northern Powerhouse is working for everybody which is why people feel left behind," said Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchliffe.

"I applaud the idea of a powerhouse but what we need is help to ensure Yorkshire and the North East can catch up so everyone can achieve their potential."

The technology and betting company Sky Bet employs more than 1,000 people in Leeds making them one of the city's biggest employers.

Richard Flint (Chief Executive) said poor transport links are having a direct impact on his business and the wider economy.

He said: "When we surveyed potential employees we found 64% would consider moving to London for a job but only 34% would move to Leeds. The main reason why they wouldn't move to Leeds was the poor transport links and therefore the long commute.

"The reality is that people don't want to travel between Manchester and Leeds for work. So for us as a growing company we want to see transport across the North improved so we can attract and retain the best Talent"

Train journeys between Leeds and Manchester (30 Miles) can take over an hour. By road, pack sandwiches.

 

  The Northern Powerhouse was a concept created by former chancellor George Osborne in 2014 as an attempt to "rebalance" the UK's economy away from being dominated by London and the South East.

"We do in the North East feel at times the government naturally focuses on Manchester and Liverpool so we do have to elbow our way into contention," said Dave Budd, the elected mayor of Middlesbrough.

 

 

 

 Whatever way you look at it, not only do we lose out to the South East, London especially, we are also behind Manchester in the queue. Loosing out to London is understandable, London is where MPs live, it is also where all the Newspaper and TV pundits live, its where the BBC live, there has always been this London bias. But why do we loose out to Manchester.

Part of it is to do with George Osbourne. Manchester pulled off the con of getting everyone to believe Manchester was the same as "Greater Manchester", Manchester is a small City in the heart of a lot of other towns and cities, it never quotes stats for Manchester, it says Manchester but it means the City Region. This combined with their jumping on Georges shovel as soon as he said Jump, gave them an elected Mayor.

In contrast Leeds is always quoted as Leeds, not the Leeds City Region. Part of the reason for that is that the Leeds City Region is bigger in every respect than the Manchester City Region. Leeds City Region agreed to a devolution deal years ago and has as yet not had an answer from Government. We have been told that we cant have a deal because the Conservative MP's have been given a Veto.  

So part of the reason we are being shafted is because some Tory MP is more concerned about gerrymandering the boundaries to create a safe fiefdom for one of their number than jobs and homes for their constituents.

I have to point out that though most of this has been lifted from the BBC not all of it, and some of the language has been changed to make it more readable and a bit nearer the truth. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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STATEMENT FROM POLITICAL AND BUSINESS LEADERS IN LEEDS CITY REGION

Press statement

30 June 2016

 

STATEMENT FROM POLITICAL AND BUSINESS LEADERS IN LEEDS CITY REGION

 

Political and business leaders from across the Leeds City Region met yesterday, Wednesday 29 June, to galvanise support for the City Region’s growing and resilient economy, reinstate the value of diversity and cohesion in the community and identify where opportunities could exist upon leaving the European Union.

 

Representatives from the LEP, Institute of Directors, Federation of Small Businesses and the Chamber of Commerce alongside university representatives and leaders of the West Yorkshire Local Authorities, were united in the need to remain calm, collected and cohesive following the outcome of the European referendum.

 

The City Region already boasts established international trade links with an outward looking vision to grow the economy, a reduced rate of youth unemployment, growth in the number of businesses faster than in the UK as a whole and it remains an attractive location to potential investors with investment onsite or in the development pipeline totalling over £10bn. The overwhelming message from the meeting was of reassurance that the public and private sectors are working together to maintain stability in the economy and ensure the north is not left behind as result of this vote.

 

There was agreement that devolution has an even greater role in advancing the Northern Powerhouse agenda. Local politicians commended the high quality of front line services that have been maintained despite previous cuts of around 40% to local government funding. At the same time as wanting to advance the Northern Powerhouse agenda, those in attendance noted further cuts to public sector spending would undermine this initiative.

They also recognised the opportunity for the City Region to grasp the Northern Powerhouse agenda, ensuring the government upholds its ambition to address years of under investment in the north and ensure initiatives are led by those who understand local pressures and opportunities.  

 

As a result of the meeting, clear actions have been identified to look at the economic and social implications on the Leeds City Region economy and develop joint initiatives in line with the recently launched Strategic Economic Plan. Public and private sector representatives are establishing a task group to address the short-medium term impacts and minimise any risks to economic growth and social stability. The LEP and local leaders will be pressing the government for a clearer timetable to implement devolution as quickly as possible.

 

ENDS

 

Notes to editors

The meeting on 29 June was attended by:

Cllr Judith Blake – Leader of Leeds City Council

Cllr Peter Box – Leader of Wakefield Council and Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority

Cllr David Sheard – Leader of Kirklees Council

Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe – Leader of Bradford Council

Roger Marsh, Chair of the LEP

Tom Riordan – Leeds City Council Chief Executive

Bob Cryan –University of Huddersfield

Rashik Parmar - IBM

Joanna Robinson – Mansfield Pollard

Ian Cherry - Nexus

Ceri Williams – University of Leeds

Sandy Needham – Chamber of Commerce

Neil Kendall – FSB

Richard Crabtree – CEG

Natalie Sykes - IoD

Ben Still –West Yorkshire Combined Authority

Rob Norreys – West Yorkshire Combined Authority