College students first to see benefits as £1bn-plus investment programme starts to pay dividends

February marked the completion of the first scheme funded through the two organisations’ £1bn Growth Deal. The project – a £344,000 refurbishment of teaching facilities at Shipley College – will enable more young people in Bradford district to progress into employment or further education.

The Leeds City Region Growth Deal – the largest such devolved government funding settlement of any area in the country – was agreed with the Government to help transform the City Region economy and create thousands of new jobs.

The funding is forecast to create 20,600 extra jobs and add £2.1bn a year to the City Region economy by 2031 through investment in business growth, skills, new energy infrastructure, housing and development.

Unlike any other Growth Deal nationally, the Leeds City Region deal has also enabled the Combined Authority to create a £1bn fund for transport schemes that will unlock significant growth and boost links within the region and across the Northern Powerhouse.

Over 25 local schemes are moving forward as a result of this 10-year transport investment.

Work on the first scheme, the £33m Wakefield Eastern Relief Road – designed to help create thousands of new jobs and kick-start the construction of 2,500 new homes – is now well under way with completion expected by spring 2017.

Earlier this year, the Combined Authority agreed £7.5m of funding to speed up improvements to the A629 between Halifax and Huddersfield, the Glasshoughton Southern Link Road, Bradford’s A650 Tong Road, and the creation of 800 new parking spaces at 11 West Yorkshire rail stations – these will be added to the 2,500 park and ride spaces already available on West Yorkshire’s rail network.

Other schemes to benefit from the £1bn fund include a new Bradford Interchange “masterplan” that will support the city centre’s regeneration, as well as improvements to Leeds’s Armley Gyratory and the M621’s Junctions 3 and 4. The latter projects are part of a wider package to improve access to Leeds rail station and ensure that the city is ready for the transformational impact of high-speed rail.

Ensuring local businesses can benefit from the significant investment being made across the region is a major priority for the Combined Authority and LEP. An event held in Wakefield recently that showcased the opportunities for businesses to become suppliers for the Transport Fund programme attracted more than 200 companies from across Yorkshire and beyond.

Businesses can register with the Combined Authority’s e-tendering system at www.in-tendhost.co.uk/westyorkshireca to receive 
notifications of opportunities to tender and a further event is being planned for the spring.

Coun Peter Box, West Yorkshire Combined Authority chairman and leader of Wakefield Council, said: “The Combined Authority and LEP’s joint ambition is to unlock the potential of the City Region and develop an economic powerhouse that will create jobs and prosperity.

“As these Growth Deal schemes progress – and in Shipley’s case reach completion – that ambition is increasingly becoming a reality that will make real difference to local people’s lives.”