History is made as region handed cash reins

The Leeds and Sheffield city regions – which are made up of local authorities covering much of South, West and also parts of North Yorkshire – have been awarded city deals worth more than £2 billion.

The deals will give the regions power over transport infrastructure, apprenticeships and skills as well as investment for redevelopment and regeneration. There is also greater flexibility for increased borrowing.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who visited both Leeds and Sheffield yesterday to announce the policy, said the deals were a “dramatic power shift”, freeing cities from Whitehall control.

“Lets give Leeds and Sheffield not only the freedom but the power to control their futures,” the Sheffield Hallam MP said. “It’s very exciting for the country because it means our great Northern cities can be the powerhouses of the economy once again.”

Eight “core” cities were granted City Deals, which the Government hope will create more than 175,000 jobs over the next 20 years and 37,000 new apprenticeships. In return for the devolved powers, the Government has been given assurances that targets will be met.

Leeds is pledging to eliminate all Neets – people not working, studying or training – from the city in return for the power to run transport policy. That policy will see a new city region-wide £1bn transport fund to spark massive rail investment.

As well as devolved money from Whitehall, the funds will be raised through a new levy on local council tax bills, and new powers to borrow against future revenue.

Leeds City Council chief executive Tom Riordan said he believed the city region – made up of 11 councils – could work together for the combined interest.

“We have got cross party support for this,” he said. “We have been working on this now for five years with the city region partnership and we have reached a point now where we have been rewarded for that hard work.

“Now is the time to deliver and once we do people will want it to continue.

“I am very confident that we can get working together and make some real economic impact because jobs are what we need.”

Peter Box, chairman of the Leeds city region partnership and leader of Wakefield Council, said: “We will now have a much bigger say in what happens in our region and can use our local knowledge to get resources to the areas which need them most.

“We can access better links to national and international business and trade, opening up opportunities for the whole Leeds city region with the potential fund of £400m to underpin our local economy.”

Sheffield will get a single £700m pot of funding – from devolved transport money and a range of existing grants – to drive forward growth in return for a promise to create 4,000 apprenticeships.

Coun Julie Dore, leader of Sheffield City Council, said: “With local businesses in the lead, this deal means that there’ll be 4,000 new apprentices working in the city region by 2016, getting the skills they need for a successful career.

“There will also be 2,000 more employees with the necessary skills to help our businesses and the city region’s economy grow.”

Labour has welcomed the deals but is calling for the Government to go much further and offer similar deals to councils in all parts of England, not just the big cities.

Hilary Benn, Leeds Central MP and shadow communities and local government secretary, said: “These city deals represent an important victory for local people and local government.

“But, if this is the right thing to do for our core cities, then what about the rest of England?”