How North Yorkshire and York jobs will be boosted by devolution – Carl Les

He or she could be a seasoned statesman, a rising political star or an inspirational business leader – whoever might get elected in 2024 will be a new national champion to speak up on the issues that count and help us fulfil our outstanding economic potential as Britain’s first city region rural powerhouse.

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We have kicked off talks with central government about our ambitious £2.5bn deal to decentralise decision-making from Whitehall to York and North Yorkshire and win new powers to target investment across the region, boost productivity, pay and job creation and contribute to a stronger northern economy.

This is truly pioneering work: we believe we are the first county in England to deliver local government reorganisation and run a devolution deal at the same time.

On the local government front, North Yorkshire County Council and seven district and borough councils will merge to form a new single unitary council, which will work closely with the City of York Council, from April 2023.

The collaborative effort across county and district/borough councils to deliver this change is commendable and it is this work that paves the way for the separate, but related, devolution negotiations.

The resulting new North Yorkshire Council will be a stronger voice for the North, bring together and protect the best public services, enable economies of scale, promote true localism, cut waste and help project our world-famous brand identity.

It’s exciting and elected members from all the councils have worked with business representatives from the York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership on a series of game-changing ‘asks’ of central government that would make good national commitments to levelling up, global Britain and net zero.

These ‘asks’ play to our natural strengths and would create new opportunities for businesses and households wherever they might be located: in rural and more remote areas of North Yorkshire, along the coast or within the city region of York.

To level up, York and North Yorkshire are seeking £540m in devolved funding which could super-charge digital connectivity, £389m to transform transport links, £304m to revitalise town and city centres, £96m to unlock housing and regeneration and develop a ready supply of talent for our businesses.

To promote global Britain, the £215m BioYorkshire project would harness scientific expertise to come up with sustainable solutions for some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

To hit net zero, we are aiming to become England’s first carbon negative region with £100m to retrofit housing stock, £44m for a low carbon energy generation demonstrator programme, £12m for our bountiful ‘natural capital’ resources and £10m for a low-carbon skills programme to tool up our workforce. It’s an ambitious list but if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

The Levelling Up White Paper committed to starting negotiations with York and North Yorkshire on a mayoral devolution deal and we were delighted to see talks begin 
soon after publication, suggesting that our desire to make progress is being reciprocated in London. After years of false starts, devolution for York and North Yorkshire is finally happening.

Everyone who lives and works in the county will get the chance to have their say. Once negotiations with central government are complete, the details of the deal will be published and subject to approval by elected representatives at the City of York and new North Yorkshire Council. This will be followed by public consultation and, in all likelihood, mayoral elections in 2024, at which point new strategic leadership would emerge.

While respecting the sovereignty of City of York and the new North Yorkshire Council, such strategic leadership will give our region a stronger voice on the national stage and the chance to bang the drum for our businesses and households.

We have seen Andy Burnham standing up for Greater Manchester and Ben Houchen bringing new investors to Tees Valley; the time is coming for a York and North Yorkshire mayor to help us fulfil our outstanding economic potential as Britain’s first city region rural powerhouse.

Carl Les is leader of North Yorkshire County Council and a Tory councillor.

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