What devolution in Hull & East Yorkshire means for the region - Henri Murison

It is easy to say now, but honestly, I always thought that he may end up in the position he is now in. At the very heart of government, at the side of the Deputy Prime Minister as her, and this government’s, devolution architect. The politician able to finish the job which he, alongside his fellow largely Labour Greater Manchester colleagues, Lord Jim O’Neill and then Chancellor George Osborne, started in Greater Manchester over a decade ago.

He and Angela, who like ‘Keir’ is now known by a first name brand rivalling that of ‘Boris,’ or ‘Tony’, have taken the mantle from Michael Gove, and before that Greg Clark. Two of the most thoughtful Conservatives of their generation – both of whose last jobs in government were focused on the decentralisation of political and economic power in England.

One of the big winners from the incoming Labour Government, deciding to continue on the course of devolution, will be the North of England. Staying the course, rather than throwing out the baby with the bathwater, will mean getting deals implemented on the Humber.

Last night, addressing the annual Humber Freeport and maritime dinner in Grimsby, I made the case for why we need devolution here. A Humber Metro Mayor would have been great, reflecting the realities of the economic geography. But what we have on the table, a deal for a Mayor of the North bank councils of the East Riding and Hull, and a Mayor for Greater Lincolnshire, with a mechanism to ensure they work together on the shared economic destiny of the estuary, is needed now. Moving forward and then considering in the future if it is working, is undoubtedly better than going back to the beginning and starting again.

Both Metro Mayors will need to co-operate and work constructively with key pan-Humber and pan-Northern business led institutions, most critically, the Humber Energy Board and the Humber Freeport.

The former is leading on Carbon Capture and Storage, which is critical to unlocking £15bn of private investment securing the future of key energy and industrial infrastructure from Drax to Phillips 66. It would have, if the last government had gotten on with it, been the way to decarbonise virgin steelmaking and save the blast furnace at Scunthorpe which is now set to be lost to the country.

The latter, the Freeport, has tax sites at Goole, to the east of Hull and the Able Humber Port on the South Bank. These represent a major opportunity to attract the next wave of transformational inward investment into the region, but there are major infrastructure constraints that need to be addressed now so the opportunity can be maximised. The Humber industrial property market still faces significant viability challenges. A devolution deal along with the associated Mayoral Investment Fund on both banks of the Estuary would give them the chance to take control of the Humber’s economic destiny and stop having to rely on handouts from national initiatives that may or may not fit with the places’ own priorities. This would allow us to unlock the potential of the Humber Freeport, and other sites, to generate more business rates that can then be reinvested back into the economy in areas such as skills and innovation that will set the foundations for longer term, sustainable economic growth.

Through the unprecedented partnership between Conservative Cllr Anne Handley and Liberal Democrat Cllr Mike Ross, the North Bank have put the interest of their place before partisan concerns or interests. Hull and the East Riding has punched above its weight in recent years attracting inward investment with high profile projects such as Siemens Mobility at Goole.

Analysis by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership has shown incredible improvement in productivity in the East Riding of Yorkshire in recent years. Across the wider North Bank, Siemens Gamesa at Hull and multiple investments on the Saltend Chemicals Park have been secured on the back of long-term enabling infrastructure investment.

In the case of Greater Lincolnshire, the priority to deliver on major opportunities, such as attracting jobs in the offshore wind supply chain, will require a focus on the industrial opportunities, not on rural Lincolnshire which will largely succeed or fail on national agricultural policy rather than the tools a Metro Mayor will have.

Both Yorkshire and Lincolnshire are about to join the vanguard of the North - the one hundred percent devolution club.

Henri Murison is the chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership.