How the Government’s devolution announcements show a missed opportunity for the region - Yorkshire Post Letters

Thank you for the coverage of the devolution developments over the last few days, it’s one of the reasons why a regional press is still so valuable.

The first announcement (The YP, September 19) described having a mayor in Hull & East Yorkshire as being the “Final piece of the region’s devolution jigsaw”.

Next up on September 23, Ms Rayner pledged the end to “Northerners being dictated to by Whitehall”, and on September 24, we were told that “Mayors are to be given powers to buy land”.

Superficially this is all positive news, and definitely good grid management – an upbeat headline every day for the new government. But strategically it is not clear how far this has been thought through, what opportunities might have been missed, what we haven’t been told, and whether the direction of travel is right.

My first challenge to this package of announcements is that the jigsaw I see being completed is not one with a map of Yorkshire where each of us can find our place on the map and see where the roads lead, rather it’s a kindergarten shape puzzle, with a blue bit top right, pieces in various shades of red in the middle and the bottom, and soon (I hope) a gold bit in the middle on the right.

There is nothing in this jigsaw map that unifies the county, that addresses its strategic challenges, like transport, watercourse management or digital infrastructure.

Your editorial that day hoped that it might “unleash this area’s true potential” and made brief reference to the One Yorkshire alternative and the competing self-interest of the Metro-mayoralities within the county.

Too brief in my view; the democratic deficit is the major missed opportunity in these announcements, it comes in four parts.

Firstly; why should a county with the same population as Scotland and a similar GDP not have at least the same devolved rights that Wales (roughly half their size) enjoys?

Secondly; a Regional Yorkshire & Humber, or Yorkshire Mayor role would have a substantial budget and real executive powers, which would attract candidates with the authority, intellect and heft of Andy Burnham, or until recently Andy Street, rather than the smiling, but underwhelming party hacks we currently employ.

Thirdly; if the North is no longer to be dictated to by Whitehall, and is to have the money to be able to actually buy land, as opposed to just the legal right, then there must be a lasting multilaterally-agreed financial settlement providing Yorkshire with an adequate budget for rail debottlenecking, road upgrades, power grid planning, flood defences and other regional activities assigned to it.

Finally; until this May’s elections, a form of transferable voting was used for Mayors – ensuring that once simple party allegiances had been removed, voters could choose the candidate best able to deliver for the area from the other parties.

The Conservatives prefer First Past the Post and shamefully changed the rules to suit them; why has Labour not done the decent thing and committed to reverse this?