Doncaster Sheffield Airport: John Healey announces £1.5bn borrowing facility for mayors to help with reopening

The Rawmarsh and Conisbrough MP gave his first fiscal statement as Chancellor in the House of Commons today, unveiling proposals to give families “breathing space” with the cost of living.

This included £100 of energy bills this winter for around 20m households which will be paid for by a temporary rise in a levy on bank profits.

The most radical announcements in the Budget were around fiscal devolution, with mayors getting to retain a portion of income tax and business rates from next year allowing greater flexibility in spending.

As part of this, Mr Healey unveiled a new £1.5bn borrowing facility that will become available to mayors from 2028.

He said: “This radical rewiring of the state is a dual mission, led by the Treasury and No10 North.

“In today’s Budget, I am announcing new good growth funds for mayors and incubator capital for areas without mayors.

“I am announcing flexible funding to invest in local economies, boosted by a further £1.5 billion of devolved loans for mayoral authorities—funds that will back projects such as … the reopening of Doncaster airport, led by the Mayor of South Yorkshire.”

The Budget document states: “The government will work in partnership with MSAs to develop this borrowing facility, and this will include mechanisms to enable concessional lending to support a broad range of locally determined projects.”

The same document also backed Mr Coppard’s plan to buy the freehold of DSA.

It said: “The government welcomes South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority’s agreement with Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s leadership to bring the airport into public ownership, and stands ready to work with SYMCA as they progress plans to restart flights from the airport.”

Previously, Fly Doncaster, the arms-length council body set up to run DSA, had been due to use the airstrip through a lease agreement, which had a number of controversial clauses.

Mr Coppard’s deal removes significant barriers to the airport reopening, although a timeline for commercial airlines could be delayed.

The sum currently remains undisclosed for commercial reasons, although it is not clear whether it is higher than the £193m in devolved funding and government grants that were previously earmarked for the lease.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post from Westminster, Mr Coppard said: “It's been announced today, so we'll look at the detail.

“But more broadly, what the government has really given us on DSA is the confidence to buy the freehold, to go in and make sure that we are now leading that project.

“So, fiscal devolution, which again was confirmed today, has been part of that confidence because it means that I'm sure that that money will be there into the long term.

“Things like the overnight visitor levy, allowing me to have more levers to be able to pull on to to inject more funding into South Yorkshire's projects and priorities

“The Chancellor announced or confirmed all of those today.”

This comes as SYMCA’s board approved that the purchase could proceed. It is now awaiting landowner Peel’s executive board to sign off the sale, to complete the deal.