Yorkshire mayors call for greater fiscal devolution to help fund Northern Powerhouse Rail

By the 2040s, she pledged there would be a new line from Liverpool to Manchester and into West Yorkshire, with simpler upgrades across the region being completed in the early 2030s.

The government wants to create a “turn up and go” railway across the North that mirrors London’s transport network.

Ms Reeves said there was a £45bn funding envelope for the project, and mayors would be involved in NPR and also have to contribute some of their own money.

It is understood that the Treasury will provide well over half the budget.

However, Mayor Tracy Brabin has already asked the Government for West Yorkshire to be deemed a “special case” as it is already raising money for a mass transit system.

The combined authority will have to put in £500m to the prospective tram network that will connect Leeds and Bradford, with spades set to go in the ground in 2028.

“We have said that we should be a special case, because there is also the expectation that we have to raise local funding for the tram,” she explained.

“You can’t ask on every front to raise local contributions … and we are focusing on tram.

“I will make the case to the Government that you can’t ask us to give it twice.”

Ms Brabin said there were a number of “fiscal tools we can use”, and added she was asking for more tax-raising powers to help fund NPR.

“We are saying to the Government give us deeper and wider devolution, and we can make more choices about where we get the money from.”

Ms Brabin confirmed to The Yorkshire Post that she would be bringing in a visitor levy in the region, a power handed over to mayors in Ms Reeves’ latest Budget.

However, she said at this stage the cost and the area had not been set.

Mr Brabin commented: “We are definitely going to bring in a visitor levy - why wouldn’t we?

“The people in West Yorkshire go to Barcelona for a long weekend and they pay. Spanish people come here and they don’t pay.

“We could use that money for infrastructure, for tram, for bus, for the public realm, for cultural events for attracting more tourists - it’s a win, win.”

York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith also confirmed that funds from a pan-region visitor levy could go towards NPR.

Mr Skaith is expected to raise more than £50m-a-year with a £2 nightly tourism tax.

Speaking from the launch in Leeds, he said: “There is huge potential for that.

“That kind of work is ongoing and we will have to assess the projects that we want to expedite and bring forward.”

In South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard said he was speaking to the Government about getting similar business rates retention powers to Leeds to put towards NPR.

In the Budget, Ms Reeves launched the Leeds City Fund which allowed the council to keep a greater share of business rates.

Mr Coppard said: “The visitor levy - at around £7m-a-year - doesn’t work for us to help deliver some of the big infrastructure schemes on the line.

“But we don’t have the same opportunities to raise money as in other places, so business rates retention in Leeds and in Manchester is not available in South Yorkshire.

“We are talking to the Government about that.”

Mr Coppard also explained that his combined authority is looking at copying land value capture, which was used on the Elizabeth Line in London.

This is essentially where public bodies borrow against the increase in value that comes with land around major infrastructure projects.