Policy for the 'grinders and innovators' of Yorkshire as regional think tank launches essays on next decade of progress

Matthew Howarth, chairman of Policy Yorkshire, said the people of Yorkshire are “grinders and innovators”, as he called on the Government to take seriously the suggestions of those in the region.

Mr Howarth said although the coronavirus had changed the approach to the economy, the Government had previously committed to improving the lot of those living in the North,

And as his organisation launched a series of mini-essays today, looking at where Yorkshire could be in 10 years time, Mr Howarth said it was essential Government saw grassroots policy making in a positive way.

He said: “Nobody is going to help us unless we help ourselves, and I think there is a real thing about [how] Yorkshire people are going to roll up their sleeves and get themselves out of this because that’s what we’ve always done. We are grinders, we are innovators.

“And what is really critical is that you have to get people engaged and think this is relevant, this is something I can do, I can have an effect and it’s going to be good, and it’s essential Government see that hopefully in a positive way.”

Mr Howarth said the idea behind Policy Yorkshire was “we’re not just going cap in hand saying ‘well you’re not paying us as much money as the South we want more cash’, that’s an old and whiny story which I would suggest isn’t going to get us what we want”’.

He said: “We need to be able to demonstrate that we’ve got some ideas ourselves, and those idea are born from regional people on the ground who know what’s needed.”

But he said the think tank would also be a critical friend.

“If we feel the designated resources which are being fed to us are not being used in the most effective way, then some of our research will say that,” he said.

“And I think that gives us credibility as well.”

Policy Yorkshire has gathered thoughts on what Yorkshire should look like in 10 years.

But chairman Matthew Howarth said the group, which was first thought up in 2018 and published its first piece of work today, would stray away from pie in the sky policy ideas without grounding in what Yorkshire needed, and he would avoid political debates around topics such as devolution.

Mr Howarth said: “There’s a whole host of interest groups created with good intentions to try and improve the general wellbeing - social, cultural, economic - of the region. Coming at it cold my sense was although there’s at least half a dozen of these groupings, I’m not quite sure what the overlap is, what they’re all doing, and why is that relevant?

“What is the relevance to me, talking in general sense, of a grouping or an organisation coming up with a very well-researched and no doubt expensive tome of policy guidelines that nobody’s ever going to read?

“Putting it at its very basic level, what I was interested in was actually having something that was relevant and immediate and real to people on the ground.”

Amongst the contributors to the booklet launched today are prominent peer and entrepreneur Lord Haskins, the former director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, John Cridland, the Sheffield City Region’s mayor, Dan Jarvis, and the Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, Prof Sir Chris Husbands.

The essays cover several sectors including infrastructure, transport, skills, governance, sport, economy and the environment.

And Mr Howarth said each had an understanding of the context new policy would be set in.

He said: “We are not that interested in the process or the delivery, what we’re more interested in is what does the person down the street, who is running a corner shop, or small business, or even a big business, what’s important to them now? Rather than a glossy coffee table brochure or policy report that actually won’t achieve anything.”

He added: “So we’re trying to be a bit more direct in our approach while acknowledging all these other groupings are doing a super job, I have no doubt and certainly they are well-intentioned, but what we’re trying to do is [be] a bridge between people on the ground and delivering policies and ideas at the sharp end of it.”

Mr Howarth, a Leeds-based lawyer, said a think tank from outside the region may base their work on “empirical data and statistics which are all absolutely fine” but he said “you end up word blind and it doesn’t really mean a great deal”.

Instead, he said: “The key to all of this is engagement and having a more regionalised think tank, which is what we are, is part of that, it’s relevant because we are local, we understand what the local economy and education and health services need, and we can talk with some degree of authenticity.”

On the publication launched today, he said: “Each contributor passionately reminds us of the potential of Yorkshire.

“None of what is envisaged in this document need be a pipe dream.

“We need to show that as a region we are stepping up to the plate, devising home-grown solutions.”