Positive talks on transport fund

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury held talks with Leeds city region leaders in London yesterday to try and find a way forward.

The fund was the centrepiece of a “city deal” reached between the Government and the Leeds City Region group of councils two years ago but there has been no final agreement over how it will be paid for.

Wakefield Council leader Peter Box, who also chairs the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, said: “We expressed our frustration at having signed the city deal some two years ago and still not having come to an agreement with the Government about the funding we need to create the transport fund.

“We pointed out the Leeds city region is the biggest economy in the North and that connectivity not just between the cities of the North but between the districts of the city region are vitally important.

“The Chief Secretary seemed to accept the argument we are making about the economy, he accepted we were serious about wanting to find a way forward and promised to give serious consideration to looking at a model that meets our aspiration.”

Leeds City Council leader Keith Wakefield, who was also at the meeting, said business, through the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership and councils had worked well together to make their case.

“We have got a challenge to demonstrate that the North can can shape its own future better than Whitehall,” he said.