Spending Review: York station facelift if city wins zone bid

The York Central Teardrop site is said to be in a leading position to become an Enterprise Zone as part of Mr Osborne’s plan to have 40 operating across the country.

Enterprise status would bring £100m of investment and unlock development potential at the troubled site, which despite being one of the most desirable pieces of real estate in region, has suffered a series of setbacks.

Click here to follow the build-up, statement and analysis of the spending review and autumn statement

Conservative MP for York Outer Julian Sturdy believes the additional investment could see a station transformation on the scale of Kings Cross in London.

He said: “The teardrop site is key to York’s economic future, with great potential for inward investment if more sought after A-grade city centre office space is delivered. This would provide a big boost to York’s economy and drive up wages by attracting more companies in sectors like professional services and insurance.”

Positive discussions with the Treasury are said to have taken place just weeks ago on the potential deal, which would allow the region to slash business rates to attract new companies.

Schools funding will become fairer today as the Government announces it will review the current formula which greatly disadvantages schools in Yorkshire.

Yet this lunchtime, as the Chancellor spells out how he envisages managing up to £4 trillion worth of Government money, Yorkshire will be handed some stark financial figures.

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With no formal devolution deal on the table for Yorkshire while other Norther cities race ahead, a potential 30% cut back to South Yorkshire Police’s budget and a 40% cut to the Department for Business which has a significant staff base in Sheffield, MPs are bracing themselves for a bumpy afternoon in the House of Commons.

Council funding is one of the unprotected areas of Government spending expected to be hit hard and yesterday Bradford Council became the latest Yorkshire authority to set out a bleak picture of its future finances.

Unions representing council staff have been warned up to 474 jobs could be at risk over the next two years as the authority looks to fill a £42 million hole in its budget as it prepares for further funding cuts.

The savings come on top of the £27.4 million of savings already agreed for next year’s budget which include the loss of 167 jobs.

A pledge to build 400,000 new homes across the country in the biggest housing boom since 1979 will be an attempt by Mr Osborne to temper some of the policies he will say he needs to implement to continue with his long-term economic plan to balance the country’s books.

He will say today: “In the end Spending Reviews like this come down to choices about what your priorities are. And I am clear: in this Spending Review, we choose housing. Above all, we choose homes that people can buy.

“For there is a crisis of home ownership in our country.

“We made a start in the last Parliament, and with schemes like Help to Buy the number of first-time buyers rose by 60 per cent.

‘But frankly we need to do much more. Today, we set out our bold plan to back families who aspire to buy their own home.”

He wants to build 8,000 specialist homes for older people or those with disabilities with a new £400m fund to help Housing Associations and the private sector provide the right accomodation, and renewed his commitment to building 200,000 Starter Homes.

The spending review could also include commitments to fund the National College for High Speed Rail in Doncaster.

Doncaster Council, which last year won a Government competition to host the college, has been pressing the Chancellor to give the go-ahead for the funding so it can be up and running in time for September 2017.

It is expected the money will be included in the spending review settlement for the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.