TUC calls for Yorkshire's metro mayors to take action with 30 per cent of workforce using coronavirus support schemes

Around three-quarters of a million workers in Yorkshire and the Humber are being helped by either the Job Retention Scheme or the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, according to new data from the region's Trades Union Council (TUC).

The hardest-hit areas are all in North Yorkshire, with rural 41 per cent of the workforce in rural Craven getting help from the schemes put in place by Chancellor Rishi Sunak to keep the economy afloat.

It comes as a new report by Yorkshire's TUC urges city regions and local authorities to take action now, independent of central government, with the powers and funding available to them under devolution.

The devolution deal in the Sheffield City Region became law last week, with West Yorkshire's elected mayor set to be elected next Spring as part of its £1.8bn agreement handing powers and resources to the county from Westminster. Talks are ongoing over the creation of elected metro mayors in North Yorkshire and Hull and the East Riding as part of devolution deals for those areas.

TUC regional secretary Bill Adams said: “We are calling for regional leaders to identify big, spade ready public works projects, such as the new mass transit metro for West Yorkshire; ramp up local manufacturing for the North Sea wind farm; support rail engineering in Doncaster and Goole; and commission new fleets of green buses from our local factories in North Yorkshire.

“Yorkshire can lead the way in a green recovery, if regional leaders bring unions and business round the table to make a plan."

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will this week deliver a statement in the Commons setting out his plan for the country's economic recovery, with his furlough scheme due to wind down over the summer.

In Yorkshire the UK average for people using the two support schemes is 30 per cent, above the England average of 23 per cent but below the UK average of 34 per cent.

The areas with the highest totals, Craven, Scarborough, Selby and Ryedale, are all in North Yorkshire, with York seeing the lowest total on 27 per cent and Leeds on 28 per cent.

David Kerfoot, who chairs the North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said local analysis of job losses in the area "delivers scenarios not too dissimilar to those concerning figures" because of its reliance on the visit economy.

He said it was vital the work done by metro mayors "reaches into rural areas, where poverty is exacerbated by both low pay and limited transport connectivity".

He added: "In our region, more people per capita are earning below the living wage than in West Yorkshire. We need to address the disadvantage in our region through significant systemic change and better connectivity into the opportunities that city regions have to drive the economy – this work by the TUC needs to factor that in if they’re to make a real difference across the whole of the Yorkshire and its standing in the world.”

The TUC's report, 'A Better Recovery for Yorkshire: a plan to get Yorkshire growing out of this crisis – and stop mass unemployment', says the pandemic "has transformed the lives of people across Yorkshire and the world".

But it says: "However, in Yorkshire we are not known for sitting back and letting things happen without a say. The TUC in Yorkshire & the Humber believes that there are a number of interventions

that local and regional politicians can make to intervene in and support regional economic recovery.

"This report is focused on where our region can act without dependence on national government. We have an opportunity in our region to lead the way towards a fairer, greener, more sustainable recovery, with workers taking a fairer share of the wealth they create.

"We must make full use of the powers available to us especially under the newly agreed devolution deals for South and West Yorkshire."

Its recommendations include finding a new place for Yorkshire in the world by building relationships with trading nations like Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark and Norway, as well as establishing an independent presence for the region in Brussels.

And it calls for the creation of a 'just transition commission', combined with a redundancy response programme and rules to support local manufacturing as part of a transition to a low-carbon economy.

Susan Hinchcliffe, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and leader of Bradford Council said: "The TUC is a key member of our West Yorkshire Economic Recovery Board, working with us alongside West Yorkshire Leaders and business leaders to plan the region’s fightback from COVID-19.

"Together we are working hard to develop robust plans to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy for the future as the region recovers from the devastating impact of this pandemic.

"The fact that thousands have already lost their livelihoods underlines how vital it is that we approach economic recovery from the perspective of the people and communities who have been most affected.

"This report will be an important addition to the evidence we are gathering to inform our plan, which our Combined Authority will discuss in detail at its July meeting.”

Dan Jarvis, Mayor of the Sheffield City Region, said: “I warmly welcome the TUC’s call for more regional power and funding as part of the response to the Coronavirus.

"I’ve been calling for a New Deal for the North – an ambitious programme of investment and devolution to help build a stronger, fairer, and greener future for South Yorkshire and the North.

“In his forthcoming statement, I urge the Chancellor to unlock the North’s full potential by devolving more money and power. We must take this opportunity to build back better, so we see not just recovery, but renewal.”