Yorkshire loses out to Manchester on £6bn health deal

The Chancellor is set to set to handover full control of £6bn of annual health spending to Greater Manchester as part of a significant expansion of devolved powers.

A proposed deal with the Treasury would transfer the spending of NHS cash to 10 local councils from April next year.

Manchester has already accepted the creation of a powerful “metro mayor” in return for taking over responsibility for transport, skills and housebuilding and the right to recoup some cash generated by growth.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority eventually hopes for full devolution of all £22bn of public spending in the city.

That deal though is causing increasing concern in Yorkshire, where a much-promised devolution package for Leeds has yet to materialise.

Leeds MP and shadow communities secretary Hilary Benn said West Yorkshire authorities risked losing out if the Treasury did not start working with all northern cities, rather than picking winners and losers.

Mr Benn said: “The Government talks a lot about devolution, but people are now asking ‘where are the deals for the Leeds and Sheffield City regions?’ Everyone knows that George Osborne wants to impose a metro mayor but I think that should be a local decision, and our councils have made it clear they don’t want one.

“What’s unacceptable is that Yorkshire is losing out because of the Government’s intransigence. That’s why Labour is committed to devolve power over economic development to every part of England, including right across Yorkshire.”

He was backed by West Yorkshire Combined Authority chairman, Coun Peter Box, who said that while the move was welcome in principle, the Treasury had to widen its offer to other cities.

Mr Box added: “It is important that all major cities and regions are given a similar opportunity to have a much greater say in shaping their own futures as soon as possible so the benefits of devolution can be felt equally all over the country, and for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority that means delivering on the commitment to a West Yorkshire deal by the Budget for the benefit of millions of people.”

Mr Osborne has hailed extended powers for cities as a key part of efforts to create a “northern powerhouse” to rival London economically, and told The Yorkshire Post earlier this month that he hoped to progress the Leeds devolution package in his Budget this March.

Labour’s Andy Burnham has raised his own concerns over the devolution deal, saying there was a risk involved in reorganising NHS control.

The shadow health secretary said: “Yes, in principle this is a good idea, but this isn’t the way I would do it.

“I think there are a couple of problems with what they are proposing. First is that this sounds like yet another reorganisation. Now I have said I would work through the organisations I inherit, the ones that were created by the last reorganisation.

“As I understand it, this one will create a new layer in the NHS at Greater Manchester level, and I am not sure that’s the right thing to do.”

Richard Humphries, assistant director of the King’s Fund thinktank, also said that a full transfer of responsibility would be a reform “on a breathtaking scale” but could pose serious risks.