YP Letters: Time to break the deadlock on devolution

IN an exclusive letter, well-respected Yorkshire business leaders make a direct appeal to the county's politicians over devolution.

From: Phil Jones, CBI Yorkshire chairman and Northern Powergrid chief executive; Jonathan Oxley, IoD chairman for West Yorkshire; Andy Tuscher, Engineering Employers Federation regional director; Mike Regnier, Yorkshire Building Society chief executive; Chris Hearld, KPMG northern chairman; Richard Flint, Sky Betting & Gaming chief executive; Roy McMillan, Welcome to Yorkshire chairman; Nasser Malik, Yorkshire Enterprise Network founder and chairman; Glynis Frew, Hunters Property Group chief executive; Stuart Clarke, Media Yorkshire director; Adam Beaumont, AQL chief executive; Peter Connolly, Yorkshire Design Group chairman; Peter Crook, Provident Financial chief executive; David Cutter, Skipton Building Society, group chief executive; Annie Faulder, Mutual and Municipal Energy chief executive; Andy Wood, Grant Thornton UK LLP practice leader.

This must be the year in which Yorkshire finally agrees a comprehensive devolution deal. And the sooner, the better.

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The Northern Powerhouse will bring 15 million people closer together, creating a deeper pool of talent and ambition benefiting from quicker and more capacious transport connections between its great cities and towns.

With high speed rail within our grasp, plus the Capital of Culture starting with a bang in Hull, there is much to be positive about in the Yorkshire economy.

But we still lack the devolution deals to shape our own future here in the region. 

Businesses on this side of the Pennines rightly see the huge benefits of devolution, which will enable us to fully unleash our potential for sustained and inclusive growth.

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Today, on behalf of businesses across all the great counties of Yorkshire, we are appealing to politicians here and in Westminster to break the deadlock over devolution.

2017 must go down as the year in which Yorkshire takes control of its destiny to make us greater than we have ever been in our long, proud history. We have great opportunities, as long as we all work together.