MAYOR'S PRIORITIES

Although we secured a £570m City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement to fund investment until 2027, we have had to take difficult decisions to support day-to-day operations, while increasing democratic control and the long-term sustainability of our network: 

• An early decision was taken to accelerate the franchising assessment process for South Yorkshire’s bus system - the legal process to evaluate whether the current bus system works for our region or whether a move towards franchising is appropriate. 
• In October 2022, the MCA Board agreed to bring Supertram back into public control and ownership to stabilise the network, at the end of Stagecoach’s franchise in March 2024 The change in ownership forms part of the region’s wider ambitions to upgrade Supertram as part of a fully integrated public transport network. 
• In January 2023, the MCA Board took the difficult decision to implement a 2% increase in the bus levy – the first increase in more than a decade – to strengthen the long-term financial sustainability of our bus network.  The four councils agreed this despite historic pressures on local authority budgets. 

While the MCA has taken these steps to protect the future, it has faced severe challenges in the short term: the on-going fallout of the pandemic; a 15% cut to the network by private bus companies; driver shortages; and our unsuccessful bid to government for funding for South Yorkshire’s Bus Service Improvement Plan. 

In response to these challenges, the MCA has prioritised using its discretionary funding to:  

• Support patronage on the bus network and address the cost-of-living crisis. The Board agreed to introduce a £2 bus fare cap from 1 November 2022. This has supported 1.25m journeys in South Yorkshire (with over half of those coming from communities in the three most deprived areas). It has now been extended to the end of 2024 with government support. 
• Extend the 18-21 “Zoom Beyond” concession until November 2023, after which bus operators First, Stagecoach and TM Travel offered reduced fares for Zoom Beyond card holders. 
• Funding the £2 single fare cap on Supertram until November 2023, after which it was capped at £2.80.  
• Spending £5.2m to protect school routes and providing an additional £7.2m for the bus network, rising to £21m by the end of the 2023/24 financial year. 

Over the past year, the MCA has invested £167m on Transforming Cities Fund capital projects in support of strategic transport projects and active travel, such as a new Park & Ride site for Rotherham Parkgate and the Porter’s Bridge / Powerhouse Lane access to iPort in Doncaster. Bus Regional Area bid will bring new, electric buses to South Yorkshire for the first time in 2024, including on Sheffield Connect minibus services.

In July 2023, South Yorkshire became the first region in the UK to get an Investment Zone. It’s expected to create 8,000 new jobs for South Yorkshire and bring in £1.2bn worth of private investment by 2030.

South Yorkshire is the first of 12 new zones built around universities and high-growth industries – will build on the success of South Yorkshire’s Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District (AMID), expanding it to incorporate Rotherham town centre and Sheffield city centre, with “Opportunity Sites” across Barnsley and Doncaster.  

• Investors, developers, and start-ups will be offered a combination of targeted support and financial interventions to start, scale up and relocate their businesses including: 
• Help with relocating through funding for capital, infrastructure, and feasibility work. 
• Help unlocking barriers to planning, with support from dedicated Investment Zone planning officers throughout the process. 
• Skills support schemes to upskill workforces and boost opportunities for graduates whilst tackling issues around economic inactivity.  
• Supply chain funding to build the capability and competitiveness of suppliers to access regional, national and international growth markets. 

In summer 2023, the Mayor announced plans to create 300 new apprenticeships in the region through a new Apprenticeship Hub. The two-year pilot will be a one-stop shop for businesses, apprentices and anyone hoping to start an apprenticeship by providing: 

• Help for businesses (SMEs in particular) to access technical talent across the region to tackle skills shortages. 
• Information, advice and guidance services to apprentices, parents and employers. 
• Progression pathways and opportunities into and out of high-quality Level 2 and 3 apprenticeships 
• Help supporting development of a public sector approach to apprenticeships, including flexi-job apprenticeships. 

The Hub is expected to deliver at least 300 new apprenticeships by 2026. 

In December 2023, the Mayor announced the new Apprenticeship Levy Matchmaking Service to bring high quality apprenticeships. Aviva are the first company to sign up to the scheme, pledging £100k to the new scheme. 

Our investment is yielding dividends: the share of South Yorkshire businesses classed as “high growth” is now level with Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region.  The Mayor hosted South Yorkshire’s first Tech Summit in Barnsley and launched the tech welcome grants scheme to encourage firms to relocate to South Yorkshire.

New sources of funding for high growth, innovative firms have also become available.  Northern Gritstone – a collaboration between the Universities of Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester – has invested over £43m this year in three high value university ‘spin-outs’ in the region. 

The Mayor lobbied Government for protected (and expanded) funding for Working Win pilots – helping those suffering with mental and physical illness back into the labour force.  This programme is now secure until March 2025... Over the past four years, more than 5,000 people have been supported, with 2,424 returning to work or finding work, with thanks to the programme, which is completely free to participants. The extension to the scheme means more South Yorkshire people can be supported. 

South Yorkshire’s Ownership Hub has now trained a network of seventy advisers across the region to support workers seeking to take ownership of their own firms – and we are helping improve access to finance for firms seeking to transition to employee ownership.  The Ownership Hub model is now being emulated across the country, most notably being adopted by the Welsh Government. 

A significant amount of time and effort has been committed responding to the abrupt closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport.  In February 2024, the MCA board announced that City of Doncaster Council will have £138 million made available by the MCA via Gainshare to support economic ambitions including as outlined in the Doncaster Place Investment Plan which includes South Yorkshire Airport City and Gateway East. 

The Mayors of Doncaster and South Yorkshire have been at the forefront of the response to DSA’s closure, immediately mobilising aviation market experts and developing a bridging finance offer to keep the airport operational while alternative owners were identified.  

• Pursuing legal action against the Peel Group to maintain airport operations.  Doncaster Council is now pursuing a Compulsory Purchase Order of the site as a step to restore operations.  
• In June 2023, The Mayor and the MCA board agreed to make £3.1m available to Doncaster City Council’s legal work to reopen the airport. 
• Commissioning a South Yorkshire-led Infrastructure Inquiry, headed by an independent Chair, to learn from DSA’s closure. 
• Since Peel Group announced their decision to close DSA, Mayor Coppard has worked closely with the Mayor of Doncaster to bring private investors to the table and find new potential owners for the site. 

In November 2023, the Mayor launched a South Yorkshire Citizens’ Assembly to give communities across our region the chance to shape how we respond to the climate emergency.  

The Mayor brought together “diverse, often unheard, voices to the forefront of South Yorkshire politics”, as part of his pledge to do politics differently. The findings of the Citizens’ Assembly are due to be published early 2024. 

The Mayor has also announced that he will launch a Youth Citizens’ Assembly on climate, recognising the vital role that the younger generation plays in shaping a sustainable, net zero future. Set to commence in the new year, this Assembly is not just a forum for discussion but a powerful platform for action, designed to harness the energy, creativity, and unique perspectives of young people in South Yorkshire 

Supporting our high growth, green firms and economic assets, such as the Ultimate Battery Company in their  relocation to Rotherham; and working towards deeper partnerships with Sheffield University’s Translational Energy Research Centre; and Hybrid Air Vehicles in their plans for new manufacturing facilities in Doncaster. 

The MCA Board agreed the South Yorkshire Housing Framework, a new consistent approach across South Yorkshire to tackling shared challenges facing both new construction and our existing housing stock - at a time when a third of South Yorkshire’s carbon emissions comes from our housing stock. 

In 2022, the Mayor was appointed as Chair of South Yorkshire’s Integrated Care Partnership – bringing together partners who plan and deliver health and care across South Yorkshire.  The Partnership has published its first Health Strategy for South Yorkshire, fast-tracking a move towards preventative health interventions.  

The Mayor also formed a partnership with the Harvard Bloomberg City Leadership Initiative, to drive collaboration among providers and funders of early years support in South Yorkshire. 

This complements investment to consolidate South Yorkshire’s leadership at the cutting edge of children’s health - alongside projects like the Sheffield Hallam led Early Years Community Research Centre. Investments also include the National Centre for Child Health Technology at the Olympic Legacy Park. 

Progressing the Mayor’s manifesto commitment to host a Mayor’s Health Advisory Panel, led by Alan Walker, Professor of Social Policy and Social Gerontology at the University of Sheffield. This follows the appointment of Steven Pleasant as Advisor to the Mayor after leading Greater Manchester’s health and social care devolution work for a decade.  

The mayor is committed to a transparent, collaborative approach to political leadership.

This approach informs the Citizens’ Assembly; the mayor’s community engagement around DSA; a commitment to visit each local authority’s Scrutiny Committee; and his focus on engaging the public.  He hosts Mayor’s Question Times on at least a quarterly basis and takes part in a monthly “Call Coppard” radio programme on BBC Radio Sheffield.   

The MCA took firm action to support our communities during times of crisis during winter 2022.   The Board agreed an emergency cost of living response and worked closely with the South Yorkshire Community Foundation, bringing forward millions of pounds of hardship spending in our local authorities, complementing our UK Shared Prosperity Fund activity; introducing the £2 bus fare cap early, and using our resources to extend this to tram, with most of the benefit going to communities in our three most deprived areas; and funding a food security programme across South Yorkshire. 

In February 2023, triple Olympic cycling champion Ed Clancy OBE was appointed as South Yorkshire’s new Active Travel Commissioner. 

The mayor announced new, innovative measures to grow and build the area’s active plans as part of the region’s ‘Year of Active Travel’ - contributing to making South Yorkshire the healthiest region in the UK, promoting physical activity, green spaces, social inclusion and community engagement.  

The mayor is investing over £160 million to build new active travel projects over the next three years.  

Projects include 80 kilometres of new or improved Active Travel routes, around 100 new or improved crossings, 280 new cycle parking spaces, 40 kilometres of cycleways, and over 1,200 behaviour change activities. 

Plans will introduce the region’s first Dutch-style roundabout in Barnsley, segregated cycle lanes in Rotherham, and innovative cycling and walking routes in Kelham Island.  

Doncaster residents and visitors are already benefitting from improved routes to and from the city centre via resurfaced cycle paths and footways, enhanced street lighting and a new pedestrian crossing at South Parade. The new £7m Porter’s Bridge will also boost public transport, walking and cycling links to South Yorkshire’s major iPort employment site. 

As a region already embracing innovation and future technologies, the mayor is calling for South Yorkshire to become the country’s leader on e-bikes.  

In plans to instil active travel into the hearts of the region’s youth, the mayor will introduce a collaborative plan for local schools to double the number of school streets, with Sheffield’s first secondary school street already introduced at Astrea Academy in January.  

Walking is a central tenet in the Year of Active Travel, with Sheffield due to host the 2024 Living Streets Walking Conference in March. 

Oliver has launched the Mayor’s challenge at parkrun, encouraging residents to get moving more by walking, jogging, running or volunteering at parkrun events in South Yorkshire, aiming to strengthen community bonds and enhance overall health and well-being. Research shows that people who take part in Park Run become healthier and fitter, and go on to take part in activity in a sustained way .

The Mayor’s ambitious plans for active travel set an exciting tone for the future of the region, a greener environment, a healthier community.