‘LITMUS TEST FOR LEVELLING UP’: MAYOR URGES GOVERNMENT TO BACK THE NORTH

Published 12 November 2020 at 12:00am

The Government faces a ‘litmus test’ on levelling up at the Spending Review – and significant investment in South Yorkshire and the Northern Powerhouse is needed for it pass, according to Mayor of the Sheffield City Region, Dan Jarvis.

In a letter to the Chancellor, the Mayor has put forward ambitious and detailed plans which will support jobs and businesses through the turbulence caused by COVID and put the region on course for economic recovery and renewal after the pandemic.

The submission comes after Mayor Jarvis led a debate in Parliament on support for the North’s economy. He told MPs that “the brutal reality is that the North is now on course for levelling down, not levelling up”, as analysis shows the level of people claiming unemployment-related benefits in South Yorkshire is now higher than at any time since the mid-1990s – comparable to the aftermath of closures in the mining and steel industries.

This makes the case for levelling up more urgent, and the Mayor pressed Ministers “to stop tinkering and start transforming” ahead of the Spending Review on November 25. He called for structural changes to how Government works, by following through on proposals to move significant parts of the civil service to the North of England and delivering reform to the Green Book, to reduce the bias towards affluent areas in Government investment decisions.

This needs to go hand in hand with significant new investment, with South Yorkshire poised to unlock the jobs, training and infrastructure needed to deliver prosperity for people and businesses across the region and the North. To make this a reality, the Mayor called on Government to deliver on its promises by:

• Funding for the Renewal Action Plan, so the Mayor, local authorities and businesses can deliver a jobs-led recovery through the South Yorkshire Works jobs, apprenticeships and training programme, to help people find work or retrain, and give businesses the skills they need to grow and thrive.

• Investing in public transport and infrastructure. Accelerating the delivery of priority flood defence schemes to protect over 10,300 homes and 2,800 businesses; providing bus and tram with sustained funding to keep operating during COVID, and strengthening connectivity across South Yorkshire through Supertram renewal, extending tram train, enabling active travel and improving road and rail networks.

• Guaranteeing a successor to the Local Growth Fund, so the region can continue to invest in long-term projects which will create jobs, attract inward investment and transform places. The Mayor and LEP are working with a pipeline of businesses who want to grow and invest in South Yorkshire, building on recent successes to attract the next generation of Boeings and McLarens to the region.

In the letter, Mayor Dan Jarvis said: “The Spending Review will be the litmus test for the levelling up agenda. Not just for infrastructure, but for education, skills, health, environment, flood prevention – all the different areas where action is needed.

“In short, we need a New Deal for the North. Recent decisions not to progress with either the Doncaster Sheffield Airport East Coast Main Line Station or new hospital in Doncaster, and a lack of clarity on either the Northern Powerhouse Strategy or Growth Body are concerning evidence that the Government is not making good on its levelling up promises. As are the growing fears that critical parts of the Northern Powerhouse Rail network will be delayed, along with the north-east leg of HS2. We cannot have a prosperous United Kingdom, without a strong North; where all cities, towns and rural areas achieve their potential.

“My ambition for South Yorkshire is not just for recovery but a renewal that makes us stronger, greener, and fairer. Critically, we have an ambitious, but deliverable, Renewal Action Plan specifically developed for this very purpose, following Government commissioning mayors to lead this agenda.”

He added: “We must collectively work together across national, regional and local Government to respond to and Build Back Better from COVID. This means supporting lives and livelihoods and levelling up. I have plan to deliver in South Yorkshire and the partnerships to make it happen. But the step change in funding to make this a reality lies in the balance of the Spending Review.

“I hope the people, communities and businesses of South Yorkshire will receive the investment needed and deserved, as part a wider vision for a more prosperous, more equitable, more democratic United Kingdom. In the process, perhaps we can make this a transformative moment not just for one region, but for the whole country.”

The Renewal Action Plan has been developed in close partnership with local authorities, businesses, trade unions, universities and other partners through the Mayor and the Local Enterprise Partnership’s COVID response group.

It provides a roadmap to recovery for South Yorkshire and with financial backing from Government it will help workers, jobs and businesses recover from the immediate pressure posed by the coronavirus and pave the way for economic renewal.

James Muir, Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Businesses across South Yorkshire have shown resilience throughout the pandemic and our region is home to firms capable of growing and creating jobs and training opportunities, but we need Government to back our plans for a jobs-led recovery and support us to nurture these businesses.

“Levelling up will only be possible through investment in upskilling our workforce, building the infrastructure needed to connect people to places and opportunities, and making money available to local leaders to be spent where it will have the most impact.

“In these challenging times businesses need to adapt and innovate, something that is synonymous with South Yorkshire, but Government must match our ambitions to unlock the potential we have in our region.”

Alexa Greaves, CEO of AAG and SCR LEP Board Member, said: “To enable economic renewal in South Yorkshire businesses both large and small must be supported to survive, adapt and thrive. Our region is home to many SMEs which have potential to create jobs and training opportunities but to do that they need to be nurtured. In these turbulent times Government must support the LEP’s ambition to give local people and employers the skills and opportunities they need to grow.”