'LITTLE TO CELEBRATE FOR THE NORTH': MAYOR JARVIS RESPONDS TO SPENDING REVIEW

Published 27 October 2021 at 5:29pm

Responding to the Comprehensive Spending Review, South Yorkshire Mayor and Barnsley Central MP, Dan Jarvis said:

“This Spending Review played into a familiar pattern for many of us in the North – plenty of words about levelling up, but little action.

“While there were aspects that I welcome there was little to right the historic inequalities that have held our region back, or to help households being increasingly squeezed by the cost of living crisis.

“The biggest increase in local government funding for a decade, for example, doesn’t really feel like much to celebrate when council budgets have been decimated by austerity for the past eleven years – Barnsley council’s budget has been cut 40%. 

“Crucially, there was no mention of the North or the capacity of places like South Yorkshire to level up and help transform the UK economy. There was also none of the transformational investment needed to create a globally significant Northern economy.

“None of the chancellor’s interventions, from business rate relief to tax relief for innovation will do anything to tackle the historic inequalities which hold us back. While they are welcome, they won’t level us up and in fact run the risk of further-entrenching regional inequalities.

“I have long said one of the true tests of levelling up is to commit to building a high-speed rail link to connect our Northern towns and cities to each other – but there was no mention of this either today, just a further delay.

“There was also no acknowledgment of the cost of living crisis that so many South Yorkshire households are facing this winter. While the Universal Credit taper rate cut is positive news – it’s only good news for working people on Universal Credit. It won’t help the poorest in society, hit by the £20 cut, especially against a  backdrop of rising energy costs and inflation.

“The Chancellor found the cash to cut the cost of champagne – but with the cost of living crisis squeezing the poorest in our region, and little action on levelling up, there’s not much to celebrate in this Spending Review. ”