1. Newsroom
  2. Leeds Spotlight
  3. West Yorkshire devolution

West Yorkshire devolution

Outcome/aim

To secure and implement a devolution deal for Leeds and its surrounding city region to improve local resources and decision-making to meet the needs of local people. Deal agreed with government which is the largest financially of any English regional devolution deal to date - £38million per year for 30 years as well as having a directly-elected West Yorkshire Mayor for the first time.

Background

Over the last 20 years the landscape of local government across the UK has fragmented, with opportunities to exert local control and meet local ambitions being significantly different depending on location. Most recently, under governments since 2015, devolution has manifested at city region level with a mayoral combined authority being given enhanced and preferential access to funding.

Complicated by a range of issues including public appetite for the mayoral model and the complex geographical and administrative boundaries within Yorkshire, agreement for a devolution deal for Leeds and its surrounding city region proved challenging over many years. This impacted on Leeds’s ability to access significant amounts of national funding which was available to comparable cities that had already agreed a deal. The challenge, therefore, was to overcome these obstacles and deliver a devolution deal for Leeds and the surrounding region.

Political leaders in West Yorkshire were able to put forward a strong case that a deal based primarily on a West Yorkshire footprint was a strong and viable proposition (this was something government had rejected previously). Crucial in this was identifying suitable ways to maintain cross-Yorkshire co-operation, most notably preserving the long-held partnership with the City of York, and to promote equal access to devolution with every part of Yorkshire seeing the benefits in the near term.

What has been delivered?

West Yorkshire Leaders were able to negotiate and agree an ambitious deal – the largest financially of any English regional devolution deal to date – and one which was subsequently endorsed by the public in the largest English regional devolution consultation ever delivered. The deal will provide greater powers, freedoms and flexibilities at a local level, bring additional investment to the region with local control over how it is used, and enable local leaders to improve living standards for the communities they serve while making a full contribution to the UK economy. Importantly the deal delivered devolution down from Westminster and Whitehall, not up from local authorities, ensuring decisions are made as close the communities they affect as possible.  

The deal also includes a unique £25m Culture and Heritage Fund geared towards protecting and enhancing important heritage assets. The deal features strong, accountable local democracy with the inclusion of dedicated positions on the managing West Yorkshire Combined Authority for members of opposition political groups – something not seen as part of any other English regional devolution deal to date – recognising the long history of openness and co-operation in the region.

What was the impact/next steps?

The first West Yorkshire Mayor was elected in May 2021 and already we have seen the benefits:

  • £38m per year, beginning in 2020/21, for 30 years into a West Yorkshire Investment Fund with a 25%/75% revenue/capital split. This is the largest amount of any deal agreed to date.
  • £317m from the Transforming Cities Fund to improve public transport, cycling and walking.
  • Commitment from government to work with West Yorkshire to deliver a long-awaited modern mass transit system for the region.
  • £25m to support the development of a British Library North in Leeds.
  • Control of the £63m Adult Education annual budget to closer align spending on skills to the opportunities and needs in the local economy.
  • £67m from the new Brownfield Regeneration Fund to support housing growth, and £3.2m to support the development of a pipeline of housing sites across West Yorkshire – all of which is not accessible to areas without mayoral devolution.
  • Access to bus franchising powers – reserved for areas with mayoral devolution.
  • £200,000 funding to support the work of the Yorkshire Leaders Board, enhancing the ability to grow cross-Yorkshire co-operation of key shared objectives like climate change.