Yorkshire devolution must stay on the agenda - John Grogan

Today in Barnsley, the Yorkshire and Humber Labour Party meets for its regional conference with the General Election fast approaching. One question on most minds will be what should the next Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom do to truly level up Yorkshire and the Humber?

The cross party One Yorkshire Committee starts from the premise that substantial differences in productivity and in health and educational outcomes between Yorkshire and the South East will only be narrowed when power and resources are substantially devolved. Decisions about transport and public investment are better made in the region than in Whitehall. God’s own country is home to five million people, about the same as Scotland, but our ability to shape our destiny is much less.

Competitions between local authorities for relatively small amounts of additional expenditure will not significantly improve people’s opportunities in life.

Our view has always been that giving powers to a devolved body representative of Yorkshire as a whole would provide the necessary scale to bring about transformational economic change. Importantly it would also mirror the strong identity which most people living in the broad acres feel for the White Rose. Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats gave explicit support to Yorkshire-wide devolution in their 2019 General Election manifestos.

There was much common ground between the former’s declaration that: “Britain is one of the most centralised countries in Europe. Labour will decentralise decision-making and strengthen local democracy. We reiterate our commitment to One Yorkshire.”

And there was the latter’s promise that: “We will enact permissive legislation to empower groups of authorities to come together to establish devolved governance – for example to a Cornish Assembly or a Yorkshire Parliament, building on the One Yorkshire campaign.”

Of course it was the Conservative manifesto that was implemented. West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire now have elected mayors with one to come in North Yorkshire.

At the same time the Yorkshire Leaders Board which brings together not just the Mayors but also the council leaders has emerged. It has begun to take initiatives such as setting up a Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission to help chart a path to net zero for both public and private sectors in the region.

This body is about to hold Drax to account regarding the source of its biomass. At the same time there has been a real cultural revival in Yorkshire with programmes about or made in the county often taking pride of place in the national TV schedules.

Yorkshire sporting success particularly in the Olympics has been much celebrated.

New books and films about the region abound. In Scotland and Wales political devolution followed years of cultural stirrings and there is the potential for the same to happen in Yorkshire. Before the next election an agenda for the governance of Yorkshire supported by as broad a spectrum of opinion as possible is urgently required. The key to achieving a consensus would be building on the structures that are now there whilst opening the door for radical change in the future.

The Yorkshire Leaders Board could be made a statutory body. The Board not the Government could be responsible for the distribution of all levelling up and regeneration grants. The Board not the Government could be responsible for the existing Department of International Trade regional team. Working in partnership with the region’s businesses , trade unions and twelve universities they could use the Yorkshire brand to forge new global trade routes. The existing Yorkshire Flood and Coastal Committee could report to the Board not the Government.The Regional Schools Commissioner who has oversight of the performance of all Academy schools could be accountable to the Board not the Government to help drive up standards. Substantial powers and funding not least over skills could also be devolved to mayors and Transport for the North given the same powers, resources and funding as Transport for London. At the same time in Parliament a Regional Grand Committee for Yorkshire and Humber, including all the area’s MPs, could be created to hold debates and shine a ligh. A Convention or Commission with substantial citizen participation could in the next Parliament consider the future governance of Yorkshire more widely.

Gordon Brown is soon to produce a report on the future of the Union and the new Secretary of State for Levelling Up Simon Clarke will be laying out his agenda. It is important that Yorkshire gets stuck into the debate and gets noticed.

John Grogan is co-chair One Yorkshire.