Leaders and Mayor reach consensus on Sheffield City Region devolution

Mayor Dan Jarvis and the four leaders of South Yorkshire’s local authorities have reached a consensus on the way forward for devolution for the Sheffield City Region.

After years of impasse, a breakthrough letter has been sent to Secretary of State James Brokenshire today, asking for powers and resources to be unlocked.

In that letter, Mayor Dan Jarvis, Cllr Julie Dore, Cllr Sir Steve Houghton, Mayor Ros Jones and Cllr Chris Read say that they have had “productive conversations”, and set out plans as to how, together with Government, devolution for the Sheffield City Region can now move forward while also furthering the future devolution ambitions of individual authorities.

The letter to Government asks that millions of pounds in funding is unlocked for the Sheffield City Region. This is on the understanding that each authority is able to move to other devolution arrangements, should they wish to do so, in 2022 – the end of Mayor Jarvis’ current term of office.

The next step will be for the Government to respond to this joint letter.

The letter states: “We all support the greater devolution of powers and funding from Westminster and Whitehall to local government and combined authorities, albeit that we have different views as to how that should happen.

“We are all clear that we should and will actively support each other in the achievement of our individual devolution ambitions. Each council has the right to make its own choices about its devolution arrangements, including the right to join, or not to join, a wider Yorkshire grouping from the outset if that is what individual places wish to do. None of that should be to the detriment of any individual council that wishes to remain in the current devolution arrangements.

“We all want to see the SCR deal powers and funding unlocked, in place and used up until the end of this current mayoral term in 2022. Our view is that Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield Combined Authority (SCR MCA) should remain in its current form until the end of this term.

“At the end of this current Mayoral term, those councils that do not see their future in a South Yorkshire arrangement must be free to join an alternative devolution group. The residual Mayoral SCR CA (which is comparable in scale with Cambridgeshire / Peterborough and larger than Tees Valley MCA) must benefit from the retention of powers as provided for by the current SCR deal and proportionate resources
calculated pro rata, accounting for current and future funding arrangements. This is what we refer to above as “no detriment”.

“We understand that this will require your officers to draw up a Sheffield City Region Combined Authority Order, which provides relevant powers and related governance arrangements. Such an order would require the consent of each of us.

Your officials previously received correspondence and legal advice from Barnsley, Doncaster and Sheffield City Region Mayor’s office which indicates that moving to such an order can be achieved without the necessity and expense of duplicate consultation and we invite you to consider this. In parallel, Barnsley, Doncaster and the Mayor would expect their consent to the draft order to coincide with assurances and meaningful negotiations towards our differing post 2022 devolution arrangements and ambitions.

Mayor Jarvis reflected: “This is an important day for our region. After months of negotiations, I’m delighted to have brokered a joint devolution position with all of South Yorkshire’s leaders, that I believe will enable us to access the powers and resources that our region needs to continue its economic transformation.

“It is a pragmatic solution that enables first and foremost, the unlocking of the Sheffield City Region deal, whilst also supporting wider Yorkshire devolution ambitions.

“It is a solution that gives effect to the mandate upon which I was elected, is in line with the community polls held by Barnsley and Doncaster, and accords with the Government’s own stated position regarding the next steps for devolution.

“It is now for Government to work constructively with us to agree our plan and release the powers and money that the Sheffield City Region needs.”

Cllr Judith Blake and Cllr Carl Les, co-chairs of One Yorkshire Leaders, said:“We want all parts of Yorkshire to benefit from devolution and this letter is a positive step towards helping the Sheffield City Region agreement to move forward, which has been a key priority for the Government.

“This development, and the Communities Secretary’s agreement to meetings with officials to progress discussions on devolution to all parts of Yorkshire and interim arrangements, shows real progress is being made.”