Devo dash makes progress on Leeds City Region deal

West Yorkshire leaders claim progress was made during devolution meeting today.

The leaders who met with the Exchequer Secretary and the Northern Powerhouse Minister stated:

“Today’s meeting was positive, giving both sides the chance to set out the opportunities and challenges in terms of agreeing a Leeds City Region devolution deal.

During the meeting it was agreed that “civil servants and officers will progress discussions in the coming weeks”.

The statement issued by the leaders continued:

“It is essential any deal meaningfully transfers powers and money and helps us deliver the ambitions we have for all our communities.”

The positive move has also been welcomed by the business community. Andy Wood, partner and Yorkshire practice leader at Grant Thornton commented: “Today’s news is a very welcome step in the right direction. We all know that Yorkshire is a great place to live and work, but meaningful devolution deals would do much to leverage further investment in places like Leeds, Bradford, York and Hull and help us address some of the challenges that remain in terms of skills, education and social inequality.

“As business leaders we should now rise to the challenge of helping our civic leaders negotiate and deliver a great deal for Yorkshire.”