Leaders call on Chancellor to back Covid recovery plan
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority has asked the Government to give its backing to an ambitious vision for the region’s economic recovery from the pandemic in a letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
The leaders of West Yorkshire Councils and the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) set out a targeted approach to four distinctive investment propositions totaling £750 million, in a bid to stopping the worst case scenarion that could include 58,000 job losses and see the West Yorkshire economy shrink by £12 billion this year.
The propositions, developed by the West Yorkshire Economic Recovery Board, build on the region’s strengths in digital, manufacturing and entrepreneurship, and the opportunities of the transition to a net zero carbon economy.
In the letter the leaders state the “2.3 million people of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield are the lifeblood of the West Yorkshire economy”. They add that there is now an “opportunity to reimagine our economy to address the long-term gaps in attainment, productivity, skills, health and infrastructure that exist across the UK”.
In fact according to data the Combined Authority believes it add £8.5 billion to the UK economy if West Yorkshire’s productivity was boosted inline with the UK average.
The four investment propositions include:
- £60, for health innovations, to build upon the region’s world-leading strengths in devices, data and diagnostics, unlocking industry collaboration, skills and a globally positioned Act Early institution on disease prevention
- £158.9m for Lives transformed by digital tech, which looks to ensure no one is left behind in a digital and tech enabled future by driving broadband infrastructure, growth in digital skills and supporting digital adoption in manufacturing
- £192m to transition to net zero carbon economy, in order to meet the region’s net zero 2038 target. The investment would look to support the area’s industry strengths in low carbon transport, clean agri-tech, construction and circular economy and the delivery of a pipeline of critical green and blue infrastructure
- £340m to support entrepreneurship
Alongside the £750m investment package, the Economic Recovery Plan includes a further £650m of support. This £1.4bn plan aims to build upon the ambitions to level-up the region and the enormous potential of the West Yorkshire Devoution Deal, signed by leaders in March. It is focused on supporting jobs for people in resilient businesses, on helping people get the skills they need to get jobs, and on the infrastructure people need to access opportunities.
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leader of Bradford Council, said: “We offer a practical vision of the role that West Yorkshire can play, firmly at the heart of the UK’s economic recovery from COVID-19.
“Our plan has identified areas where we can build on our region’s unique strengths to make a real difference and contribute to the leveling-up agenda. We want to create a better, more equal economy for the future and a cleaner, sustainable environment, with better jobs, higher skills and the right infrastructure for our communities.”
Cllr Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council, said: “Through our locally led recovery plan we believe we have the blueprint to follow, the collective will, and the strong partnerships to deliver. We ask now that Government demonstrates their commitment both to our status as a Mayoral Combined Authority, and to levelling-up, by working with us to see this plan implemented.”
