Yorkshire’s cities fail to keep pace with the rest of the UK

YORKSHIRE’S cities have failed to keep pace with the south of England over the last decade, research has showed, which will increase calls for greater devolution of powers to the regions.

The annual Cities Outlook report from think-tank Centre for Cities, which studies the economic performance of the United Kingdom’s 64 largest cities, shows the gap between Britain’s best and worst-performing cities has dramatically widened since 2004.

Its starkest finding was that for every 12 net new jobs created between 2004 and 2013 in cities in the South of England, only one was created in cities throughout the rest of Great Britain.

Andrew Carter, acting chief executive of Centre for Cities, said: “Five months out from the election, this report makes the strongest economic case yet for the next Government to step up to the challenge of investing in the long-term success of our cities, and build a brighter future in which more people and places can contribute to, and share in, prosperity and growth.

“Cities need long-term funding and strategic planning, and policies that go to the heart of addressing the key drivers of economic growth – including transport, planning, skills and housing. This report throws down the gauntlet for all parties to turn their recent interest and pledges around cities and devolution into a clear plan to grow jobs and businesses, and improve quality of life throughout the United Kingdom.”

The 2015 Cities Outlook report argued that Yorkshire’s cities have, on the whole, lagged behind the growth experienced across all UK cities in the last decade. The stand-out exceptions are Leeds and York, which enjoyed an increase in business stock of 17% and 16% respectively. However this growth had not been matched by an increase in jobs.

The report said that both cities had “demonstrated resilience” with Leeds in particular having a “strong public-private jobs ratio”.

Grimsby and Hull in particular have struggled through the recession. Grimsby lost 7% of its net jobs and 6% of its net businesses, alongside a population growth of just 1%, compared to the UK average growth of 7%.

The report added: “It continues to rely heavily on its public sector employers and has struggled to develop new private sector industries to withstand the decline both in public sector jobs and in traditional ports and fishing industries. Similar trends explain Hull’s difficulty; although Hull has seen a net increase in businesses of 5%, this is just a third of the UK average for cities.”

Mr Carter added: “The stark picture the report paints of the enormous gap in the fortunes of UK cities over 10 years underlines why a ‘steady as she goes’ approach must be scrapped. We must move from thinking that bundling up new funding streams with bureaucratic delays, or simply tinkering around the edges with well-intentioned announcements, will be enough to reverse trends that are becoming increasingly entrenched.”