East Riding Devolution Deal Set To Go To Public

Wednesday, 27 December 2023 08:51

By Joe Gerrard, LDRS

Councillors have given the go ahead for the East Yorkshire devolution deal to move to a public consultation next year.

Hull City Council and East Riding Council both voted to approve putting the deal out to an eight-week consultation, starting in January.

The East Riding’s Cllr Anne Handley said it was the start of a journey, but East Riding Liberal Democrat Cllr David Nolan said the proposed engagement was an illusion.

The vote marks the next step in East Yorkshire’s journey towards getting a devolution deal and an elected mayor.

The deal includes £400m for Hull and the East Riding over the next 30 years, a commitment to rail electrification, transport powers and a skills budget.

Depending on the outcome of the consultation set to run from Tuesday, January 2 to late February, the deal would be sent to the Government for sign off later next year.

A Hull City Council report stated a referendum on the deal was not recommended because it would present a binary yes or no choice without engaging people in enough detail.

A new combined authority would then be established from January 2025 with a mayoral election held the following May.

It is the closest the area has got to securing a deal and the one currently proposed is the third version drawn up since 2020.

East Riding Council Leader Cllr Anne Handley said the deal would bring political as well as economic benefits.

The leader said:

“This is about having a direct line into Government and about putting East Yorkshire on the national and international stage.

“For those who say this isn’t good enough I say this is the start of a journey to us being able to get better deals in the future.

“This will mean more investment and jobs and making East Yorkshire recognised as the place where things are happening.”

Cllr Nolan, the only East Riding councillor who voted against progressing to a consultation, said commitments particularly around £400m in funding were nonsense.

“This is turkey for Christmas and a long promise note, we don’t even know what money the council’s getting from the Government next year.

“The public will see this new authority which will employ its own staff and directors as a gravy train and jobs for the boys and it’ll be a distraction from this council’s day-to-day business.

“This is a momentous change, at least the biggest since Humberside County Council was abolished in 1996 and the consultation being proposed for it is an illusion, we’re being asked today to decide if this is good enough.”