Today marks a year since West Yorkshire leaders and Government signed the landmark £1.8 billion West Yorkshire Devolution Deal
11 March 2021
The Leaders of West Yorkshire Councils, Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford), Cllr Tim Swift (Calderdale), Cllr Shabir Pandor (Kirklees), Cllr James Lewis (Leeds) and Cllr Denise Jeffery (Wakefield), said:
“The last year has been an incredibly difficult one for West Yorkshire and significant challenges remain ahead, but the devolution deal we signed a year ago has helped mitigate the impact and will be central to our efforts to accelerate our recovery.
“In the last 12 months, we’ve already unlocked funding secured through the deal to invest £13.5 million to help over 10,000 people who have been made redundant or are at risk of redundancy as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic to build new skills and access training or find work.
“The deal was pivotal to our securing £67 million to help deliver thousands of homes on brownfield land, bringing forward urgently need housing while regenerating sites across the region.
“The Combined Authority has also agreed to unlock devolution funding worth £5 million to support local councils’ COVID-19 recovery plans, and to make available at least £6 million to encourage a new generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders to set up innovative, new businesses with the potential to create sustainable jobs and tackle some of the key challenges facing the region post-pandemic.
“As we emerge from the pandemic, the powers and funding in the deal will help us improve skills, connect people to jobs and opportunities through better transport, invest in our town and city centres while tackling the climate emergency and improving living standards for all our communities.
“Our work will take another step forward in May with the election of the first West Yorkshire Mayor and we look forward to working with them to improve the lives of everyone in West Yorkshire.”
To find out more about the mayoral election and the devolution deal, visit: www.wyelects.co.uk