Mayor for North Yorkshire agreed in £540m historic devolution deal

Last updated Aug 1, 2022

An historic agreement has been announced today that sees the biggest shake-up of local government in North Yorkshire and York for more than fifty years.

The 30 year devolution deal agreed by the government will mean North Yorkshire and York will see an elected Mayor in 2024 with £540 million pounds of government cash to focus primarily on skills, housing and transport.

The mayor will take over the role of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and have an annual £18m budget to spend.

The agreement has been described as “a one-in-a-generation chance to help tackle regional inequalities by not only reducing the North-South divide nationally, but also helping to resolve economic differences that are being felt between urban and rural areas”.

The aim is that the mayor and combined authority – which would be made up of North Yorkshire and City of York councillers – will be able to have more control of strategic investment for jobs and skills and infrastructure.

Key points to the deal are:

Control of a £540 million investment fund in total over 30 years to drive growth and take forward local priorities over the longer term.
New powers to improve and better integrate local transport, including the ability to introduce bus franchising, and an integrated transport settlement starting in 2024/25.
Powers to better improve local skills to ensure these meet the needs of the local economy.
Over £13 million for the building of new homes on brownfield land across 2023/24 and 2024/25, subject to sufficient eligible projects for funding being identified.
£7 million investment to enable York and North Yorkshire to drive green economic growth towards their ambitions to be a carbon negative region.
Powers to drive the regeneration of the area and to build more affordable, more beautiful homes, including compulsory purchase powers and the ability to establish Mayoral Development Corporations.
The mayor will take on role and functions of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.
Integration of the York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (Y&NY LEP) into York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority. This will ensure there continues to be a strong and independent local business voice which informs local decision making.

The structure of the mayor and a combined authority will be similar that of the Tees Valley and West Yorkshire, which have already gone through the devolution process and have elected mayors.

North Yorkshire County Council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said:

“The chance to secure a wide range of decision-making powers as well as bringing in millions of pounds of investment for North Yorkshire is a huge opportunity for us all to shape our own future for many years to come.

“It will make a real difference to the hundreds of thousands of people who live and work in North Yorkshire, driving future prosperity and much better opportunities that are so important to everyone.

“Whether it is improving skills and education, bringing in more investment to the region or helping improve transport links and providing much-needed affordable housing, the proposed deal would enable us to take far greater control of our own destinies.

“An elected mayor representing both York and North Yorkshire would be a powerful figure to have a seat at the table for further negotiations with the Government, bringing real and tangible benefits to the region.”