NEW powers over skills, careers and economic development could have the biggest impact on residents of the North Yorkshire coast, according to the county’s elected mayor.
Speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, Mayor David Skaith said further devolution of powers from Westminster would help tackle long-standing challenges facing the region, including skills shortages, youth outmigration and economic growth. He also argued that devolution was already delivering results through investment in major regeneration projects in Scarborough.
Asked what the most important conference announcement was for residents of York and North Yorkshire, the mayor pointed to proposals for greater local control over skills and careers.
“We know in an area like York and North Yorkshire that the challenge of keeping the next generation of people on our patch is really, really critical,” he said.
“We’ve got an excellent education system, schools, colleges, universities and training providers, but what we find is so many people are not getting the skills aligned to the careers in the industry, or they’re looking for that elsewhere.
“So the ability for mayors to actually support people from a younger age means that we can align our skills from a younger age into industry to keep those young people on our patch.”
The comments come as ministers set out plans to deepen devolution across England, with greater responsibilities to be handed to elected mayors in areas including skills, transport and economic development.
Mr Skaith said he believed York and North Yorkshire was benefiting from devolution, although he would like to see further funding and powers transferred from central government.
“You know, we’d always like more,” he said.
“We’ve got our largest transport settlement we’ve ever had. We’ve had further skills funding as well. We’re seeing further housing funding coming through the door as well.
“So we are seeing more, and I believe that the whole direction of travel with devolution is we will be seeing more money and more powers and more support to actually deliver everything we need to deliver.”
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Asked what devolution had already delivered for residents of Scarborough and Whitby that would not have happened without the Combined Authority, Mr Skaith pointed to the town’s Mayoral Development Zone.
“We developed the Mayoral Development Zone, and that’s happening in Scarborough, which wouldn’t have happened before,” he said.
The mayor added that the Combined Authority had already committed funding towards the initiative and was preparing to showcase investment opportunities in the town.
“We’ve got a lot of investors coming up to Scarborough in early November to come and showcase some of that work.
“We’ve already put £8 million behind that Mayoral Development Zone as well to start developing the Brunswick Centre site.
“We’ve started work on the station and the wider piece of that is going to be a huge project. It’s going to take a few years, but the energy and excitement around that is huge.”
(Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
Other conference announcements with local implications included proposals set out by Angela Rayner, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to give councils stronger powers to tackle empty homes and homelessness.
Addressing delegates, Ms Rayner said: “More than 300,000 homes are sitting empty and idle long-term. We’ll make it easier for councils to bring those homes back into use for families who need them.
“We’ll sweep away barriers that hampered local leaders from taking action, and give more power for councils to tackle homelessness and reduce reliance on temporary accommodation.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced plans for a strengthened Water Bill, including a greater role for mayors in holding water companies to account.
Mr Burnham said: “It will start a 10-year journey to a very different water system, strengthen water control, give mayors the power to hold water companies to account, with tougher consequences for those that repeatedly fail, and it will close the loophole that allows excessive bonuses to be paid to executives. And where companies serve the public interest, we will support them.”