FAQs - West Yorkshire Combined Authority

What is a 'combined authority'?: A combined authority is a type of local government body set up by legislation that allows a group of councils to voluntarily work together across council boundaries over a wider area where it makes sense to do so, such as in economic regeneration and transport services.

Our constituent councils are: Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield. York is also a non-constituent member.

Who governs the West Yorkshire Combined Authority?: The West Yorkshire Combined Authority is a democratically-led authority and is governed by a cross-party, politically balanced group of elected councillors nominated by each of our partner councils: Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield and York.

Read more information on what combined authorities are and what they do

The Chair of the Combined Authority: This group of members then elect one of their number to be the Chair of the Combined Authority. The current Chair of the Combined Authority is Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe.

The Chair of the private-sector led Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is also a member of the Combined Authority. This is currently Roger Marsh OBE.

Read more information about local enterprise partnerships and what they do

Members of the Combined Authority

The current members of the Combined Authority for the 2019/20 municipal year are:

Member	Substitute
Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe (Chair)	Councillor Imran Khan
Councillor Tim Swift MBE (Vice Chair)	Councillor Jane Scullion
Councillor Keith Aspden	Councillor Andy D'Agorne
Councillor Judith Blake CBE	Councillor James Lewis
Councillor Peter Box CBE	Councillor Denise Jeffery
Councillor Stewart Golton	Councillor John Lawson
Councillor David Hall	Councillor Geraldine Carter
Roger Marsh OBE	Professor Bob Cryan CBE
Councillor Shabir Pandor	Councillor Peter McBride
Councillor John Pennington	Councillor Rebecca Poulsen

Committees, panels and meetings: There are a number of committees, panels and boards that look specifically at certain areas like transport, investment, communities and housing, business and innovation, employment and skills, the environment and inclusive growth.

We are committed to transparency and all of these meetings are held in public and the agendas, reports and minutes are all published. You can also access agenda packs and minutes from past meetings for further information on what has been decided.

Visit our committee section to see a list of these committees and their members and access agenda packs, reports, decision summaries, minutes and the forward plan of key decisions.

Scrutiny and accountability: The Combined Authority has an independent committee of elected councillors known as the Overview and Scrutiny Committee which acts as a 'check and balance' and provides challenge to the Combined Authority and its partners and holds them to account for the policies they adopt, the money they spend and the services they provide.