Response to the Government's Spending Review

25 November 2020

Responding to the outcome of the Government’s Spending Review, Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leader of Bradford Council, said:

“It is deeply disappointing that the Spending Review did not include a commitment to support the West Yorkshire Economic Recovery plan which has been designed to create 70,000 jobs, particularly as the Chancellor highlighted the scale of unemployment the country is facing as a result of COVID-19.

“Instead the Government set out a centralised ‘levelling-up’ fund into which we will have to bid, rather than giving regions like ours which have been badly hit by COVID restrictions for months the support they need now to accelerate recovery. We will continue to press them to support the West Yorkshire Economic Recovery Plan while also looking at how we can use the funding unlocked by our landmark devolution deal to help our region emerge from the pandemic as strongly as possible.”

​Cllr Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Lead, said:

“While the commitment to reforming spending rules to support investment in the North is a step in the right direction, it is made against the backdrop of continued threats to the eastern leg of HS2 and uncertainty around the ambitions for Northern Powerhouse Rail which undermine the Government’s credibility in this area.”​

Roger Marsh OBE DL, Chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership and NP11, said:

“With the Leeds City Region receiving £350 million in the last round of European Investment and Structural Funds, it is clear the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has some way to go to match that scale and ambition and I hope we can work with Government to shape this fund so it meets our region’s needs.”