�200m Budget Submission designed to tackle local challenges

Speaking ahead of next week�s Budget, West Yorkshire Combined Authority Chair Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe has described the Combined Authority�s Budget Submission as �a mixture of long and short-term short measures, designed to support the government�s aim of increasing productivity on a local scale, while at the same time focusing on sustainable initiatives from which everyone across the City Region can benefit.�

Cllr Hinchcliffe continued: �We know we face major challenges including a widening productivity gap, stalled living standards, stubborn pockets of persistent deprivation and low levels of Research and Development in our business sector.

�Our proposals are to address these issues by driving improvements across all sectors of our economy and connecting people with opportunities they need to ensure there needn�t be any limit to the scale of their horizons or ambitions.

�We are bidding for more than �200m of government investment and devolved powers in the Government�s Autumn Budget in November, including a boost of over �50m for innovation in the region.�

Read the West Yorkshire Combined Authority�s full Budget Submission (opens in new tab).

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority bid sets out the ambitions of its Strategic Economic Plan which are to deliver an extra 36,000 jobs to the 115,000 already forecast by 2036, bringing the total to 151,000 and increasing economic output by an additional �3.7bn by 2036, increasing the projected �95bn to �98.6bn.

Among the immediate proposal it contains are �50m over five years to secure the City Region�s world-leading position in the med-tech sector, up to �40m for a Local Energy Fund, �2.5m for successful local apprenticeship hubs and �1.3m over three years to enterprise in education, targeted at the most deprived communities and individuals and �2m of additional funding to Leeds City Region Growth Hubs.

Longer term proposals include private sector-led collaboration to raise productivity, an ambitious retraining programme through which people are no worse off by developing the new skills the economy needs and childcare measure that improve people�s access to labour markets.

Cllr Hinchcliffe added: �Our submission contains ambitious but definitely deliverable asks, building on our track record of successful partnership delivery to date and designed to build on our huge potential.

�We have a clear ambition for inclusive growth but so far, a legacy of central Government underspending has hampered the region's ability to achieve this. We're just asking the Chancellor to match our ambition�

Download the�West Yorkshire Combined Authority�s Budget Submission document (opens in new tab).