The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will today unveil the Government's Levelling Up plan for the UK and I’m delighted that it confirms that negotiations will now move forward for a new Mayoral Combined Authority deal for York and North Yorkshire. I very much hope we’ll have an elected mayor for ‘York City Region’ by May 2023 and that the mayor will have the maximum powers available to turbocharge the region’s economy. The statement on King’s Cross-style regeneration opportunities is also very welcome, what better place to start than a brand-new station in Bradford on a new Northern Powerhouse Rail running directly from Leeds, through Bradford to Manchester. I will continue to press the government to revisit and revitalise these plans as well as continuing to make the case for Great British Railways to have its HQ in York.
The White Paper will be centred around twelve missions, backed by legislation, to shift resources from Whitehall to local leaders. This will be the biggest shift of power from Whitehall to local leaders in modern times and I will ensure Thirsk and Malton's voice is heard when this legislation is brought before the House.
Read more here.
