Council leaders tell Chamber meeting ‘the business voice matters in bid for Combined Authority deal’

The Leader of Hull City Council Mike Ross (left) and the Council’s Chief Executive and former Chamber President, Matt Jukes, pictured during the meeting at the Chamber of Commerce.

THE Chamber’s Hull Area Council meeting in October was attended by MP Emma Hardy, the Leader of Hull City Council Mike Ross and the Council’s Chief Executive and former Chamber President, Matt Jukes.

Issues under discussion included employment, road and rail infrastructure and devolution.

Emma gave the meeting a Parliamentary report and talked about her role as the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Modernising Employment, explaining how remote and hybrid working was now commonplace and in Hull it allowed the city to retain skilled people who may otherwise be lost to other regions.

Emma said: “One of the biggest problems in this country is productivity and we are looking at how we can improve productivity. One of the problems we see in this area is that if people want to do well they feel they have to leave the city, and that is something we want and need to change.”

During the round table discussion, members raised the traffic chaos which followed the closure of Myton Bridge recently to allow work on the A63 upgrade to continue. It was highlighted that since the cancellation of HS2, this has now become the most expensive civil engineering project in the UK with a price tag of £350-million for about a mile of road.

Jim Harris from St Stephen’s Shopping Centre and HullBID Executive Director Kathryn Shillito, voiced concerns that another planned closure could have a serious impact on Christmas trade for hard-pressed city centre retailers and it was agreed that all stakeholders would see if a better solution could be found through discussions with Highways England.

The discussion then moved on to the progress of the Hull and East Yorkshire Devolution Deal. Cllr Mike Ross highlighted that Hull & East Riding were the last areas in this part of the world to have a devolution deal, but it was not a case of the City Council just getting any deal over the line – it had to be a good enough deal that met the Council’s requirements.

Chief Executive Matt Jukes explained: “We are talking to the Government about setting up a Combined Authority which would be at Level 3 and this would include an elected Mayor as part of that Combined Authority.

“Both Hull and East Riding Councils would continue to exist through a Combined Authority where the Mayor would have control over certain issues.

Matt continued: “There is a lot of lobbying going on and we are very keen for the business voice to make itself heard”.

Ironically, after the failure to agree a pan-Humber arrangement the Council bosses highlighted that the bid was progressing in tandem with the Northern Lincolnshire Devolution deal and there would be a link between the North and South banks.

“Matt added: “We expect the Humber Freeport will stand as it is and a Humber Energy Board which Chamber Board member Richard Gwilliam from Drax chairs, already works well across the Humber will continue. The timing for these devolution discussions is very tight with the Government wanting an announcement in the Autumn Statement in November.”

Emma Hardy said: “It is important to get the right deal and negotiations need to be cross-Party. She suggested not to rush something through to then find there were regrets about not getting the best deal possible.”

Cllr Ross indicated: “The Council was clear about what it wants for the area, regardless of which Government is in power.”

Matt Jukes added: “This Government is ranking bids for things like investment zones for example, and Hull had missed out because we didn’t have an elected mayor.”

Deborah Gray from Hull College said: “We want to see a cross-Humber skills delivery plan for adults’ skills because of the travel to work patterns around the Humber as it’s not what their employers are asking for. I have a responsibility to deliver 20,000 jobs for this region and I have to be able to say that the landscape for skills is fluid or businesses just won’t invest here”.

Mike Ross said: “The business voice is really important so it is good to be at today’s Chamber meeting and this deal is eventually something that will go before the public and we have to get something that they will support. Time is of the essence, we need the Government to come to the table to get a suitable deal over the line in what is a very tight timescale.”