This is what the £1.8bn West Yorkshire devolution deal means for Leeds

The deal, worth £38m per year for 30 years, was announced today by West Yorkshire leaders, which will see further powers over transport, education and infrastructure transfer to the region from Westminster.

The deal brings to an end five years of haggling over a transfer of powers away from government, and will see Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield overseen by one mayoral authority.

Leader of Leeds City Council Judith Blake said: “We have been working on this for a long time – we have always said we want to stick out and that we would get the deal that reflects our needs and ambitions. Getting the biggest deal in the country has been worth holding out for.

“This is about bringing the funding down from government.

“This is for the whole of the region of West Yorkshire – we have a history of working together and all areas feel there is something in this for them.”

Examples of some of the funding in the deal include £317m for public transport, cycling and walking; £25m to support the development of a British Library North in Leeds; control of West Yorkshire’s £63m adult education budget and extra funds for early stages of a new mass transit system and the redevelopment of Leeds Station.

A statement from West Yorkshire Combined Authority claimed the move would ‘drive up living standards through better transport, improved skills and stronger businesses, while tackling the climate emergency’.

As well as the extra funding, the deal will see the creation of a West Yorkshire mayor, to be elected for the first time in May 2021.

Coun Blake said: “The mayor will be part of a team, along with all the council leaders in West Yorkshire, and they will be working very closely with existing councils.”

Other funding boosts from the deal include £500,000 from government support a master plan for Bradford City Centre, £3.2m to support new housing sites across West Yorkshire and £200,000 for a proposed Yorkshire Leaders Board.

Plans for a Leeds City Region deal, which would have included West Yorkshire, Harrogate and Craven, were submitted back in 2015, but eventually faltered over concerns in North Yorkshire about the ‘loss’ of two districts, as well as opposition from West Yorkshire Conservative MPs.

Leaders of 18 of Yorkshire’s 20 councils had since submitted plans to form a larger One Yorkshire regional authority, which would cover the entire county.

But, following the election of Boris Johnson’s Conservatives in December 2019 and advances on south Yorkshire’s own city region deal, talks on a smaller West Yorkshire deal accelerated in the past few weeks.

Wakefield Council leader Denise Jeffery revealed in a meeting last week that the prospective agreement had already been factored into the government’s Budget.

At a meeting last Tuesday, she told fellow Wakefield Councillors: “The devolution deal is now very close. We’re down to the nuts and bolts of it now.

“We’ve got a conference call on Thursday with ministers and that will hopefully sign things off.”