Inside the Convention for the North as more funding promised to transform Leeds

Secretary of State Michael Gove told leaders at the annual Convention of the North that Friday’s gathering in Leeds he believed “the day that the North truly takes back control”.

Speaking at the city’s New Dock Hall, next to the Royal Armouries Museum, he said: "Today at this convention together we inaugurate the biggest transfer of power and resources to the North in living memory."

Further pledges to invest £2.5 billion into a West Yorkshire mass transit system were welcomed by Councillor James Lewis, leader of Leeds City Council.

Coun Lewis said: "We welcome that mention was given to bringing Temple Works into public ownership, a crucial step in creating a new home for the British Library in Leeds, together with support for The Royal Armouries and the new National Poetry Centre.

"Equally, we are delighted that a £2.5 billion investment will be made for a mass transit system linking Leeds with Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, and Wakefield, together with work to unlock the delivery of 20,000 extra homes in Leeds."

Plans for a new tram system in Leeds were first proposed in 1991 – more than three decades after the city’s original tramway was scrapped.

The government will also be working with the city council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority to lever in investment for new housing and new enterprises in Mabgate, the Innovation Arc, Holbeck, West End Riverside, Eastside and Hunslet Riverside and on the Southbank.

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said: "Devolution is already working for West Yorkshire, with cheaper buses on our roads, more police officers on our streets, and more decisions being taken outside of Westminster and closer to the people they affect.

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"This new deal is our next step toward deeper devolution and a single cash settlement from the Treasury, so that the people of West Yorkshire can have the first and final say over how their funding is spent."

Deeper ‘Level 4’ devolution agreements have been agreed with West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and the Liverpool City Region to unlock these powers in future once local leaders are agreed.