Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg
The government is today announcing that over £1 billion will be made available to York and Leeds to boost employment opportunities and to tackle transport issues.
The funds bring with them additional powers and responsibilities.
As well as the central government funding, local Councils will be able to charge a new levy on Council Tax bills and will also have a power to borrow against future revenue.
New apprenticeship hubs are expected to be established locally with the intention of bringing together buoyant small businesses and unemployed young people. Transport investment may concentrate on rail development – in itself good news for the many rail based companies in York – but offering little early relief to local road congestion issues.
www.dpm.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/news/city-deals-announced-allow-cities-go-growth
Whether York residents will see the full benefit of the plan therefore remains to be seen.
The local Council Leader has today used his 3 monthly report to Council to blame the Liberal Democrats for cuts to Council services in York – conveniently forgetting that the most criticised local cuts could have been avoided if the, carefully costed, alternative budget put forward by the party in February, had been adopted (see http://stevegalloway.mycouncillor.org.uk/2012/02/22/halting-the-worst-of-labours-cuts-programme/).
………….And there is even talk of scrapping the York Council with decisions being centralised into a Leeds Super Authority. That could be a heavy price to pay for the further erosion of the powers that York people have to influence what happens in their City and their neighbourhoods.
It will require a responsible approach to debt management if the power to borrow against income is to be used prudently (not something that is a strength of the current York Council Leadership) while the temptation to levy a supplementary Council Tax bill is one that should be resisted at least until the use for the funding has been identified and residents have been consulted properly on the advantages that would result from such a move.