Devolution: City council leader hails ‘broad support’ from public consultation despite low turnout
DELIGHTED: Hull City Council leader Mike Ross and East Riding Council leader Anne Handley
By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor
The leader of Hull City Council has welcomed what he called “broad support” for devolution for Hull and the East Riding, despite fewer than one per cent of the electorate responding to a questionnaire on the proposed deal.
The proposal is to create a Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority (HEYCA), led by a directly elected mayor with devolved powers for more local decision-making. It would also trigger £400m of investment in the region over the next 30 years.
The results of an eight-week consultation on the proposal were released today, with 53 per cent of replies agreeing the deal would “help address HEY’s priorities”.
Almost 6,000 people shared their views during the consultation, with 4,488 doing so through online and paper surveys – the latter from an electorate in Hull and the East Riding of about 460,000.
Asked if he was concerned by the level of response, Councillor Mike Ross, Liberal Democrat leader of the city council, said: “No, I actually take a different view. I think this is a consultation and if you look at where these consultations have been done across the country, actually this ranks amongst one of the best results in terms of the numbers coming back on this.
“So I’m actually really encouraged by the numbers of people who have come forward and given their views. I thank them all for doing so.”
Councillor Anne Handley, the Conservative leader of East Riding Council, said she was “personally delighted with the outcome”.
The city council’s opposition Labour group said the number of responses was so low the proposal should be dropped.
Coun Ross said: “I think we also have to bear in mind the context of this – as much as I know how important it is, the subject, it is a fairly dry subject in reality, it’s not necessarily a fundamental priority for everybody. You know, it’s not the first thing people think about when they wake up in the morning, to think about devolution.
“That said, in the context around numbers I think this is a really good turnout. But the important thing is what that turnout actually showed. The figures have shown there is broad support for the devolution proposals to continue.”
The next stage is a meeting of the Hull and East Riding Unitary Leaders’ Board on Wednesday, March 27. Should progress be agreed there would then be a vote on the deal by both full councils – in May for the East Riding and in Hull in June.
“No decision has been taken but I welcome the results of the consultation,” Coun Ross said. “We always said that whatever happened next had to be in line with what the public of the region said. The public have given their opinions; it gives us the ability to act accordingly.”
Any changes to the proposals reflecting the feedback from respondents are expected to be minor.
Some of the criticism has been directed at the sums of money involved, with opponents saying it does not represent good value over time.
Coun Ross said: “For me this is less around the figures that have been bandied about in the past, and as much as I welcome that money and so on, it’s also more about the opportunity it unlocks. I think that’s the really key thing.
“We know that Hull and the East Riding has missed out because it’s not been part of any devolution set-up. We’ve seen that for years now and seen other areas getting stuff that could quite easily be done and should be done here and it’s just not happening, so if having devolution in place gets us to the top table then that has to be the right thing to do.”
A total of 1,123 members of the public shared their views through the 61 public events across the region. The total number of responses also includes 85 people and businesses taking part in targeted focus groups; 30 people, businesses and organisations through stakeholder submissions; and 15 members of the public asking questions through online and telephone channels.
East Riding residents made up 2,941 of the respondents, with 1,491 being from Hull. The remainder were from other areas or did not provide a location.
The most common reasons for supporting the proposals were bringing enhanced powers and decision making to the local area, as well as welcoming additional investment.
The top priority for respondents was improving local transport at 41 per cent.
In Hull, priorities were affordable housing (34 per cent) and regenerating local communities (35 per cent), whilst in the East Riding, they also prioritised business investment and growth (33 per cent) and flood prevention and improving local resilience (31 per cent).
‘THE PUBLIC TURNED THEIR BACKS’: Councillor Daren Hale, leader of the city council’s opposition Labour group
Businesses and organisation survey responses showed that 79 per cent agreed that devolution would help to address HEY’s priorities, with 63 per cent in support of business investment and growth, 37 per cent in support of skills and training opportunities, while 35 per cent believed in would raise the region’s profile nationally and internationally.
Coun Handley said: “I am very pleased that many people took the time and trouble to respond to the consultation, and of course I am personally delighted with the outcome and the sentiment expressed.
“We have said all along that we would not pursue this devolution option if residents were not behind us, and naturally I am delighted to see that we have received this support.
“I must stress that no final decision has yet been taken. We will be looking to take the final decisions on 27 March, at the next meeting of the joint leaders’ board, and of course we will issue further updates on that date.”
An election for the new mayor would take place in 2025, raising a potential degree of uncertainty with a General Election to come before then.
Asked if he was concerned about a new government honouring the deal, Coun Ross said: “Any new government coming in would of course, depending on where we are in the process, have potentially the opportunity to make changes. But part of the benefit of getting so far with the devolution process is that we at least have something on the table. We are not going to be starting from scratch.
“It also gives us a baseline to be working from. And so we as a region would not accept anything that we considered to be a worse offer from a new government. So it can only be made better; it can’t be case of taking stuff away, it can only be a case of adding more to what’s on the table.”
Coun Ross again ruled himself out of the running as a candidate for mayor.
The Hull Labour group said: “Irrespective of what the results say, the facts are that over 99 per cent of local residents have not been convinced by the prospect of a directly elected mayor for Hull and the East Riding and no amount of spin will detract from that.”
Labour group leader, Councillor Daren Hale, said: “In a way, the public have made their view clear, simply by ignoring the whole prospect of having a mayor.
“Devolution and having greater powers is important and confusing this with having to have a mayor has turned the vast majority of people off.
“Only 1,491 Hull residents took part in this and the figures for what Hull residents said has been left out. There needs to be transparency on this.
“It didn’t help that the questionnaire was long and complicated, almost designed to make people give up before the end.
“Labour called for a vote, not just a convoluted consultation but the Lib Dems in Hull and the Conservatives in the East Riding refused to do this. The price is apathy. They should have promoted people having a real say, instead they opted to gaslight the public, which they continue to do, and as a result the public turned their backs on the whole thing. This is actually damaging for democracy.
“People saw that as the Conservative ship is sinking the local Liberal Democrats have provided them with a lifeboat in our region. Labour’s position is crystal clear. Devolution yes. Elected mayor over the smallest combined authority in the country, no!”