‘It’s a no-brainer’: Business group chair backs devolution deal

‘TREMENDOUSLY EXCITING’: Thomas Martin, centre, chair of Hull and East Riding Business Engagement Board, with Hull City Council leader Mike Ross and East Riding Council leader Anne Handley

EXCLUSIVE by Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

One of the region’s most influential business leaders has urged people to back the proposed devolution deal for Hull and East Yorkshire, calling it “an absolute no-brainer”.

Thomas Martin, chair of the Hull and East Riding Business Engagement Board, which advises the Hull and East Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (HEY LEP), also warned: “…if we don’t progress it with all possible haste we’ll continue to miss out”.

A public consultation has begun on plans to create a Hull and East Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) led by a directly elected mayor. It would trigger £400m of investment in the region over the next 30 years, plus a range of other benefits.

The leaders of Hull and East Riding councils, councillors Mike Ross and Anne Handley respectively, are backing the plans and urging all residents, businesses and other organisations to read the proposal and give their feedback.

Speaking after a specially convened meeting of the board to discuss the devolution proposal yesterday, Mr Martin, who is also chair of UK leading safety firm Arco, became the most senior business leader to back the plans since they were announced in November.

He told The Hull Story: “I think it’s tremendously exciting. It’s some significant exciting new news for our region, and if we don’t progress it with all possible haste we’ll continue to miss out.

“It feels a little lonely being the only part of Yorkshire without a devolution deal. I’ve been to speak with mayors of neighbouring counties, one of whom in the summer looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘I’m taking your jobs, your inward investment, I‘m taking your futures, and there’s nothing you can do about it’. Oh yes we can. This is what we are doing about it.”

Mr Martin said securing the deal would give the region “some confidence” and “some unity”, adding: “It will give us a seat on the national stage, which I think we deserve anyway but I don’t think we’ve always had because we have traditionally been divided – I think people say that even in the county of Yorkshire we can’t talk to one another.

“Let’s just put all that behind us, let’s just go forward together, and I think what this does, this gets us the first of a deal.

“When you speak with the likes of Andy Burnham [Mayor of Greater Manchester], and I was with him in Manchester at the back end of last year, he’s now getting onto his fourth or fifth level of deal, so we’ve just got to get this first one over the line.

“And I’m sure if there’s a change in national Government, if there is a change in local politics, there will be further iterations, but this first deal is the one we’ve got to get over the line.”

Asked what his message would be to residents, businesses and other stakeholders about responding to the consultation, Mr Martin said: “This is really important. You can’t get the extra cash, the extra investment and the extra focus without one more position.

“There’s a load of talk about ‘Oh, this is a complete new layer of bureaucracy’ – we are talking about one role that brings in another £400 million of funding, and that’s just the first stage deal.

“That one role gets us at the table for the national debate on employability, on skills, on transport and communication, on education, on brownfield redevelopment – it is an absolute no-brainer – we have got to do it now.

Mr Martin said seizing the opportunity being offered was vital not just for businesses in the region but for “future generations”, and he could see no reason for turning it down.

“You just look at the economic argument for doing so,” he said. “You’ve just got to do it for businesses’ sake right now but [also] for the future generations to come. There is no argument which says ‘This is poor, let’s not do it or let’s delay it’, it just doesn’t make sense. We’ve got to get on with it now.”

The BEB chair also added his voice to those saying not securing a deal previously while other areas have has been costly for the region as a whole.

He said: “I think it’s allowed investment in parts of the estuary to have bypassed our region. There’s no doubt that the economic entity of our region is in fact the River Humber. Absolutely no shadow of a doubt. And the Humber LEP which was disbanded when Lincolnshire literally went south a few years ago, that has for the moment put paid to that.

“So for our region it gets us back at the national table and that is vital because if we are going to hit our net zero emissions [targets] we need to sort something out for the Humber estuary.”

Mr Martin also indicated it was something of a personal mission for him to see the devolution deal succeed.

“I’m fighting for futures for people’s jobs, for people’s futures here, and I will give it my best shot and hopefully it’s good enough,” he said. “I’m planning on it being good enough.”

Asked what sort of qualities an effective mayor should have, he said: “It’s unlike a mayor that anyone really knows of – people think of a civic position or somebody wearing a red coat or a load of robes; it’s none of that.

“They are basically the chief executive of a combined authority. So I need them to have good business skills, I need them to understand what is special and enduring about this place.

“I need them to fight for our futures and for future generations. I need them to put us on the map and not be frightened to really stand up for our region.

IN FAVOUR: Members of the BEB with Thomas Martin fourth from left, plus Councillor Mike Ross, left, and Councillor Anne Handley, fourth from right

“I need them to be available for Government of whichever colour of Government is in power, and frankly, I really don’t care what colour rosette they have when it comes to the election. I really don’t care.”

Other members of the board include Dominic Gibbons (Wykeland Group MD), Anita Pace (Pace Communications MD), Tim Rix (Rix Shipping Company MD) and Hull & East Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership chair, James Newman OBE.

In a statement today, Councillor Ross said: “It was great to be able to discuss devolution and the proposals with the BEB.

“Jobs, skills and training are important aspects of our deal and important to the businesspeople and residents of Hull and East Yorkshire alike.

“The board members have given their backing to the proposals, which is fantastic and shows that the council has negotiated a good deal for Hull and East Yorkshire.

“They have shown their support, but it is now over to the people of the region to have their say.

“The consultation is live and we want to hear from you now.”

• The consultation runs until February 27. You can read the proposal and give your feedback at heydevolution.com. A series of in-person consultation events will be held across the city, with dates and locations to be announced.