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Economy, Place, Access, and Transport Policy
Scrutiny Committee
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22 January 2024
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Report of the Corporate Director
Place
Draft Economic Framework for York & North
Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
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Summary
1.
This report sets out a draft Economic Framework for
the York and North Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) for
Scrutiny consideration and feedback.
Recommendations
2.
The Committee is asked to
consider the draft York & North
Yorkshire Economic Framework for the MCA and provide feedback to
the Joint Devolution Committee
Reason: To keep the committee updated on this key draft
document for York and North Yorkshire and ensure that it reflects
City of York priorities.
Background
3.
The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (CA) was created on
20 December 2023, with a Mayoral election scheduled in May 2024.
The aim of producing an economic framework now is to ensure that
the CA is in a strong position when the mayor is elected in May
2024.
4.
Whilst acknowledging that a mayor will want their own opportunity
to shape development of a long-term economic strategy, it is
envisaged that the Economic Framework will provide initial
direction for the CA and help with Joint Devolution Committee
decision-making and prioritisation in advance of the mayor. The
Economic Framework will also help create a strategic focus and
ensure that the mayor is elected to a region and Constituent Local
Authorities with a shared strategic ambition and established
priorities.
5.
The draft Economic Framework for the York and North Yorkshire MCA
was approved by the Joint Devolution Committee on 15th
December 2023. A copy of the full Joint Devolution Committee
report is attached as Annexe A for information.
6.
As Annexe A explains, the draft framework seeks to build on the
strategic economic plans of the City of York Council and North
Yorkshire Council alongside existing sub-regional strategies, all
of which have been developed from wider consultations and robust
evidence bases. This includes the York Economic Strategy,
which was adopted by City of York Council in November 2022 and was
the subject of a separate report to Economy, Place, Access, and
Transport Policy and Scrutiny Committee in November 2023.
7.
The draft framework seeks to build on the synergies between the
existing strategies and to identify the opportunities for the York
& North Yorkshire sub-region that complement local ambitions
and provide opportunities for economies of scale and shared
benefits across the whole geography.
8.
A series of workshops have been
undertaken with senior officers and the Leaders of City of York and
North Yorkshire Councils to refine the draft Framework and ensure
alignment with local ambitions.
9.
The Joint Devolution Committee has agreed that the
draft Framework will now be subject to further consultation with
elected members and officers of both Local Authorities and wider
stakeholders.
Options
10.
Scrutiny members are being asked to consider what feedback, if any,
the City of York Council should provide to the MCA on the draft
Economic Framework.
11.
The draft economic framework is a single page diagram, as
illustrated below:
12.
As the diagram shows, the framework has three overarching ambitions
(shown in the outer ring of the diagram) as follows:
-
Transition to a carbon negative region: A carbon negative,
circular and more resilient economy
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Deliver good economic growth: A global, innovative,
productive economy with strong and thriving businesses
-
Increase Opportunities for all: A thriving and inclusive
economy
There is also a cross cutting theme around health and wellbeing
(shown in the second ring on the diagram above).
13.
To deliver these over-arching ambitions, the framework also sets
out eight priority themes:
·
Great Places sit at the heart of the plan, reflecting their
importance to the economy of York and North Yorkshire and
reflecting that they often act as the link between the other seven
investment themes. It recognises that York and North
Yorkshire is comprised of many distinct places (ranging from rural,
coastal, city/urban and market towns), each with their own
strengths and challenges.
·
A Well-Connected Economy, reflects the importance of
transport and digital in connecting businesses and people to
opportunities;
·
Housing, with a particular focus on increasing affordable
and sustainable homes;
·
A Thriving Workforce will develop clear opportunities and
skills pathways for all
·
A Green & Circular Economy, reflects the value of our
natural capital and economic potential of a sustainable energy
sector;
·
A Global Economy, will develop the inward investment
potential of the region prioritising high growth sectors;
·
A Productive & Innovative Economy will drive the
performance of established core sectors, including through
innovation and research & development;
·
Culture & Heritage reflects the world leading status of
our cultural and heritage assets and will seek to strengthen and
increase investment into them.
14.
The Joint Devolution Committee report acknowledges that, to
complement the Framework, investment plans will need to be
developed across the priority themes, identifying priorities and
opportunities across York and North Yorkshire. This work will be
done collaboratively and a further paper will be brought to the
Combined Authority in due course outlining these plans.
15.
To support this process, the Joint Devolution Committee report also
acknowledges the need to ensure a strong pipeline of projects to
enable early investment decisions should the economic framework
align with the Mayors priorities. A separate budget
update paper on the agenda for the same Joint Devolution Committee
(attached as Annexe B) agreed an initial allocation of £1
million of revenue funding (from the £9m Mayoral Investment
Funding to be received on creation of the Combined Authority) to
support development of investible pipeline projects.
16.
The aim of this initial ‘pipeline’ money is to ensure
that City of York and North Yorkshire Councils have sufficient
capacity to develop full business cases for priority projects which
align with the Economic Framework. Both Councils will be asked to
identify their own priority projects for this business case
funding, and it is proposed that the funding is shared equally
between the two authorities. Agreement to the specific projects
that will be funded, and the delivery of the specific outcomes
required from the funding has been delegated to the Interim
Director of Transition and Interim S73 Officer.
17.
The Joint Devolution Committee report also identified that a core
element of the devolution deal is a 30-year Mayoral Investment
Fund. A statutory requirement of this Fund is to deliver a 5-Yearly
Gateway Review, essentially demonstrating progress and impact made
via the investment. As part of that process, a Local Evaluation
Plan and baseline report must be created. This Framework will help
to establish that baseline position for future monitoring and
evaluation.
Consultation
18. A
series of workshops have been undertaken with senior officers and
the Leaders of City of York and North Yorkshire Councils to refine
the Framework and ensure alignment with local ambitions.
19.
The Joint Devolution Committee has agreed that the draft Framework
will now be subject to further consultation with elected members
and officers of both Local Authorities and wider stakeholders,
hence this report is being brought to Scrutiny for
consideration.
Council Plan
20.
The City of York 10-Year Plan (York 2032) and Council Plan
‘One City, for all’ have been fully considered in the
preparation of the Framework, including the four core commitments
of Equalities, Affordability, Climate and Health – as
illustrated by the fact that all eight of the priority themes set
out at paragraph 13 have direct relevance.
21.
Health and Wellbeing has been embedded across the draft framework
(recognising the key role in supporting the wider determinants of
health e.g., transport / air quality, good housing, good jobs etc)
and it is under-pinned by three strategic ambitions which also link
to York’s core commitments as follows:
-
Transition to a carbon negative region: A carbon negative,
circular and more resilient economy (Links to the CYC Climate &
Environment core commitment and the York Climate Change
Strategy)
-
Deliver good economic growth: A global, innovative,
productive economy with strong and thriving businesses (Links to
the CYC Affordability core commitment and the York Economic
Strategy)
-
Increase Opportunities for all: A thriving and inclusive
economy (Links to the CYC Affordability and Equalities core
commitments)
22.
The Joint Devolution Committee
report acknowledges that these three strategic ambitions, coupled
with a commitment to improving health and wellbeing for all should
be at the heart of future decision making for all aspects of the
Framework.
Implications
23.
There are no
direct financial implications linked to the recommendations of this
scrutiny report. However as set out in paragraphs 15-16 above
and Appendix B, there is a positive financial implication from the
separate Joint Devolution Committee decision to allocate MCA
funding to North Yorkshire and City of York Councils for capacity
to support development of a project pipeline. For City of
York, the MCA funding is likely to be used to help enhance officer
capacity and/or to commission external professional capacity where
relevant, to help accelerate strategic business case work relating
to key York priorities.
24.
Work is underway
at a corporate level to develop a prioritised project pipeline,
linked to the MCA Economic Framework. The process for
drafting the project pipeline has been agreed via Corporate
Management Team (CMT) and involves
the CYC Policy Officer Network (representing policy officer leads
from across the council) developing proposals for CMT
consideration, followed by portfolio discussions. In
parallel, policy leads will also discuss the emerging pipeline with
their equivalents in North Yorkshire Council and with Combined
Authority colleagues to ensure future project deliverability and
shared priorities.
25.
There are no
implications from the recommendations in this report in relation
to:
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Human Resources (HR)
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Equalities
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Legal
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Crime and Disorder
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Information Technology
(IT)
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·
Property
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Risk Management
25. There are no known risks
to the recommendations in this report.
Contact Details
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Author:
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Chief Officer Responsible for the
report:
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Author’s name
Kathryn
Daly
Title Head of City
Development
Dept
Name Place
Tel No. 01904
554153
Co-Author’s Name Claire Foale
Title Asst Director Policy & Strategy
Tel No.
01904552057
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Chief
Officer’s name: Neil Ferris
Title: Corporate Director
Place
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Report Approved
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√
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Date
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8/1/24
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