Scrutiny Committee - Friday 24 October 2025, 10:30am - West Yorkshire Combined Authority Webcasting

Scrutiny Committee
Friday, 24th October 2025 at 10:30am 

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  1. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  2. Mr Khaled Berroum (Scrutiny Officer)
  3. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  4. Julie Craig
  5. Cllr Harry McCarthy
  6. Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  7. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  8. Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council)
  9. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  10. Cllr Carol Thirkill
  11. Paul Godwin
  12. Matt Edwards
  13. Cllr Bob Felstead
  14. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
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  1. Ms. Katie Wright, Scrutiny Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  2. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
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Share this agenda point
Share this agenda point
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  1. Matt Edwards
  2. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  3. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  4. Matt Edwards
  5. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  6. Matt Edwards
  7. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  8. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  9. Councillor Joe Thompson (Calderdale Council)
  10. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  11. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  12. Councillor Joe Thompson (Calderdale Council)
  13. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  14. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  15. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  16. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  17. Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council)
  18. Cllr John Lawson
  19. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  20. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  21. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  22. Paul Godwin
  23. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  24. Paul Godwin
  25. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  26. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  27. Matt Edwards
  28. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  29. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  30. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  31. Julie Craig
  32. Cllr Dave Merrett
  33. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  34. Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  35. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  36. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  37. Cllr Dave Merrett
  38. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  39. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  40. Paul Godwin
  41. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  42. Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council)
  43. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  44. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  45. Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  46. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  47. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  48. Jordan Bowden
  49. Helen Lennon
  50. Cllr Carol Thirkill
  51. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  52. Julie Craig
  53. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  54. Julie Craig
  55. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  56. Julie Craig
  57. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  58. Julie Craig
  59. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  60. Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council)
  61. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
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  1. Julie Craig
  2. Matt Edwards
  3. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  4. Matt Edwards
  5. Paul Godwin
  6. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  7. Matt Edwards
  8. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  9. Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council)
  10. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  11. Andy Rontree
  12. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  13. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  14. Andy Rontree
  15. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  16. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  17. Councillor Joe Thompson (Calderdale Council)
  18. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  19. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  20. Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council)
  21. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  22. Matt Edwards
  23. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  24. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  25. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  26. Matt Edwards
  27. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  28. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  29. Cllr John Lawson
  30. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  31. Cllr John Lawson
  32. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  33. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  34. Cllr Dave Merrett
  35. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  36. Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
  37. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  38. Helen Lennon
  39. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  40. Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council)
  41. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  42. Helen Lennon
  43. Cllr Dave Merrett
  44. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  45. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  46. Cllr Dave Merrett
  47. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  48. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  49. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  50. Cllr John Lawson
  51. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  52. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  53. Cllr Harry McCarthy
  54. Cllr John Lawson
  55. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  56. Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council)
  57. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  58. Julie Craig
  59. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  60. Helen Lennon
  61. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  62. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  63. Julie Craig
  64. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  65. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
  66. Matt Edwards
  67. Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
  68. Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair)
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  1. Webcast Finished

Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:00:00
committee for West Shops for command authority for October.
Can I just welcome everyone to the meeting today.
I can also welcome the guests that we've
got at the back of the room.
I don't think they've come to see me somehow or another.
But welcome anyway.
What we'll do first of all is we'll go around the table.
We'll introduce ourselves as to who we are so that everyone
knows when someone's speaking.
We just am Councillor Barry Anderson.
I'm from Leeds City Council.
I chair the scrutiny board.
Mr Khaled Berroum (Scrutiny Officer) - 0:00:31
Call the room on the statutory scrutiny officer.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:00:37
Case you're right.
Scrutiny spa officer.
Councillor Peter Hunter represent Elland in Corderdale.
Thank you.
Councillor Julie Craig from Wakefield.
Julie Craig - 0:00:49
Councillor Harry McCarthy from Kirklees.
Cllr Harry McCarthy - 0:00:54
Councillor John Lawson, Kirklees.
Councillor Dave Merritt representing City of York Council.
Hello everybody, I'm Helen Elton, I'm head of transport policy at the Combined Authority.
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:01:10
Hello, Sarah Eaton, Director of Strategy at the Combined Authority.
I'm Tracey the Mayor, good to see you all.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:01:15
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council) - 0:01:17
I'm Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford and chair of Westchester Transport Committee.
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:01:20
Simon Warburton, Executive Director for Transport.
Hi everyone, I'm Councillor Andy Rontree from Leeds City Council where I represent
Kirkstall. Good morning everybody, Councillor Jordan
Cllr Carol Thirkill - 0:01:38
Bowden representing Leeds City Council. Good morning, Councillor Carol Thirkill from
Bradford. Good morning, Councillor Paul Gollering from
Paul Godwin - 0:01:44
Bradford. Good morning, Councillor Matt Edwards, Vice
Chair of scrutiny and from Bradford Council
Matt Edwards - 0:01:55
Cllr Bob Felstead - 0:01:58
morning it's Bob Felstedt from Bradford Council. Hi Richard Smith I'm Vice Chair and also
Co -chair of the Council. Thank you. Good morning Nicky Deo, Monitoring Officer for this meeting today.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:02:12
And this is also Nicky's first meeting in her new role so we will be kind to her today.
So right item one on the agenda apologies for absence Katie
She

1 Apologies for Absence

Ms. Katie Wright, Scrutiny Officer (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:02:37
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:02:41
Tree thank you chair can also offer apologies on behalf of Councillor Bethel
Thank you

2 Declaration of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

All right, they clearly any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests
If there anything occurs to you as we're talking just shout up but thank you for that

3 Possible Exclusion of the Press and Public

There are no exclusions of the press of public. There's nothing confidential

4 Minutes of the meeting held on 19 September 2025

Item for the minutes of the meeting held on the 19th of September
One are you anything outstanding from the minutes that you would like to get clarified on?
No, in that case, would you like to approve?
Would you like to say that they're approved?
Yep.

5 Mayor's Questions - Mayoral Activity and Devolution

So we then move on to the first principal item today, mayor's questions, which is item 5 and pages 7 to 24 of the report.
We've got a number of questions that we have agreed in the pre -meeting, the order that
they're going to be taken. So we'll start off, well everybody knows who everybody is,
so we'll start off with the first question which is from Councillor Edwards.
Thank you Chair. So thank you for being here, and the first set of questions I have is,
Matt Edwards - 0:04:13
How do relate to or the first question I have I should say relates to some of the stuff you've put in your report related to
your role
as the chair of UK merge Network and
And effectively things are probably like soft power
so how you use we just want to ask a bit about how you're using your soft power to
Specifically influence some of the issues that we've looked at in scrutiny and within my case
so particularly we've talked about transfer trans transport infrastructure projects and some of the barriers and
and obstacles that have been identified and how that then relates to things that national
governments have control over.
I'd just like to know what you're doing in relation to that.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:04:50
Thank you.
It's quite a wide -ranging question.
So, Chair, if I could just frame it in a couple of points and then obviously open it up for
further questions.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:04:59
So for the committee's awareness, the UK Mayors is a group of 14 metro mayors.
it was set up in a very loose way during COVID to tackle the COVID challenges and then became
more strategic because it seemed to work after COVID and looking at the recovery and bringing
people together across the region with common challenges. And since then we've increasingly
professionalised as devolution has become the devolution revolution and devolution by default,
We have professionalised
the the group as I say, there are 14 metro mayors there now cross party with two
Conservative metro mayors to reform mayors and I have just recently been reelected as the chair of the UK
Mayors
it's a very
impressive I would suggest
We have a very important cohort in that we
represent many millions of people
directly elected by the public
and I believe together we are quite a force of
nature.
Challenging government when needs be
but also working with governments
and representing the UK
more widely across the rest of the world.
Now, how that also shakes down
is not just the UK mayors because that is
the whole country.
There are more
informal relationships.
So the Great North, for example,
all of the mayors in the North, cross party,
have come together to represent the North with one voice.
Now, we're still waiting for Cumbria and Lancashire
to elect a mayor, but once that's done,
the whole of the North will not only be devolved,
but it will also have mayors.
That is an incredible group of voices
to tackle the imbalance of investment in London and the southeast and being a voice for our regions.
We are also in a more granular way coming together the the White Rose Agreement, which is the
Mayors of Yorkshire coming together with a Yorkshire voice. So myself,
Oliver Coppard in South Yorkshire, David Scaith in York and North Yorkshire.
We did approach Luke Campbell, the mayor of Hull,
Anish Yorkshire, to join the White Rose Agreement.
He was unhappy with net zero being in the wording,
so chose to step back.
But of course, we are still Yorkshire,
so we will continue to work with Luke
where it's appropriate.
So I believe the soft power of the identity of the mayor,
a really important, but it's the collective voice
that is incredibly powerful.
Also, the soft power of my office
to be invited as chair of UK mayors
to join the prime minister on a very important delegation
at the end of the trade deal negotiations with India,
on the plane with some of the most important investors
and decision makers in the UK, banging the drum for not just
West Yorkshire, but of course, mayors as well
across the country.
I also am invited as the chair to speak on behalf of the mayors, for example around Devolution.
So I was representing my region and also UK mayors at the select committee, looking at
Devolution and the Devolution bill going through parliament.
And it's an opportunity for me to have that shop window really, not just for myself and
region but for devolution more widely because devolution is the solution to the lack of
growth across the country.
Empowering regional leaders like myself, like local authority leaders, giving them the tools
that they need to grow the economy.
That is how we grow the economy for the whole of UK PLC, not just for West Yorkshire.
But happy to take questions, Chair, on further responsibilities around soft power.
Thank you for that. I think specifically what I was trying to get to is I'm trying to identify,
I suppose, challenging back with the government when there are things that aren't quite right.
Matt Edwards - 0:09:18
So let's use a specific example. We're looking at some of the projects that Weicker have
been delivering if we look at the ones related to rail. So we've got White Rose Station,
we've got Elland and even some of the things linked to station and Silson station and
which which is
the mother the park and ride some of the themes are being identified relate to how
Network Rail which is a government controlled organiser and company
and how that will and how that works with partners and I
mean, there's obviously more coming when this comes to
committee in December but what are you doing to be an advocate for not just West Yorkshire
because these issues aren't specific to West Yorkshire, they're issues that exist with
stations across the country and other combined authorities, what are you doing to challenge
them back when? Actually Network Rail needs to be better here, they need to learn to work
with combined authorities because we're all here for the greater good of the public.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:10:17
Thank you, that's such a good question, thank you for that because it isn't just about mayors,
It's also about the partners that are delivering.
So for a number, well, for over a year now,
we've had a strategic rail partnership group,
which has brought in Network Rail, All the TOCs, DFT,
all the people responsible for delivering
better rail in West Yorkshire.
And these relationships do take time.
They have to be trusted.
We were able, because of that trusted partnership working
in the strategic rail partnership to work with partners
to say, you need to help us with our White Rose Rail Plan.
To your point, this is not just West Yorkshire.
It's the whole of Yorkshire and the rest of the country
and connectivity across the country.
So we were able to press in a, it's Chatham House rules.
It's a private conversation, but we
were able to be very frank about what needs to be done
and where people need to step up,
and particularly around accessibility to stations,
I am incredibly unhappy that 72 % of our stations
are not accessible for the public.
So being able to have those really frank conversations,
but also to take that conversation to Westminster.
So only yesterday, I was in Parliament hosting an event
organised by Leeds and Sheffield councils
with the mayor of South Yorkshire and myself
talking about the fact that Leeds and Sheffield, two
of the biggest cities, the third and fourth largest cities
in the UK, disconnected, frankly,
because of the slow connectivity between our cities
with two huge investment zones of 160 million
in West Yorkshire, unlocking 220 million pounds
of private investment, disconnected
from the nearest investment zone in South Yorkshire.
So being able to bring all of the players, including Network
Rail, to that event with MPs, with the Rail Minister,
with David Blunkett that has been helping us
with our thinking on the White Rose Rail Plan,
being able to be the advocate, talking about why we need
that Bradford station connecting to Hoddesfield
and onto Manchester, making the case where people
are making those decisions.
Now, when it comes to White Rose,
you'll know that we've spoken in the combined authority about the challenges
around White Rose and I am as frustrated as any member of the public on this
topic and I am pressing my team and and all of the players to solve this as a
matter of urgency because we need that new station as part of Trans -Pennine
upgrade so it's incredibly important. With regard to Elend and Silsden you'll
know that those are going through a process of business cases and so on and you'll know
that there are announcements coming through the combined authority regarding that.
But I believe that this new relationship with GBR, which is mayors will have a statutory
relationship, that we will be in the room at the table being able to make the case for
investment in the north, east to west, connecting our communities, building new
stations and having that ambition and not just building stations but building
communities around stations where we can unlock housing, regeneration, where we can
unlock shops and the community, where you know like you like you see in London in
the southeast once you have a station suddenly you have the opportunity for
exponential growth and that is the same to be said for mass transit. We can see
the opportunity for mass transit and making that case to government has
enabled us to get 2 .1 billion allocated for us to go to the next steps on mass
transit with spades in the ground in 2028. So rest assured the majority of my
job is transport because that's how you unlock growth in our economy and connect
people to jobs and opportunities. So every opportunity I get whether that is
like with the previous government,
the mayor of Manchester and Liverpool and myself
came together to demand that Trans -Pennine be brought
into public control.
And we got that campaign over the line.
And I believe that we were pivotal in making that change
and pushing a conservative government into the right place
because the power of our voice, because of our mandates,
because we are elected by the people
and the voice of the people, I think
we can have the opportunity to make a really strong case.
Frame this as just a really, really quick one.
It's not so much just strategic issues with network rail,
Matt Edwards - 0:15:07
it's the operational issues within network rail that
need sorting.
And that is the government needs to take some responsibility
for that.
So I suppose the crux of my question,
and I'm not even framing as a question,
but more as a statement, with the tangible examples
that we have as the combined authority, which
will be replicated across the country,
making sure that network rail, the government
listens to some of these operational issues
with an operational rail.
We've got one left -handed network rail not knowing
what the right hand's doing.
And I suppose that's what I was kind of getting to,
rather than the strategic vision.
I think we're all agreed on that strategic vision.
But this is really tangible, because you
can't have the strategic vision if network
rail on an operational level is being so difficult to work
with.
So I suppose that's the crux.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:15:47
If I could just say, I think the new rail minister really
gets that as well.
And that's why I bring in Track and Train together,
their new focus of simplification and delivery.
Because quite frankly, if we can't build infrastructure,
we're not going to grow the economy.
So we've said to government, we have great examples here,
TransPennine, many, many billions of pounds,
thousands of engineers delivering a service
of upgraded lines on time and on budget.
and they told us that trains would be back moving through that route at five o 'clock on the day
and five o 'clock on the day they were moving. That is a really great good news storey and we should be
talking more about how in our region we can deliver these big infrastructure projects and to deliver
not like HS2 on time and on budget.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:16:44
To show you, it doesn't come across as a Councillor Edwards show, I'll move on to question three
which is from Councillor Thompson. Councillor Thompson do you want to introduce who you are
because you missed. Yes Councillor Thompson from Calderdale apologies about my slight
Councillor Joe Thompson (Calderdale Council) - 0:16:57
delay the M62 was being the M62 as usual so nothing changes there. My
questions about cultural investment and linking it in with the India trade
mission obviously we're more than aware of Bollywood but in Calderdale we have a
little thing called Culturedale sometimes also called Colliwood and we
We were looking at particularly around West Yorkshire as a kind of cultural powerhouse
for the north and my question was around when we're looking at investment from the trade
mission, industrial strategy and the local growth plan, how the opportunities are spread
out throughout the region.
Obviously, particularly with young people there may be an impetus to move into cities,
to move into Leeds, to move into Bradford, but when we're getting into rural towns and
smaller areas, how we're actually spreading that opportunity about is the question.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:17:44
Thank you for that question. One of my favourite topics. Thank you for raising that. And congratulations
to Sally Wainwright on Riot Women, shot in Hebden Bridge. It's pretty incredible for
menopausal women to see themselves reflected on TV. So you opened with the trade mission.
And what was very interesting was that where we went with the Prime Minister was exactly
where I went two years ago, two and a half years ago. We went to the same film studio.
we went to Vicky Frames, which was the convention of the biggest convention in India on
post -production and audio -visual
once a year and I was able to speak at that.
But what was really welcome was two and a half years ago when I went to that same film studio
to meet Clean Slate who were about to film
their Bollywood film in
the southeast, being able to have that conversation and they came to Leeds instead.
And then by coming to Leeds, they met at Yorkshire Cricket and then invested in the stand.
You might remember Clean Slate for a while had a stand named after them because of their
investment.
That is how you build the cluster by talking about your region and what we have to offer.
And I believe in West Yorkshire we have a unique cluster of creative industries.
Obviously having Channel 4 here is really important, but I really believe the years
of culture that we've had and then ending with the incredible, gargantuan Bradford city
of culture that has delivered so much, much more than even was expected.
We knew it was going to be good, we didn't know it was going to be this good.
being able to make the case, as somebody that really has an interest in the creative industries,
that this is not just about a nice to have if you can afford it, it's absolutely crucial to identity, well -being, belonging.
It's about jobs, about skills, about regeneration, about inward investment.
It is pivotal to our growth strategy and that is why it is a cluster in our growth plan.
And being able to invest, for example,
in You Can Make It Here, which is over a four million pound
investment for freelancers that make up
the majority of the sector to support them into training,
but also to take up those opportunities.
And there's a young filmmaker called Jordan,
who is going to be a huge superstar director, writer
director, who is in Keithley.
And he had the opportunity to screen his film in Los Angeles,
his short film, which would then make it eligible for an Oscar, but he couldn't afford to go.
We were able to fund his trip, and he has brought back so many contacts for him. His
short film has now been viewed by 18 million people on YouTube through the BBC channels.
That is an incredible good news storey. We are able to support our fledgling, you would
call them in any other sector startups and being able to invest in them to go forward.
We also are really good friends with Production Park where adolescence was shot as you know
and we are looking at how the land that we own next door to Production Park can also
create that cluster effect in Wakefield for the creative industries. But this is also
a sector that's in the industrial strategy.
And I believe that we have, through the recent
announcement, the allocation of 25 million.
Our focus on creative industries has been
reflected by that announcement, because
governments see that we are taking a leadership approach.
If I could finish, Chair, finally, on our leadership
around One Creative North.
So being able to use our interest in it, enthusiasm,
and vision for the creative industries,
drawing together the mayors in the north to have one creative north under the banner of
the great north with four strands where we are collectively greater than the sum of our
parts which is music, gaming, film and TV and the written and spoken word.
Being able to speak internationally about that agglomeration of talents, working collectively
on skills, on investment and on connexions which is also vital in this sector.
Because too often people train here, go to London because they think the connexions
are there. I am here to say if you want to be in the creative industries, we have more
jobs in the creative industries per capita than anywhere else in the north. It's a great
good news storey and I will continue to tell it.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:22:39
Do you want to have a supplementary case of Thompson?
Councillor Joe Thompson (Calderdale Council) - 0:22:42
Yeah, just briefly, in terms of the...
Thank you for all of that. I know we've got so many good examples in there,
but just on that kind of specific point around kind of spreading it out a little bit,
I'm conscious of throughout the region and it can occasionally feel like...
Obviously there's a focus on cities, there's a focus on Leeds and Bradford,
just in terms of that's where opportunities are and a lot of young people move into these areas.
in terms of specifically part of that strategy, how are we ensuring that those benefits are spread out more?
Because I'm conscious that, you know, particularly in areas of, you know, Cauldertale where we're representing,
but across the borough there will be rural areas, there will be areas of higher deprivation,
and I was just wondering if that is factored into that plan in terms of thinking about deprivation
and particularly areas with worse transport lanes for rural areas, how are we factoring that in?
because I think as we're moving into the future,
there's a lot of change on the horizon with AI,
with the change in the job market.
We've got a generation of young people
and what's out there for them,
what does the future look like?
And I think culture is that one thing
that we all tap into whether we realise it or not.
It's not like you say, it can be seen as the nice to have,
but actually it's essential for people.
It's essential to have more than survival.
So I've just got to say about how do we spread out
and ensure that this generation of young people younger than me
are moving into a better future in West Yorkshire.
Thank you.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:24:07
And you're always a passionate voice for your region.
And I'm sure there are other councillors who would say the same about their region.
But I would say there's never been a better time for the creative industries
in that the democratisation of tech means you can make a film on your phone.
You don't necessarily have to come to Leeds to find people to make a film with you.
And that's why when I first became mayor, one of the first things we invested
in was the Mayor's Screen Diversity Programme working with Screen Yorkshire, which takes
kids of colour, working class kids, kids the furthest away from those great jobs, kids
with a disability, being able to not just give them the training but what is so important
is that work experience. Having work experience on your CV puts you head and shoulders above
anybody else and often middle class kids have work experience because their mum knows somebody
else. And I didn't have it growing up in Batley. There are hundreds of thousands of
children that don't have those life chances. It's been hugely successful. Of
the last cohort, there were 80 on the cohort, nearly 40 percent declared a
disability. 50 percent of that cohort went into work in the sector. Those
numbers are incredible for young people, a long way away from, as I say,
those great jobs, we've now widened it out
to the script diversity programme.
Because like Sally, like Rolam, Kaye Mellor,
obviously she's passed away recently,
but the way that her work was so rooted in Leeds,
Sally's work is so rooted in Calderdale,
if you get the intellectual property,
the ideas set in a region, then you,
people have to come and film here,
they have to come and work here,
and then everybody benefits, the restaurants,
the taxi drivers, the hotels, it boosts our sector because the work is the voice of the
north.
So that's why we've widened that out.
But I do agree that we cannot overlook that talent is everywhere and opportunity isn't.
But I would suggest that over the last four years since I've been mayor, we have absolutely
turbocharged that reach for people who would never
think that it's for them.
And being able to support a production
park in their courses, the work that they do
supporting youngsters from ex -mining villages getting
into an incredible sector, which is music production.
Seeing that work, then being able to fund
at the Peace Hall for Live Nation, something that's
very similar.
Young people getting work experience
with a guaranteed job at the end of it.
That's quite a game changer.
And it feels like small numbers,
but this is how we start the revolution.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:27:02
And I'm going to call on Councillor Lawson for his question.
It's about Yorkshire water.
and what consideration is being given to mitigate the job losses from ancillary businesses as well as
The jobs at Yorkshire water following the announcement of the movement of the HQ
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:27:30
thank you for raising that and just
to
Just speak about my position about Yorkshire water for the committee's understanding
We have written to Yorkshire water about what felt like a hidden bonus
for Nicola and we are as mayors in Yorkshire and with leaders following up that letter
to meet the chair. There is a challenge because the chair is also Kelder Holdings which is
the organisation that gave her the bonus so we are really going to be scrutinising Yorkshire
Water and holding them to account because it cannot be right that as bills are going
up, we see on the river air raw sewage being pumped out into our rivers and into our communities.
It's just, it's unacceptable and as leaders, our job surely is to be the voice of the public
and to hold them to account.
Now the move from Bradford to Leeds was announced a couple of days ago.
I know that the leader of Bradford Council, Susan Hinchcliffe, has been speaking to them.
We are always going to be mindful of job losses, but I wonder if Susan you might have an update for us
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:28:45
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council) - 0:28:50
Thank you, ma 'am and so obviously the announcement just come out and we're just
Understanding what that is and they're moving. I think they're moving everybody
from that facility to lead so I don't think there any job losses and
presumably they're talking to the workforce now with the trade unions in a consultation period and
There will still be 600 jobs remaining in Bradford because I've got a big call centre there at Thornbridge. Those jobs won't be moving
So if they're in a transition phase at the moment
I I did pick up the phone and speak to chief executive to tell her about my disappointment
So she's clear on that issue
But as Tracy says there's another opportunity for us to talk to the chair next week
And obviously as always with these matters about disruption in workforce
I first thought is with the workforce itself really and what they're feeling about things
So we'll also be speaking to trade unions to make sure they're content with the packages or what support has been offered to be able
to make
Staff it's easy stuff to move but my thought of course the future of course is those staff
But also future staff where they're going to come from. So for me, it's very important
that they continue that strong connectivity with Bradford and Halifax, in fact, and Calderdale
and all that side of West Yorkshire, so that all those people still get access to what
are very good quality jobs and we want to make sure that those are accessible. And going
back to transport, of course, transport is therefore very, very important to make sure
that everybody in West Yorkshire has equal access to opportunities wherever they are
in West Yorkshire.
Thanks for that Susan. So yes that's understood and thanks for the update that's really reassuring.
Cllr John Lawson - 0:30:32
I think what we'd like assurance on as well is that we have an understanding about those
ancillary businesses, about those businesses that support that whole activity and just
follow -up question was going to be actually I did appreciate the letter and
that you wrote to Yorkshire Water and I'm also concerned though about the
passing on of any costs to customers of the move and I just wonder whether that
you'd have sight of that whether you'd be able to keep sight of that. I can
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:31:09
raise that in our meeting with the chair thank you. Now Councillor Godwin your
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:31:17
question of inward investment. Yes, I just wanted to follow up on the India trip, as
I think we're all interested. How have you ensured or are ensuring that the whole region
has benefited from the inward investment from the India trip and from other trade missions
that you've been involved with? Thank you. Well, I will always bang the drum for the
whole of West Yorkshire, wherever I go.
But there is something that is, you
have to recognise that Leeds is a core city,
particularly around financial and professional services,
supported, mind you, by those big banks like Lloyds
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:32:03
that are outside of Leeds, and also building societies
and accountancy firms, et cetera.
So it's a whole ecosystem that I speak about.
But rest assured I will I always say, you know, you might want to think about leads
But have you thought about Bradford look at Halifax and the way that the city centre is being transformed the Peace Hall
What an amazing quality of life for your workforce. We I I am the biggest ambassador for the whole region. So
Rest assured. We are always offering other parts of the region over and above leads
with regard to the
India trade mission, there was an immediate,
I think it's a seven million pound investment
in West Yorkshire, and 50 jobs and so on.
So it's been great to see that immediate investment.
And also just today at the event with the chancellor,
with the financial conduct authority,
they're also now investing another 50 jobs
here in our region.
So of course, that is not just for Leeds,
because that talented workforce will come from across West
Yorkshire.
We've got an amazing university in Bradford
with the highest number of AI data analytics students,
post -grad students in the whole country.
They are an absolute talented workforce
that companies need in Leeds.
And Channel 4 said when they were relocating out of London
and they were looking to find a city where they could find
the right diverse workforce, they
said we wouldn't have chosen Leeds without Bradford.
And that is true, and that's why mass transit is so important.
So we can have this talent moving around our region
so people don't choose one city over another,
because wherever they are, they will have access
to that ecosystem that serves their purposes
and that skilled workforce as well.
So the trade mission is what came out of it was very good,
but I do believe that there's going
to be even more good news coming from the trade mission.
And you won't be surprised to know
that we're writing to the film studio to say,
if you want to come and film in the UK, your three Bollywood
films that you've just announced,
you've got to come to West Yorkshire.
So I will continue to make the case
and pick up from the people that we met there,
as I have done from the Regional Investment Summit.
A follow up?
Paul Godwin - 0:34:26
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:34:28
Yes, I have actually, since you raised it yourself.
Paul Godwin - 0:34:29
How do you feel that the representing West Yorkshire works in contrast with
representing all the mayors of the North? Do you find there's any clash in that?
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:34:43
No it's about a time and a place and whilst the mayors have a gentle
competitive edge I do take my role as chair seriously but as somebody that's
agnostic as well because of course there are different political parties represented in
the UK mayors so we won't always have the same position. But when I am speaking about
my region, I speak about my region and that comes first and foremost in all of my conversations.
Councillor Edwards, you've got a question on a similar line, would you like to come
in?
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:35:19
I thought you were taking my questioning rights off me but no. I suppose it's just looking
Matt Edwards - 0:35:25
Looking at the Indian mission in general, so we've got some commentary on that in the
report.
I suppose what I want to know is how we're making sure we're measuring the success of
the trade deals in a way that's not subjective and actually looking at the data on that.
So what outputs are we monitoring from these, not just this one but the last one and presumably
future ones?
I think it's a good point to raise because it's not always direct, is it?
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:35:55
So for example, I met somebody on the plane in Mumbai, going to Mumbai, that was on, that
I met when we went to America.
And the Nashville health tech bridge, there are people on that that come up elsewhere.
So it's quite hard to monitor, but I think, Chair, if I may,
that's probably a question for the team on the trade
and investment.
If you want the granular detail, we're
happy to supply that for you.
But this is not something that we don't measure,
because it's really important that we
see growth in our economy.
Now, we can see growth in, for example,
over the last three years in financial and professional
services.
we've seen a growth of 263%.
Now, that is quite something.
AI companies are recruiting in West Yorkshire
at 22 % more staff when in comparison to London,
it is 7 % and the rest 7 .1 % and then the rest of the UK is 5%.
So I would suggest that we make in the case for our region
and that soft power and those trade missions
and bringing the right people together, that's good evidence.
And like you say, we need the granular data,
and we need to understand what trade mission delivered what.
But for example, the trade mission to Nashville
delivered a memorandum of understanding
between Vanderbilt University and Leeds University.
It is the first relationship that Leeds University have ever
had with America.
That is an incredible outcome because of that shared intelligence.
And for example, Paxman Coolers who do the cold caps, an incredible family business that
came out of Kirklees that were beer coolers.
I think I've spoken about this company before.
The mum got cancer, so they said, we do cooling.
We'll know how to do a cold cap.
Their business now, 50 % of it is in the US, and Richard Paxman came on that trade mission
to Nashville with us and said unequivocally the trade mission helped get those deals over
the line and he was also on the trade mission to Mumbai and they have made some acquisitions
of competitors in India so they're now in the market.
How do you quantify that?
Because each business has a different storey to tell but I think it's a good question
That is worth a more thorough answer and if I may cheque get more detail back to you on that
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:38:42
When you have a follow -up
The next question I'm now coming forward to
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:38:50
Listen to questions here. Yeah, there's a minute
Thank
You chair before I ask the question
Can I just note a non pecuniary interest in terms of being a member of the Yorkshire forum for water customers?
in relation to the Yorkshire water issues
But in terms of my question
Wondered what the mayor's view on how she might use the proposed
Julie Craig - 0:39:18
autonomy that will come from the integrated settlement arrangements and the flexibilities
Cllr Dave Merrett - 0:39:28
between spending areas and secondly what she might potentially ask for under the proposed
right of request of extra powers from the government.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:39:36
Thank you. For the committee's knowledge, if I take the last question first, the right
to a request is an incredibly exciting development
from devolution, that the mayors, where there is a consensus,
can say to government, we want this particular power.
And then government have to tell us why we can't have it,
which is a different power dynamic
that we haven't had before.
There are mayors who are brand new.
There are mayors who are very established.
So I think this is a really great step forward,
because whatever is agreed in the right to request
is something that mayors can then work towards,
so that not everybody in every place has everything,
because each region is so different.
So for example, the right to request,
we have spoken to government about a tourism levy,
that it doesn't seem fair that the people of West Yorkshire
go to Barcelona and they pay a tourism levy there,
but then Spanish tourists come to our region
and they don't pay a levy that we could then use
to invest in our public realm
and our cultural offer in transport.
So it's something that really impacts,
if I may, Councillor, on York.
Hundreds of thousands of tourists
who pay nothing for the infrastructure
that you have to develop
in order to give those tourists the best time.
So, right to request is really important for us.
Further devolution around skills post -16,
currently we have them at 19.
We are talking about a crisis of needs.
We feel as mayors we can really be innovative post -16
rather than wait until young people have been out of work
or training or education for three years.
There are a number of things that are coming through
the right to request.
Taxi licencing is another that people are discussing coming out
of the Casey Review about safety of women and girls and about
out of region licencing.
So there's a number of things that are being discussed,
but I do believe with the mayor's council that that
six -monthly opportunity to deliver a right to request
is exciting.
Now, regarding the freedoms and flexibilities that come from the
integrated settlement. As you know, previously funding was delivered in work streams with
deadlines, different departments, different expected outcomes. We are hoping that the
integrated settlement with these new competencies, seven competencies, what's it called? Right,
isn't it competencies? Yeah, what's right? Yeah. Seven competencies, being able to focus
on those and have more freedom of flexibilities between funding parts and have less of the
having to hide the wiring and spending money that we, you know, could do with on dealing
with different departments and deadlines, as I say, and different teams.
I think this could be really exciting, and I'm very pleased.
You'll know as a committee that since becoming mayor, I have championed that integrated settlement,
that one fund that we can then make our own decisions about what we want to spend on rather
than going back to government, cap in hand, saying please sir, can we have some more.
But it's a particular question so I'll come over to Sarah, my colleague, on that.
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:43:12
So obviously when we're negotiating on the integrated settlement, I think we talked about
this last time that we met, the negotiations linked to the outcomes framework, so we're
working with government on key metrics that might sit within the various areas of the outcomes framework.
So essentially we have to show that whatever funds we're delivering,
deliver on those outcomes so we will be held to account for what we set out and deliver.
I think as we said last time around,
we've not actually got details of the funding at the moment and obviously that we can work on the metrics
but we need to understand what levels of funding we're getting
assigned to those pots as Tracy's just outlined and then we can
identify where we might want to kind of make decisions around moving money from one pillar
to another.
And what we do know, though, is if you do move the money, you won't get a reduction
necessarily, a reduction in targets.
So we need to be careful about that freedom.
We don't want to just be moving money around.
And we know that, broadly speaking, we've got commitments across all of those kind of
pots, in any case.
There are priorities which you are probably all well versed in.
I think what we do know from talking to some of the trailblazers is that as well as that ability to kind of move that
10 % between between parts and on the local kind of growth and regeneration part
We've got a bit more flexibility there, but there are also added flexibilities around for example
Within the within the pots themselves
So where is and Tracy just talked about this right like really well is where we potentially
I've had all those pots previously and we've had to adhere to specific rules the ability to have the flexibility
To kind of look at those pots holistically gives us great benefit and and also that ability to perhaps
Shift resources from capital and to revenue
So so that's something we'll be look at but we need to do that in an informed way knowing what resources we're getting
To deliver and that's something that we'll be working on over these over these coming months
Actually up to the end of December if I may just add as well that there are new burdens
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:45:11
and responsibilities within
The integrated settlement we want to make sure that we are not asked to do something new
Without extra funding to do it. So for example taking on fire and rescue
we want to make sure that
Government understands you can't ask us to do something extra without the funding attached to it
The merit you want to come in with a supplementary
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:45:36
Yes, can I just welcome the mayor's comments about the potential uses of the power?
Cllr Dave Merrett - 0:45:43
You mentioned the potential tourism levy and certainly have benefits in a number of areas,
not just in West Yorkshire.
One of the other issues that has come with the rapid expansion of tourism visitors and
is being the growth of Airbnbs and short -term holiday lets,
which is having secondary impacts on housing affordability,
rental affordability and availability.
And I just wondered whether you've been doing anything
on that issue as well,
pushing the government to get the registration proposals
in place on that.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:46:27
I think government are looking at that quite closely,
aren't they?
I met the mayor of Amsterdam a couple of years ago, and she said my city has been turned
into a theme park.
The people of Amsterdam don't live in Amsterdam anymore because it's empty without tourists
and there is nothing for them.
I think it is really important as a mayor and as somebody who has interest in tourism
and with our LVEP being a really strong group of people and a great advocate for tourism
across West Yorkshire and we're hoping to then widen that out across the whole of Yorkshire
and having a really strong Yorkshire voice.
What we don't want is places like York to be too unaffordable for ordinary working people
because people are buying properties for Airbnb without any registration, etc. and no government
are looking at it quite closely.
But I don't know if colleagues have more information on that.
No, thank you.
But it's something we can take away.
But from our LVET point of view, we
want to make sure that small B &Bs and hotels get the same
ARAS to deliver the same taxes, et cetera,
as people who have Air B &Bs and potentially not
living in them full time.
Right.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:47:53
On a similar note, Councillor Godwin had a follow -up question on education.
Paul Godwin - 0:48:02
Yes, I was very interested to hear you want to take over, potentially take over, 16 to
18 education, which certainly in my area is a bit shambles and you'd be working obviously
with academies for the most part.
How do you think that would work for you and how do you think you would coordinate it?
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:48:22
Well, in the first instance, it's not going to happen immediately.
We have offered government a phased sort of flight path into it, so we can support FE
colleges and it's not a schools thing, it's when young people leave at 16.
We have just recently signed a compact with higher education, but also with further education,
because we know that they have really struggled in capital funding, recently in buildings,
et cetera, and also funding for tutors. It doesn't seem fair that you can earn more money
as a teacher in school than you can potentially a teacher in an FE college. It has to be equitable
because we want the best and the brightest working in our colleges.
Now, we know that there is a greater capacity of students than our places.
So local authorities have this responsibility to find capacity for the people who want to
go to college.
But we know that if we are going to deliver on our cluster action plans, we're going to
need the workforce that is fit to deliver those plans.
So for example, the College of Construction, an incredible college.
We've been really fortunate and I think it's really, you know, on the leadership of Nikki of the College of Construction
that we've been designated for Yorkshire and Humber a centre of excellence in
construction, but she's stymied by the
the fact that she's got no more space in her building. Now government don't have money to give us to invest in that.
So how can we support 16 year olds if we can't make decisions locally
about the sectors we know we're going to need if our hands are tied until people,
young people, are 19. But I wonder, it might be of interest to the council to
bring in Susan, who's many years of experience in skills, but also post 16,
how we can, working together and with government, stop the rise of needs and
people falling out of college and the job market because of poor mental health and I think that's why healthy working life, which is
Bringing together of the integrated care board and ourselves to ensure people are well enough to get back into work
but we can
Inform you more as a committee on the next steps
Once we have a mayor's council coming up and that is on the agenda and I'll be able to tell you more Susan
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council) - 0:51:03
thanks, so
For start I'm not sure if this in there ass, but I'd love to have regional schools commissioners co -terminus with West Yorkshire
For example at the moment regional school choice goes right across the north
I don't see that's a really great way of having oversight over what happens in our region
So that code to me not to see I think helps with us on health
Obviously it helps with local authorities being co -terminus with the combined authority and I think education will be another benefit to that
The mayor's right about obviously it's money at the end of the day, isn't it?
That capital funding that we used to have actually a part of the City Growth Settlement for FE colleges was really really valuable.
We don't have that now. It would be good to have that
passported to
regional authorities to be able to share that out more equitably.
And I think there is probably something in the DFE to look at themselves at making sure that they're not siloed working within the DFE.
When we did that report a few years ago, it was like
something like 20 billion pounds spent on skills over eight different government
departments or something which sounds to me like it needs some rationalisation
there and if they could consolidate that and start devolving some of that to
regional authorities then we could support our sector, FE colleges in
particular, with growing the capacity because actually there's a massive
demand for places and training, huge demand. We all in Bradford in particular
we just can't keep up with the demand.
And we have some excellent FE colleges throughout the region
who are doing great work with young people who,
some of them are wanting to catch up now
because perhaps the education sector
has not succeeded for them.
So an FE college is not the best way to do it.
But historically, the last 14 years,
FE colleges have been cut again and again and again.
And we need to value them and value the young people
are in them much more than I think society does.
So there is always a debate about HE and how HE is funded,
but that same debate is never around FE colleges.
And I do think we as politicians all
have a responsibility probably to raise that more frequently.
In Keighley, of course, the town's fund
has been great there in funding for Keighley College
with the manufacturing plant they've got there now
for construction manufacturing students.
And where we can, therefore, I think
We're all using our money to support the objectives we all share
But yes, if DFE could passport some of that funding more readily to combined authorities
Then I think we've be able to support our fee colleges and expand in the sector a lot more quickly
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:53:39
If I may add as well chair just for Councillor Craig in Wakefield that the Wakefield Futures Programme
I was a year and a half
piece of work with some very talented
academics and people who have delivered better outcomes in education.
Because our exam question was why does Wakefield have some of the lowest level fours in the
whole of the North?
What's going on here?
Do they need a university for aspiration?
And actually the conclusion was we don't need a university.
What we need is better level twos and onto level fours.
So level one and level two to get young people into,
even just into college.
So we've got a really innovative programme in Wakefield
and we've got some money behind it.
So we're really hoping to turn the dial
on those young people in Wakefield
that just feel that they can't get in and get on
even though there's some super businesses there.
So I would refer the committee
to the Wakefield Futures Programme
which is giving us some really good insights
in how to help young people get the lives that they deserve.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:54:48
Do you want to come in, Sarah?
Sarah?
Sarah Eaton, Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 0:54:52
It was just one other point on post -16, I think,
which is around that ability to kind of co -own post -16 data.
I think increasingly, it has to kind of convene a system
without having access to all the data, which
means that we don't actually know where people are heading
or going.
And I think that was one of the other bits of the right
to request that we specifically put forward from this region,
because I think that is a real barrier to kind of understanding
in the pathways that people and specifically young people need to get on to get to where they need to be so I think that's
That's another element of that kind of right to request which would be useful to share
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:55:24
I'm so glad you've raised that because actually it was on the
UK mayor's yesterday that
And DWP was saying that we're developing the mayor's data council
Because you're absolutely right that DWP put their arm around the data and we have our local data, but it's not
that it's not fresh and it's not a joined up system,
that we will only be able to get better outcomes
if we know what's going on.
So I think there is a real appetite
for greater transparency around data.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:55:58
Okay, so, Godwin, have you got a follow up?
Yes, only really to comment in some ways
that the secondary education forwards
due to possibly academization,
Jordan Bowden - 0:56:11
and all sorts of other things like COVID has become,
well, I would call it shambolic
in comparison to what it should be.
Helen Lennon - 0:56:18
And it's very much affecting the outcomes for our children.
So any control and coordination that you can take on
Cllr Carol Thirkill - 0:56:25
would obviously be an improvement
because it's not coordinated at the moment.
Okay, right.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 0:56:33
Last question, which is from Councillor Craig.
Thank you.
Julie Craig - 0:56:39
And mine just goes back to the outcomes framework that's being prepared in readiness for the integrated
settlement and to ask the mayor what
What you intend to do to engage the local authorities
Within that outcomes framework either the creation of it or the testing of it or what sort of engagement will there be?
Thank you so much. I'll pass on to Sarah in a moment, but just to say in West Yorkshire,
we are developing Team West Yorkshire, the West Yorkshire Way, where we collaborate and
cooperate across local authorities and our office. It's a five plus one model. All of
this work, whether that was the 2040 plan, whether that's our growth plan, whether that's
the cluster work, all of this is done collectively because frankly, you know, we can't do it
on our own, the job is too big.
We need to know also what's happening on the ground
and to devolve down, to give local authorities
the autonomy and also the resources
to be able to deliver.
There is the strategic view of West Yorkshire
that comes from our office.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 0:57:56
But I have seen over the last few years local authority
leaders increasingly, and it's very welcome,
talking about West Yorkshire, not only their region.
And all of us together will benefit from better outcomes
across the whole of the patch, whether for Bradford,
whether that's better outcomes in Wakefield, and Kirklees.
Because when we get our transport right,
people will be moving around the whole of our region.
Because as Susan says, the co -terminosity of our ICB,
of our universities, of our police,
West Yorkshire police, of our five local authorities,
being able to work together is our superpower.
And when people come from other regions
or come from institutions and speak to all of us,
they say it's so refreshing to see that co -working.
But you've done a huge amount of work on this, haven't you,
Sarah, on how to make sure that we have that team West
short -shore approach?
Julie Craig - 0:59:00
I think we're doing quite a bit in partnership.
There's always lots we can do and to kind of improve.
I think the outcomes framework, obviously,
this is the first time that we've
negotiated the outcomes framework with the government,
following on from the trailblazers
both in GM and West Midlands.
I think it's quite a complex kind of process
because we haven't got carte blanche to just say, well,
what are the things that we want to deliver?
And I think increasingly it's becoming quite apparent
that actually there's a set of measures
that the government want us to kind of take on board in exchange for the
flexibility to deliver. So I guess I would say is that we've talked to our
local authority partners about the measures that that we would like to put
forward but we're having bilateral conversations with the government and
they are increasingly pushing back and saying well these are things
that we want to see so we haven't got as much flexibility as I think we
potentially would want in the future around these are the things that we want
to see coming forward.
And it's been a little bit of a pick -and -mix exercise
around the things that we feel, from a West Yorkshire
perspective, are the important measures they want to deliver.
But there are set measures that the government
are looking towards, because they've
got to be able to have that consistency of measuring
across the piece.
We can't just come up with something that
hasn't got the data behind it.
I think the other thing that we've been looking at
is around what's an outcome and what's an output.
and because on some of these we'll only potentially have two years to deliver.
We've got to be really careful that we're not signing ourselves up to deliver long -term outcomes
when we've got funding for a particularly short period of time.
So it's quite complex.
So we're talking to our colleagues in local authorities,
but some of this is driven by the government and what the government are giving us
in terms of those metrics that are on kind of a menu really of measures.
supplementary, yes.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:00:49
Yeah, thank you.
Julie Craig - 1:00:51
I appreciate your answers.
but I'm still concerned that do the local authorities fully understand that this is
basically a top -down thing? Because you've just said that there's little flexibility
and it's whatever the government is saying, that's what we want you to be producing and
that will be your outcomes framework around that and to what extent are you including
local authorities within that conversation?
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:01:31
Maybe it's best for the local authority in the room to actually speak to that rather
than us speak for them. So I don't know, Susan, if you want to comment on that. It is a government -led
Julie Craig - 1:01:40
piece of work, there's no doubt about it.
Right.
So I think, as with our own authorities,
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:01:47
you have to have KPIs that govern the whole
of the local authority, don't you?
Because otherwise, you won't be able to see
we're making any progress or not.
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council) - 1:01:53
I think what we're always working on in West Yorkshire
is how we all work together as a six, as Tracey said.
And I think that does mean us all spending time
in meetings like this, but not just politicians.
Of course, it's the officers as well.
So we have to make sure our officers
and each of our local authorities have time to meet together with others in West Yorkshire
to come up with a joint plan of how we deliver. Because I'm sure the KPIs that we're talking
to are going to be ones that we'd all share that we want to achieve actually. We all want
better productivity, we all want more jobs, we all want better transport. But it's the
how that makes a difference and in my experience if you just depended on a piece of paper to
bring you all together, you're lost.
It is the relationships actually,
and that's what we have to keep building on.
So we have to keep talking to each other,
keep going to lots of meetings I'm afraid,
but keep doing, it's the how rather than the what
I think is what I'm most fixed on really,
to make sure that we work really well together
so we get the objectives that West Yorkshire needs,
in my case Bradford needs,
and actually from Bradford's point of view
we have to think about devolving
to our local communities as well,
so they are more saying what happens in their communities.
so all the all of us have to try and work to make sure that people feel more
in charge of what's happening around them and in their community and I think
that's why we need to keep working as one team and be prepared to devolve to
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:03:27
communities where we have that opportunity so I'm bringing item five to

6 Mayor's Questions- Mayor's Local Transport Plan

a conclusion we were going to item six now which is the mayor's local transport
plan so cancer day drugs
Julie Craig - 1:03:41
Matt Edwards - 1:03:43
yeah stop with a quick question and who has who has the overall oversight on
this plan
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:04:00
well the local transport plan is fundamentally my plan for the whole of
It's developed by all of us. So the Weaver Network where is the integrated transport plan around rail bus
tram
Evie by walking cycling wheeling all of that coming together
Is developed by team West Yorkshire, but fundamentally I am responsible for it
So if it was to go to a select committee, I would have to speak to it
Yeah, so clearly there's a follow -up, sorry.
So I suppose then this, where does this sit with all the other plans, not just the ones
Matt Edwards - 1:04:38
that WICA have but the ones that local authority has?
Because there's a lot of plans and sometimes there are inherent contradictions.
So I suppose I would, I want to ask is like how do you see that playing out and when there
are contradictions in plans, where do you see the decision -making process in terms of
which takes primacy.
Paul Godwin - 1:05:00
Councillor, could you give me an example of what a contradiction is?
Is it on road or bus?
Where are you heading with this?
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:05:11
So a tangible example, and there are other examples, because there's a lot of plans and
Matt Edwards - 1:05:12
naturally sometimes there will be when they've been developed at different times, but a really
specific one would be a factor of the local transport plan is reducing carbon emissions.
And if we then factor in say things like the economic growth plan
One of the factors in that relates to Leeds Bradford Airport. So there's a contradiction there, but that's not the only one
I'm kind of referring to and when you've got a lot of documents just making sure that
What's the pathway for deciding which is more important
I think two things can be true at the same time
It is not one more important than the other.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:05:47
You'll know, Councillor, my view on the airport probably
disagree.
We probably disagree on that.
And you will see mayors across the whole country desperate
to reopen their airports because they
know that part of the growth of Greater Manchester
has been the fact that they have that connectivity
internationally.
But am I alive to the climate emergency?
Of course I am.
That's why we're committed to net zero by 2038.
And that's why I with government ministers were at the airport recently talking about us being a
champion of sustainable aviation fuel how we can get lighter planes
Etc, etc
But I think if I'm gonna if I may I will also defer to the chair of the Transport Committee
Who will also have thoughts on this?
Thanks, and so this the local transport plan obviously is owned by the mayor but the Transport Committee of anybody who's been on
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council) - 1:06:45
that actually nobody here think but has been working on this for a number of
years now actually it feels like we've seen this iteration on regular basis not
just in public meetings but also in workshops that we've done behind the
scenes so we have worked a long time to get to this point and it is a statutory
plan of course and and the plan will have to go to each of the local
authorities to be adopted and therefore there is local ownership as well as West
York for ownership of this plan and we have to have this because that is going to be the
the the plan that draws down all the TCR money from government and so that gives them some confidence that we know what we're doing
And we know our priorities are
so
Yeah, we we all own it and it is a really important document and they all all the strategies should align actually
So I'd like to think that our officers are making sure that happens as well as ourselves
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:07:41
The next question is from councillor Ron tree about real reform
Thank You chair and good morning mayor I have you
We've a network booklet here
Andy Rontree - 1:07:58
But quote you very briefly on working in partnership with North and South York's mayors and government to bring about investment in
Yorkshire's rail network
You spoke a bit about this in response to councillor Edwards earlier when he was asking about network rail, but
How do you think relationships between mayors and combined authorities and rail operators
should develop, whether that's the current talks or Great British Railways?
Should we be seeking more power to direct to the kind that we have with franchise busses,
mass transit?
I think that will come out of the relationship as it develops our statutory relationship
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:08:38
the GBR. Having spoken to the Secretary of State for Transport, it is still a
work in progress. Where that direction will be, your point is well made
Councillor Rontree, because what we don't want is me to say I want so many trains
per hour going down to London and then that conflicting with South Yorkshire or
York or whatever. But that's where this relationship and that this voice of our
region is so important because collectively we will have that opportunity to negotiate
with GBR about what is necessary.
And we've obviously seen it with transport for the north, where we've had to have a common
view on what's going to work for all of us over and above our region.
But what's important to me is that people who live in Wakefield, for example, have access
to Barnsley in a way that currently they don't, or being able to have faster
trains leads to York and then on to Newcastle and elsewhere. But I think it's
still work in progress as how our relationship will sit but I just
think being in those conversations, being able to be the voice for our region and
to work with others in Yorkshire to make sure that Yorkshire gets an equitable
deal when it comes to particularly around investment in rail and transport
more widely but I don't know if you wanted to come in on that Simon certainly
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:10:13
yes so we know that legislation is coming forward to establish Great
British Railways that is expected to be probably somewhere in the order of a
three -year
Change programme and we are already working with
an initial
introductory team that has been established to develop the principles of
Great British railways and of course one of the
distinct challenges is
Is the fact that the the West Yorkshire rail network does not live in splendid isolation of the national
rail network, so if we take
The trans Pennine corridor. It's it's as an important a part of
Merseyside Greater Manchester and indeed East Yorkshire and North Yorkshire as it is
West Yorkshire and therefore there will always be trade -off conversations that are needed
But what we've been very clear is that we've identified a very strong principle around the weaver network
for customer standards
Across all parts of our public transport system and we want to ensure that the Great British Railways
programme
Is able to fully reflect that in West Yorkshire in the meantime as the mayor made reference to before
We have a series of partnership arrangements in place with rail operators. So we are continuing
to push forward and deliver improvements in the near term.
We're not simply waiting for Great British Rail
to come along.
Okay, so is Ron and Triebe your supplementary?
Okay, thank you.
So yeah, I guess you're looking at things
like intra -operability and through ticketing opportunities
and that kind of stuff.
Could I just ask specifically about
the Leeds Bradford corridor?
Andy Rontree - 1:12:12
What kind of a future would you want to see for the two heavy railroads?
If we're going to a world where there's three modes we get in between the two principal cities
We've got we have mass transit besides the busses besides the railway
How do you see it developing? Oh
I dream of three modes getting between Leeds and Bradford Councillor
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:12:33
so what the mass transit system is going to give us connecting Leeds and
Bradford is not just the connectivity between those two great cities, but the connectivity
along the route, which gives us that opportunity for, I think, the many ministers ago gave
it a number, a 12 -minute journey between Leeds and Bradford.
Imagine the change we could see between our two cities with a, you know, under -50 -minute
trip between Leeds and Bradford.
But the the tram is so much part of that storey
But it's not ice in isolation that the boss will also feed the tram
The boss will also feed the rail so it is that integration of the transport plan
that is this is the secret weapon because
Once we have control of the bus network and obviously the tram we will be able to have that that
the timings
I don't know about you, going to, I can't remember the station, but it was somewhere
in Bradford and I got off the train and the bus was just pulling away.
I'm like, this is insane.
They know what time the train arrives.
Why don't they just wait for the passengers to get on the bus?
When we have franchising, we can have that intelligent transport plan with an integrated
ticketing option as well.
So we'll have our light London, the bus, the tram, the overground and all the active travel as part of that ticketing.
Ticketing is almost as important as the structure itself because it's got to feel so easy.
You don't look at a timetable, you don't have to cheque a different ticket, it's tap in and off you go.
Thank you.
Councillor Thompson.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:14:25
Yes, thank you, Chair. The Transport Plan is ambitious and it's ambitious for the region
and I think we all want it to succeed. My question is around infrastructure schemes
and you'll be aware there's some infrastructure schemes that have stalled or been delayed
such as Halifax Station Gateway. I was just wondering around how actually we can ensure
Councillor Joe Thompson (Calderdale Council) - 1:14:47
that whether it's the opportunities that we're getting from new settlements but how we actually
unlock these schemes and put them back into delivery?
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:14:55
I think your point is well made.
If I had all the money in the world,
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:15:00
I would do all the things that we all want to do
and our partners want to do.
And I think it is about what's absolutely
pivotal to growth at the moment.
And speaking with Cauldedale Council as well,
I think the leader shares our ambitions for boss franchising
and Ford Tram because I know that residents of Colterdale
will want to get to LGI or to the football.
I mean, I know they might be supporting Halifax Town,
not Leeds United.
But I think it is about a phased approach
that we can't do everything at the same time.
So I do appreciate the patience of the people of Colterdale.
But you've also got that big infrastructure investment
in road and the cycle lanes and so on.
So it's not that we don't love Calderdale,
it's just about what can we do that is the most impactful
with the money that we have that's going to really help us
with our integrated transport plan.
But maybe the chair of the Transport Committee
wants to come in.
Difficult decisions are being made, that's for sure.
Yeah, I think we all have schemes in our areas
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council) - 1:16:15
that we're working very hard on and want to see achieved as quickly as possible.
I think what I've learned from history is that if you don't have plans ready to go
and come out with a pot of money, then you're at the back of the queue.
So I think it's really important that we develop our ambitions and our plans as far as they
can go, ready for the next investment.
Because undoubtedly there will be further investment coming from government.
They understand that growth is a priority, absolute priority for our country, and particularly
in the north and therefore I'm no doubt they will make further transport announcements
and we want to be at the front of the queue with that. If we're not ready to go then we
can't take advantage of it. I know we've lost out before by not being at the front of that
queue. So I don't think it's about doing schemes or not doing schemes, it's about making sure
we're ready with that scheme because it will get done at some point. It's just waiting
for the right investment to come along.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:17:07
Follow up? No, fine. Next one, Councillor Edwards.
Really is the Councillor Edwards show, but please go ahead.
Matt Edwards - 1:17:19
I thought you'd like to share the spotlight today.
One of the big elements obviously of one of the projects that we're working on is bus franchising and obviously there's a lot of ambition to speed up the pace within that.
um, what is the plan is supposed to deal with and
Well, I suppose some of this is in the interim like before bus franchising how we're going to keep how we're gonna manage the existing
Bus network make sure that we've not got operators and
deteriorating their services
Because that is going to have impact for the long term ambition for this plan if we're seeing things happening between now and franchising
And then how are we going to deal with things like the drop in patronage?
And a big question I guessed a lot is about cost like I know
We've talked about how the 250 fair which is cheaper than the three pound cap on
Nash the national cap, but that is now meaning that public transport is
That is more expensive in a lot of cases then
Driving and if we're trying to drive modal shift, how are we going to try and balance that?
So just a really tangible example of that. I was talking to a resident who
And mobility is not necessarily easy for them
So they were getting four or five stops on the bus from Homewood into certain estate and that would that cost two pound fifty
Because the bus operator was decided to make that two pound fifty a flat fare
So there needs to be a plan in terms of how we encourage people to use
Public transport and some of that's got to be linked to affordability
So I would just like to hear a bit more on your thoughts on that
Thank you.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:18:54
And I always enjoy sharing the spotlight with anybody that would like to share the spotlight,
however it is the mayor's moment.
So please do indulge me that I am actually replying to your questions.
So moving swiftly on, affordability is vital because we know that the bus operators have
been played fast and loose with costs, ticketing costs.
And you'll remember that we were the first mayoral combined authority to bring in that
flat two -pound mayor's fair.
And we sustained it for as long as we could, but we knew that whilst affordability was
important, there's no point having a two -pound mayor's fair if the boss company have pulled
the route.
So we used the extra 50p, can I say 50p under the national cap.
We went up to £2 .50 to use that extra 50p to invest in routes.
Let's not forget, we are all around this table paying hundreds of thousands of pounds to boss operators
to put back routes that they've pulled because they're not cost effective.
This is no way to run a network and that is why this is the most profound argument for boss franchising,
is so we can have control of affairs so we can make them affordable.
We know that government are looking at fares and looking at investment in in busses.
We, I think, have made the case and it's landed now in government that people are
more impacted by busses and the lack of them than by rail. So most people are
concerned about busses. Of course rail is important but for our region when we
have quite a low car ownership, busses are fundamentally important.
But I'm going to hand over to my colleague Simon who can maybe talk a little bit more
about the structure of fares across the region.
Yeah, certainly.
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:20:58
So addressing the point around network stability, so this is a risk that we've been monitoring
very closely right through the consideration of the case of franchise
and will continue to do so over the remaining three years as we go through a
period of transition. So far there has been a positive response in the main
from
from operators
clearly
they
They have established businesses that are giving them a return and therefore there is a remaining commercial
motivation for them
To secure the maximum return that they can do
through the the period in between a number of those operators clearly will choose to
engage with the franchising competition
Itself and therefore there is a motivation for them to maintain a strong
record
In in West Yorkshire, we've also looked to support operators from a number of different angles
we have
Continued to seek any additional discretionary
funding from government that we can continue to emphasise the importance of the BSIP funding
regime so as to maintain a public revenue base that we can use as our continued investment
in maintaining the stability of the network.
But we've also engaged with operators around some of the issues that they face as well,
not least the recruitment and retention of drivers and we've been using the
mayor's wider skills programme to support our operators in that regard and we have
a number of transitional mechanisms that will play their way through which again
helps to give incumbents confidence in terms of transition including a very
clear cheapy process that will be followed should one of our incumbent
operators be stepping out in due course and handing across to a franchisee. We
also have a mechanism now agreed with operators for a market -based transfer of
a vehicle fleet as well through that transition period. So there are a number
of different tools that we're able to use to steady the environment as much as
we possibly can and therefore make sure that the period of transition is
ideally involves no disruption for the travelling public whatsoever very much
our critical measure of success for day one of franchising will be that
everybody experiences at least the same experience
that they did the day before and are not
disrupted through that change period
before we then kick on to really start
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:24:32
to make good use of franchising.
Mr. Clemente?
Thank you.
Matt Edwards - 1:24:39
I mean, I suppose trying to just frame this from the way that
maybe makes it a bit more relevant for the general public.
One of the things that certainly I'm hearing more and more about
is practise, like some of the practises
of some of the operators,
is making it very difficult for users to,
bus users in general.
So like just some examples,
Areeva on their services are asking
for unreasonable levels of ID,
and not accepting standard ID
when it comes to under 18's fares.
And that's come across on some of the routes
in South Bradford.
Transdev, when you buy a ticket through their app,
their default option for buying a single ticket
It's the three pound fair because they have some services that go into North Yorkshire
But as someone that selects West Yorkshire is my area
That's the default ticket option it presents to me and someone that doesn't know might get confused by that
And first when I'm forever on but I use loads of different busses clearly
When I'm on a trans dev bus where there's a first bus on the same route first to default selling day tickets as their operator
Specific ones so when they try and get on a trans dev one
they're turned back. All of that sort of stuff really combines to making bus not
just expensive and unreliable but actually quite difficult for the user
and that's getting worse and that can actually be getting worse before
franchising. So passengers need some assurance that the mayor and
yourself Simon your team are actually stopping this bad practise because it's
not fair it's outside the practise of treating customers fairly which is what
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:26:10
they as a business should be wanting to operate on. Thank you. What a passionate
plea for franchising. I mean, thank you for that. But you know you're absolutely right.
And certainly we are holding Areva to account. The senior leaders of Areva have been here
in the office. We lay out the failures and challenge them. But obviously, you know, ahead
of franchising, we also have to step in to help. And I think what you're saying is also
that the tech and what's on your phone, your ticketing,
is, like I say, as important to your experience.
And also the quality of the busses.
I'm really frustrated that operators
don't have the quality of the busses
that I would expect for all of our citizens, which
is why I'm really pleased that we signed off
in the last combined authority $30 million
as a down payment towards electric busses that
going to be clean and green, you'll
be able to charge your phone.
And going out to the public and saying,
what do you want for your boss?
And bringing the public with us on this journey.
Because it's been too rubbish for too long,
and it's finally the time that we can take control and make
it better for the public.
Now, is it going to be all singing, all dancing,
overnight, once we get into franchising?
It's we are taking a lifting and shifting the network from
2024 to the moment of franchising and then we can build out from there and we can improve and I hope when I come in front
of the
scrutiny committee
in 27 28 we can see
tangible changes and already you will see
Heckman white station is a brand new station. It's going to be in the Weaver
branding
Huddersfield the same, Dewsbury the same.
When we have to replace anything, it's going to be
in Weaver, brand new branding.
We are going to, we're setting our ambitions high,
but we're not waiting for franchising.
We will be tackling these problems when they come up.
And I do think that default setting is wrong.
And we, if you're happy to share those particular cases,
we will raise them when we get those opportunities.
But you know, it's a cry to get control because we've been we've been led by the nose by the operators with a poor service
for far too long
Right now this will sound a bit like
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:28:40
I'm listening
What this is the mayor normally at the combine authority around about this time says we're getting tight for time
Can we try and meet the questions?
Short and sharp to the point and equally the answers that are coming out should be short and sharp to the point
I'm paraphrasing the mayor. That's usually what we get told in the combined authority
So with that in mind, we've got to be out of here by 1230. So that's why I'm that's why I'm saying that
Let's say chair. It's always welcome that we can learn from each other
So counsellor Lawson
Cllr John Lawson - 1:29:23
I'll start again.
You did, but let's do it for the public.
So what's your view on funding an extension of disabled bus passes for use before 0930
as part of your inclusivity agenda?
Thank you so much for that question, Councillor.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:29:45
Do you want to pop your mic off?
Thank you for that question.
It's something that's really important to me because I'm really determined that anybody
who wants to access a job or college should be able to at whatever time. This is part
of our overall look at ticketing. I've also been lobbied by young people as well that
want cheaper tickets and it's going to be in the whole mix. But I really do approve
of your campaign to try and get more people who would want to work into work rather than
been stopped because of the fact of their ticket and their personal assistant and there's
a complication around do they pay as well. But it's something that is in my mind. We
haven't come to conclusions because that's going to be part of the whole ticketing piece.
Thanks for that and it's reassuring to know that it's high on your agenda. MP Tom Gordon
Cllr John Lawson - 1:30:48
brought an amendment to the bus bill recently which had significant cross -party support.
Regrettably, it was voted down.
And I just wonder what lobbying do you think you can do with your Council of Mayors,
either in the background or publicly,
what lobbying do you think you could manage to do to physically support the campaign?
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:31:11
Thank you.
Well, every mayor is in a different place on franchising.
As you know, Andy Burnham has free travel for 16 to 18.
16 to 18.
Each mayor makes decisions based on the resources they have,
the challenges they see.
It wouldn't be for me to lobby other mayors
about what they do in their patch on transport.
But we can all learn from each other's best practise.
So I always look at other mayors to see what they're doing around transport and we'll make our decisions once as I say
Once we get to that point where we're talking about ticketing
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:31:53
And can I bring in Chancellor merit
Yes, Mike
I've got two questions. I'll do the latter first which came from
Cllr Dave Merrett - 1:32:08
Council of timber at our previous meeting where he was asking about the
situation in the outskirts areas of West Yorkshire
where the majority of local services are cross boundary and therefore going to be picked up through the
other mechanism and his concern that a
A, in effect, they're being left for a long time.
B, that the support for franchising and the improvements
that are expected from it will be undermined by the delay
that leaving those services right to the end will engender.
Obviously, I have some questions in terms
of the cross -boundary services from my authority.
We are having problems with the coastline of services into leads in terms of reliability
And also they are old busses as well
so
Absolutely echo your positive comments about trying to sort
The age of busses and getting modern ones, but that also does need to be addressed in terms of these important
cross -boundary services which bring so many
workers
into West Yorkshire and vice versa
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:33:27
Thank you.
I think there has not been a better moment to tackle cross boundary because I see over
in Kirkleigh's the B network busses, the yellow busses in Slough in Marsden, and we all rely
on each other, don't we?
And as we develop our industries and our sectors, we want people to be able to move easily cross
boundary.
People don't care what the boundaries, they just want to get to work.
So, I think the relationship that's been developed through the White Rose agreement, where both
David, Ollie and myself are very keen to tackle cross boundary challenges.
But regarding the permits, that is a technical element to the phasing, but I'll come to you,
Simon, on that.
Simon Warburton, Executive Director (West Yorkshire Combined Authority) - 1:34:19
Yes, thank you.
So under the provisions of legislation services that are operated into our future franchising area from outside
are not permissible to be replaced with our franchising scheme and therefore instead are managed through a statutory permit scheme
whereby there are a series of
standards that we can require of
of that that service the vehicle that's operated the the fares and ticketing arrangements that
are provided for
on that service
In return for us granting a permit for access to operate
within the the franchising area we did bring a
An update on our approach to the permit scheme to the September meeting
Of the combined authority we are currently
working up the detail around that with the view to us coming out very shortly now to run a
consultation
On the permit scheme. It was always our intention
That we would do that at this stage the the permit scheme can be introduced
faster than a
full
franchising scheme and therefore it was important that we got to the definition of the first
trench one scheme before that
moving into consultation and full development of the permit scheme books
Yes, I will cheque with the team on the current timescales that we're looking to work to for the consultation and advise the committee
But it's certainly
pending and imminent within the next few months
Okay, so minute
Yes
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:36:22
Thank you for those and obviously look forward to seeing that in due course
If I can ask my second question is about what involvement the mayor has had
Helen Lennon - 1:36:33
in the ongoing development of the Northern Powerhouse Rail schemes and where things have got to on that.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:36:42
Thank you so much. Well, of course, I'm a member of the Transport for the North.
So you'll remember I was very new to enrol when the HS2 arm to Leeds was cancelled
and seemingly, you know, without any political pushback.
I think having mayors now as a voice of a region, I think has really made a difference
to develop these plans with the public in mind.
So we've been working really hard with DFT, talking about a phased approach, as you've
seen with the White Rose Rail Plan.
We work with partners, as I explained earlier, and Lord Blunkett, to have a pragmatic phased
approach of investment and delivery.
It's not something that's going to happen in the next six months.
This is a grown -up plan to deliver better outcomes for our region.
But as Councillor Hinchliffe said, this isn't just about West Yorkshire.
It's about connectivity to Greater Manchester, to London, elsewhere, which is why making
the case consistently that we need that new station in Bradford with that line to Huddersfield
that connects us to Greater Manchester and gives us an opportunity for regeneration in
Bradford. But as I said, being in Parliament with the
Rail Minister, talking about the electrification of Leeds to Sheffield and the extra capacity
at Leeds station and Sheffield station is also at capacity. But Leeds is one of the
busiest stations in the whole of the north and we're already over 100 % capacity at the
We have got to have that greater capacity.
There was a little bit of funding that came last year.
It's going to be helpful, but it doesn't solve the problem
of what's going to happen in the next 2, 5, 10 years when it comes to capacity.
So I am having those conversations. We are still all waiting.
I'm being encouraged and reassured that this is a priority for government
and they want to make it work east to west as well across the Pennines because we do
need that equity of investment because what works in Leeds and in Bradford is going to
help Manchester Airport and Manchester and Liverpool.
I don't know if you want to, I would say Councillor Hinchliffe has been at the cold face of this
for many more years than me, so she can speak to how near we are to maybe getting some of
this work actually committed?
Yes, in my mind, east -west connectivity
is the absolutely most important thing in the north.
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council) - 1:39:29
We need to get that sorted as quickly as possible.
It's not right that it takes like two hours
to get to Wigan from Bradford on public transport.
So it is very, very important.
And we are, as the mayor says,
having very constructive conversations
with the government about Northern Pan -House Rail.
We're in a Southern Gateway board meeting,
actually, this week.
where DFT were there, MHCLG were there, talking about how we developed that with the Northern
Powerhouse Rail plans. For Bradford, it would mean 12 -minute journey time to Leeds, 30 -minute
journey time to Manchester, and we can get on with that quite quickly. And of course,
that has benefits across the north. It's just that agglomeration effect of bringing cities
practically closer to each other has a massive boost to our economy. And once the decision
is made then actually that confidence from the business sector is also going to provide
a boost to our sector even before you put any spades in the ground. So that is something
that we've been working on for many years. We've been very pragmatic about how that can
happen. We're not idealistic about we've got to have a brand new line everywhere but we
are saying connect the major cities to each other by whatever means and you will get an
exponential growth in the economy, which is ex -
Okay, so, Mera, if you want to come back in again.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:40:48
Just a brief supplementary.
Is there any idea when those proposals might become public
and be consulted on more widely?
Can I just make one final point?
It's pleasing just to say congratulations
in terms of the Trans -Pennine services
Helen Lennon - 1:41:09
Cllr Dave Merrett - 1:41:12
that we've now got from York through Castleford, Wakefield and beyond. That has been a vast
improvement in connectivity for us, but I'm sure equally for people from those areas who
can now see job opportunities in York.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:41:24
And it's been interesting to look at how the impact of that opening up communities has
on outcomes and jobs and house building and all of that. Regarding timing, we don't know.
You asked me to be pithy chair, so
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:41:44
Right, so I've never got cancer Lawson back in again
So as part of your pledge to act on access to sports and culture for all children
Have you considered reviewing rising costs for schools swimming transport the forced use of pop -up pools?
undermining local leisure facilities
Cllr Dave Merrett - 1:42:05
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:42:10
Thank you. There was recently an announcement from Kirklees. Where is Kirklees? You are
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:42:13
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:42:15
getting a new swimming pool in Jusbury. We don't know when. It is some way off. I can
tell you that because they have not found a site yet. They are the very first principles
Cllr John Lawson - 1:42:26
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:42:31
so far. Thank you. My pledge was every young person having access to grassroots sports
and creativity, which is why we signed a memorandum of understanding, one of the first in the
country with Sport England.
And one of the things that I believe, when you speak to an adult and say, can you swim,
can you ride a bike, and they say no to both of those, I think that's often quite an indication
of where they grew up and the opportunities that they had as a child.
It can't be right that too many young people, particularly in the summer, are dying because
they can't swim, and they've jumped into water
that is too deep for them.
So it's something that we're looking at.
Obviously, for schools, it is, as you say, transport.
That's not just to swimming lessons,
but that's also to cultural opportunities, theatre, music,
museums, and so on.
So it's something that my committee
are looking at very closely.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:43:21
OK, thank you for that.
Going back to the pop -up pools, they
do have elements of water waste, extra energy use,
Cllr Harry McCarthy - 1:43:31
chemical use, and a lack of changing facilities
for children.
Cllr John Lawson - 1:43:37
So would you agree when I say that not only are we
undermining local facilities, local authority facilities,
but we're actually denying access to better quality
facilities in the meantime now?
So many of those local authority facilities
are actually hanging by a thread as we speak financially.
So there's a there's a there's a separation between the service and the people who are service
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:44:04
So this is the is there something that you want to say about that, please?
The pop -up pool in Cliqueton was temporary wasn't it as they built the new swimming pool, which is pretty
glorious pool, but I'm gonna hand over to my local authority colleague who knows more about pools than I do. I
Don't know if I'm a pop -up pools actually, but I have to say
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe (Bradford Council) - 1:44:23
We have a lack of pool space in Bradford. I'm sure that same across West Yorkshire to make sure all children can learn to swim in
a short time frame
And I think you know, we're all trying to figure out how to do that and how to expand that network
Pools are very expensive to run. We all know that in our local authorities
You do need to probably a gym facility alongside that to be able to cross subsidise the pool space
And I think that's something we're still grappling with and spot spot England
and don't have huge amounts of money to give out for running of pools. Some of the stuff
we've had about solar panels on pools have been really helpful actually. That's reducing
some of the expenditure on the running costs. But I think we've got a pool strategy in Bradford,
I'm sure everybody has in West Yorkshire and it depends what's in that. And if there's
a new dynamic of pop -up pools then that needs to be factored in with that strategy and thought
through.
Councillor Craig.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:45:17
Julie Craig - 1:45:20
Thank you. Regarding the new local transport plan, I'd just like to say that in Wakefield
we were very satisfied with the quality and extent of the process and events that have
been held in Wakefield in the consultation etc. But regarding those, and I know we await
the full consultation report in January I think, it would be helpful to know, we had
a number of events but it would be helpful to know to what extent they actually engaged
the public rather than just the wider public, rather than just companies or people with
invested interests in those things and along from that, what sort of role in the transport
committee's engagement leads play in the consultation events? So I don't know whether you've got
the other transport leads. Thank you for that. It's really important that we get the voice
of the public because this is a once in a generation opportunity to finally get transport
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:46:33
right in West Yorkshire. There might be bumps on the road but it's a chance for
us to hear what people have to say and give us that intel from the ground. But
Helen Ellerton, Head of Transport Policy, has been leading the team on
consultation so I'm gonna come to somebody who knows much more than me and
is cleverer than me. Helen. Thank you, thank you. So we've done a number of
events over and thank you very much for your comments. So within
Helen Lennon - 1:47:00
Wakefield but does the same as all of the districts across West Yorkshire
we've done a full range of type of events so ranging from online webinars
to get people who may not be able to travel but also and multiple in -person
events so utilising a range of community centres to being able to fly in bus
stations rail stations but particularly trying to go to a range of different
types of areas so a range of communities but also a range of different groups of
people and types of locations in that so we've tried to cover the full host
locations that are accessible by public transport but also those that are not so
to get a range of a range of input into there. We've also been using
in voluntary groups to try and also get to different groups of people who we can get
their input across the piece as well.
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:47:57
If I could say as well I've been able to be part of this consultation and one of the
really interesting choice of consultations was a group of deaf and hearing impaired people
who were very, very passionate about what they want to see and that really did help
do a proper push on the orange folder for your pass,
because then the driver knows you've got a hidden disability
and you can be supported.
So really, you can't guess it, you have to talk to people
to tell you the truth about their lived experience.
Yeah, I appreciate that.
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:48:41
Julie Craig - 1:48:43
I just wondered if there's any general feedback
or in the future we'd know how successful that was.
I know you've got a range of, you know, we've been happy with that, but we don't know what
the outcome of that was, as in have you engaged across the board, the public, or have you
not, and what might you want to do if you feel that there are some areas where you've
really not had that feedback or that engagement?
Can I just say, Helen, before you answer, one of the challenges is people who don't
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:49:18
use busses and people who just get in their car on the drive and we never see them and
we can't access them.
So, of course, we talk about those furthest away, but actually we also have to have modal
shift so we have to know why people won't use a bus.
So that's also one of our challenges.
But Helen, if you want to answer more particularly.
Thank you.
And it's a really good question to actually being able to understand actually who has
Been engaged in and who has actually engaged with the with the survey responses as well
So as you reflected we are currently in the process now following the consultation ending on Tuesday
To look at all of that data. So we're writing a report at this moment
Which is based upon numbers of people that we've you know, we've tallied up if you like that have attended events
But also those that have responded to the survey and the information they give us about themselves as well
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:50:12
Okay, because everybody has behaved themselves, we've now got Councillor Edwards, there were
two potential questions that were left over. One was from yourself and one was from your
colleague. Do you want to ask one of them?
I'll skip my one because I've spoken enough, so this is one I'm relaying from a colleague.
Matt Edwards - 1:50:28
Has the mayor considered appointing a walking and cycling commissioner as Greater Manchester
has? As that's obviously in London and West Midlands, that has meant that that is being
talked about a lot more on us because there's a champion talking on that
Mayor Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire - 1:50:41
particular topic. Thank you for that. I feel I am a champion of walking and
cycling as I cycle myself and use the electric bikes but I did meet with
Dame Sarah Storey a few months ago because I wanted to understand the
additionality of having somebody that is the champion specifically for that role.
It's a paid role so we would have to justify it with outcomes but I also am
very proud of what our local authorities are doing as champions within their local authority
on walking and cycling. So it's not something I've disregarded, but something that is in
the mix. But I don't know if anybody else wants to speak to that. No, it was a direct
question to me. I've been thinking about it, but I hope that you see that as someone who
cycles. I also, through my own lived experience, I'm a champion for the region
but it was very interesting to meet Dame Storey and she takes a more
national role and attends many events across the whole country talking about
cycling and active travel and I'm very pleased that in West Yorkshire our
interest in it has meant that from active travel England, we have got substantial amounts
of money in comparison to some other areas because of our determination to not just tell
the storey about how good it is for you and your health and also the climate, but we're
building the infrastructure as well so you can do it safely.
And I had a couple of guests from London come up talking about clean air and it
was the the mum who advocates for clean air because her daughter was the first person
in the in the country who on her death certificate it said air pollution
contributed to her asthma attack and contributed to her death and she was
saying I was taking pictures of your bike lanes because I'm gonna send these
to Sadiq and say see you you will only use a bike lane if it's segregated and
if you feel safe so I do think we have a good storey to tell but as always more to
do
Cllr Barry Anderson (Chair) - 1:52:59
right so thank you very much and can I thank the mayor and Councillor
Hinchcliffe for coming on and the officers just for clarity from the
point of view of the guests in the audience and anybody who is listening
The questions were not given in advance to anyone they had a clue what direction we're going to come in
So all the questions have been answered from the heart and from the brain. They're not been anything pre scripted
So hopefully that reassures you that we do challenge
the mayor in terms of what she's doing and
Also the quality of the answers that we've had and the quality of questions that we've had forward today

7 Next Steps and Scrutiny Work plan

So thank you all very much for your time in terms of item 7 the next steps in the scrutiny plan
We've got the number of work plant workshops that we're planning. So emails will be coming out to you all
Asking for you to participate in them and if you can volunteer that very help in terms of being able to deliver things
The working the scrutiny working plan is moving forward as for what's going to happen in the November agenda
That's not being clarified yet

8 Meeting dates

but more on that will come out so anybody any other questions on are we
happy to leave yeah thank you sorry for the disruption it's okay nothing more on
that right so the final thing is then the meeting dates the next one is on the
21st of November and so can I thank you all for your time and effort today
much appreciated and it's been done in an excellent manner and I think we have
Webcast Finished - 1:54:34
challenged both Wicca and the combined authority so thank you all very much for
time. Thank you.