Everything Andy Burnham spoke about in first visit to Sheffield as new Prime Minister
“If you don't invest, you don't get the growth”
In his first visit to Sheffield as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham met with city families as he announced major plans to revolutionise local finances.
His trip to the Steel City comes after the Government revealed proposals that would see local leaders retain a portion of income tax and business rates in their region, in the hope of greater investment across the country.
“It's based on a lot of my experience in Greater Manchester,” he said while at Meadow Family Centre, on Shirecliffe Road.
“If you give areas an incentive to go for growth […] you then help them borrow against that growth and come up with the investment and solutions that protect that critical infrastructure that is a driver of growth.”
While there, he also made time to address a number of ongoing local issues, including the future of Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
“What we're putting forward today is actually a solution for the challenging issues at Doncaster Airport.”
He said that “with the right will and people pulling in the same direction flights could start” soon, adding: “It's on the horizon now, it's within touching distance.”
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard, who was also in attendance, said there’s “no immediate implications” on the airport from the recent announcements, but added that it means “a huge world opens up.”
“Today is the day that devolution grows up,” he continued.
“There's a huge amount of opportunity that springs from today where we're going to be able to think about these things and challenges differently.
“So I can't give you a direct answer today because we've still got to work through that that opportunity - but I'm really excited to be able to look at those challenges and opportunities differently and see what else we might be able to do.”
The Prime Minister also addressed criticisms from the likes of Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, who has suggested that he would use extra funding as a “tax rebate” for residents, while Reform asked whether local leaders would get choices over the housing of asylum seekers.
“This is not about allowing mayors to become a sort of mini Chancellor of the Exchequer or local Home Secretary,” Mr Burnham said.
“Those issues around taxation and asylum are national policy matters. This is a policy that is about growth and investment, an area where the UK is currently underperforming quite significantly.”
He went on to say: “If you don't invest, you don't get the growth.
“So, I think they're kind of misunderstanding the the purpose of this - it is about bringing infrastructure up where we know it's not good enough.
“Doncaster Airport, Manchester-Sheffield connectivity we were just talking about - it's about investing to get the growth.”
He also spoke about the ongoing investigation into maternity and neonatal services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals which could potentially examine up to 3,000 case after the death of at least 56 babies and two mothers over the last five years
He said he will make sure the review captures the “full attention” of the Government when its published, adding: “I can commit now to to meeting the parents when the moment is right to discuss what's in it and the action that will be taken as a result.”