Oliver Coppard says spending review is ‘good news for South Yorkshire but work still to do’

Following Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor’s speech in the House of Commons, Mr Coppard told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he was “pleased” with the announcements, describing them as positive for the region.

“Obviously, I’m still going through some of the details,” he said, “but my headline would be ‘good news for South Yorkshire but work still to do’.”

Mr Coppard pointed to several recent announcements that he believes will benefit the region significantly.

“I think some of the announcements we’ve heard not just today but trailed over the last few days – not least the £1.5 billion investment in our transport network, the £50m innovation accelerator, the £460m for Forge Masters creating 900 jobs…

“It’s all good news for South Yorkshire. We’ve got an announcement next week around infrastructure investment around Plan For Rail in Yorkshire and will be looking for more good news there but so far so good.”

He also said he was “really pleased” with the level of support the government is providing to the region.

However, Mr Coppard stressed that South Yorkshire still has further needs. When asked what he meant by “work still to do,” he was clear.

“I always want more money for South Yorkshire, quite frankly,” he said.

Regardless of which party is in power, Mr Coppard said he would continue pushing for more investment and would always “give credit where credit is due.” He described the £1.5bn for South Yorkshire’s transport as “really significant”.

“It’s a significant investment in connecting up our communities,” he added.

He also welcomed the additional funding for housing and local councils, but acknowledged there are still challenges – particularly around police funding.

The Chancellor announced that police budgets will increase by 2.3 per cent per year. But Mr Coppard, who also serves as South Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said he wants the government to go further.

Asked whether the increase was enough, he replied that “the devil’s always in the details,” adding that while he had hoped for a specific commitment for South Yorkshire – which he admitted was “ambitious” – he would continue to work with the government to ensure the region’s police force has everything it needs.

“And if they don’t I will keep on telling the public that we need more, and I’ll tell the government as well,” Mr Coppard added.