Sheffield leaders criticise the Chancellor for failing to provide devolution and more financial aid in summer budget

It comes after the Chancellor vowed to cut VAT on hospitality as part of a £30bn proposal to limit mass unemployment as the economy recovers from Covid-19 lockdown.

Mayor of Sheffield City Region Dan Jarvis said: “I welcome the steps taken by the Chancellor to protect and create jobs, particularly those that help move us towards net zero emissions.

“However, the Government risks repeating the mistakes of the past: developing and driving the recovery from a desk in Whitehall.

“This approach will only take us back to a broken status quo – and hardwire widening regional inequality into our economy.

“Rather than a ‘meal deal’, what we really needed to see was a ‘New Deal’ for the North – a radical shift of powers and resources away from Westminster and Whitehall to South Yorkshire and the North, so that through devolution, we create a stronger, greener, fairer economy and society.

“As a starting point, the Government should be working closely with Metro Mayors in planning our economic renewal, because we are best placed to know what our regions and communities need – we understand our areas best.

“Over the course of the epidemic the value of a regional approach has been shown – we need to mobilise every bit of our knowledge and networks to beat the pandemic and drive recovery afterwards.

“But to do this, the government needs to give us the resources and the powers to do it. By working together, we can deliver not just recovery, but renewal for our people, places and businesses.”

Sheffield City Council leader Julie Dore argued the government has left the council in an ‘extremely vulnerable position’.

“Today the government needed to show that when they said austerity was over they meant it, when they said they said we were all in it together they meant it and when they said they valued our key workers and the public services they provide they meant that as well”, she said.

“They have failed to deliver on all of these promises throughout the pandemic and that has been continued today.

“Sheffield like other councils across the country has faced huge costs and loss of income as a result of the crisis, on top of 10 years of austerity cuts.

“We know that the impact of COVID 19 on the council is already estimated to be in the region of £80 million and will probably be even higher.

“We have received less than half of that in support from the government so far. It is clear that if this does not change, the council’s financial position in the medium and longer term will not be sustainable.

“The Government’s approach has been short term stop gaps rather than the comprehensive funding to cover all costs that was promised at the beginning of the crisis. It is leaving us in an extremely vulnerable position and puts services at risk.”

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