'Deputy South Yorkshire Mayor will be announced within weeks', says Oliver Coppard
A deputy mayor for South Yorkshire will be announced within weeks, Mayor Oliver Coppard has told The Star.
Coppard said he would appoint a deputy before the May 2024 elections, when his office absorbed the powers and responsibilities of the Police and Crime Commissioner.
Speaking at the South Yorkshire Police’s Knives Take Lives campaign launch today, Mayor Coppard said: “I think we’ve got agreement from the person that we want to announce.
“As always with these things that person is currently in a job and I don’t think they would welcome it if I was to announce while they’re still in that job so we have to work with them to make sure we get the announcement right.”
South Yorkshire’s mayor and police and crime commissioner (PCC) used to be separate roles, with the PCC being an elected position most recently held by Dr Alan Billings.
However, changes in 2024 meant the office of the PCC would cease to exist and all its powers and responsibilities would be transferred to the South Yorkshire Mayors office.
The change is similar to that attempted in the West Midlands before it was blocked by the High Court after judges ruled the then-home secretary James Cleverley did not “provide sufficient evidence to permit an intelligent and informed response”.
Mayor Coppard added: “Soon we will be able to say who [the deputy mayor pick] is, because I think we’ve agreed that now.
“We will announce it in the next few weeks and then the person will be in post in the next few months, but just right now, frustratingly, I can’t say who they are.”
The deputy mayor will be a salaried position. What the deputy South Yorkshire mayor will be paid has not yet been confirmed, however, the West Yorkshire deputy mayor for policing and crime, Alison Lowe OBE, is paid roughly £72,000 per year.