Agenda item

To receive any announcements from the Chair of Council, the Mayor,
Members of the Cabinet or the Head of Paid Service

Minutes:

The Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, made the following announcements:-

 

“My first is a statement in respect of the results of the December General Election.

 

Firstly on behalf of Doncaster Council, I would like to thank Caroline Flint for her 22 years of dedicated service as MP for Don Valley.

 

I would like to welcome Don Valley’s new MP, Mr. Nick Fletcher, whom we invite to meet with myself, the Chief Executive and our re-elected MPs, to continue to pursue the interests of our residents and to assist in reducing the North South divide.

 

The Prime Minister and his Government have promised to re-balance the current gross inequalities in regards to regional spending.  Doncaster is ready and willing to receive this investment, to deliver opportunities and prosperity for all of our residents across the whole of our Borough.

 

My next announcement is in respect of Devolution.  In 2017, Doncaster residents voted overwhelmingly in favour of a wider Yorkshire devolution deal.

 

Pursuing a Yorkshire wide deal is still very much our intention and we welcome the agreement from the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to work with us to progress our ambition for a Yorkshire wide devolution deal, whilst still allowing the South Yorkshire deal to progress, unlocking a significant opportunity and investment for Doncaster and South Yorkshire.

At the Yorkshire Leaders meeting on Friday, 10th January, Leaders were unanimous in reiterating our desire to secure a Yorkshire wide devolution deal.

Leaders also recognised that a stepped approach may be required to achieve this through the establishment of a Yorkshire Committee, as proposed by the Prime Minister, to provide strategic co-ordination across the region, supported by a number of interim funding arrangements at a sub-regional level.

The achievement of such a framework would be a major step towards achieving a full Yorkshire wide devolution deal.

Following that meeting, discussions have taken place between South Yorkshire and the Government, and agreement has been reached that the Government will continue work with Yorkshire Councils to establish a Yorkshire Committee on the basis that the South Yorkshire devolution deal is brought to a positive conclusion, with Barnsley and Doncaster having the opportunity to join any full Yorkshire devolution at a future date.

Following discussions with other South Yorkshire Leaders, South Yorkshire Councils will now consult on the proposed South Yorkshire deal.  This deal is exactly the same financial deal as originally proposed, but this will now be shared between the four South Yorkshire Councils instead of the nine that were originally envisaged.

This is the compromise that I and Barnsley Council Leader, Steve Houghton, have been campaigning for.  Government is now allowing us to continue to progress with our One Yorkshire devolution ambitions whilst also accessing the funds, resources and powers that were originally promised, through the Sheffield City Region deal.”

The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Glyn Jones, made the following announcement:-

 

Following the announcement on the 13th January, from the Rt Hon Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Doncaster Council will be formally adopting the required International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of Anti-Semitism at the earliest opportunity.

 

I will also be looking at Doncaster Council endorsing other policies to tackle racism, hate-crime and discrimination.”