Hull MP Diana Johnson says town people “ don’t trust ” the government to weigh in on the East Riding of Yorkshire repayment deal Yorkshire News

Hull North MP Diana Johnson told Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick that Hull and the East Riding were going to undergo permanent changes in local government “in exchange for vague and to-date unspecified promises of regeneration.”

But the conservative minister said that if a repayment agreement was reached, the government would fulfill its legal obligations by holding a consultation in which it would be “very careful to take the views of the local population.”

Talks will begin with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government after the May local elections on the proposal of a series of new powers and up to £ 1.6 billion in additional funding to be awarded to a new combined mayor authority covering a population of around 600,000. .

The end result could be the creation of an elected metropolitan mayor with planning and transportation powers similar to those of West and South Yorkshire, as well as easier access to central government funding. In both cases, consultations on how the transfer agreement would work took place after an agreement was reached.

Politicians in North Yorkshire and York must also start their own negotiations with the government over their return proposal, which they hope will be worth up to £ 2.4bn and help make the county the first ‘carbon negative economy’.

Local East Riding and Hull leaders originally hoped to join forces with the North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire councils as part of a pan-Humber agreement. But the two authorities on the south bank decided to align themselves with the rest of Lincolnshire.

The Hull and East Riding document says that social cohesion is “relatively strong” in the population of 600,000, which is divided evenly between the city of Hull and the surrounding area and more than 300 markets and coastal cities, towns and villages.

It is hoped that, with the help of additional funding currently under government control, new programs can be established that improve youth access to jobs and prevent poverty from being passed from generation to generation.

Yesterday in the Commons, Dame Diana said: “Can the Secretary of State explain why the local people in Hull and the use of Riding of Yorkshire were not trusted to wonder about how to look like the return locally and to help shape to those plans, rather than just Whitehall telling them what they should have with permanent changes in local government, in exchange for vague and unspecified promises of regeneration to date? “

In response, Mr. Jenrick said: “When we approach local government reorganization, we do so only in circumstances where there is a lot of local support and we have submitted a small number of proposals this year, including North Yorkshire.

“They then go through a consultation exercise where we notify the stakeholders and we take care to take the views of the local population. And then, of course, it comes to a minister under the law for the final decision.

“If a local government reorganization or repayment agreement is negotiated in the Honorable Madam’s part of the world, I know there is some local interest, of course we will comply with all those legal requirements.”