Luke Campbell MBE, Mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire, has responded to the Spending Review announcements made by government on 11 June.
Further details on regional settlements are due over coming weeks, but the new Mayor has emphasised much more needs to be done to reverse years of underfunding for the region.
Initial announcements by the Chancellor included an expected new multi-million pound four year package for transport funding, support for the Humber Viking Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project, and national level commitments to other priority areas for Hull and East Yorkshire including affordable housing and AI.
Mayor Luke Campbell said: “This is a very disappointing start, and we will be pressing the government to match our ambitions with much more support in future. As a new Combined Authority, we are developing exciting plans at pace for better transport connectivity within the region and with the rest of the UK. We now have shovel-ready schemes in place for some 5,000 new homes on brownfield sites. We’re backing two neighbouring areas' AI Growth Zone bids as we start to create a major cluster of expertise including the University of Hull’s role as a UK leader in AI education.
“The government needs to back this area and reverse the last 14 years of underfunding and bad policies which have hit local people so hard. We must be a priority for local growth fund support - giving us a long-term settlement that gives us a level playing field and the same opportunities as city regions across the UK.
“We will be making the case for at least the same levels of funding awarded to other Combined Authorities in the Midlands and the North to give Hull and East Yorkshire the opportunities we deserve as a future business and industry powerhouse for the country.”