Yorkshire’s three Metro Mayors have united under a new White Rose Agreement to champion Yorkshire and work together across key areas where they share mutual priorities. Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard, and Mayor of York and North Yorkshire David Skaith signed the Agreement at the historic Selby Abbey which borders the three Mayoral areas. The Agreement outlines the priority issues the Mayors will work on together as well as what they will champion and advocate for Yorkshire collectively at a national and international level, and includes transport policy. Following the elections for the Hull and East Yorkshire Mayor in May, the three mayors say they will seek to work closely with the winner and discuss their involvement in the White Rose Agreement.
Mayor of York and North Yorkshire David Skaith said: “People across Yorkshire have a strong local identity, but when it comes to keeping communities safe, getting to work or college, or doing business, people don’t care about boundaries between one area of Yorkshire or another. They just care that they’re connected to opportunity and that’s what the White Rose Agreement is all about.
“Yorkshire is a place that’s beloved by the people in it, and as a globally recognised brand. We want to share the unique strengths we each bring to the table, to ensure that we’re championing the region as a great place to live, work, visit and invest. Working together, we want every town, every rural hamlet, every coastal community, as well as our big cities, to feel the benefits of our collective ambition to deliver more for the people that we serve.”
The three directly elected mayors committed to harnessing the powers granted by devolution to improve local communities, and say they will work to secure deeper devolution to drive growth and tackle inequalities, adding: “As Yorkshire Mayors, there are also opportunities for us to work together on shared interests to achieve impact on a bigger scale for the benefit of the combined 4.5 million people in our regions. In support of this, we pledge to improve rail connectivity [and] improve cross-border bus services.
“We are committed to improving buses within our regions, but we know hundreds of bus journeys cross our borders each day. We commit to working together to improve cross-boundary bus services and delivering bus reform to connect towns and cities within Yorkshire.”
