York and North Yorkshire need fiscal powers to unlock growth, says Northern Powerhouse chief
York and North Yorkshire will not fulfil their economic potential without stronger devolved powers and targeted public investment, according to Henri Murison, chief executive of Northern Powerhouse Partnership.
Speaking about the region’s growth prospects at the Combined Authority’s ‘Ambition 2035’ event in York, Murison said that while there is significant goodwill within the business community and clear economic opportunity, the fundamental enablers of growth have not been consistently in place.
“The reality is that the team that became the Combined Authority simply did not have meaningful financial levers for many years,” he said. “We are starting from a low base.”
Murison pointed to the long-delayed regeneration of York Central as a critical example of what is at stake. York, he argued, has been constrained by a lack of commercial space, limiting its ability to attract and retain higher-value occupiers.
“There are businesses that want to locate here, but they haven’t had the space to do so. In some cases, they have gone elsewhere,” he said.
While the region has strong fundamentals – including specialisms such as the bioeconomy – Murison stressed that cities compete primarily on talent and connectivity. Despite York’s relative prosperity, housing supply remains tight, and transport links across North Yorkshire are weak.
A recent review highlighted connectivity gaps not only between York and major Northern cities such as Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, but within the region itself. Murison singled out Scarborough, which continues to record the lowest median wages of any town in England.
“Geographically, Scarborough is not far from York. But very few businesses in York employ significant numbers of people who live there,” he said. “If you don’t have access to a car, commuting across this region is extremely difficult.”
The challenge, Murison added, is fundamentally different from metropolitan regions such as Greater Manchester. “The interventions needed here are not the same as those required in a large urban conurbation,” he said, calling for greater investment in rural public transport to unlock productivity.
On devolution, Murison welcomed additional funding but cautioned that most tax revenues generated by growth in the region continue to flow back to central government. The economic uplift from projects such as York Central or potential future data centre investment would largely benefit the Treasury, he said, unless fiscal reforms are introduced.
“The solution is not to complain,” Murison said. “It is to argue for a fairer system.”
He pointed to initiatives such as Northern Powerhouse Rail, which include new taxation powers and responsibilities, as evidence that greater regional control is possible. Similar mechanisms, he argued, could be deployed to address both regional and sub-regional challenges.
“The long-term solution is simple,” he concluded: “York and North Yorkshire need to keep more of the benefits of the growth they create. That’s how you take real control of your economic destiny.”
