South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority is creating a new Business Advisory Board and a Mayor’s Economic Advisory Council, to allow more businesses to convene and engage with decisions undertaken at the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.
The Business Advisory Board will be made up of private sector representatives from a range of industries, building on the success of the Local Enterprise Partnership which has informed local economic policy, driven growth, and helped create more than 45,000 jobs since 2010.
Alongside, there will also be a new Mayor’s Economic Advisory Council (MEAC) established which will see the development of a strategic economic council with sector-specific national and international expertise from business, Government, and academic leaders. Their role will be to assist the mayor in setting and delivering a long-term economic plan for South Yorkshire to create jobs and grow productivity.
The MEAC will focus on evidence-based advisory outputs, with an emphasis on building stronger, collaborative offers across the north for transport planning, trade and investment promotion and innovation capabilities.
South Yorkshire’s mayor Oliver Coppard said: “I am determined to grow South Yorkshire’s economy; to harness our talent and potential, and to create thousands of new jobs in the industries of the future. South Yorkshire has to be a place where everyone has the chance to thrive. But we can only build a bigger, better economy if we work in partnership with our business community, with them playing a full role in shaping our policies and plans.
“The two new advisory boards we are setting up will not only deliver on my commitment to make our formal structures better reflect our business community, but will also bring in world leading academics, businesspeople and leaders to challenge, support, and shout about what we’re doing here in South Yorkshire.
“Our region is turning a corner. We’re more ambitious, more confident and we’re working better together across South Yorkshire. With these two new boards in place, I’ve no doubt that we’re going to build that bigger, better economy we all so desperately want and need.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been a part of the LEP since its inception in 2014. Their hard work has helped to shape our growth agenda, guide our economic policy, and brought significant investment to South Yorkshire. This new chapter is all about building on the legacy of that work so we can continue to improve the lives of people right across our communities.”
Richard Stubbs, LEP chair and CEO of Yorkshire & Humber Academic Science Network, said: “Across South Yorkshire we have been working for some months now on plans to evolve the great work of the LEP and to build on the positive impact it’s had on our region for the past decade.
“The new Business Advisory Board will allow elected leaders to engage with and convene a wider pool of businesses, harnessing a broad spectrum of expertise to make key decisions on how to grow South Yorkshire’s economy.
“The function of the Mayors Economic Advisory Council will be to shape the long-term vision for South Yorkshire, to use their expertise and look ahead at what it could be like in the next 25 years by harnessing the shared ambition across the business community, academics, and elected leaders.
“The LEP has made a significant contribution to our region’s economic growth and job creation over the past decade, and it has been a true honour to be a board member for several years, and to conclude my time on the LEP as chair, working alongside hard-working representatives from our business community who all give their time voluntarily for the good of our region.
“We now have an exciting opportunity to build on the years of positive work of the LEP, to collaborate more effectively with the ultimate goal of creating a South Yorkshire that everyone can be proud of, thrive in, and where people want to invest in.”
South Yorkshire’s Local Enterprise Partnership will evolve into the Business Growth Board and the Mayor’s Economic Advisory Council from September this year. In the March Budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that LEP’s would be integrated with local authorities by March 2024.
