Civic, business, and university leaders met in Parliament yesterday (Tuesday 22 October) to show how Yorkshire can provide a “blueprint” for the new Labour government, regional mayors, and businesses to address health and economic inequalities that cost UK plc at least £180bn a year.
The event, sponsored by Fabian Hamilton, MP for Leeds North East, heard how Yorkshire and the Humber makes the “perfect test bed” for new, devolved ways of working, as set out in a white paper – Empowering Local Places for Health and Prosperity – which calls on central government to devolve more health powers to local places.
Based on experiences of tackling inequalities in the Yorkshire and Humber region, which has both the third lowest life expectancy and third lowest employment rate in the country, the white paper also provides national, regional, and business leaders with 10 key recommendations to close such health disparities and build a more inclusive economy.
At last night’s event in the Commons, the white paper authors urged attending cross-party MPs, regional leaders, NHS executives, and representatives of influential national bodies to adopt the recommendations as “a valuable blueprint” to address “immediate challenges and unlock opportunity,” in line with Labour government’s five missions to rebuild Britain.
The white paper, originally launched in February and since updated to align with new government policy, aims to prompt action to kickstart growth through a focus on health and wellbeing, taking advantage of opportunities such as enhanced devolution to regional mayors, proposed NHS reforms, and the anticipated UK Industrial Strategy.
MP sponsor of the parliamentary event, Fabian Hamilton, MP for Leeds North East and author of the Building Homes for Britain report which examined how poor housing exacerbates social problems such as ill health, said: “Good health and wellbeing go to the heart of our government’s missions. Kickstarting economic growth, breaking down barriers to individual opportunity, and building an NHS fit for the future requires looking at the deep-seated challenges we face through a health and wellbeing lens.
“As a Yorkshire MP, I am pleased to see leaders in the Yorkshire and Humber region leading the way in putting forward practical recommendations, based on evidence from years of partnership-working, to close the health and wealth divide, not just in Yorkshire but across the UK.
“Our government has pledged a ‘devolution revolution’ and I look forward to seeing how the opportunities of further devolution in Yorkshire can help the region’s leaders go further and faster, while also offering examples from which other parts of the country can learn.”
Richard Stubbs, Chief Executive of Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber and one of the Empowering Local Places for Health and Prosperity white paper authors, said: “Our report focuses on People, Place, Partnerships, Purpose – the 4Ps that we believe can really support the current direction of travel, putting more tools in the hands of local leaders.
“With our diverse economy, and as one of only a handful of regions to be fully covered by mayoral devolution deals from next year, Yorkshire and the Humber offers the perfect test bed for trialling new devolved powers and ways of working that could close health and economic disparities and make a significant contribution to the government’s missions.”
Prof. Liz Mossop, Yorkshire Universities Board Member and Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, said: “Universities across Yorkshire are already driving collaborations to improve the health, productivity and prosperity in their places, working with key partners and academics to build capacity in skills, research, innovation, business support and community engagement.
“Our white paper is a call to action to build on this approach and forge much closer links between universities and policymakers. This will be critical in addressing both the NHS workforce crisis and population health challenges outlined in Lord Darzi’s independent review of the NHS.
“Today has been a fantastic opportunity to share our recommendations with national policymakers and we look forward to continuing these conversations.”
Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “There is compelling evidence that locally led interventions deliver better outcomes, which is why we have been calling for some time for government to let local leaders lead.
“Our white paper demonstrates the impact of purposeful partnership-working between the NHS and local leaders and how we can unleash the power of devolution to do even more. Now is the perfect time to help plot a path towards meaningful change and we hope our recommendations provide a useful starting point.”
As well as putting forward the recommendations to national leaders, the parliamentary event was also an opportunity for national policymakers to learn first-hand about how Yorkshire and Humber is leading the way on collaborative, cross-sector approaches to improving health and economic growth.
In a call to action the white paper concludes: “Despite encouraging signs and the firm commitment of regional partners, health and economic disparities between our region and the UK average continue to grow.
“Urgent action is needed, and we look forward to working closely with national, regional and business leaders to take advantage of accelerated devolution, growth investment, and proposed health service reforms. Together, we can begin to turn the tide on Yorkshire’s health and wealth divide and create a blueprint for other regions across the country.”
