Dan Jarvis was elected Mayor of the Sheffield City Region in May 2018. Read his manifesto commitments here.
Since being elected, working with the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and our local councils, millions of pounds are being invested in communities across our region, in projects such as the Glassworks in Barnsley; the Gulliver’s Valley Theme Park in Rotherham; Castlegate Grey to Green Phase 2 in Sheffield; and Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
Priorities for the Mayor have included transport and active travel, growing our region’s economy, and devolution.
South Yorkshire now has a transport strategy that aligns with a pan-northern transport strategy; the Mayor has launched a major bus review, which has received more than 7,000 consultation responses from residents, businesses and operators to understand how our bus services can better serve our communities; and Britain’s most successful female Paralympian, Dame Sarah Storey, has been appointed as our Active Travel Commissioner.
The Sheffield City Region is also developing new partnerships; through initiatives such as a Music Board and a Youth Combined Authority. Much has been done – and there’s lots more to do
Find out more about what has been achieved during the Mayor’s term so far:
Prosperity for All
Awarded £95.5 million in Local Growth Fund (LGF) funding, with the SCR Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for projects including:
- Waverley District Centre project in Rotherham
- Sheffield’s ‘Grey to Green’ programme, including new cycle routes, planting and public art around Castlegate and Exchange Street.
- Doncaster’s Quality Streets programme
- Digital Media Centre 2, in Barnsley
- Barnsley Glass Works regeneration scheme
- Expansion of the Yorkshire Wildlife Park
- New Gulliver’s Valley theme park in Rotherham
- Vulcan to the Sky
- Doncaster’s Civic and Cultural Quarter
- Parkwood Springs Ski Village
- Rotherham Century Business Park
The Mayor has also:
- Opened the new Boeing Factory in Sheffield, the new McLaren factory in Rotherham, and three new University of Sheffield Advanced Engineering Research Centres.
- Led a Northern Powerhouse delegation to the UK-China Regional Leaders Summit
- Made the case in Parliament and with fellow Metro Mayors for Sheffield City Region’s fair share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and submitted evidence to the APPG on post-brexit funding.
- Made the case to government alongside leaders from across the north for further devolution of funding and powers to metro mayors and local areas and submitted evidence to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Parliamentary Select Committee.
- Hosted and opened the Convention of the North, welcoming over 1,000 people from across the North of England to drive a pan-northern endeavour for more resources, funding and powers for our regions and towns.
- Launched the SCR Demos Good Credit Index Project, work that will help free communities from the cycle of bad credit.
- Brought together a programme of activity to promote culture and grow our visitor economy, including the formation of the SCR Music Board and investment in vital projects.
- Started the development of a new Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) with the LEP.
A 21st Century Workforce
- Championed Working Win: the Sheffield City Region’s trailblazing health-led employment trial. Almost 6,000 residents have accessed the innovative research trial.
- Launched the Sheffield City Region’s Skills Bank, to help businesses invest in their workforce and improve their productivity
- Supported the Children’s University, to improve life opportunities for disadvantaged children from the region
- Launched the Talent Bank programme in partnership with South Yorkshire Futures and Inspiring The Future, which will encourage businesses and employees to volunteer their time.
- Granted £4.1m support for a new film, tv and VFX Academy and Film Studio in the Dearne Valley from the MCA and LEP
- Awarded funding for and opened the Sheffield Hallam University National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering, a catalyst for innovation focusing on tackling food industry challenges.
- Worked with fellow Metro Mayors to press government for more local control over the skills system.
- Convened the region’s first Mayor’s Co-operative Advisory Panel to bring a co-operative perspective to the policy agenda and promote collaboration with the sector.
- Announced a £330,000 investment in free travel passes for all Sheffield City Region residents currently accessing an employment support programme.
- Opened Sheffield Hallam University’s Festival of Education bringing together more than 1,000 people to celebrate all the good work taking place in the education sector.
Fighting Poverty and Inequality
- Convened the first Regional Homelessness Summit, bringing together more than 100 key partners from across the region
- Convened the first Sheffield City Region round-table session, in partnership with the Directors of Public Health, to understand how to reduce excess winter deaths
- Secured Sheffield City Region Living Wage accreditation
- Improved the gender balance on the LEP Board
- Became the first LEP Board in the country to appoint a trade union representative onto its Board.
- Launched the new Sheffield City Region Youth Combined Authority.
- Led the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism by all members of the Mayoral Combined Authority.
- Opened the National Energy Action Conference on fuel poverty in Sheffield.
- Published the first Combined Authority gender pay gap report within one month of the Mayoral election
- Lobbied the Minister of State for Health and Social Care in a joint letter with Sheffield MPs to support a grant for a helipad at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
Transport and Co-operative Public Services
- Published the Mayor’s vision for Transport
- Approved a detailed Sheffield City Region Transport Strategy aligned with the Transport for the North Strategic Transport Plan.
- Announced a review of bus services in South Yorkshire, to be chaired by Clive Betts MP
- Convened transport and active travel partners at the Mayor’s Transport Conference
- Appointed Dame Sarah Storey as Active Travel Commissioner for the Sheffield City Region
- Launched the new Tram-Train service linking Rotherham and Sheffield – the first time such technology has been used in the UK. In its first year of operation more than one million journeys have been made.
- Submitted the Region’s first Transforming Cities Fund bid, for up to £220m in transport funding.
- Approved £3.8m for improvements to the A61 inner ring road in Sheffield
- Lobbied Government for upgrades to the Hope Valley Line and Sheffield Midland station as well as investment on the East Coast Main Line to improve quality and punctuality of services.
- Represented Sheffield City Region on Transport for the North
- Published the region’s first Integrated Rail Plan, committing to better connectivity and improvements for South Yorkshire’s transport network.
- Lobbied Northern Rail alongside leaders and metro mayors in the North for compensation for residents who will be forced to travel on Pacer trains into 2020.
- Launched the Little Big Changes campaign to encourage greater levels of walking and cycling infrastructure improvements.
Housing and the Environment
- Led the Sheffield City Region declaration of a climate and environmental emergency
- Lobbied the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to ensure that those affected by the severe flooding receive their share of funding and support, and for long term investment in flood defence and infrastructure.
- Brought together more than 120 cross-party northern leaders and MPs to support the growth of the Northern Forest.
- Granted £3.46m for the Upper Don Valley flood alleviation scheme in north west Sheffield
- Delivered an Armistice Tree Planting project in schools across the region
- Joined mayors and council leaders at the National Clean Air Summit, to call on Government to adopt legally binding air pollution limits, and to provide the funding and powers required to deliver zero emission transport networks
- Agreed LGF funds for 35 affordable homes in Darfield
- Agreed £350,000 in LGF funding for 25 houses and apartments aimed at first-time buyers in Mexborough
Governance and appointments
- Agreed a joint position on the progression of devolution in the region with the four South Yorkshire leaders.
- Moved Mayoral Combined Authority meetings to a more accessible location and introduced webcasting of meetings
- Appointed the first trade union representative to the LEP
- Recruited a new LEP Chair, James Muir.
- Led the adoption of the Armed Forces Covenant to ensure that our employment and equal opportunities practices do not discriminate against armed forces members, veterans and their families.
