Responding to a series of questions from me and writing in a personal capacity Cllr Leo Hammond thinks that East Yorkshire has missed out of hundreds of millions of pounds of government money because the previous administration failed to negotiate a devolution deal. In contrast the York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority will receive extra grants of £10m this year and £19.5m next year which will be spent on transport, education and housing schemes. East Yorkshire will get nothing.

In September 2020 the Conservative group led by Cllr Richard Burton agreed to pursue a Mayoral deal with a bid for £1.6bn. When Burton was replaced as leader by Cllr Jonathan Owen the bid was ditched never to see the light of day.

Despite the fact that the majority of ERYC Conservatives later voted for a County deal, Cllr Hammond blames the Labour run Hull City Council and the Liberal Democrats for refusing entertain anything other than a county deal which would have meant less money and powers being devolved to our area. The former ERYC leadership thought that any deal was better than no deal.

He praises the new ERYC leader Cllr Anne Handley for persuading East Riding and Hull City Councillors that a Combined Mayoral Authority is the best way forward. He says the Government seems delighted at the change of direction.

Moving forward Cllr Handley is leading the Devolution project for East Yorkshire. She previously owned her own clothing business, was deputy head of Goole College and has worked closely with business as part of the redevelopment Goole. The leader of Hull City Council Mike Ross is the lead elected member for Hull.