This week's key messages: Last week’s Spring Budget had several implications for South Yorkshire with measures to address issues such as economic inactivity, low growth, cost of living pressures and poor transport connectivity. Highlights include establishing a 'Universal Support' scheme to help people with disabilities get into work, a new Investment Zone for the region, … Continue reading South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Weekly Policy Briefing (24 March) →

The Spring budget's key takeaway for South Yorkshire: Devolution & governance. Further details on the ‘trailblazer’ devolution deals with GMCA and WMCA were revealed, providing a blueprint for other MCAs to follow. These will see income streams increase as business rates are fully retained, single-pot settlements, with increased powers over housing, retrofit, and skills. LEPs … Continue reading South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Weekly Policy Briefing – Spring Budget Special (17 March) →

Press release from South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority: Yorkshire and Humber manufacturers benefit from £4.9M Made Smarter scheme Manufacturing businesses across Yorkshire and Humber can now join the £4.9m Made Smarter scheme, which will help them digitalise their business through expert business support. The programme, which is being delivered by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined … Continue reading Yorkshire and Humber manufacturers set to benefit from £4.9M Made Smarter digitalisation programme →

This week's key messages: This week we celebrated International Women's Day to both celebrate women and highlight the issues and inequalities that continue to exist. The Economist have revealed in their Glass Ceiling Index, which measures the role and influence of women in the workforce, that in 2022 Britain sat 17th out of the 29 … Continue reading South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Weekly Policy Briefing (10 March) →

This week's key messages: Official statistics show that the ‘green economy’ is booming, growing faster than other sectors last year. Investment into the sector has really ramped up over recent decades, and South Yorkshire is one such ‘hotspot’ of activity. A recent trial of the four-day working week has been received as successful. The vast … Continue reading South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Weekly Policy Briefing (3 March) →

This week's key messages: Data from the ONS on household incomes and labour markets in South Yorkshire provide an insight into the long-term trends in our region around work patterns, gender inequality and economic inactivity. Recent data from Tussell that calculates the Government’s bill for third-party advisers has soared to a record £2.8bn in 2022 … Continue reading South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Weekly Policy Briefing (24 Feb) →

Written by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority As part of the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), we want to put your values and views at the heart of transforming skills in our region. The South Yorkshire LSIP aims to make sure that businesses in our region have the skills they need to take full advantage … Continue reading Have your say: South Yorkshire Local Skills Improvement Plan Business Survey (SYMCA) →

This week's key messages: Data from the second half of 2022 show that economic inactivity is continuing to fall. A (record) high movement of working-aged people from economic inactivity to employment, particularly amongst those aged 16 to 24 years and 50-64. Analysis of the social factors influencing life expectancy finds that educational disadvantage carries the … Continue reading South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Weekly Policy Briefing (17 Feb) →

Report produced by Shivani Sickotra, a PhD student funded by the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council and SYMCA, researching the skills and education landscape of South Yorkshire. Relative deprivation across England using the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) has been widely analysed, including mapping overall deprivation within each English LAD (Rae, 2019). This geo-visualisation … Continue reading Spatial mapping of South Yorkshire highlights areas of education, skills and training deprivation →

This week's key messages GDP figures released on Friday indicate that the UK technically avoided a recession but has zero growth. This week the PM reshuffled Cabinet, with several restructured departments and new ministerial appointments. This includes a new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. A report by think tank Common Wealth looks into … Continue reading South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Weekly Policy Briefing (10 Feb) →

This week's key messages The Centre for Cities highlights that the official numbers of unemployment mask substantial numbers of hidden workers, particularly in large towns and cities in the North.  The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee explains that rising economic inactivity has been fueled by a reduction in labour supply, primarily caused by an … Continue reading South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Weekly Policy Briefing (3 Feb) →