North of England council chief executives united today in a call to have a “seat at the table” during Brexit negotiations.
Greater devolution will help regional economies navigate the uncertainty for businesses following the EU referendum vote, the chief executives of Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield agreed during a panel discussion at the Northern Powerhouse conference.
Pat Ritchie, chief executive of Newcastle City Council said: “The uncertainty we’ve all talked about today is very apparent and part of the answer to addressing this is being able to make decisions at local levels on local economies. If we can get closer to decisions around investment we can respond more quickly to questions and we can be more agile.”
An audience of more than 100 business representatives, when asked whether they thought the uncertainty would fade once the Brexit deal was struck, all failed to raise their hands.
John Mothersole, chief executive of Sheffield City Council, said: “We risk a period of inaction and continued uncertainty and while we envisage greater clarity at the end of two years, the uncertainty won’t be over.”
Sir Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council, said the North shouldn’t be “just sat around waiting for the next speech from the prime minister.” Local government and businesses need to drive their own priorities. “Businesses need to get behind this, not just as a brand but as a programme, a programme of action,” he said.
Leeds City Council leader Judith Blake said: “We’re told that there’s a table to sit around, we don’t know how many chairs there are going to be.”
The North of England’s productivity is 13% behind the UK average and 25% behind London and the South East, according to panellist Professor Peter Slee, Vice Chancellor at Leeds Beckett University.
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