Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dave Petley, in his capacity as chair of Yorkshire Universities, and Sarah Norman chair of Yorkshire and Humber Councils Chief Executives Group and Chief Executive of Barnsley Council have set out, in an Opinion Piece published in the Yorkshire Post, how a renewed partnership between the two organisations is helping shape the future of Yorkshire.
The two have renewed their commitment to work in partnership, 4 years after a groundbreaking MoU, which has been hailed as best practice nationally,
The partnership will create opportunities for communities, and connect graduate talent with the public sector, while positioning the region as a powerhouse for inclusive, sustainable growth and highlighting how Yorkshire is emerging as a national model for civic collaboration and innovation.
This op-ed was originally published by the Yorkshire Post on 12 April 2025.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Spring Statement painted a sobering picture of the headwinds buffeting the UK economy. Unprecedented and unchartered global and geopolitical forces are shaping and remaking the government’s domestic and foreign policy agendas.
As we seek to acclimatise to what appears to be a new norm, understanding how these challenges impact the people, communities, and places in our region, and the actions needed to mitigate the consequences of these developments, requires the redoubling of efforts to harness all the talent, capacities, and capabilities of the public, private, and voluntary sectors
Four years after the launch of the groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Yorkshire and Humber Councils (YHC) and Yorkshire Universities (YU)—the representative bodies for local government and higher education in the region—we have renewed our commitment to work in partnership for the benefit of the region.
From May 2, there will be full coverage of Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) in Yorkshire and the Humber. Five mayors, with the advent of Hull and East Yorkshire and Greater Lincolnshire mayoralties, will be in office. Local authorities are founding partners in the evolution of MCAS
It is testimony to how our region is under-pinned by collaboration and has the appetite to acquire further devolved powers and responsibilities, that local authority leaders and mayors are working in tandem to create the conditions to develop and drive growth, prosperity, and access to opportunities for more people. The contributions of business and industry, as well as the higher education sector, represented by YU, are pivotal to whether we succeed or not.
Local government is no stranger to navigating acute financial challenges, and the region’s universities are now facing their own difficulties. It would be a false economy to neglect or to retreat into sector isolationism at a time when civic partnerships are needed more than ever, and the benefits of joint working are becoming increasingly apparent.
The initial phase of our collaboration has yielded substantial results. The MoU has been instrumental in the region being awarded 10 million pounds of funding from UK Research & Innovation—through the Yorkshire and Humber Policy Engagement and Research Network (Y-PERN) and the Yorkshire and Humber Policy Innovation Partnership (YPIP).
These projects are enabling our universities to widen and deepen their partnerships with communities and institutions. Nationally, this MoU is seen as an exemplar of good practice, which other regions are keen to replicate. The opportunities and challenges posed by new technologies, as well as the political, economic, societal, and climate ruptures and change we face, require us to work even closer together to create the necessary critical mass and confidence for us to be ambitious and optimistic about Yorkshire’s future.