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67-519: The West Midlands Regional Assembly ( WMRA ) was the regional chamber for the West Midlands region of England , established in 1999. It was based in Birmingham . It was abolished on 31 March 2010, its functions transferring to West Midlands Leaders Board and to Advantage West Midlands . The assembly was not an elected body and was made up of 100 members of which: The main functions performed by

134-558: A Labour MP at the 2023 Selby and Ainsty by-election . At county level, the least deprived areas are, in descending order – North Yorkshire, York and the East Riding of Yorkshire which all have roughly the same level of deprivation, and lower than the majority of England, including Cheshire and Northamptonshire . The region as a whole is one of the more deprived in England, measured by having far more Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in

201-756: A fairly extensive commuter network and an electrified section in the North of Bradford provides many commuter services. Sheffield has a smaller commuter rail network and there are also less extensive systems in Doncaster, Huddersfield, Wakefield and Harrogate, which connect the districts of the settlements to the centre by rail. The express service between Leeds and Huddersfield is notably quick. The South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive and West Yorkshire Metro subsidise commuters' travel with discount schemes. Class 399 tram-trains were introduced in Sheffield in 2017. Hull

268-476: A few Conservative MPs representing parts of Leeds (with a Lib Dem MP) and North East Lincolnshire, and all of Scarborough. Apart from Scarborough, they are unitary authorities. The least deprived districts are, in descending order – Harrogate, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Craven, and Selby – all in North Yorkshire. Like all of North Yorkshire, they are represented by Conservative MPs, aside from Selby which elected

335-561: A large freight port and an active fishing port. Immingham carries much freight transport via DFDS Tor Line and the Stena Line . Goole is Britain's most inland port and is used mostly for importing commodities such as coal and timber . The region also has a canal network. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal links West Yorkshire with the North West and the Aire and Calder Navigation links Leeds and

402-602: A precept (demand for payment) on the council tax . The Assemblies were expected to be elected by an Additional Member System similar to those used for the London Assembly , the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales . The Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Act 2003 made provisions for referendums to be held to create such assemblies, and to simplify the structure of local government where this

469-621: A year, normally in February, June and October. The full Assembly is responsible for providing regional leadership, agreeing regional strategic priorities, directing the development of the Integrated Regional Framework and endorsing key regional strategies. Membership comprises all 22 local authorities in this region, plus 15 Social, Economic and Environmental partners, and the National Parks for planning purposes. On 31 March 2009,

536-537: Is connected to London by Hull Trains ' services. North Yorkshire has a skeleton train network, with Scarborough and York being the main destinations. The Yorkshire Coast Line connects Hull to Scarborough . The Hull to York Line runs along the north of the Humber through Selby , and takes in Sherburn-in-Elmet and nearby rural stations south of York, being of great use to commuters to York since being reopened in

603-577: Is done. Three such referendums were planned, for the regions of North East and North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber . On 12 February 2004, Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford announced that elected Assemblies would be able to direct local authorities to refuse strategic planning applications that are not in the region's best interest. They would be able to look across local boundary constraints and ensure planning decisions are made with region-wide interests taken into account. On 8 July 2004, it

670-456: Is mild in winter and cooler in summer due to the influence of the Gulf Stream in the northern Atlantic Ocean . Air temperature varies on a daily and seasonal basis. Cities such as Sheffield, Leeds, and Bradford are generally cooler due to their inland and upland location, while York, Hull, and Wakefield are warmer due to their lowland location. The temperature is usually lower at night; January

737-490: Is required to produce a Regional Transport Strategy to provide long-term planning for transport in the region. This involves region wide transport schemes such as those carried out by the Highways Agency and Network Rail . Within the region the local transport authorities plan for the future by producing Local Transport Plans (LTP) which outline their strategies, policies and implementation programmes. The most recent LTP

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804-526: Is shadowed by the A18 , which is the main road through Scunthorpe. The single-carriageway A1079 connects Hull to York, and has been exceeding its designed capacity for many years. The main north–south and east–west routes interchange at a series of junctions to the south and east of Leeds, near Castleford. Leeds and Bradford have inner-city urban motorways, while Sheffield has the Sheffield Parkway and Hull has

871-476: Is that for the period 2006–11. In the Yorkshire and The Humber region the following transport authorities have published their LTP online: East Riding of Yorkshire U.A., Kingston upon Hull , North East Lincolnshire U.A., North Lincolnshire U.A., North Yorkshire , South Yorkshire , West Yorkshire and York U.A. The M62 motorway is Yorkshire's main east–west thoroughfare, and north–south routes are

938-551: Is the coldest time of the year and July is usually the warmest month. Snow is not uncommon in the winter, Yorkshire is mostly hilly/mountainous, and the Yorkshire Dales and the Pennines can have extreme snowstorms with high snowdrifts. Inland/upland settlements, such as Skipton or Ilkley, have more snow than coastal towns. Hull and Scarborough have less snow as their weather is moderated by the ocean. Climate data for settlements in

1005-530: The Clive Sullivan Way ( A63 ) which connect the city centres with the motorway network. Leeds has an inner-ring road network made mostly out of purpose-built motorway stretches which is mostly sub-terrain to the north of the city centre. Bradford, Huddersfield, Sheffield and York have inner-ring roads made by re-aligning existing roads while Halifax has a town-centre relief scheme made up of the Aachen Way and

1072-670: The M1 and the A1 , with only the A1 continuing further north, with an upgrade to motorway status currently being built between Leeming and Barton . The other main north–south road in the region is the A19 . The M180 (continuing as the A180) connects the ports at Grimsby and Immingham via the M18 ( European route E22 ). The A64 road connects areas in the north-east of the region to

1139-618: The Sheffield Supertram , owned by SYPTE and run by Stagecoach . Leeds and Bradford have more developed commuter rail systems but lack any mass transit system. The Leeds Supertram was an approved scheme in Leeds. However, the funding was pulled and the scheme has been replaced by the proposed Leeds Trolleybus scheme, which itself, was also cancelled. In the past Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Kingston upon Hull, Leeds, Rotherham, Sheffield and York have all had mass-transit systems. Airports in

1206-581: The South West Regional Assembly and the South West Regional Development Agency . A campaign for a Cornish Assembly had been running since July 2000, and attracted the support of a petition signed by 50,000 Cornish residents and visitors, which was presented to 10 Downing Street on 12 December 2001. The campaign had the support of all five Cornish Liberal Democrats MPs, Mebyon Kernow and others; they stated that

1273-575: The 1980s. South of the Humber, Scunthorpe and nearby rural stations are connected by the South Humberside Main Line , run by Northern . Grimsby is connected (also through Scunthorpe) on TransPennine Express ' South TransPennine route from Sheffield (originating at Manchester Airport ). The region is home to a rail land speed record. On 1 November 1987, an InterCity 125 travelled at 238 km/h between Northallerton and Thirsk . Only Sheffield has its own mass-transit system,

1340-519: The 20% most deprived districts than the 20% least deprived districts. Kingston upon Hull has the highest proportion of people not in education, employment or training NEETs in the region (and fairly high for the UK – 10.6%). This is another demographic extreme it shares with Knowsley in Merseyside. In March 2011 the region had the third highest overall unemployment claimant count in England with 4.4%. For

1407-895: The A1077; to the west, Can-Pack UK (parent company in Kraków ) is on the Skippingdale Industrial Estate, and makes aluminium beverage cans ; further north, Nisa (retailer) have their headquarters on the Normanby Enterprise Park, in Flixborough off the B1430. Further south on the Foxhills Industrial Estate towards the A1077 , Wren Kitchens have a large factory in a former B&Q warehouse, which closed in 2009; next-door to

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1474-445: The A15 at Elsham ; next door is IG Industries who produce polyethylene films ( shrink wrap ). There are two large oil refineries west of Immingham , owned by ConocoPhillips ( Jet ) and TotalEnergies . Kimberly-Clark made all of its Huggies nappies for Europe at Barton-upon-Humber until 2013; since 2016, the site has been the headquarters and factory of Wren Kitchens . Techrete on

1541-666: The Assembly was abolished and replaced by Local Government Yorkshire and Humber , until its subsequent closure in 2015. Yorkshire is one of the two regions (along with the North West ) that were expected to have a referendum about the establishment of an elected regional assembly . When the North East region of England rejected having an elected regional assembly in a referendum, the then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced that he would not move orders for other referendums before

1608-623: The Conservatives with 33 Labour, 19 Conservative and 2 Liberal Democrat. There was a 2.5% swing from Conservative to Labour. However, although Labour has around 60% of the region's seats, the geographic spread is mostly Conservative, due to the Labour seats having a much smaller geographic area. In the 2017 general election , Sheffield Hallam incumbent Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrats) was defeated by Labour candidate Jared O'Mara , with Labour taking all of South Yorkshire while remaining concentrated in

1675-642: The M1 near Barnsley near the bypass ( A628 ). The region's Manufacturing Advisory Service was until March 2016 at Saint Martins House in Potternewton next to Chapel Allerton Hospital , on the former A61, with two other offices at the Advanced Manufacturing Park , Catcliffe off the A630 Sheffield Parkway , and also on St. Georges Road in the west of Hull; the functions are now represented by

1742-654: The North Bridge flyovers. The Office of the Traffic Commissioner central office is on the B6159 in east Leeds (Hillcrest House), which processes England and Wales LGV and PSV licences . The Humber Bridge , the tallest bridge in the UK at 538 feet, was the world's longest suspension bridge from 17 July 1981 until 5 April 1998; it was built to connect with a proposed new town near the A15 /M180 interchange. The central hubs of

1809-450: The SW regional assembly was undemocratic and unaccountable, and believed Cornwall should be able to take decisions about local services in its own directly elected and accountable assembly. In July 2004, five Merseyside MPs, led by George Howarth MP, launched a Manifesto for Merseyside which proposed a Merseyside Assembly, which would take a form similar to the existing London Assembly. As well as

1876-618: The UK government published the Review of Sub-National Economic Development and Regeneration . The review brought forward the Government's plans to alter the structure of regional governance in England known as the Single Regional Strategy. The impact of the review was that the regional assemblies in their current form and function would not continue and that the regional development agencies were given executive responsibility for developing

1943-545: The UK's oil is refined on the Humber. Scunthorpe is where steel is smelted by British Steel Limited (former Corus Group before September 2010 then Tata Steel Europe until June 2016) in the east of the town; it is the largest steelworks in the UK. Golden Wonder crisps are made in Frodingham , opposite the steel works (former site of Riley's Potato Crisps); the brand originated in Scotland. Esca Food Solutions (another plant

2010-572: The WMRA included: Regional chamber Greater London has a directly elected London Assembly , which was established by separate legislation and is part of the Greater London Authority . Their original defined role was to channel regional opinions to the business-led regional development agencies . Their role later included scrutinising their regional development agency; integrating policy development and enhancing partnership working at

2077-687: The Wakefield 41 Business Park, near the A650. National Blood Service for the area is off the A6102 in the north of Sheffield, at the west end of the Northern General Hospital . Yorkshire in the past has been synonymous with coal mining . Many pits closed in the 1990s, with the last two that were open in the Pontefract area at Kellingley (closed on 18 December 2015) and Sharlston . In South Yorkshire, there

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2144-539: The abolition of the regional chambers, smaller local authority leaders' boards took over responsibilities for scrutiny of RDAs and single regional plans. The first local authority leaders' board, 4NW , was established in July 2008 and others were formed once the regional chamber for that region was abolished. By April 2010, eight leaders' boards had been established. In June 2010, the new Conservative - Liberal Democrat coalition government announced plans to remove funding from

2211-454: The area means that it is influenced by predominantly westerly winds with depressions and their associated fronts, bringing with them unsettled and windy weather, particularly in winter. Between depressions, there are often small mobile anticyclones that bring periods of fair weather. In winter anticyclones bring cold dry weather. In summer the anticyclones tend to bring dry, settled conditions which can lead to drought. For its latitude, this area

2278-510: The coal fields of West and North Yorkshire with the ports to the East of the region. There are also several smaller canals in the region, often built for quite specific purposes. Many stretches of the smaller canals in the region have been backfilled. The steepest locks in Britain are at Bingley – Bingley Five Rise Locks , built by John Longbotham , who designed the canal. Until 2011, Yorkshire Forward

2345-591: The five Merseyside boroughs, the proposals also included the Cheshire authorities of Halton and Ellesmere Port / Neston. The main argument was that the North West was too large and did not represent a cultural or economic area; something Merseyside did better. Since the General Election in May 2005, the concept of city regions has gained currency in academic, policy and government circles, with several think tanks pushing

2412-437: The government had canvassed regional assemblies as a partial solution to this anomaly. The Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott presented a Draft Regional Assemblies Bill to Parliament in July 2004. The bill outlined the structure of the proposed assemblies and defined their powers. The draft bill proposed the following structure: The draft bill would have given the assemblies the following powers: On 17 July 2007

2479-600: The historic nation of England, it should be preserved - with its own parliament similar to that of the Scottish Parliament - and that this is the only way the West Lothian question can be resolved while maintaining the United Kingdom. Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The population in 2021

2546-504: The idea as a viable alternative to elected regional assemblies. However, opinion is divided on the question of whether to impose new city regional structures from above or to allow existing elected bodies to come together on a more informal voluntary basis. The Campaign for an English Parliament , the minor English Democrats party, and several Conservative Party MPs, see a devolved English parliament as another alternative to regional assemblies. They believe that rather than breaking up

2613-462: The incoming Cameron–Clegg coalition government , with the associated government offices abolished in 2011. In the Yorkshire and the Humber region, there is a very close relationship between the major topographical areas and the underlying geology. The Pennine chain of hills in the west is of Carboniferous origin. The central vale is Permo-Triassic . The North York Moors in the north-east of

2680-704: The lowest teenage pregnancy rate. Rotherham had the UK's youngest grandmother – 26 years old. Her 12-year-old daughter gave birth on 26 August 1999. For multiple deprivation in England, measured by the Indices of deprivation 2007 , the most deprived council districts in the region are, in descending order – Kingston upon Hull (11th in England), Bradford (32nd), Doncaster (41st), Barnsley (43rd), North East Lincolnshire (49th), Sheffield (63rd), Wakefield (66th), Rotherham (68th), Kirklees (82nd), Leeds (85th), and Scarborough (97th). These areas are mostly represented by Labour MPs, with

2747-716: The main body of motorways. The M1 was originally designed to finish at the A1 at Doncaster; this section became the M18 in December 1967. The section from the Thurcroft Interchange to Leeds (originally known as the Leeds-Sheffield Spur) was essentially designed to replace the A61 , which is still the main road that connects the centres of Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield and Leeds, and continues through Harrogate and Ripon to Thirsk. The M180

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2814-450: The new boards and to remove their statutory functions. The boards may continue as voluntary associations of council leaders. Regional development agencies were abolished on 31 March 2012, with their functions being taken over by smaller local enterprise partnerships which are not based on regional boundaries. LEPs were themselves phased out in April 2024. In Cornwall , there was opposition to

2881-498: The north of Sheffield. The charity-funded Yorkshire Air Ambulance , established in October 2000, is based at Nostell Priory south-east of Wakefield on the A638 (previously at Leeds Bradford Airport) and RAF Topcliffe (previously until 2012 at Bagby near Thirsk); the helicopter can land on the main hospitals' roofs. The state-funded Yorkshire Ambulance Service is based next to Coca-Cola on

2948-565: The north, 2 Sisters Food Group have a large chicken processing plant (Premier Fresh Foods before 2000), built in 1988 as one of the largest plants of its type in Europe, which processes around 1,900,000 chickens per week (customers include KFC ). TSC Foods on the Queensway Industrial Estate at the A18 /A1029 roundabout in south-east Scunthorpe supply many foodservice products (sauces) to most UK pub chains . Caparo Merchant Bar, next to

3015-500: The northernmost areas of the region, being next to the River Tees, and less than a mile from Over Dinsdale on North Yorkshire's northern edge. There are day and night direct rail connections from the region to Manchester Airport . National Express coach services also run directly to Heathrow Airport from the region. Hull has daily ferries (former North Sea Ferries ) to Zeebrugge and Rotterdam ( Europoort ). Hull also has

3082-450: The organisation Made in Yorkshire . The UKTI office for the region was off the A653 , directly south of Bridgewater Place in Holbeck , and its successor (in July 2016) DIT Yorkshire and the Humber is at the Digital Media Centre near Barnsley Interchange , run by Mark Robson. NHS Yorkshire and the Humber , the regional strategic health authority , was at the roundabout at the bottom of Kirkstall Road in Leeds, with another office in

3149-399: The other coalfield areas and Hull. However, the 2019 general election saw Labour lose ground, mainly to the Conservatives, within the region. In the Office for National Statistics International Territorial Levels (ITL), Yorkshire and the Humber is a level-1 ITL region, coded "UKE", which is subdivided as follows: As part of the national transport planning system, the Regional Assembly

3216-427: The rail network in the region are Leeds , Sheffield and York . The East Coast Main Line passes through Leeds and York, operated by London North Eastern Railway which has its headquarters in York. The Midland Main Line finishes at Sheffield, with a less regular service to Leeds, operated by East Midlands Railway . East–west routes are operated by TransPennine Express to Manchester and Liverpool . Leeds has

3283-459: The region and Humberside Airport boasts an active heliport. Jet2.com , a popular low-cost airline at Leeds Bradford has around fifty Boeing 737 aircraft. Sheffield City Airport formerly served the city of Sheffield. However, the airport struggled to attract many scheduled services and closed following the opening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport. Lying outside of the region Teesside International Airport (former RAF Middleton St George ) serves

3350-446: The region are Jurassic in age, while the Yorkshire Wolds and Lincolnshire Wolds to the south east are Cretaceous chalk uplands. This region of England generally has cool summers and relatively mild winters, with the upland areas of the North York Moors and the Pennines experiencing the coolest weather and the Vale of York the warmest. Weather conditions vary from day to day as well as from season to season. The latitude of

3417-427: The region are Leeds Bradford Airport at Yeadon , Doncaster Sheffield Airport (which opened in April 2005 on the former RAF Finningley ) near Doncaster and Humberside Airport (which opened in April 1974 on the former RAF Kirmington ) near Brigg in North Lincolnshire . Leeds Bradford Airport is the largest in the region by passenger numbers, Robin Hood boasts the longest runway (2.7 km) of any airport in

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3484-434: The region, Hull has the highest rate with 7.8% which is the highest for any English district; North East Lincolnshire is next with 6.4%, and Doncaster has 5.2%. Richmondshire has the lowest rate with 1.8% and Harrogate is next lowest with 1.9%. In the 2015 general election , 39% of the region's electorate voted Labour, 33% Conservative, 16% UKIP, 7% Liberal Democrat and 4% Green. Labour had almost twice as many seats than

3551-498: The region: The official region consists of the following subdivisions: North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull unitary authorities used to be part of Humberside which meant the region was called Yorkshire & Humberside. The Yorkshire and Humber Assembly was a partnership of all local authorities in the region and representatives of various economic, social and environmental sectors. The full Assembly normally met three times

3618-462: The regional level across the social, economic and environmental policy agenda; as well as carrying out a wide range of advocacy and consultancy roles with UK government bodies and the European Union ; but their public profile was low. Each acted as a regional planning body with a duty to formulate a regional spatial strategy including regional transport strategy, replacing the planning function of county councils. The English Regions Network (ERN)

3685-507: The relevant provisions expired in June 2005. Before the UK exit from the European Union on 31 January 2020, the European constituency of Yorkshire and the Humber was coterminous with the English region. The region has fewer degree-educated adults than the England average and the UK's highest rate of cancer. For top-tier authorities, Kingston upon Hull has the highest teenage pregnancy rate, closely followed by North East Lincolnshire . For top-tier authorities, North Yorkshire has

3752-408: The remaining one-third were appointees from other regional interest groups. The London Assembly is part of a wider Greater London Authority and has 25 directly elected members. Its role is defined in the Greater London Authority Act 1999 . There was some inconsistency in the naming of the individual assemblies. Each chamber adopted either "regional assembly" or "assembly": The London Assembly

3819-542: The single regional strategy. The regional chambers were abolished between 2008 and 2010 with their executive functions transferring to the regional development agencies. Local authorities were given an increased role in scrutiny at the regional level including scrutiny of regional strategies and the RDAs through participation in new local authority leaders' boards which were established in each region. The two bodies would jointly produce new single regional strategies, with Ministers exercising an oversight function. Following

3886-424: The steel works in Scunthorpe, are the UK's largest producer of merchant bar ; nearby is British Steel Wire Rod. Vossloh Cogifer UK (former Corus Cogifer before 2012), a joint venture of Vossloh Cogifer (of Reichshoffen ) and the former Corus Rail, make railway points to the west of Scunthorpe; Voestalpine also make train tracks too at a huge foundry in Austria Pipers Crisps are on a former airfield next to

3953-419: Was Maltby Main Colliery and Hatfield Colliery (closed in June 2015) at Stainforth . The NUM was very Yorkshire-dominated. Coal still plays a part in the economy – there are two large power stations along the Aire Valley, with Drax being the second largest in Europe with 3,945  MW of capacity, and Eggborough which is owned by the Czech Republic's Energetický a průmyslový holding (EPH) since 2014 and

4020-446: Was 5,480,774 with its largest settlements being Leeds , Sheffield , Bradford , Hull , and York . It is subdivided into the East Riding of Yorkshire , North Yorkshire (excluding areas in the Tees Valley of North East England ), South Yorkshire , West Yorkshire , North Lincolnshire , and North East Lincolnshire . The committees for the region ceased to exist after the 12 April 2010; regional ministers were not reappointed by

4087-413: Was announced that the referendums would be held on 4 November, but on 22 July Raynsford announced that only the North East England vote would go ahead on that date. This region was chosen because the government thought it was the most likely to approve the proposal. However, the voters rejected the assembly by 696,519 votes to 197,310, or about 78 percent to 22 percent. This overwhelmingly negative vote

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4154-746: Was established as a directly elected body by separate legislation and is part of the Greater London Authority . It continues to exist after the abolition of the eight regional chambers. Each assembly corresponded to a region of England . In May 2002, the then Labour UK government published a white paper , Your Region, Your Choice , outlining its plans for the possible establishment of Elected Regional Assemblies. These assemblies were to be responsible for regional strategies dealing with sustainable development, economic development, spatial planning , transport, waste, housing, culture (including tourism) and biodiversity. They would be funded primarily by central government grant, with powers to raise additional funds from

4221-410: Was in Milton Keynes before October 2007) make all the beef patties for McDonald's in the UK and Ireland at their factory in Crosby in the north-west of the town, processing around 7000 cattle a week – about 12,000 kg an hour; 2.25m cattle are killed in the UK each year. IAC Group (Ecomold before 2008) have a car interiors plant on the Foxhills Industrial Estate in the north of Scunthorpe off

4288-439: Was owned by British Energy until 2010; Ferrybridge C closed on 23 March 2016. The distribution area once looked after by the regional electricity company Yorkshire Electricity is now looked after by Northern Powergrid (former YEDL), owned by Berkshire Hathaway (since 2001) of Omaha, Nebraska . The supply side of the region is now owned by npower (former National Power , now owned by RWE of Essen , Germany). 29% of

4355-435: Was seen as an insurmountable obstacle to elected regional assemblies elsewhere in England outside London. On 8 November, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott told the House of Commons he would not move orders for the other two regions within the effective time limit of June 2005 permitted by the Act. The 'no' vote by the North East also affected the Labour Government's attempt to address the West Lothian question , because

4422-424: Was the Regional Development Agency charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber economy, where some 270,000 businesses contribute to an economy worth in excess of £80 billion. The region has the second lowest rate of GVA in England. However, Leeds has a much higher average GVA than most of South Yorkshire. Business Link Yorkshire until November 2011 was on the Capitol Business Park in Dodworth , west of

4489-433: Was the umbrella organisation for England's eight partnership regional chambers. While the London Assembly worked with ERN on some issues it was not a full member of the Network. The eight regional chambers as defined by the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 were not directly elected. About two-thirds of assembly members were appointees from the county and district councils and unitary authorities in each region ,

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