County leaders sign up on proposed devolution deal

Mr Young joined North East Lincolnshire Council Leader Coun Philip Jackson, along with Coun Martin Hill from Lincolnshire County Council and Coun Rob Waltham from North Lincolnshire for the ceremonial event held at Scunthorpe’s 20-21 Visual Arts Centre.

Mr Young said: "It’s fantastic to be here in Lincolnshire today announcing our devolution deal for the Greater Lincolnshire area. It comes alongside extra funding, more powers and a new directly elected mayor for the Lincolnshire area. I know it’s going to have a dramatic impact across the whole of the Lincolnshire County."

Coun Hill said: "This is a deal which will be fantastic for Greater Lincolnshire, from the Humber down to the Wash.

"It gives us a lot of extra spending power over the next 30 years, £24million a year for the next 30 years, and some additional money straight away that we can spend on our priority areas. But importantly it will give us extra powers as well to make sure that we can direct that spending in areas that we know local people need it, around infrastructure, around transport, around housing, flood defence and various other areas where we know we’ve got need in the county.

"I think particularly businesses really understand how important this is because it's not just about getting more money from government, it's not just about getting more powers for government it’s also about working with the private sector.

"We've seen it in other areas like Birmingham, the West Midlands and Manchester that having a devolution deal does unlock that confidence with businesses.

"They will come to the area confident that you're on side with growth and economic development and more importantly, you've got the government behind you supporting as well."