Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the cost of the Sheffield City Region mayoral election.

Should Sheffield City Region Combined Authorities proceed to elect a Mayor with full powers, that newly elected Mayor would benefit from a range of powers devolved from central government, as well as new funding, including:

• £30 million a year for 30 years to invest in local strategic priorities;
• Responsibility over the region’s transport budget;
• Strategic planning;
• Skills funding

The associated cost of an election was made clear to Leaders throughout the process. We have estimated that the cost of the May 2018 mayoral election to the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority and its four constituent councils, including costs of the election booklet containing candidate information (which is required to be distributed to each elector), is likely to be in the range £1.5 million to £2 million.

An election of a mayor without powers is certainly not without benefits for Sheffield City Region, they would be a significant public figure who would both be chair of the combined authority and could take their place as the voice of the region alongside the other city region mayors in the Northern Powerhouse and in other forums with government or stakeholders.