Mayor Steve Rotheram has told of his pride following a year that saw the Liverpool City Region ‘move closer than ever’ to offering its 1.6m residents a fairer, more equal future.
The Mayor was writing in the Combined Authority Annual Review which sets out major achievements during 2022-23 in delivering a fairer, stronger, cleaner, connected and vibrant city region with no-one left behind.
Highlights include the introduction of a £500m fleet of new publicly owned trains, a new hydrogen bus fleet and progress towards bus reform.
Major developments in driving innovation in the city region, success in delivering jobs, training, skills and apprenticeships, and installation of the region’s half-publicly owned joint venture LCR Connect, an 220km ultrafast full-fibre digital network, also feature in the review.
And the 64-page document shines a light on progress towards reducing inequality, promoting diversity and inclusion, delivering social value and providing support during the cost-of-living crisis.
It also celebrates investments that strengthened the economy, supported businesses to thrive and create well-paid jobs, and helped the city region host a Eurovision Song Contest that earned a perfect ‘douze points’ from fans, organisers and politicians.
In his foreword, Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, says:
“From the thousands of jobs, training and skills opportunities we’ve created, to the vital investments we’ve made to support our residents through the cost-of-living crisis, I’m incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made to transform people’s lives for the better.
“At every step of this journey, our residents have been at the heart of our decision making. Because, for investment to mean anything, local people and communities have to feel its benefits.
“As Mayor, I am making sure that we are putting our money where our mouth is to help our people and businesses to thrive.
“Looking to the future, I want to take advantage of our strengths – and potential – and turn them into profitable businesses, creating better, greener jobs and bringing greater prosperity to local people.
“Ours is a region on the rise. As its mayor, I want to build a vibrant and inclusive Liverpool City Region that is the best place possible for the 1.6m people who live and work in our area to succeed – an area where no one is left behind.”
A joint statement on behalf of the Combined Authority portfolio holders who are also leaders of the city region’s six local authorities, Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral, says:
“We are all very proud of the places that we lead and that our collaboration is enabling our region to shape a prosperous future for our residents.
“This Annual Review demonstrates what we can achieve by coming together at the regional level, making the most of devolution, and the difference it can make for the people who live here. Prioritising jobs, skills and fairness, improving transport, housing, delivering social value and dealing with the climate emergency are important to all of us.
“That is why we will continue to work together as a team to address these issues and deliver the vision for a fairer, stronger, cleaner city region – where no one is left behind.”
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Chief Executive Katherine Fairclough said:
“In this, our second Annual Review, you will see the continued progress and momentum built during 2022-2023.
“These achievements, include the first of the new, state-of-the-art trains coming into service, progressing the reform of bus services, creating thousands of jobs, opportunities for residents to build their skills, helping people who are homeless into stable tenancies and people who are long-term unemployed in to work.
“We remain optimistic for the future, but many challenges remain, not least of these being the national economic picture and the impact of the cost of living on the Combined Authority, its constituent Local Authorities and the people we serve.”
To view the full Annual Report please click here.
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