On 2 May 2024, Tracy Brabin was re-elected as Mayor of West Yorkshire after a first term which began in 2021. With specific powers on transport, housing, regeneration, finance and policing, the Mayor works with the Mayoral Combined Authority, council leaders, business representatives and partners for the benefit of the region.
On 2 May 2024, Tracy Brabin was re-elected as Mayor of West Yorkshire after a first term which began in 2021. The Mayor holds powers on transport, housing, regeneration, and finance. The Mayor works with the Combined Authority, regional partners, council leaders and business representatives for the benefit of West Yorkshire and its residents.
The Mayor also holds the functions of the Police and Crime commissioner and is supported by an appointed Deputy Mayor for Policing, Alison Lowe OBE. The Mayor brings the region greater influence within Government at a national level, and alongside other metro Mayors, campaigns for greater devolution.
Read Tracy Brabin's Mayoral pledges for West Yorkshire
With the Mayor of West Yorkshire as its directly-elected chair, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority brings together the local authorities of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield, working in partnership with the City of York.
This way of working combines the insights and benefits of private sector knowledge and expertise with robust, transparent, public sector governance, accountability and oversight from the Combined Authority. This is important as the region takes on further devolved powers and funding from central Government. Together, we are working hard to make our region be recognised globally as a place with a strong, successful economy where everyone can build great businesses, careers and lives supported by a sustainable environment and world-class infrastructure.
It means we can put the long term needs of our communities and the people who live and work in West Yorkshire at the heart of everything we do, ensuing we can support inclusive growth and supporting the needs of our region's employers. We also play a central role in travel across West Yorkshire, operating the Metro network of almost 14,000 bus stops, travel centres and public transport information across the region, and working closely with West Yorkshire bus operators to improve services and the bus network. Metro supports free and subsidised travel, concessionary fares, transport to and from school for more than 40,000 West Yorkshire pupils, and manages the MCard travel card.
Community organisations working to make West Yorkshire safer are encouraged to apply for the latest round of the Mayor's Safer Communities Fund.
West Yorkshire’s roads are safer thanks to the public submitting footage of dangerous drivers through Op Snap.
A new multimillion-pound plan aims to guarantee a healthy working life to everyone in West Yorkshire, through new personalised support for people who are out of work because of a disability or health condition.
Ambitious plans to bring trams back to West Yorkshire, and deliver a multibillion-pound boost to the economy, have secured a major funding boost from the government.
Parents and guardians are being urged to take action and protect their children by attending free car seat safety check events happening in the coming months across West Yorkshire.
Yorkshire businesses have written an open letter to the Chancellor calling on government to back the recently published Yorkshire’s Plan for Rail, led by Lord David Blunkett.
More support services are being offered to victims of serious road crashes with the creation of a new role.
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority's new partnership with SignLive will make public transport more accessible for British Sign Language users in the region.