Minutes:
Mayor Jarvis joined the meeting on Microsoft Teams from Parliament. He began by saying that it had been a privilege to serve as Mayor, he was proud of what he had achieved and grateful for all the support he had received.
Achievements during his time as Mayor included:
Mayor Jarvis recognised that there were still challenges ahead with the post-Covid economy and the cost-of-living crisis. It would be vital to secure more and better jobs for the area and attract new companies. Bus, tram and public transport in general would be very challenging. These would be priorities for the new Mayor, along with securing further funding.
Despite all this, he was immensely proud of what had been achieved together and there had been a definite change of mood in the region and a feeling of growth and productivity.
Mayor Jarvis raised the issue of MCA staff. The staff worked very hard and did an excellent job, but the SYMCA had the smallest number of staff of any Combined Authority and this needed addressing. The new Mayor would need to look closely how to increase capacity while remaining efficient and lean.
His advice to the new Mayor would be to build on what had been achieved and to work with the Leaders and not against them.
When asked if he had any regrets Mayor Jarvis replied that he had been the only Metro Mayor that had taken office without a devolution deal in place and it had taken half his term of office to achieve the deal with the legal agreement being signed in July 2020. It was a regret that more could have been achieved if the Deal was in place earlier.
Mayor Jarvis reiterated his thanks to all officers for their hard work over the last four years for which he was immensely grateful. He would do all he could in his role as MP for Barnsley Central to support the new Mayor and the SYMCA.
Cllr Ennis commented that the Mayor had listed what he thought was an incredible record of achievements in such a short space of time. There had been some opinion that Parliamentary and constituency duties plus Mayoral duties would be too much, but he felt that Mayor Jarvis had pulled it off and left a base for the new Mayor to hit the ground running.
Mayor Jarvis agreed that his decision to stand for Mayor whilst remaining an MP had been controversial. It had been immensely hard work, but he felt it had been the right decision. He had worked hard to bring people together across all parties and felt this had been successful, he had also done all he could to ensure that South Yorkshire’s voice was heard in Parliament and would continue to do so along with the other South Yorkshire MPs.
Cllr Ross commented that the Committee had taken the view that, in the long-term, franchising may provide a better bus service for South Yorkshire and asked the Mayor whether he felt the Enhanced Partnership was the end product or a steppingstone to full franchising.
The Mayor replied that it would be a matter of “wait and see” if additional government funding would be available, and recognised that the situation was frustrating.
There had been no choice other than the Enhanced Partnership route, and this was the only way to draw down the emergency bus funding from the government.
It was hoped that the Enhanced Partnership would provide short to medium-term improvements, but this would again be dependent on the funding available.
The new Mayor would need to progress the work around the appraisal and consideration of franchising, but this would not be possible without significant resource from national government.
Cllr Ross thanked Mayor Jarvis for his responsiveness to requests from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, his co-operation had been much appreciated.
The Mayor replied that he had valued the advice and contributions from the Committee; he had learned a lot about local government during his time as mayor. He wished members all the best for the future.
Cllr Ennis suggested that the Committee should send a letter of thanks to Mayor Jarvis. This was agreed.
Action: Letter of thanks to be sent to Mayor Jarvis on behalf of the Committee.