How city regions can deliver a defence dividend
South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard takes a selfie with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Wales' First Minister Eluned Morgan, Scotland's First Minister John Swinney, Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill and other regional mayors during the first Council of Nations and Regions, at Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh, Scotland, October 2024 (Andy Buchanan/Pool via AP)
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The world has become a more dangerous place. Our communities are rightly demanding greater physical security, economic security and a greater sense of agency.
I welcome the government’s signing of the security and defence partnership at the UK-EU summit this week, as a clear statement of intent about our shared endeavour towards peace and security.
That agreement follows the Prime Minister and Chancellor’s commitment to make the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War. I’m in no doubt that’s the right thing to do in an increasingly uncertain world.
This month marks the third anniversary of war in Europe; a conflict that has upended our national security and cast the geopolitical world into turbulence.
In Ukraine, we’ve witnessed modern warfare that is both as basic – and horrific – as it has ever been, dependent on the raw and rapid reproduction of artillery, but also more modern than ever before, with drones now a central feature of the battlefield. ‘Militaries win battles, economies win wars’ is a famous dictum, but it is now clear that our domestic security, and the chance of greater economic security, are dependent on modern city ecosystems, producing at speed and at scale.
City regions working together with the government can make that vision a reality through a ‘defence dividend’ to create jobs, wealth and opportunity in every corner of our country. South Yorkshire must be central to that ambition. With companies such as Boeing and BAE Systems already invested in the region, this is an opportunity to establish South Yorkshire’s status as a defence industrial leader, rebuilding our region’s industrial base, and creating the high-skilled jobs of the future.
In light of the recent local elections, and in particular in Doncaster, we need to take every opportunity to create jobs, training and tangible delivery across our communities, especially those who feel left behind.
The University of Sheffield ranks second in the Russell Group for Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) funding with 26 per cent growth in annual defence R&D spend. South Yorkshire has secured over 20 grants to advance R&D in aircraft engines, mechatronics, aviation fuels, and electric propulsion.
Investment in the South Yorkshire region for Project Vulcan would deliver Walsin’s global R&D facility in advanced materials in the aerospace, clean energy and defence sectors; further investment in the Secure Defence Innovation Facility at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre would drive innovation in the defence supply chain; and the Advanced Materials Accelerator can drive commercialisation and competition in the UK defence supply chain. Taken together, they would boost innovation and security of supply that would deliver about 2,000 jobs and £600m of private investment for South Yorkshire. Those investments would represent the real world impact of the defence dividend.
The signing of the security and defence partnership will now enable the EU and UK government to explore whether the UK can participate in the EU-backed Security Action for Europe fund. If agreed, access to this £150bn investment has the potential to be a gamechanger for South Yorkshire if the defence industry is able to bid from the fund.
The government is in the critical window of finalising the Industrial Strategy, Strategic Defence Review, as well as the Comprehensive Spending Review. The defence dividend potential in city regions can only be realised if we harness these opportunities together.
The test for the government at the Spending Review is that it is able to use city regions – especially those that have experience historic under-investment but that are ripe for opportunities – to give us greater security, regional growth and ultimately to raise living standards.
Oliver Coppard is the Labour mayor of South Yorkshire
