Annual Review 2022/23

Introducing this year’s Annual Review, Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, says:

‘Since I was elected as Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, I’ve been working to build a fairer, more equitable future for the 1.6m people who call our area home – and the past 12 months have seen us move closer than ever to achieving

‘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.

‘From the roll out of our new fleet of publicly owned £500m trains and hydrogen buses, to the launch of our £2 bus fares and the MyTicket frozen at £2.20, to the £70m we’ve invested in active travel and the progress we’re making towards reregulating our bus network – we’re well on our way towards building a London -style transport network that’s faster, cheaper, cleaner and better connected.

‘While transport – our trains, canals and docks – made us the gateway to the First Industrial Revolution, I want our strengths in wind, tidal and hydrogen to make us the leader of the Green Industrial Revolution.

We’ve got the potential to establish ourselves as the UK’s Renewable Energy Coast, ensuring that clean, predictable energy is in bountiful supply and that we smash through our target to be net zero by 2040 at the latest – at least a decade before national targets.

‘Working in partnership with our outstanding local universities, we are well on our way to establishing our area as an innovation powerhouse, which is why I have pledged to invest 5% of the region’s GVA in R&D over the coming years, almost double the UK government’s national targets.

‘We’re putting the infrastructure in place to provide the fastest internet speeds in the country through LCR Connect, a joint venture that is half publicly-owned. Meanwhile Mersey Tidal Power will give access to bountiful clean energy, generating enough clean, predictable power to meet local needs.

‘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.’

Steve Rotheram