South Yorkshire to have a deputy mayor ‘from early 2025’ who will have police commissioner powers

Oliver Coppard was pressed about the timeline at a South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority scrutiny meeting.

The region’s mayor told the members that he was going to appoint a deputy but first, he wanted to be able to do the job because he thought it was “important I understand the personalities, the processes, the policies in place”.

He said: “But over time, absolutely, we’ll bring in a deputy mayor. The police have already begun that process internally.” He added this could happen “early-ish next year”.

Mr Coppard told the members that he wasn’t going to rush the process as they wanted to go out and find the best person to take on the job.

A report to the authority said: “This is a significant additional responsibility for the SYMCA mayor, with an additional annual budget for policing of about £350 million.”