An announcement which will see Bradford have greater control over a share of £1.4 billion of funding for transport and infrastructure improvements earmarked for the city region has been welcomed.

Bradford Council leader, Councillor David Green, was speaking yesterday as the Government announced the transfer of powers and funding to boost jobs and growth to Leeds City Region.

The deal will give the 11 councils in the region, including Bradford, an unprecedented level of control over spending to help businesses grow and ensure future investment.

A £1 billion West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund will be put in place for investment in public transport and the highways network, with the potential to create 20,000 jobs in the medium term. A further £400 million fund will be available to modernise infrastructure across the city region.

Other benefits include ultra-fast broadband to 88,000 homes, and more than 16,000 businesses, with the intention to roll this out throughout the city region by 2015, as well as full wireless coverage in Bradford and Leeds city centres by the end of the year.

One aspect of the changes – the development of an “apprenticeship hub” network – could have particular meaning for Bradford.

The Telegraph & Argus reported last month about the Council’s plans for its own apprenticeship training agency as part of a four-pronged £7.7m programme to Get Bradford Working and create more than 1,000 jobs, apprenticeships and work placements.

One element of this was an agency to work with businesses to offer up to 400 more apprenticeships over the next two years.

A £1.5 million bid was submitted to the Government, and despite yesterday’s City Deal announcement, funding for this element still remains unclear.

Coun Green said: “The City Deal gives us, and all local authorities in the city region, a greater say in what happens locally.

“We are clear about our ambition for our district and how we want to see Bradford benefiting from the new deal.

“We aim to directly link the City Deal’s focus on employment and skills to our Get Bradford Working job creation programme by establishing a new apprenticeship hub. Transport will be another key area of investment which should bring clear benefits to the district. This is in addition to the joint super-fast broadband proposal for Bradford and Leeds.”

The creation of the transport fund, which will cover the city region, was welcomed by Councillor James Lewis, Metro chairman. The fund, which was exclusively revealed in the Telegraph & Argus last August, will mean the creation of an authority for transport, economic development and regeneration, to manage transport investment.