Offering an alternative view on the airport reopening, the Green Party candidate says climate change should play a part in this decision.

He says "aviation is not sustainable" and would prefer the money to be spent on buses and more environmentally-friendly modes of transport.

We're now onto the question of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, which was shut in 2022.

Mr Coppard says he's committed £138m through the Combined Authority to reopen the airport and give South Yorkshire a "sustainable, aviation centre of world-leading advanced manufacturing."

He says trying to reopen the airport has not been "easy", but says he's convinced it's the right course of action.

The Conservative candidate says that there is "no quick fix" a mayor can offer to deprivation problems.

An audience member accuses him of blaming people for their own situations and Mr Allen responds by saying people should take a degree of "personal responsibility".

Douglas Johnson wants to help voluntary organisations get the funding they need to improve deprived communities.

Hannah Kitching, the Lib Dem candidate, says the "blame game" between Labour and Conservative politicians "doesn't help people in communities like Thurnscoe".

"Communities are the absolute focus of what I want to do," she says.

She says South Yorkshire needs more control over its bus network and acknowledges people's desires to "feel safer" and have "more visible" community policing.

Conservative candidate Nick Allen says big Sheffield-centric projects have been prioritised over the last few years.

He believes smaller communities should be invested in and community centres should be championed.

Oliver Coppard, the Labour candidate and mayor for the last two years, says he will bring the buses back into public control within 12 months if re-elected.

He says, however, that places like Thurnscoe have "lost out" because of government austerity with Barnsley having, he says, 50% of its council funding cut since 2010.

Mr Coppard says South Yorkshire needs funding to invest in good jobs, good public transport and local services.

"Give me another four years and I'm absolutely sure we can make people's lives better," he adds.

Lucy Ashton
BBC Sheffield political reporter

Back in 2020, the Office for National Statistics said all but one town in the Barnsley borough had high levels of deprivation.

It was a similar story across the region but since then the government has given Yorkshire and the Humber £1.7bn of Levelling Up funding.

The money is aimed to boosting disadvantaged areas, through new high streets, leisure facilities and libraries.

South Yorkshire was also chosen as the government’s first Investment Zone, with aims of attracting £1.2bn of private funding by 2030.

But some of these schemes, such as the revamp of high streets in Sheffield and Dinnington, are taking a long time to appear.

It was announced back in 2019 that Stocksbridge would receive £24m of funding for the High Street and create a new library and education hub.

So far no building work has started and parts of the project have been scrapped completely.

Charlotte Williams is the chief executive of Station House Community Association in Thurnscoe.

She says that the people she talks to would give you a "wide eye" if you mentioned levelling up.

She wants to know how the candidates will help places such as ex-mining communities.

Debate host James Vincent has just introduced the candidates.

Unfortunately, David Bettney, the SDP candidate, is unable to be here today.

However, we will be able to share a video from Mr Bettney later.

James Vincent
Political Editor, BBC Yorkshire

Welcome to the newest city in Yorkshire where we’re ready to go for the South Yorkshire mayoral debate.

Image source, JThomas/Geograph

We’re at Cast Theatre in Doncaster this morning – I’ll leave you to come up with your own lines about politicians on stage auditioning for the mayor’s role.

South Yorkshire has had a regional mayor since 2018 – so there is a chance to see what’s been done already as well as what candidates are offering.

There's loads to get into, in particular whether this job has captured the imagination of the public – only 20% of people voted in Doncaster last time out.

And in a city with three mayors – (Civic Mayor, Elected Mayor and South Yorkshire Mayor) – do they think the third is a good idea?

Five candidates are standing to become South Yorkshire's Mayor, with voters going to the polls on Thursday 2 May.

David Bettney - Social Democratic Party

Douglas Johnson - Green Party

Hannah Kitching - Liberal Democrats

Nick Allen - Conservative Party

Oliver Coppard - Labour Party

The mayor's responsibilities cover areas which have been devolved from central government.

These include public transport, infrastructure, economic development, business, skills and regeneration.

Image source, Getty Images

South Yorkshire's mayor will also take on the duties of the outgoing police and crime commissioner (PCC), who holds South Yorkshire Police to account.

A public consultation was held on the move in January after Mr Coppard asked the government to transfer the PCC's powers to the mayoralty when current commissioner Alan Billings stepped down in May.

The mayor also acts as a political figurehead who lobbies central government for funding for the region.

South Yorkshire's mayor represents about 1.4m people in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.

The leaders of those four council areas all sit on the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), which makes collective decisions on certain issues which span their boundaries, such as economic development, public transport and the environment.

The mayor is essentially the publicly elected chair of the combined authority.

Anyone who lives in one of the four council areas and is registered to vote is eligible to take part in the election.

The role is currently held by Labour's Oliver Coppard, who was elected to succeed Barnsley Central MP Dan Jarvis as mayor in 2022.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of BBC Yorkshire’s third and final mayoral debate.

We've already heard from the candidates in West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, now it is the turn of those hoping to become South Yorkshire’s elected mayor.

We’ll bring you all the latest live updates and analysis right here as it happens.

And, of course, you can also hear the debate live on BBC Radio Sheffield.

The debate itself begins at about 11:15 BST.