What does 'devolution' mean and why have the politicians of Yorkshire taken so long to sort themselves out?

The Yorkshire devolution plan has not yet been finalised.

With a year to go to the General Election, George Osborne set out his vision for the ‘northern powerhouse’, a North of England with towns and cities so well connected their collective strength could take on the major urban economies of the world.

And, critically, a North of England taking more decisions for itself through new mayors, directly-elected and covering areas that crossed council boundaries and wielding powers transferred from Whitehall to help grow their local economies faster. The then Chancellor’s apparent conversion to the cause of devolution was welcomed in the North but his insistence that elected mayors be the condition of taking powers from the Government was questioned in many quarters, including by his Liberal Democrat coalition partners.

Business leaders plea to end devolution deadlock ‘or damage the region’s economy and reputation’

But while others debated, Greater Manchester decided to take the plunge and their devolution agreement, including a mayor, was announced in November.

The election of a Conservative government in May 2015 ended the debate over mayors. Freed from coalition niceties, Mr Osborne was clear real powers would only go to elected mayors.

As they grudgingly admitted the mayors argument was lost, Yorkshire council leaders were faced with a second problem - geography. Which council areas should join together and elect new mayors?

Yorkshire’s tangle was graphically illustrated in September 2015 when the Government asked councils interested in devolution to put forward their proposals. Yorkshire submitted six different plans, some overlapping, some involving councils who had not even signed them off.

The Yorkshire Post Says: Move aside, narrow-minded politicians - top business leaders backing devolution is monumental

Labour dominated South Yorkshire was not the obvious place to reach an agreement with a Conservative chancellor of the exchequer. But with Mr Osborne needing to show progress on his Northern Powerhouse agenda before the Conservative Party conference in autumn 2015, council leaders in the area felt they had maximum leverage and struck a deal.

New powers and extra money would be handed to the Sheffield City Region and a mayor for the area elected in May 2017.

But the rest of Yorkshire has remained unable to reach agreement with each other, let alone the Government.

A Leeds City Region deal - covering West Yorkshire, Harrogate and Craven, faltered over concerns in North Yorkshire about the ‘loss’ of two districts and opposition from West Yorkshire Conservative MPs worried about the near-certainty that the area’s mayor would be Labour.

IN FULL: The letter sent to Yorkshire councils by hundreds of businesses stressing devolution concerns

Despite working on a common economic agenda around ports and wind power, the idea of a Humber deal and mayor failed to gain traction amid the longstanding division between the authorities on both sides of the estuary.

A solution known as Greater Yorkshire, covering the whole region outside South Yorkshire failed to get support as some council leaders questioned what the economies of West and North Yorkshire had in common.

Then the Sheffield City Region deal started to fracture. Brexit, tensions between council leaders over the proposed location of South Yorkshire’s HS2 station, the desire of some to consider other devolution options and a court ruling on the legality of the deal all culminated in this week’s decision to delay the mayoral election until next year.

January 2017 saw the emergence of “A Devolution Proposition for All of Yorkshire” - now known as the ‘One Yorkshire’ plan - proposing a Yorkshire mayor and cabinet working with combined authorites representing different parts of the region.

However, then Northern Powerhouse Minister Andrew Percy, the Brigg and Goole MP, rejected the idea of a single Yorkshire deal and called for the Sheffield City Region to press ahead and for a solution to be found for other parts of the region.

But the Sheffield City Region deal suffered a further setback when Chesterfield and Bassetlaw decided to withdraw and Doncaster and Barnsley refused to proceed on a South Yorkshire-only basis as they explored other options.

Yorkshire Day, August 1, saw the publication of a new statement following a meeting of Yorkshire council leaders declaring their intention to form a "coalition of the willing" behind a single Yorkshire devolution plan.

But Rotherham, Sheffield and Wakefield did not take part in the meeting and Mr Percy's post-election successor as Northern Powerhouse Minister, Jake Berry, has insisted the Government continues to want to see South Yorkshire authorities press ahead with their existing deal and for the rest of the region to pursue their own agreements.

IN FULL: The letter sent to Yorkshire councils by hundreds of businesses stressing devolution concerns

The Yorkshire Post Says: Move aside, narrow-minded politicians - top business leaders backing devolution is monumental