Councillors gear up for fight over plans for elected mayors across Yorkshire

In opposition, the Conservatives had proposed holding the votes next year. They are now delaying the referenda for a year as they draw up plans to offer extra powers to cities that adopt the Boris Johnson-style system.

The Government wants each of England's 12 biggest cities – including Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford and Wakefield, according to council boundaries – to hold a referendum. Other towns and cities will also be invited to hold them if they wish, but Ministers will be on collision course with many council leaders in Yorkshire who are strongly opposed to the change.

The referendum date was disclosed in the Department of Communities and Local Government's business plan published yesterday. Every Whitehall department released a plan setting out what they intend to do and how voters can hold them accountable for it over the next five years.

David Cameron, who announced the plans beside Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, said the move would help reverse the trend towards centralisation of power in Whitehall and would encourage ministers and officials to govern for the long term.

He presented it as an alternative to Labour's culture of targets, which he argued encouraged short-term thinking, as public sector managers sought immediate results to meet centrally-imposed deadlines at the expense of long-term improvements to services.

"Instead of bureaucratic accountability to the Government machine, these business plans bring in a new system of democratic accountability – accountability to the people," he said.

Ministers who fail to implement their plan face being dragged into meetings to explain why they are falling behind, and the public will be able to see where the Government is not living up to its word.