December 9: Yorkshire missing an economic opportunity

I READ with interest the letter ‘Will Yorkshire’s bloody-mindedness prove our undoing?’ from Elizabeth Peacock MP (The Yorkshire Post, December 5) with reference to the Yorkshire devolution debate.

The fact that the Leeds City Region has, in essence, been left out in the cold looks set to be recorded by historians as a collective failure of civic leadership.

This is only dwarfed by the seeming inability of North Yorkshire CC to recognise the economic and strategic case for the Leeds City Region to exercise powers on strategic transport issues in their districts of Craven, Harrogate and Selby – all of which have a strong functional economic relationship with the Leeds City Region.

This City Region has an economy valued at £50-60bn and is at least equal to Greater Manchester. It makes up over half of the Yorkshire economy and clearly has potential to deliver significant benefits to the national economy.

Yet research has shown that the Leeds City Region only generates only 65p for each public finance pound it spends. It is high time to put the focus back on economics. The Leeds City region needs a devolution deal similar to other areas, without further delay.