Letter points to Yorkshire devolution agreement frontrunner

The letter from the leaders of Harrogate and Craven councils describes a so-called Leeds City Region devolution deal with a combined authority of council leaders and a new elected mayor wielding powers over transport across the whole area as providing “the best opportunity to improve the economic outcomes for our respective communities”.

It is the latest evidence that momentum is building behind the Leeds City Region proposal as the most likely of the options on the table that could be agreed in the coming weeks.

Yorkshire council leaders and ministers have been engaged in months of discussions over how to give Yorkshire more powers over its own affairs.

South Yorkshire councils have agreed their own deal which includes the creation of a new elected mayor for the area next year.

But council leaders in North, West and East Yorkshire have not been able to agree which districts should be partnered together to exercise powers in areas such as transport, skills and planning.

West Yorkshire councils have been pursuing a Leeds City Region bid that could include some of their neighbours in North Yorkshire.

But that has been resisted by other authorities keen to see a single Greater Yorkshire devolution deal struck with the whole of West, North and East Yorkshire.

North Yorkshire County Council has also expressed concerns that allowing districts such as Craven and Harrogate to partner West Yorkshire could have a negative impact on the county as a whole.

Craven and Harrogate councillors will have an opportunity at meetings this week to approve initial moves to be part of a Leeds City Region deal.

The letter to ministers from the two councils’ respective leaders acknowledges that technical issues would rule out them being full members of the Leeds City Region in time for the election of a mayor in 2017.

But it asks that any deal struck with West Yorkshire includes a “clear route map” to them becoming full members in the years after.

It also seeks reassurance that any move to include them as part of a partnership with York, North Yorkshire and East Riding does not stop them from joining the Leeds City Region.

The Government has made clear that devolution deals must include elected mayors and the Leeds City Region proposal would see them sit as part of the existing combined authority made up of council leaders.

A report to be considered by Craven councillors today says that in order to hold mayoral elections in May next year, devolution deals will likely have to be agreed by the end of March and of the options on the table “only the [Leeds City Region] deal seems likely to meet this deadline”.

Transport in Harrogate and Craven is currently the responsibility of North Yorkshire County Council and shifting that power, along with the associated Government funding, to the Leeds City Region headed by a mayor would represent a major shift in the way the areas are run.

Although the Leeds City Region deal seems the most likely to be completed, major obstacles remain including the objection of West Yorkshire Conservative MPs who have made clear they prefer the Greater Yorkshire idea.