South Yorkshire devolution deal could be signed into law in June after local leaders reach agreement

Sheffield City Region metro mayor Dan Jarvis and council leaders approved the consultation into the £30m-a-year devolution deal following a long-awaited breakthrough earlier this month.

The deal with the Government could include a mayoral tax, a deputy mayor, extra powers on public transport and the ability to keep 100 per cent of business rates.

The consultation will be launched on February 3 with the results to be reported in the week commencing April 13

Secretary of State Robert Jenrick will consider the report, before drawing up a draft order which will need to be agreed by Sheffield City Region leaders. If all goes well it will be laid before Parliament by June.

Rotherham Council leader Chris Read described the agreement as a "welcome, pragmatic step", while Mr Jarvis said it was a "hugely significant step forward".

The deal was agreed after years of wrangling between local leaders, following the breakdown of talks in 2017 when Doncaster and Barnsley rejected a deal in favour of a Yorkshire-wide arrangement.

A mayoral council tax precept could be introduced in order to fund operations of the city region on top of the £30 million per year which is handed down from Government.

Mayor Jarvis will also be able to have borrowing power in order to get more funds and be able to have a deputy mayor and a political advisor.

Government will introduce a pilot scheme in Sheffield City Region combined authority which will enable the area to retain 100 per cent of any additional business rate growth beyond expected forecasts. These pilots will begin, subject to further detailed discussions between the combined authority and Government.

Bosses say the mayoral combined authority ‘should have control’ over the consolidated devolved capital transport budget.

There will be full devolution of the adult skills budget which provides training for people over the age of 19 at colleges across the region.

Extra powers on housing are also being sought in order to ‘improve the supply and quality of housing’ to secure the ‘regeneration or development of land or infrastructure’.

The council leaders from Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley would form the mayor’s cabinet. They will perform a ‘supporting and advisory function’ to the Mayor and Combined Authority and where powers reside with the mayor, the SCR Cabinet may ask the mayor to reconsider his strategies and funding plans if two-thirds of the members agree to do so.

The meeting comes at the start of a week when Ministers meet with leaders across Yorkshire in what Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry described as a "devolution dash".

With Prime Minister Boris Johnson publicly promising to 'level up' the country and hand more powers to metro mayors following his election success in the North, hopes are high of progress after a lull in the devolution agenda during Theresa May's premiership.

Tomorrow leaders from the East Riding of Yorkshire and Hull councils will travel to London for talks with Mr Berry, though an agreement on the best way forward is still yet to be reached.

While Hull City Council leader Steve Brady wants a deal which includes the four councils around the Humber estuary, North Lincolnshire and North-East Lincolnshire are understood to prefer linking up with other authorities in Lincolnshire.

On Wednesday Mr Berry will join Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke in Leeds for talks with West Yorkshire leaders which were halted by the recent General Election.

And on Friday he is hoping to meet leaders from North Yorkshire and the City of York, though this will depend on the details of the proposed Cabinet meeting to be held in an undisclosed location in the North of England on the day the UK leaves the European Union.