Minister ‘must reply to bid for devolution’

SOUTH YORKSHIRE’S first metro mayor Dan Jarvis has said new Local Government Secretary James Brokenshire must answer “important” and “big” questions about whether he will support pan-Yorkshire devolution.

Voters across Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster elected Mr Jarvis to serve as the region’s mayor on Thursday but the powers available to him are far from being agreed with Government and the devolution process has been dogged by deep divisions.

Doncaster and Barnsley have joined with 16 other local authorities to urge Ministers to now deliver a pan-Yorkshire devolution deal, but Sheffield and Rotherham were the only authorities in the region not to sign up and prefer a South Yorkshire settlement.

Mr Jarvis has been clear in his support for a “One Yorkshire” deal and yesterday said he will be having “important conversations” with Mr Brokenshire in the coming weeks.

The Labour MP for Barnsley East told BBC Sunday Politics: “Let’s see what the next few months bring.

“I think there are important conversations now to be had with the Government, we’ve got a new Secretary of State and there’s an important conversation about what his response is to the detailed bid document that he’s received from 18 out of the 20 local authorities.

“My immediate priority is actually to sit down and meet with the four leaders here, work out how we can achieve that consensus.

“But yes, there are important big questions about the future of a wider deal.”

The Yorkshire Party said yesterday Mr Jarvis must be ”under no illusions that he must remain true to his campaign pledge to fight for One Yorkshire devolution.”