THE plans for a Yorkshire-without-Sheffield devolution bid have been boosted by supportive comments from a Government minister.
Communities Secretary Greg Clark has said a so-called “Greater Yorkshire” proposal “has a great deal of merit to it”.
His comments, made on a trip to China and reported by the Financial Times, are the first official public response to the submission of four overlapping devolution proposals.
The first unofficial response came in an unguarded quip by Prime Minister David Cameron, who was caught saying: “We just thought people in Yorkshire hated everyone else, we didn’t realise they hated each other so much.”
Sheffield City Region has submitted separate proposals, but the other four bids for parts of Yorkshire highlight the lack of agreement on how to move forward.
The four bids, which were submitted ahead of the September 4 deadline, cover Leeds City Region; Hull, Yorkshire, Leeds City Region and the Northern Powerhouse; Greater Yorkshire; and York, North Yorkshire and East Riding.
