Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his letter to the Mayor of the Sheffield City Region of 12 February 2019, for what reasons the One Yorkshire deal did not meet the Government’s devolution criteria.

The criteria for devolution which we have consistently applied are that devolution is to a functional economic area and that there must be strong and accountable governance proportionate to the powers and budgets being devolved. One Yorkshire differs significantly in terms of geography and governance from those deals.