Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has he made of the potential merits of developing a plan for cooperation by metro mayors in Yorkshire.

This Government has devolved powers and funding to the Mayoral Combined Authority areas of South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and York and North Yorkshire, providing them with over £2.5 billion of funding over 30 years. At the 2023 Autumn Statement, we agreed a mayoral devolution deal for the remaining area of Yorkshire - Hull and East Yorkshire - and, subject to final consents and parliamentary approval, a Combined Authority is expected to be established in Autumn 2024 with the inaugural mayoral election in May 2025.

At the Convention of the North, we announced historic Level 4 devolution agreements with both West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. These agreements will deepen the power of the Combined Authorities and the metro mayors, including providing new flexibility over local growth, regeneration and housing funding from the next Spending Review. The Government remains committed to deepening the powers of more mayors over time.