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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether it remains his policy to secure devolution deals within city regions.

Across England we are making huge strides towards rebalancing the economy and empowering local government. On 4 May, the first six city region mayors were elected for Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, Liverpool City Region, Tees Valley, the West of England and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough – representing 9.8 million people in England. We remain committed to our ambitious devolution deal with Sheffield City Region, comprising the local authority areas of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and Sheffield. The mayoral election will take place in May 2018. Against this background, we intend to have early meetings with local businesses and political leaders, as it is important to agree a separate deal which includes West Yorkshire.