SIXTEEN local authorities are “standing strong” together in their fight to secure new money and powers from Government, according to Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe.

And she said she still hopes they can strike a devolution deal before the end of the year, despite the Government refusing to agree to their inclusion of South Yorkshire authorities Barnsley and Doncaster.

A deal for the sixteen authorities, including Bradford, could be worth a reported £3bn over 30 years.

Cllr Hinchcliffe, who is playing a key part in negotiations in her role as chairman of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, said: “It takes a long time to build up a deal like we have done, so we are standing strong at the moment, the 16, including Barnsley and Doncaster.”

Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid has agreed to meet with council leaders and MPs about their proposals, and although a date has yet to be set for the meeting, Cllr Hinchcliffe said this was a “positive step forward”.

Devolution would see a new elected mayor given a multi-million pound budget to oversee areas like the economy, transport, skills and infrastructure which are currently controlled by Westminster and Whitehall.

But while mayors are now in place in areas such as Manchester, Liverpool and the West Midlands, the long-running saga of securing a devolution deal for Yorkshire has consistently hit roadblocks.

Councils across Yorkshire attempted to break the deadlock this summer by forming a ‘coalition of the willing’ calling for a pan-Yorkshire deal dubbed One Yorkshire.

But the Government had already struck a deal covering South Yorkshire and says it will not entertain any Yorkshire-wide deal that “undermines” this by including Barnsley and Doncaster.

Now Barnsley and Doncaster councils are taking the issue to a public vote, confident that their residents would rather join the pan-Yorkshire group than stick with the Sheffield City Region deal.

Cllr Hinchcliffe said she too believed voters in Barnsley and Doncaster would say yes to the One Yorkshire deal, “because we all love Yorkshire and it has positive connotations”.

And she urged the Government to “let go of the levers of power” and give Yorkshire control over its own economy.

She said: “I think there’s historical issues between national and local government - that’s of all governments of all hues, it’s not necessarily a Tory or Labour stance - but all national politicians want all the levers of power and therefore securing some of that is with its challenges.

“I think it’s also genuinely complex, trying to undo ways of working that have been in place for decades - as they are finding on Brexit.”

She said she wanted a deal “within the year”, adding: “I would like to to happen as soon as possible but I’m also realistic about the time it will take to make sure that the negotiations happen constructively and productively.”

Cllr Hinchcliffe said the exact powers that would be included in a deal still needed to be discussed between the Yorkshire leaders and also with the Government.

But she said leaders in West Yorkshire, who had a deal for the Leeds City Region rejected by Government two years ago, were particularly keen to secure powers over economic development, transport and skills.

She said they hoped to secure more money to build big transport and regeneration projects - saying the new Apperley Bridge rail station, built with support from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, had been so popular that “met its five-year target for usage within 12 weeks”.

Cllr Hinchcliffe said they also wanted the powers to tailor college courses to address key skills gaps in areas like engineering.

She said powers over policing “wouldn’t be my first priority”, as Yorkshire currently had four different police forces and police and crime commissioners, which complicated matters.

But she didn’t rule out the idea of the One Yorkshire team asking for powers over the health system, like Greater Manchester had done, saying: “Everyone is watching Manchester with interest.”

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority would cease to exist and a new Combined Authority would be set up to cover all 16 council areas, overseen by the elected mayor.

Cllr Hinchcliffe said it would most likely have sub-regional committees looking at more local issues like transport or further education.

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government questioned whether Barnsley and Doncaster’s poll was “lawful, useful and in the interests of local people”.

She said: “A Sheffield City Region deal, worth around £1bn to the region, has been agreed with the councils, legislated on by Parliament, and partly implemented – and government has been absolutely clear that it will not undo it.

“The poll the councils are proposing would put on the table an alternative that unravels this agreement and which we have been clear we would not support.

“It’s for the councils themselves to decide whether it would be lawful, useful and in the interests of local people to hold this poll.”

Bradford Council’s opposition Conservative leader, Councillor Simon Cooke, poured cold water on the idea One Yorkshire could strike a deal this year.

Cllr Cooke, who instead backs a deal for West, North and East Yorkshire, said: “If they have got a deal by Christmas, I will eat my hat.”

And he also criticised the premise of the public vote in Barnsley and Doncaster, saying: “Some people in Doncaster and Barnsley don’t like Sheffield very much. It’s a bit like having a poll in Bradford and saying, ‘Do you like Leeds?”

Devolution: the story so far

- June 2014: Then-Chancellor George Osborne reveals his vision for a Northern Powerhouse with elected mayors holding devolved powers;

- September 2015: Two rival devolution bids are submitted to Government covering Bradford, one for the Leeds City Region and a Greater Yorkshire deal covering West, North and East Yorkshire. In the end, neither gets Government backing, with ministers telling Yorkshire leaders to agree a bid between themselves;

- October 2015: The Government announces a £900m deal for the Sheffield City Region;

- May 2017: New 'metro mayors' are elected for six devolved areas, including Greater Manchester, Liverpool and the Tees Valley, while devolution deadlock continues in Yorkshire;

- August 2017: Seventeen local councils, including Barnsley and Doncaster, come together in a 'coalition of the willing' to propose a pan-Yorkshire deal called One Yorkshire;

- September 2017: Barnsley and Doncaster pull out of the Sheffield City Region deal;

- October 2017: In a Parliamentary debate on Yorkshire devolution, Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry rules out any deal which would "undermine" the Sheffield City region arrangements. Meanwhile, Harrogate pulls out of the One Yorkshire group in favour of a Greater Yorkshire deal.