Axeing Yorkshire’s regional development agency will still leave a need for co-ordinated action on economic development, say business and Council leaders.

Chancellor George Osborne surprised everyone by sounding the death knell for Yorkshire Forward and the UK’s other RDAs in the Budget.

The Government is putting the onus on locally-elected leaders and business to lead economic development through Local Enterprise Partnerships, based around major cities.

Councillor Ian Greenwood, leader of Bradford Council, said the need for an overall regional strategic approach remained in some key areas.

He said: “I am disappointed that Yorkshire Forward is not to continue in some form. Cities like Bradford are no longer competing against Leeds, Manchester or other UK centres. The competition is international from cities in China, South America and India.

“Bradford and other Yorkshire cities will still need a co-ordinated approach which the RDA provided. This is necessary to access European Union funds which are often targeted at regional programmes.”

Coun Greenwood believed there was also unease among politicians of all parties about the Chancellor’s decision.

Sandy Needham, chief executive of Bradford Chamber of Commerce, said Mr Osborne’s decision had come as a surprise, especially so following comments by Business Secretary Vince Cable in Bradford last month when he indicated that Yorkshire Forward and agencies in the north west and north east were likely to be retained at the expense of those in the south.

She said: “Businesses expected that a slimmed down RDA would be kept and generally supported this. In fact, we were expecting a consultation paper to be issued by the Business and Local Government departments soon and didn’t expect the RDAs to be abolished by the Treasury.”

Yorkshire Forward has partly funded the £24 million city centre mirror pool which is scheduled for completion next year. It also owns the Odeon, which is earmarked for demolition once legal formalities are completed.

Coun Greenwood said work on the mirror pool would continue.

Following the banking crisis, which led to the demise of mortgage bank Bradford & Bingley, Yorkshire Forward established a task force to help financial services firms, which it said had helped to retain 900 B&B jobs at Crossflatts, near Bingley.

A Yorkshire Forward spokesman said: “The future of any local economic partnership arrangements are in the hands of our locally-elected councillors and business leaders, and we are confident that they will advocate a way forward that is right for the people and businesses of Yorkshire and Humber.”