BARNSLEY people face being forced to vote in an election expected to cost £1m to choose a South Yorkshire Mayor who will have no money or powers.
Barnsley Central MP Dan Jarvis has urged the government to re-think its approach and is calling for the election process to be halted while more negotiations take place to break the deadlock over devolution across the region.
Barnsley was due to be part of the £900m Sheffield City Region devolution deal which would have brought money and powers to be administered locally under a directly elected Mayor for South Yorkshire.
But that deal fell apart when Barnsley and Doncaster pulled out last month, opting to pursue a so-called One Yorkshire wider deal, arguing the Sheffield City Region option was now too small after the earlier withdrawal of councils from North Derbyshire.
This week a debate was held in Parliament, in which the Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry said the government was willing to discuss a Yorkshire-wide deal, but without South Yorkshire, and only after the South Yorkshire mayoral election has taken place next May.
But Mr Jarvis said: “It is concerning the government is taking such an inflexible approach to the issue of devolution for Yorkshire.
“Proceeding with an election for a Sheffield City Region Mayor at a cost of £1m to the taxpayer doesn’t make sense.
“This newly-elected mayor would have few powers and little authority. I would urge the government to halt this proposed election now in order to create time and space for further negotiation with local authority leaders and to better understand the potential benefits of the One Yorkshire deal.”
Mr Jarvis said 17 out of the 20 local authorities in Yorkshire have expressed a willingness to pursue a One Yorkshire deal.
“It is irresponsible for the government not to engage with them and at least consider the case they are making,” he said.
“It would be damaging for the government to impose a devolution deal in an area where there is significant opposition and would set a worrying precedent for future negotiations that the voice of local areas is simply not being listened to.
“A One Yorkshire deal has the potential to deliver significant benefits to our county and re-engage people with politics around a renewed sense of common purpose for Yorkshire. I will be meeting with the Northern Powerhouse Minister at the earliest opportunity to discuss how best to proceed with this matter.”
The deadlock arose when Rotherham and Sheffield councils voted to continue as planned, but Barnsley sided with Doncaster in opting to withdraw from the process to instead explore the Yorkshire-wide option.
Leader of Barnsley Council Coun Sir Steve Houghton says it would be wrong to force people to take part in the election next May.
“The government has indicated this before, but our view is that it would not be right to proceed with a mayoral election given that people are not in favour.”
He and his colleagues in Barnsley and Doncaster will continue to make their case to the government that the election should be stopped. If Barnsley people were forced to take part he said the option of Barnsley later playing a part in a wider Yorkshire deal needed to remain on the table.
