A GOVERNMENT minister and Yorkshire MP has urged the county to “get its act together” on devolution, or risk missing out on growth and vital investment.

Andrew Percy, Northern Powerhouse minister and MP for Brigg and Goole, was in York on Friday to talk to business leaders.

He heard how frustrated many are that years after devolution deals were first promised most of Yorkshire still has no deal on the table and the county risks languishing without the extra funding or powers available, while places like Manchester move forward.

Speaking after the meeting, he said: “It is a mess, and my message to political leaders as a local MP whose constituency is going to miss out on a devolution deal is that we need to get our act together and we have to have a serious discussion about what we do with East, West and North Yorkshire.”

With a good deal already in place in South Yorkshire, he said the rest of the county needed to work something out to make sure it gets the promised money and powers from Westminster.

“I think we all agree as Yorkshire folk that we make better decisions up here than anybody in Whitehall could.”

Mr Percy was in York ahead of a visit to the new Sirius Mineral’s mine in Whitby, where he unveiled the name “Woodsmith” - in honour of geologists Peter Wood and Rick Smith.

The York meeting also saw business leaders question the minister, and speak out over their own views on devolution.

York Press:

David Kerfoot, deputy chairman of the North Yorkshire, East Riding and York local enterprise partnership (LEP) , said Northern Powerhouse debate needed people in the east of the country to “hunt as a pack” and present a united voice.

He added: “We need some real heavyweights to come together and really bang heads together.”

Later Jane Lady Gibson, of the event’s organisers Make it York, added: “Devolution is a political decision, and therefore our political representatives have to make the final decision about what form it will take in Yorkshire, but there’s absolutely no doubt from the feeling in the room today that the private sector would like their voices to be heard as well.”

Her organisation has to role to play in making sure the business voice in York and Yorkshire is heard just as strongly as the business voice in the North West, she added.”

Defining what Yorkshire wants from devolution, is crucial to making sure Yorkshire does not miss out, Lady Gibson added.

“There is a frustration that this is holding us back.

"There’s a lot of opportunity in the country at the moment as we are in the foothills of Brexit, defining the ask and the opportunities are really key.”

She went on the say that while politicians have to define the area devolution will cover, she wanted to see the arguments move past whether a Labour or Conservative elected mayor was most likely.

“The important thing is that York and this part of the world gets strong representation into the government when decisions are made.

“The message is going out that in this part of the world we are not playing nicely together, therefore other people who are more coordinated are going to get their asks in first.”

“We stand to lose a lot by not having a clear ask. Other places will get their priorities funded quicker than we do.”