A NEW Year summit will see leaders from West Yorkshire, Sheffield and Manchester meet to set up plans for a ‘Northern Powerhouse’.

Leaders of its combined authority are inviting their counterparts from these areas to a summit in Leeds.

Authority chairman Councillor Peter Box (pictured) said: “Northern Powerhouse is the buzz phrase being bandied around by politicians and used in the media but if you asked anyone on the street to describe what it means, they would struggle to tell you.

“Now Manchester and Sheffield’s initial devolution deals are in place, and ours is expected before Christmas, it is important we come together as the main economic forces across the North and work out how to make our plans a reality." that really does generate a Northern Powerhouse.”

While Sheffield and Manchester have now both agreed their devolution deals, West Yorkshire’s Combined Authority is still trying to prise more powers out of Whitehall, without the need for a Boris Johnson-style ‘metro mayor’.

But Kirklees Conservative leader Councillor Robert Light, who sits on the authority, accused its Labour leaders of dithering.

He said: “West Yorkshire has been left out of the loop, is at the back of the queue and, if it isn’t careful will find itself on the fringes of the so-called Northern Hub jealously staring in, having missed out on the economic and financial benefits that our residents need.”