Communities secretary Sajid Javid has attempted to break Yorkshire's deadlock with a proposal to satisfy supporters of the Sheffield city region and One Yorkshire devolution.
Mr Javid has written to civic leaders in South Yorkshire assuring them that full participation in the Sheffield city region deal would not prevent them from pursuing a One Yorkshire agreement were one to be put forward.
The Sheffield city region deal was signed in October 2015 and included Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield councils.
However, Barnsley and Doncaster MBCs refused to back the deal when it was discussed again in September 2017.
The two councils argued a Yorkshire-wide devolution deal would be more beneficial for the area - a plan that was ruled out earlier in the year by Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry.
Mr Javid’s letter, however, suggests the Government is now willing to support a One Yorkshire deal.
The letter urged Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield councils to do ‘all that is necessary’ for the Sheffield city region deal to be implemented.
It added that in the event a Yorkshire-wide devolution agreement is reached ‘some or all of the South Yorkshire councils would be free to join that deal subject to certain provisos’.
One such proviso is that arrangements are put in place to maintain the integration of transport across South Yorkshire.
‘We have always said we would welcome discussions on a widely-supported greater Yorkshire devolution deal provided the Sheffield city region deal was not threatened,’ said a Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman.
‘While we will not undo the Sheffield city region deal, which has been partly implemented and would bring around £1bn of new investment to the area, we have proposed to the four South Yorkshire leaders that we will open discussions to see if we can agree a way forward.’
Sheffield leader, Cllr Julie Dore, said: ‘We believe that this is a welcome intervention which would see the South Yorkshire deal fully delivered, in line with what we have been proposing for some time and repeated at the debate last week.
‘We are pleased that this is something the Government is now backing and while we would want to carefully consider the proposal so we can iron out a few of the details about how exactly it would work we hope that this could provide the basis for a way forward to deliver the investment that we need in South Yorkshire.’
Doncaster chief executive Jo Miller said a 'compelling' 85% of people in Barnsley and Doncaster had voted in favour of a wider Yorkshire devolution deal in a community poll.
Barnsley leader Sir Stephen Houghton described the option as the 'will of the people'.
He said: 'We’ll work to make that happen and we’re confident that this is the right move for Barnsley.
'Our next step is negotiating a way forward for wider Yorkshire.'
Sir Stephen stressed Barnsley did not want a Sheffield city region mayor 'imposed' on the area and called for elections - scheduled for May - to be pushed back to 2020.