A top North East council boss has warned it is “really tricky” to put a target date on a long-awaited £3bn devolution deal, as the region’s leaders enter talks with new ministers.
Rishi Sunak’s Government is now the third Conservative administration this year to be tasked with getting the major agreement signed off, with the deal having been close to being sealed before the collapse of both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss’ reigns. The huge proposal would result in significant shakeup of the North East’s governance, reuniting councils on either side of the Tyne years after an acrimonious split.
It would see the election of a new regional mayor covering Newcastle, Gateshead, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland, and possibly Durham, with the region given control over substantial funding and decisions on crucial matters including transport. The deal, which has been the subject of negotiations between local authorities and Whitehall for many months, has been thrown into some doubt over recent weeks – both by the chaos at Westminster and local political wrangling over a late attempt from County Durham to join the other six councils in the pact.
