North East leaders’ £4bn Christmas wish has been granted – with a massive devolution deal finally agreed with the Government and hailed as a “step change in our levelling up journey”.
After years of political rancour and false dawns, the region is at last back within touching distance of a major settlement to bring vital decision-making powers and huge funding here. Under the deal announced today there would be a significant shake-up of the North East’s political landscape, with a new mayor to be elected in 2024 to serve the two million people living in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham – mending a divide between the north and south of the region.
A proposed North East Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) would be given a £1.4bn investment fund to be delivered over 30 years, control of up to £563m to improve the North East’s rail services up to 2027, £17.4m to accelerate the building of new homes on brownfield land, and a further £20m for regeneration projects. Local leaders would also have the power to bring the North East’s bus network back into public hands and full control over the areas’ £60m-a-year adult education and skills budget, while the deal is also expected to include the creation of a ‘green superport’ and has been touted as the most generous per head in the country.
The total value of the deal on the table is thought to be £4.2bn, with ambitions to create 24,000 new jobs, deliver 70,000 courses per year to give people the skills to gain good employment and leverage £5bn of private sector investment. Ministers have also agreed to further talks that could see the North East granted the same ‘trailblazer’ devolution status being given to Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, potentially expanding the powers given to the region further.
The long-awaited devolution deal has been the subject of lengthy negotiations this year and has been on the verge of being announced for months. Initial talks involved council leaders in Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, Gateshead, Sunderland and South Tyneside, before a U-turn from Durham County Council’s Tory-Lib Dem coalition administration saw them jump on board at the eleventh hour.
With the deal now officially agreed with the Government, it must be formally approved by each council involved and go out to a public consultation – steps that it is hoped will be completed before the local election period begins in the spring. Levelling up secretary Michael Gove said he was “proud to have agreed a historic new devolution deal with the North East that gives local leaders more power, more money, and an even greater say on how their areas are run”.
He added: “A new mayor will ensure local priorities in the North East are at the heart of decision-making, while our billion-pound funding boost will provide the financial certainty needed to level up the area right now and for years to come.”
Should the package win approval from politicians in each of the seven areas, which is expected, despite having proved troublesome in the past, it would be a hugely significant milestone for the region after years of wrangling and often bitter infighting over the devolution question.
A previous North East devolution deal fell apart in 2016 amid a split among the area’s Labour-run establishment. Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland subsequently broke away to form their own North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA), for which Jamie Driscoll was elected as mayor in 2019, but the trio are now set to be reunited with their four neighbours to the south.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service first revealed in the summer of 2020 that there was fresh hope of a new devolution deal being struck, after the Government had made clear that it was the only path to securing key powers over the region’s rail and bus networks.
The election of a North East mayor is due to be held in May 2024, if the deal can be ratified and the necessary legislation pushed through Parliament in time, which is when Mr Driscoll’s term is due to end. He and Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness are widely expected to be pitted against each other in the race to secure the Labour Party’s nomination for the role.
If approved, the new North East MCA will replace the existing North of Tyne MCA and mayor, as well as the non-mayoral North East Combined Authority. In a joint statement, the leaders of the seven local councils and Mr Driscoll called the post-Christmas announcement “a significant step towards securing important decision-making powers and investment for our region”.
They added: “We are pleased that we have successfully negotiated a proposed deal which is a step towards reaching our ambition for this region. This is an important milestone in our journey and we will now engage with stakeholders to move the deal to the next stage.”
Lucy Winskell, chair of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, called the deal “a hugely positive move for the region and marks a step change in our levelling up journey”.
She said: “The region has come together and is committed to seeing the North East succeed. The development heralds new funding and decision-making powers that will unlock the creation of more and better jobs, allow us to seize new opportunities, address issues that are holding us back and critically, to compete where we have strengths on a national, sectoral and global stage, and most importantly to do this in partnership.”
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