City is missing out on millions
but didn’t include us and this is the first example we’ve come across of regeneration funding being delivered exclusively to mayoral combined Sunderland, County Durham, authorities. South Tyneside and Gateshead “Very often when big missed out on millions funds for regeneration are of pounds in government announced they’re top sliced money because they don’t to mayoral authorities but have a mayor. they’re not exclusive, then
Ministers set aside everyone else competes for £400million earlier this year the rest. But this is the first to encourage house building example [where that hasn’t on former industrial sites and happened].” other vacant land. Mr Taylor was speaking at
But conditions attached to a meeting of the NECA Leadership the cash meant a swathe of the Board, which was held North East couldn’t even apply, by videolink. while other areas could. The North of Tyne Combined
“There was a [Brownfield Authority was formed Housing Fund], but that was in 2018 by Newcastle, North exclusive to mayoral authorities,” Tyneside and Northumberland, said Vince Taylor, economicleadofficerattheNorth which broke away from NECA after agreeing a devolution East Combined Authority deal with the Government. (NECA).
“So that included the This included electing a North of Tyne [mayoral authority] mayor for the new organisation, which saw Labour candidate Jamie Driscoll take up the job in 2019.
The North East’s first combined mayoral authority was in Teesside, with Conservative candidate Ben Houchen elected in 2017.
The Government’s March budget allocated £400million to ‘pro-development councils and ambitious Mayoral Combined Authorities’ under the terms of the Brownfield Housing Fund.
The remaining NECA leaders, now made up of Sunderland, County Durham, South TynesideandGatesheadoriginally opted not to follow the lead of their North of Tyne colleagues. But earlier in July, bosses signalled they may be ready to reconsider.
NECA chair and South Tyneside Council leader Iain Malcolm said he was ‘always prepared’ to discuss devolution.