Councils back plans for North Tyne deal
LEADERS VOTE, ALL BAR ONE, IN FAVOUR OF COMBINED AUTHORITY
MILLIONS of pounds and decisionmaking powers are set to be handed to the North East by the Government after council leaders backed plans for a North of Tyne Combined Authority.
Almost two years after the regionwide devolution deal was scrapped, plans for Newcastle, Northumberland and North Tyneside to gets its own elected mayor moved a step closer.
Even South of the Tyne councils – Sunderland, South Tyneside and Durham County Council – voted in favour of the plans, much to the surprise of Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon who abstained. It had been Gateshead who led the calls to abandon the regionwide deal back in 2016, and Coun Gannon said that he wasn’t interested in being part of the new deal.
After the meeting he said: “There was nothing substantial which made us want to be part of it, so therefore we abstained. The real major functions and powers which exist in the region in terms of transport and economic development won’t go to the North of Tyne authority.”
The creation of the North of Tyne Combined Authority will also lead to the creation of a separate joint committee for transport, alongside what remains of the North East Combined Authority and the North East LEP.
But Coun Gannon has hit out at the bureaucracy of so many public bodies.
He said: “This isn’t a good system of governance, it’s dysfunctional. The best you can say about this today is it’s unfinished business, at some stage some future Government, whether it’s this Government or another Government will have to do something to pull this governance together.”
Despite this, the meeting at Gateshead Civic Centre was the most united the region’s council leaders have been on the issue of devolution for years, with politician after politician talking about their desire to continue to work together on a regionwide basis. “This is not about creating barriers,” Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes said. “This is not the parting of the ways. We know we need to work in tandem with all the region.” South Tyneside Council leader Iain Malcolm said he was “deeply disappointed” that the three councils decided to go it alone, but he reluctantly supported the deal as he was assured it would be of no detriment to the area. After the meeting Coun Forbes spoke about why he thinks the deal is the best thing for the North East. He said: “For me this is a really significant part in getting our region back on its feet. Taking decisions about this region that affect this region and getting powers and money out of Whitehall and having those decisions being made here.” Now that the deal has been approved it needs to get through Parliament. If the Government approves the North of Tyne Combined Authority deal before Parliament breaks for summer, the first meeting of the authority will be held in July when an interim mayor will be appointed. This time next year people living north of the river will be voting for their first elected mayor, although it isn’t clear who’s likely to put their name forward for the role.
For me this is a really significant part in getting our region back on its feet
Nick Forbes