£3bn devo deal could transform life in the region
A £3BILLION devolution deal for the North East would be “in the regional, wider North and national interest”.
That is the view of Northern Powerhouse Partnership director Henri Murison, who has urged local council and government officials to finally seal a deal that could see a new regional mayor elected in 2024.
New details of the proposed devolution package were revealed by the Local Democracy Reporting Service on Monday, with hopes that it would lead to more than 17,000 new jobs.
If agreed by council leaders, the deal would create a new combined authority with an elected mayor covering Newcastle, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Gateshead and Sunderland, with County Durham opting to stay out of the arrangement.
After past plans for a major devolution deal for the North East collapsed in 2016, there are now renewed hopes of delivering a huge raft of new funding and decision-making powers over key issues, such as transport and housing.
Mr Murison, a former Labour councillor in Newcastle, said: “An ambitious deal for Northumberland, Tyneside and Wearside is in the regional, wider North and national interest.
“From his speech to the Northern Agenda conference earlier this year it has been clear Neil O’Brien MP as the minister responsible was serious and officials need to stay the course to get an ambitious final deal agreed by the Treasury.”
He added: “Across skills, transport, community safety and industrial strategy we can begin to address the causes and not just consequences of inequalities across the Northumbria footprint.”
After the previous breakdown of devolution talks in 2016, Newcastle, North Tyneside, and Northumberland broke away to secure their own £600m deal from the Government and form the North of Tyne Combined Authority.
Jamie Driscoll was elected as Labour mayor of the three northerly areas in 2019. Gateshead, Sunderland, South Tyneside and County Durham have remained in the old North East Combined Authority, which does not have a mayor or any devolved powers.
Talks have been ongoing for months over a new deal that would reunite six of the seven councils.
While the package remains at a draft stage and is yet to be formally agreed, it is expected to be worth more than £3bn over 30 years and would include the “full suite of powers” already available to mayors in other parts of England.
That would include the ability to bring bus services into public control and set their ticket fares at cheaper levels, a £900m transport funding package up to 2027, and the ability to set up mayoral development corporations.
It is hoped that the deal would create 17,516 new jobs, build 2,627 new homes, provide “major steps” towards the North East reaching net zero emissions, and leverage a further £3.7bn of investment from the private sector.
The deal could also see the mayor’s role merged with that of the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, as both would cover the same area.