A HISTORIC £4.2bn devolution deal is “bigger, better, and bolder” than failed past attempts to unite the region, Michael Gove has pledged.
The Tory levelling up secretary joined council leaders on the banks of the Tyne to put pen to paper on the major agreement, which is set to bring extra powers and funding to the North East, as well as a new elected mayor.
In a ceremony at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, on the Gateshead Quayside, Mr Gove called the deal an “investment of hope and trust in the region and its people”.
He told journalists that the agreement was “bigger, better, and bolder” than one which collapsed at the eleventh hour in 2016, with councils in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham now set to finally reunite.
Asked whether the multi-billion pound deal, which will be spread over three decades, was sufficient to make up for the vast cuts to local government funding here in the last 12 years, Mr Gove said: “I absolutely accept that the North East has sometimes been overlooked in the past, but today you have seen all the local leaders from different political traditions coming together.
“I think it is important that the North East presents, as it so often does, a confident face to the rest of the UK and the rest of the world. We have some of the strongest academic institutions, some of the highest value industrial jobs, as well as some of the most attractive places to live in the whole of the country here.
“Yes, I acknowledge there have been difficulties in the past, but today is an opportunity to shine the sunlight on the North East and to attract more investment into the region.”
The deal would see a new North East mayor elected in 2024 to head a combined authority stretching all the way across Northumberland, Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham.
It will also mean greater funding and decision-making powers than the region currently possesses – including a £48m-per-year investment fund, £60m every year for adult education and skills, a £900m package of transport investment and the ability to bring bus services under public control.
A public consultation on the new deal will run for eight weeks, after which the views gathered will be considered by the seven councils involved and a report sent to Mr Gove before the required legislation is taken through Parliament to establish the new North East Mayoral Combined Authority.
Glen Sanderson, the Conservative leader of Northumberland County Council, said that the cross-party collection of council chiefs signing the deal had “bucket loads” of commitment to ensure it comes to fruition.
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