North East regions sign £4.2 billion devolution deal

Nicole Ireland News Reporter

On Friday 27th January, council leaders across Tyne and Wear, Northumberland, and County Durham met in Gateshead to sign a £4.2bn devolution agreement with Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove sealing the deal.

The deal is expected to produce opportunities for people who live and work in the North East

The deal is expected to produce opportunities for people who live and work in the North East with the scheme generating 24,000 extra, be er paid jobs and provide improvements in educational skills, transport, and housing.

Mr. Gove said that this agreement is “bigger, be er, and bolder” than the one that collapsed in 2016, due to fears of losing EU funding postBrexit.

There is now a public consultation running from 26th January 2023 to 23rd March 2023, allowing the public to have their say and share their views on the project. If approved, people across the region will elect a Mayor for the North East, a racting investment to the area and acting as a powerful local voice, representing local people.

Although the public will have the opportunity to display their opinion before the devolution deal goes ahead, Coun Georgina Hill, representative of the Berwick East ward on Northumberland County Council, raised concerns regarding the agreement as it was signed off before Northumberland’s consultation with residents had ended.

Two weeks ago, at the Northumberland County Council, Coun Hill questioned why there had been no referendum regarding the devolution deal.

She said, without a referendum, there is a “democratic deficiency.”