Councillors in County Durham are to be asked to endorse proposals for a North East devolution deal which would bring £4.2 billion of investment to the region over the next 30 years.
Members of Durham County Council’s Cabinet will hear that with councils in County Durham, Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, Northumberland and North and South Tyneside working together, the deal would create one of the largest combined authorities in the country.
The new body would have access to millions of pounds of additional funding and direct control over how it is invested in the region. It would be chaired by an elected mayor, with no changes to the governance or provision of services in the existing local authorities. Elections for the new mayor would take place next year.
In February 2022, the government published the Levelling Up White Paper, setting out a framework for devolution and, for the first time, offering the option for standalone county deals.
As well as identifying the potential for an extended Mayoral Combined Authority for the North East, the paper invited County Durham to enter into discussions with Government regarding a potential county deal.
Following these discussions, it became apparent that a county deal did not offer the best deal for the people of County Durham, and it was agreed that County Durham should instead enter into discussions to become part of the wider regional deal.
By joining the regional deal, County Durham will have access to £120 million more in funding than it would have through a standalone county deal, while economic estimates suggest that 6,500 new jobs could be created in Durham within a LA7 deal – 2,000 more than in a county deal.
It is also estimated that the LA7 deal will attract £1.34bn private sector investment into the county, some £400m more than that estimated in a county deal.
For the region as a whole, the deal offers a potential £4.2bn of investment, made up of elements including:
• An investment
fund of £1.4bn,
or £48m a year,
to support
inclusive
economic
growth and support our regeneration
priorities
• An indicative budget of around £1.8bn,
or £60m a year, for adult education and
skills – to meet local skills priorities and
improve opportunities for residents
• A £900m package of investment to
transform our transport system, with
£563m from the City Regional
Sustainable Transport Fund, on top of
funding already announced for our
buses and metro system
• £69m of investment in housing and
regeneration, unlocking sites to bring
forward new housing and commercial
development.
If all seven councils agree to the deal ‘in principle’, proposals on how the new authority would work would be developed, with members of the public then being given the chance to have their say on the plans during a regionwide consultation.