North East Combined Authority

The North East Combined Authority (NECA) is a combined authority in North East England. NECA has a directly-elected Mayor and seven member councils; two county unitary authorities (Durham and Northumberland) and five metropolitan boroughs (Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland).

A separate devolved region comprising five councils, the Tees Valley, borders the south of the combined authority's devolved region. Together the two combined authorities occupy the geographic extent of the North East England English region.

The authority was announced on 28 December 2022 in the North East devolution deal and will be fully operational by May 2024. On 6 March 2024, the Government announced the North East deeper devolution deal, which supersedes the previous devolution deal and will give NEMCA increased devolved powers.

The first election for the authority took place on 2 May 2024, and the replacement of both the non-mayoral North East Combined Authority and the North of Tyne Combined Authority happened on 7 May 2024.

History
The Tyne and Wear County Council was abolished in 1986 alongside other metropolitan county governments. In 2004, a referendum was held in the North East region to establish a devolved assembly, which was rejected by voters.

The North East Combined Authority (NECA) was established in April 2014, including seven councils: Durham, Sunderland, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, Newcastle and Northumberland. A devolution deal was agreed, including the creation of a mayor to be elected in 2017. In September 2016, that deal broke down, as the leaders south of the Tyne were worried about the loss of EU funding, and in 2017 no mayor was elected.

From 2 November 2018, the boundaries of NECA were reduced to Durham, Sunderland, Gateshead and South Tyneside. The remaining areas left to form a mayoral combined authority called the North of Tyne Combined Authority. The division of the Tyneside built up area into two combined authorities was criticised.

In the Levelling Up white paper, the Government announced a larger mayoral combined authority would be created for the region. Durham was to negotiate a separate county deal. On 28 December 2022, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove announced a £1.4 billion devolution deal. The deal included the establishment of a unified mayoral combined authority, with a mayor to be elected in 2024. Martin Gannon, leader of Gateshead Council, said local councils were being forced into the deal and that it did not represent levelling up; he said he agreed with its introduction nevertheless. The seven local councils approved the final plans for the NEMCA on 9 November 2023, subject to approval by the chief executives of the councils, to allow for the Secretary of State to make the order for the NEMCA to be established.

The North East Mayoral Combined Authority (Establishment and Functions) Order 2024, which creates the Combined Authority and makes provision about its functions, was laid before Parliament on 8 February 2024 and was made as a statutory instrument on 20 March 2024.

On 6 March 2024, the Government announced the North East deeper devolution deal, which supersedes the previous devolution deal and will give NEMCA increased devolved powers. The deeper devolution deal was signed on 18 March 2024. The deal includes provisions to establish a new North East Strategic Energy Board to coordinate energy supply and demand and promote growth in the offshore wind sector and a new a North East Coastal and Rural Taskforce to strengthen the region’s rural and coastal communities.

Constitution
The arrangements for NECA's governance were set out in the North East Mayoral Combined Authority (Establishment and Functions) Order 2024.

The NECA cabinet will have eight voting members and two non-voting members:


 * the Mayor
 * a member for each council
 * the Chair of the Business Board
 * a representative of the Community and Voluntary sector

The Mayor will provide leadership to the combined authority and chair combined authority meetings. A deputy Mayor will be appointed from among the voting members of the authority and the Mayor may delegate mayoral functions to authority members. When the authority first meets it will have to decide what title the mayor is to be known by.

Mayoral functions
The functions devolved to the Mayor are:


 * housing and regeneration
 * education, skills and training
 * the adult education budget
 * the functional power of competence
 * housing and planning, including mayoral development areas and corporations, land and acquisition powers
 * finance, through council precepts and business rate supplements
 * transport, including bus grants and franchising powers

Cabinet
As of May 2024, the cabinet of the combined authority is as follows: