North East mayoral devolution consultation ends at midnight

A public consultation on a major restructuring of local government in the north-east of England closes at midnight.

A £4bn deal with the government would create a new North East Mayoral Combined Authority led by a mayor to be elected in May next year.

The body would bring together seven council areas in Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and County Durham.

The authorities' leaders said there was "huge potential for our region".

In a joint statement, they said: "We have collaborated to get the deal, that the government is 'minded to' agree, and our experiences during the consultation have shown many people getting behind the plans too.

"This is an enormous opportunity to have a significantly improved say on how money is spent and how decisions are made for the benefit of the two million people and thousands of businesses in our region."

The new authority would be given funding and decision-making powers the region does not currently have, including a yearly £48m investment fund and the ability to bring the bus network back under public control, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

It would have authority over transport, skills, housing, finance and economic development.

It is hoped it will create 24,000 extra jobs and leverage £5bn of extra private sector investment.

However, the councils must consider the public's views before the agreement is put before Parliament to ratify later this year.

The eight-week consultation is not binding in the same way as the North East's 2004 referendum that rejected a regional assembly but residents have been urged to make their opinions known.

The online consultation shuts at midnight.

Gateshead, Sunderland, South Tyneside and County Durham pulled out of a previous devolution deal offered by the government in 2016, prompting Newcastle, Northumberland, and North Tyneside to break away to form their own North of Tyne Combined Authority.

If the new mayoral authority is agreed the existing North of Tyne and North East combined authorities would cease to operate.

Local councils would retain their existing functions and responsibilities.

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