North of Tyne Combined Authority

The North of Tyne Combined Authority is a combined authority that covers the historic county boundaries of Northumberland, which also encompass the local authority areas of Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside, in the North East of England.[1] The authority came into being on 2 November 2018 under the statutory name Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland Combined Authority. The three local authorities previously formed part of the North East Combined Authority.[2] For transport policy the two combined authorities come together to form the North East Joint Transport Committee.[3]

North of Tyne Combined Authority
North of Tyne Combined Authority within England
Type
Type	Combined Authority
History
Founded	2 November 2018
Leadership
Elected Mayor	Jamie Driscoll since 2 May 2019
Structure
Joint committees	North East Joint Transport Committee
Meeting place
Quadrant, Cobalt Business Park Wallsend
Website
www.northoftyne-ca.gov.uk

The authority was formed on 2 November 2018 and in May 2019, elections were held for a directly elected regional mayor who has taken control of certain powers and funding devolved from Westminster to the newly formed region.[4] A fund of £600 million over 30 years, to be administered by the new mayor, was announced in the November 2017 budget.[5]

The responsibilities and governance of the three constituent local authorities will remain unchanged.[6]

The total population of the combined area is approximately 816,000[7] and it covers an area of 2,012 square miles.[8] Despite the name "North of Tyne," parts of the area are south of the River Tyne, including the towns of Hexham and Prudhoe.

On 27 April 2018, Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle City Council voted to support the proposal.[9] In November 2018 parliament approved the proposal and the first election for the combined authority took place on 2nd May 2019 along with the other elections across the United Kingdom.[10]

The authority met for the first time on 8 November 2018 at Morpeth Town Hall. Norma Redfearn, the elected mayor of North Tyneside Council, was appointed the chair until an interim mayor was appointed.[11] At the combined authority cabinet meeting held on 4 December 2018, Norma Redfearn was confirmed as the interim mayor, and remained in post until the election of Labour's Jamie Driscoll as the authority's first directly elected mayor.

Membership

Formal membership of the North of Tyne Combined Authority consists of those serving on the following statutory committees:

• Cabinet
• Overview and Scrutiny Committee
• Audit and Standards Committee

Cabinet

The Cabinet of the Combined Authority met for the first time on 8 November 2018 at Morpeth Town Hall in Northumberland. The current membership of the Cabinet is as follows:

Name		Position within Nominating Authority	Nominating Authority	Portfolio within North of Tyne Combined Authority Cabinet
	Jamie Driscoll	Elected Mayor of North of Tyne	North of Tyne Combined Authority	Elected Mayor of North of Tyne, Chair of Cabinet
	Norma Redfearn CBE,	Elected Mayor of North Tyneside	North Tyneside Council	Deputy Mayor of North of Tyne, Vice Chair of Cabinet, Cabinet Member for Housing and Land
	Cllr. Nick Forbes CBE	Leader of the Council	Newcastle City Council	Cabinet Member for Business Competitiveness
	Cllr. Peter Jackson	Leader of the Council	Northumberland County Council	Cabinet Member for Place and Productivity
	Cllr. Bruce Pickard	Statutory Deputy Mayor	North Tyneside Council	Cabinet Member for Economic Growth
	Cllr. Joyce McCarty	Deputy Leader of the Council	Newcastle City Council	Cabinet Member for Employability and Inclusion
	Cllr. Wayne Daley	Deputy Leader of the Council	Northumberland County Council	Cabinet Member for Education Improvement

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

The North of Tyne Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee had its first meeting on 17 December 2018. The membership of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee is as follows:

Name		Position	Nominating Authority	Notes
	Cllr. Gregah Alan Roughead	Chair	Northumberland County Council	Former Mayor of Berwick-upon-Tweed
	Cllr. Linda Wright	Vice Chair	Newcastle City Council	Former Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne
	Cllr. Stephen Fairlie	Committee Member	Newcastle City Council
	Cllr. Anita Lower	Committee Member	Newcastle City Council	Leader of the Opposition on Newcastle City Council
	Cllr. Gordon Stewart	Committee Member	Northumberland County Council
	Cllr. James Grant Davey	Committee Member	Northumberland County Council	Leader of the Opposition on Northumberland County Council, Former Leader of Northumberland County Council
	Cllr. Sandra Graham	Committee Member	North Tyneside Council
	Cllr. Margaret Hall	Committee Member	North Tyneside Council
	Cllr. Gary Bell	Committee Member	North Tyneside Council

Audit and Standards Committee

The membership of the Audit and Standards Committee is as follows:

Name		Position	Nominating Authority	Notes
	Cllr. Clare Penny-Evans	Committee Member	Newcastle City Council	Vice Chair of Audit Committee, Newcastle City Council
	Cllr. Alistair Chisholm	Committee Member	Newcastle City Council
	Cllr. Anita Lower	Committee Member	Newcastle City Council	Leader of the Opposition on Newcastle City Council
	Cllr. Mark David Swinburn	Committee Member	Northumberland County Council	Vice Chair of Audit Committee, Northumberland County Council
	Cllr. Jeffrey George Watson	Committee Member	Northumberland County Council	Civic Head of Northumberland
	Cllr. Scott James Dickinson	Committee Member	Northumberland County Council	Former Business Chair of Northumberland County Council
	Cllr. Ray Glindon	Committee Member	North Tyneside Council
	Cllr. Debbie Cox	Committee Member	North Tyneside Council
	Cllr. Martin Rankin	Committee Member	North Tyneside Council

Local Government

Map of the local government authorities of North East England, highlighting the area covered by the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

The Combined Authority consists of the following authorities (2019 population estimates):

Authority	Type	Population	Area (km²)	Pop. Density (per km²)
Northumberland	Unitary authority	322,434	5,014	64
Newcastle upon Tyne	Metropolitan borough	302,820	113.5	2,646
North Tyneside	Metropolitan borough	207,913	82.32	2,502

References

1. "Welcome -". North of Tyne. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
2. "The Newcastle Upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland Combined Authority (Establishment and Functions) Order 2018". legislation.gov.uk.
3. https://northeastca.gov.uk/decision-making/the-north-east-joint-transport-committee/
4. Seddon, Sean (2017-11-24). "Don't get why North of Tyne devolution is a big deal? Here it is simplified". nechronicle. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
5. "More details of north of Tyne devolution deal announced". BBC. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
6. "Questions about devolution -". North of Tyne. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
7. Newcastle = 296,500; North Tyneside = 203,300; Northumberland = 316,000
8. Newcastle = 44 sq miles; North Tyneside = 32 sq miles; Northumberland = 1936 sq miles
9. "Devolution deal for North of Tyne councils agreed". BBC. 27 April 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
10. Jonathan Walker (2 November 2019). "'A golden era for the North East': The new North of Tyne Combined Authority is launched". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
11. Eden, Tom; Seddon, Sean; Holland, Daniel (8 November 2018). "North of Tyne Combined Authority - every update from the first official cabinet meeting". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 8 November 2018.

External links

Official website