The North of Tyne Combined Authority is a mayoral combined authority which consists the local authorities of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

North Tyneside North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It forms part of the greater Tyneside conurbation. North Tyneside Council is headquartered at Cobalt Park, Wallsend. North Tyneside is bordered ...

, and

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, all in

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary author ...

. 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 Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

previously formed part of the

North East Combined Authority The North East Combined Authority, abbreviated to NECA, is one of three combined authorities in North East England. It was created in 2014, and currently consists of the City of Sunderland; Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, South Tyneside; ...

, which still exists in a smaller form. The two combined authorities cooperate on the North East Joint Transport Committee. 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. 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 and Co-operative Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candida ...

's Jamie Driscoll as the authority's first directly elected mayor. In its levelling up white paper, published in February 2022, the UK government announced its intention expand the existing North of Tyne MCA to include the local authorities of Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

History

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 Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

to the newly formed region. A fund of £600 million over 30 years, to be administered by the new mayor, was announced in the November 2017 budget. The responsibilities and governance of the three constituent local authorities will remain unchanged. The total population of the combined area is approximately 816,000 and it covers an area of . Despite the name "North of Tyne," parts of the area are south of the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wat ...

, including the towns of

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...

and Prudhoe. On 27 April 2018, Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle City Council voted to support the proposal. In November 2018 parliament approved the proposal and the first election for the combined authority took place on 2 May 2019 along with the other elections across the United Kingdom. The 2020 Spring Budget from central government reserves funding for "intra-city transport" between

Tees Valley Tees Valley is a mayoral combined authority and Local enterprise partnership area in northern England, around the River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley. The LEP was established in 2011 and the combined authority was establish ...

and

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcas ...

, which has been interpreted by some as meaning the borders of the North of Tyne Combined Authority could be adjusted. Following the publication of the Levelling Up White Paper in February 2022, it was announced that the North of Tyne is proposed to be enlarged, with Gateshead,

South Tyneside South Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is bordered by all four other boroughs in Tyne and Wear – Gateshead to the west, Sunderland in the south, North Tyneside to the no ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

joining. County Durham is currently in pursuit of an independent devolution plan. The enlargement would come with an expansion of powers including those for transport, and incorporating the police and crime commissioner role for

Northumbria Police Northumbria Police is a territorial police force in England. It is responsible for policing the metropolitan boroughs of Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and the City of Sunderland, as well as the ceremonial cou ...

, inline with other mayoral combined authorities. It is a high probability the next election will take place during the 2024 United Kingdom local elections.

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

Local Government

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

References

External links

{{Combined authorities Combined authorities Local government in North East England Local government in Tyne and Wear Local government in Northumberland