The North East Combined Authority (NECA), officially the Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland Combined Authority, was one of the

combined authorities A combined authority (CA) is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. CAs are created voluntarily and allow a group of local aut ...

North East England North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County DurhamNorthumberland, , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. ...

. It was created in 2014, and consisted of the

City of Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most populous settlement in the Wearsid ...

;

Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead The Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It includes Gateshead, Rowlands Gill, Whickham, Blaydon, Ryton, Tyne and Wear, Ryton, Felling (UK), Felling, Birtley, Tyne and ...

South Tyneside South Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, 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 north and Newcastl ...

; and Durham County local authorities. The local authorities for

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

;

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 by Ne ...

; and

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

were also included in the combined authority until 2018, when they left to form their own combined authority, the

North of Tyne Combined Authority The North of Tyne Combined Authority was a combined authority, mayoral combined authority which consisted of the local authorities of Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, and Northumberland, all in North East England. The authority came into be ...

(NTCA). For transport policy, both combined authorities had a joint transport committee. Other combined authorities in the North East England region that are not in the North of Tyne or the North East areas are part of the

Tees Valley Combined Authority The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the Combined authorities and combined county authorities, combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in North East England consisting of the following five Unitary authority, unitary authoriti ...

. The North East Combined Authority was established in 2014 by statutory instrument under the

Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 (c. 20), or LDEDCA,Gatehouse ChambersIt’s LDEDCA, not HGCRA – obviously! published 10 February 2012, accessed 26 November 2023 is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of the Parliam ...

. It had some powers over economic development and regeneration. It was announced in October 2015 that NECA would receive an enhanced devolution settlement and elect a mayor in 2017. These plans were later cancelled by the Communities and Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid on 8 September 2016 after Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside, and Sunderland Councils withdrew their support, which led to the other councils withdrawing from NECA and forming the NTCA. NECA was a non-mayoral combined authority unlike NTCA which had a mayor. NECA was abolished and absorbed into the larger

North East Mayoral Combined Authority The North East Combined Authority (NECA) is a combined authority in North East England. It has a directly-elected Mayor and seven member councils: two are unitary authorities ( Durham and Northumberland) and five are metropolitan borough counc ...

in May 2024.

History

In order to create a combined authority, the local authorities in the proposed area must undertake a governance review and produce a scheme of their proposals. At the first meeting of NECA on 15 April 2014,

Simon Henig Simon Antony Henig (born June 1969) is a British politician, former leader of Durham County Council, and since 15 April 2014, chair of the North East Combined Authority (NECA). Early life Simon Henig was born in June 1969, the son of the form ...

, the Leader of Durham County Council, was elected as chair. Upon formation, the functions, property, rights and liabilities of the former Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority were inherited by the North East Combined Authority, forming an executive body within the new authority as the

Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive, branded as Nexus, is an executive body of the North East Combined Authority and is best known for owning and operating the Tyne and Wear Metro. It replaced the Tyneside PTE on 1 April 1974. O ...

Naming

The order which established the combined authority referred to it as the ''Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle Upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland Combined Authority'', simply listing the names of the constituent councils in alphabetical order. The initial consultation used the name ''Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear Combined Authority''. The body uses the name North East Combined Authority or NECA. The legal name of the authority was changed to ''Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland Combined Authority'' in November 2018.

Local government

The combined authority consisted of the following authorities ( population estimates):

References

External links

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North East Local Enterprise PartnershipBackground from Gateshead Council
{{Combined authorities Combined authorities and combined county authorities Local government in North East England Local government in Tyne and Wear Local government in County Durham 2014 establishments in England 2024 disestablishments in England