North of Tyne Combined Authority

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'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 to replace both North of Tyne combined authority and North East Combined Authority (2014–2024) with a single North East Mayoral Combined Authority. This was created in 2024. North of Tyne Combined Authority ceased to exist in May 2024.

History

The authority was formed on 2 November 2018 and in May 2019, elections were held for a directly elected regional mayor who took control of certain powers and funding devolved from Westminster 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 remained unchanged.

The total population of the combined authority area was approximately 867,000 and it covered an area of 2,014 square miles (5,215 km²). Despite the name "North of Tyne", parts of the authority area were south of the River Tyne, including the towns of Hexham and Prudhoe.

On 27 April 2018, Northumberland County Council, North Tyneside Council, and Newcastle City Council voted to support the establishment of the new combined authority. In November 2018, parliament approved the proposal and the first election for the combined authority's mayor took place on 2 May 2019 along with the other elections across the United Kingdom.

Following the publication of the Levelling Up White Paper in February 2022, it was proposed that the Combined Authority would be enlarged, with Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland joining. County Durham was pursuing an independent devolution plan at that time. The enlargement did eventually come with an expansion of powers, including those for transport, and incorporating the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner role into the mayor's responsibilities. The final election took place during the May 2024 United Kingdom local elections.