Seven councils in the North East (Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland) have been working together, as the North East Leadership Board, to develop a more co-ordinated approach to important issues affecting the whole region such as transport, skills and attracting investment.
Their shared ambition is to create the best possible conditions for growth in jobs, investment and living standards, to make the North East an excellent location for business, to prioritise and deliver high quality transport infrastructure and to enable residents to raise their skill levels and to benefit from economic growth long into the future.
The North East Leadership Board is keen to join a number of other areas, including West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Merseyside, in making their arrangements more formal by creating a legal body referred to as a 'combined authority'. This will ensure that the North East does not lose out on opportunities for greater decision-making powers, access to more funding from Government and is in a better position to collaborate on key local issues.
The combined authority will not replace individual councils, who will continue to deliver the vast majority of their services to local people.
A proposal has been submitted to Government which aims to formally establish the North East Leadership Board by April 2014. We would like your views which will be used by the seven councils in their response to a Government consultation about the proposal.
