Political gatherings take place in North East
The inaugural Mayoral Council and the North East Growth Summit took place on the same day in Newcastle, with both events focusing on planning and how to strengthen local investment opportunities.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner chaired the inaugural Mayoral Council in Newcastle, which focused on the development of the upcoming English Devolution White Paper, which will set out the government’s plans to widen devolution to more areas.
The first meeting focused on investment and growth, with plans underway to devolve a range of powers across areas such as planning, skills, transport, and employment support.
Meanwhile, the North East Growth Summit was opened by Mayor Kim McGuiness, with sessions including ‘unlocking investment and driving development through devolution’, ‘the role of private and publicly funded infrastructure in unlocking growth’, and ‘transforming left-behind places: lessons from Germany’.
The Mayoral Council will meet every quarter and was established to strengthen the relationships between central government and the mayors.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: “We want to learn from those who are already seeing the game-changing benefits of devolution as we work to shift more power away from Westminster and back into our communities, where it belongs.”