Tees Valley Combined Authority | |
---|---|
Type | |
Type | |
Houses | Unicameral |
Term limits | None |
History | |
Founded | 1 April 2016 |
Leadership | |
Julie Gilhespie since November 2018 [1] | |
Seats | 5 constituent members and chair |
Elections | |
Directly elected mayor since 2017 | |
Last election | 2 May 2024 |
Last election | 4 May 2028 |
Meeting place | |
Teesside Airport Business Suite, Teesside International Airport, Darlington, DL2 1NJ | |
Website | |
teesvalley-ca |
The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in England consisting of the following five unitary authorities: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees, covering a population of approximately 700,000 people. It was proposed that a combined authority be established by statutory instrument under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. [2] It is a strategic authority with powers over transport, economic development and regeneration including the flagship Teesside Freeport.
The Combined Authority was established on 1 April 2016, after Local Government Minister James Wharton MP signed the necessary Order. [3] It was announced in October 2015 that voters in the region covered by the Authority would directly elect a Mayor in 2017. [4] [5]
The abolition of the non-metropolitan county of Cleveland in 1996 left the Tees Valley without a single authority covering the whole area, although some council functions continued to be provided jointly through Cleveland Police and the Cleveland Fire Brigade.
A combined authority was proposed in 2014 and sixty-five per cent of more than 1,900 responses received during a seven-week long public consultation were in favour of a combined authority. [6]
A shadow combined authority was formed and chaired by Sue Jeffrey, Leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. [7]
The authority consists of the five local authorities of Tees Valley as constituent members, the directly elected Mayor of Tees Valley as the chair, and the Chairman of the Tees Valley local enterprise partnership as an associate member. [8]
The membership of the combined authority is currently as follows:
Name | Membership | Nominating authority | Position within nominating authority | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ben Houchen, The Lord Houchen of High Leven | Chair | Tees Valley Combined Authority | Tees Valley Mayor | |
Steve Harker | Constituent | Darlington Borough Council | Leader of the Council | |
Mike Young | Constituent | Hartlepool Borough Council | Leader of the Council | |
Chris Cooke | Constituent | Middlesbrough Borough Council | Mayor of Middlesbrough | |
Alec Brown | Constituent | Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council | Leader of the Council | |
Bob Cook | Constituent | Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council | Leader of the Council | |
Siobhan McArdle | Non-constituent | Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership | Chairman of the LEP |
Redcar and Cleveland is a unitary authority area with borough status in North Yorkshire, England.
Teesside is a built-up area around the River Tees in North East England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The area contains the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Billingham, Redcar, Thornaby-on-Tees, and Ingleby Barwick. Teesside's economy was once dominated by heavy manufacturing until deindustrialisation in the latter half of the 20th century. Chemical production continues to contribute significantly to Teesside's economy.
Tees Valley is a combined authority area in Northern England, around the lower River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley; the local term for the valley is Teesdale. The combined authority covers five council areas: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.
The Borough of Darlington is a local government district with borough status in County Durham, England. Since 1997 Darlington Borough Council has been a unitary authority, with both district-level and county-level functions; it is independent from Durham County Council. It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Darlington, where the council is based. The borough also includes a rural area surrounding the town which contains several villages. The population of the borough at the 2021 census was 107,800, of which over 86% (93,015) lived in the built-up area of Darlington itself.
The Borough of Hartlepool is a local government district with borough status in County Durham, England. Since 1996 Hartlepool Borough Council has been a unitary authority, which gives it both district-level and county-level functions; it is independent of Durham County Council. It is named after its largest settlement, Hartlepool, where the council is based. The borough also includes a rural area to the west of the town. The population of the borough at the 2021 census was 92,571, of which over 95% (87,995) lived in the built-up area of Hartlepool itself.
Middlesbrough Council, also known as Middlesbrough Borough Council, is the local authority for Middlesbrough, in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 1996 it has been a unitary authority, providing both district-level and county-level services. The council is led by the directly elected Mayor of Middlesbrough.
The Teesside Development Corporation was a government-backed development corporation that was established in 1987 to fund and manage regeneration projects in the former county of Cleveland in North East England.
Cleveland Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the boroughs of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland & Stockton-on-Tees in the North East of England. The name originates from the former county of Cleveland which was abolished in 1996. The brigade’s area is split between the ceremonial counties of County Durham and North Yorkshire.
Cleveland was a non-metropolitan county located in North East England which existed between 1974 and 1996. Cleveland was a two-tier county and had four boroughs: Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough and Langbaurgh-on-Tees. The county town was Middlesbrough, where Cleveland County Council met. The county was named after the historic area of Cleveland, Yorkshire. Its area is now split between the counties of North Yorkshire and County Durham.
The Tees Valley Metro was a project to upgrade the Tees Valley Line and sections of the Esk Valley Line and Durham Coast Line to provide a faster and more frequent service across the North of England. In the initial phases the services would have been heavy rail mostly along existing alignments. The later phase would have introduced tram-trains to allow street running. The project was backed by all the local authorities through which the system would have run, the authorities are: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-On-Tees. Support was also forthcoming from the Department for Transport. The project has been cancelled due to lack of funding. Focus is now on Northern Rail franchise. Of the original "Tees Valley Metro" project, only the construction of a new station at James Cook University Hospital has come to fruition.
The County Borough of Teesside was a county borough in the north-east of England, which existed for just six years. It was created in 1968 to cover the Teesside conurbation which had grown up around the various port and industrial towns near the mouth of the River Tees. The council was based in Middlesbrough, the area's largest town. The county borough was abolished in 1974 on the creation of the new county of Cleveland, which covered a larger area, with the county borough's territory being split between three of the four districts created in the new county.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is the local authority for Redcar and Cleveland in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 1996 it has been a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The council was created in 1974 as Langbaurgh Borough Council and was a district-level authority until 1996 when it was renamed and became a unitary authority, taking over county-level functions from the abolished Cleveland County Council. The council is based at the Civic Centre in Redcar.
The inaugural Tees Valley mayoral election was held on 4 May 2017 to elect the mayor of the Tees Valley Combined Authority. The mayor was elected by the supplementary vote system. Subsequent elections will be held in May 2021 and every four years after 2024.
The Mayor of the Tees Valley is a combined authority mayor in England, first elected in May 2017. The mayor is leader of the Tees Valley Combined Authority.
Ben Houchen, Baron Houchen of High Leven, is a British Conservative politician who was elected as Mayor of the Tees Valley in May 2017 after winning the 2017 mayoral election, defeating Labour candidate Sue Jeffrey by 2.2 per cent in the second round. Houchen was re-elected in 2021 and won a third term in 2024.
The 2021 Tees Valley mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the Tees Valley Mayor on the same day as other local elections across the country. The mayor was elected by the supplementary vote. The election was originally due to take place in May 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The South Tees Development Corporation (STDC) is the first mayoral development corporation outside of Greater London, established under the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016. It was created to "promote the economic growth and commercial development of Tees Valley by converting assets in the South Tees area into opportunities for business investment and economic growth".
The Borough of Middlesbrough is a borough with unitary authority status in North Yorkshire, England, based around the town of Middlesbrough in the north of the county. It is part of the Tees Valley combined authority, along with Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool and Darlington boroughs. Nunthorpe along with Stainton and Thornton have statutory parish councils.
Middlesbrough Development Corporation (MDC) is a publicly-owned mayoral development corporation created to fund, manage, and accelerate regeneration in Middlesbrough town centre and Middlehaven, England.
Demography of the Tees Valley or Teesside metropolitan area of England is recorded with differing definitions. The area's fragmented data into different area definintions every other census after 1971 has meant a lack of clear lineal correlation analysis and anachronistic data.