Councillor calls for referendum in South Tyneside on new devolution deal for the North East

The seven local authorities involved across the region have recently approved the next step towards a £4.2billion devolution deal that will see a regional mayor elected next May.

Council cabinets, including South Tyneside’s, approved a report which included findings from a public consultation into the plans, and agreed to send those results to Levelling Up secretary Michael Gove to progress the process.

However Councillor Glenn Thompson, Westoe ward representative, has raised concerns over the “shocking” response to the devolution consultation, both in his borough and across the region.

He is therefore calling for a referendum to be held by the local authority in South Tyneside to ensure they know they have the support of residents.

The independent representative claimed the 3,235 responses across the North East area equates to around “0.1%” of the total population, while just 29 people attended the consultation event held in South Tyneside.

Cllr Thompson said: “It’s just absolutely shocking, it’s disgraceful, it’s not good enough. To me that warrants the call for consideration of a referendum.

“That would draw attention to it, because the consultation hasn’t worked, simple as that.

“We’re talking about the future governance of South Tyneside and the North East, this is huge, so to me, my bottom line would always be we need to know the people are behind us here, and we don’t.”

He added he will be pushing for the issue to be discussed at a future South Tyneside Council meeting in a bid to secure a referendum.

Cllr Thompson continued: “I’m putting the deal to one side, personally I think devolution is the way forward so it’s not about the deal itself, it’s about the process.

“Only a referendum in the proposed combined region, or by each individual authority involved, would give a true reflection of the support.”

The public consultation on the “minded to” proposals took place from January 26 until March 23 this year, with results showing 61 per cent support for the governance of the project.

A South Tyneside Council spokesperson said it was a “Government decision” as to why there has been no public referendum on the devolution deal.

They said: “There is no provision in the statutory process for a referendum – it is a Government process we are following, which is replicating the process seen previously in the North East for the North of Tyne Combined Authority and in other parts of the country.”

Council chiefs added the public consultation provided a full opportunity for residents and groups to respond to the devolution deal, with feedback being considered regionally and by Government.

The other six North East councils involved in the devolution deal are Newcastle, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, Gateshead, Northumberland and County Durham.

The proposals would establish a new North East Mayoral Combined Authority, while the existing North of Tyne Combined Authority and North East Combined Authority would cease to operate.