The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the

combined authority A combined authority (CA) is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. CAs are created voluntarily and allow a group of local au ...

for the

Tees Valley Tees Valley is a combined authority area in North East England, around the lower River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley. The combined authority covers five council areas: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland ...

urban area in

North East England North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County DurhamNorthumberland, , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. ...

consisting of the following five

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

Redcar and Cleveland Redcar and Cleveland is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Its council has been a unitary authority since 1996. The borough was created in 1974 as Langbaurgh, and was one of four ...

, and

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

, covering a population of approximately 700,000 people. The area is divided between the ceremonial counties of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

and

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

. It was proposed that a combined authority be established by statutory instrument under the

Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 (c. 20), or LDEDCA,Gatehouse ChambersIt’s LDEDCA, not HGCRA – obviously! published 10 February 2012, accessed 26 November 2023 is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of the Parliam ...

. 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. It was announced in October 2015 that voters in the region covered by the Authority would directly elect a Mayor in 2017.

History

The abolition of the non-metropolitan county of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

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 Cleveland Police is a territorial police force in England responsible for the policing the boroughs of Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire and Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham within North East England. T ...

and the

Cleveland Fire Brigade 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 ...

. 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. A shadow combined authority was formed and chaired by Sue Jeffrey, Leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.

Membership

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. The mayor is a member of the

Mayoral Council for England The Mayoral Council for England is a political body in England that brings together ministers from the UK Government, the Mayor of London, and combined authority Directly elected mayors in England, mayors. History Background David Cameron's p ...

and the

Council of the Nations and Regions The Council of the Nations and Regions () is a quasi-intergovernmental political body in the United Kingdom. The council's members are the holders of the offices of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom, F ...

. As of June 2024, the composition of the combined authority was:

Demographics

Population

Religion

Ethnicity and Identity

Notes

References

External links

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Tees Valley Unlimited LEP
{{Combined authorities Local government in County Durham Local government in North Yorkshire Combined authorities and combined county authorities