A GOLDEN era. That’s how Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry described the future facing the North of Tyne as he officially launched a North-East devolution deal last Friday.

Mr Berry was speaking at Newcastle University’s urban science building, alongside exchequer secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Jones and the leaders of the three North of Tyne authorities.

In a speech at the launch, leader of Northumberland County Council Peter Jackson was clearly delighted.

Coun. Jackson said: “The degree of devolution in this deal is unprecedented. We will use this investment fund to attract up to £2.1bn of private sector investment to the North of Tyne.

“There will be many challenges, but as you know, we are ambitious and see this as just the start of a journey. For us, this is the start of a new, exciting era.”

Coun. Jackson signed the deal, watched by Tynedale councillors Cath Homer, Nick Oliver and John Riddle.

The devolution package will bring Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside councils together, forming the North of Tyne Combined authority (NTCA).

The new body will have an elected mayor (voted for by electors within the North of Tyne area) who will chair a Cabinet made up of six representatives from the three councils plus representatives from the North East Local Enterprise Partnership and the business community.

The Government will provide £600m of investment over the next 30 years.

The Treasury anticipates the region’s economy will be boosted by £1.1bn, with 10,000 new jobs created.

The NTCA will have powers to combat housing issues, unemployment and falling education standards.

In a boost for Northumberland, the NTCA will be the first area in the country to test a scheme aimed at improving the rural economy.

The NTCA will also see an Inclusive Growth Board established to integrate skills and employment programmes across the area.

It will also gain control of the adult education budget, responding to local needs for skills provision.

The elected mayor will have significant powers in terms of housing, including the authority to make compulsory purchases.

The Government has been pushing the concept of devolved local authorities for a number of years.

Powers have already been devolved to areas such as Greater Manchester and Liverpool.

A key component of the devolution model is that an elected mayor is accountable to the public for any mistakes. This takes the pressure off ministers for decisions made about areas they know little about.

For some, the North-East’s devolution deal marks the culmination of years of work.

The idea of devolved powers for the North-East first came to the fore in 2004, when a referendum was held on the matter.

The public’s answer was a resounding “no”, with over 70 per cent of voters against devolution.

Despite this setback, devolution reared its head again 12 years later.

This time, the public were left out of the decision – but Sunderland, Durham, Gateshead and South Tyneside councils said they were not satisfied with the £30m a year on offer, and rejected the proposals.

Once again, devolution for the North-East looked dead in the water.

But Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside chose to pursue their own deal and devolution was finally achieved when the agreement was signed last week.

The deal now has to go through a statutory process before devolved powers are handed over.

The NTCA won’t actually be created until 2018, and it will another year from then before a mayor is elected.

There has been a great deal of fanfare about the devolution deal from politicians and the world of business.

Leader of Newcastle City Council Nick Forbes said: “The devolution deal is our region’s next step towards creating a North-East economy with above average wages and below average unemployment.”

Furthermore, Ross Smith, director of policy at the North-East England Chamber of Commerce, said: “It’s great to see this deal going ahead which will mean the North of Tyne area has flexibility to tailor policy and investment decisions to local economic conditions, instead of them being made in Whitehall.”

But there are concerns that the Government’s £600m over the next 30 years is the economic equivalent of putting a sticking plaster on an amputated limb.

The councils south of the Tyne rejected the 2016 proposals because they felt the Government was selling them short, and their concern was mirrored by some North-East MPs.

Certainly, the £20m per year is significantly less than the £61m the councils will have to save annually for the next five years because of Government cuts.

But Coun. Jackson was more optimistic. Speaking after the launch, he said: “There is nearly double the amount of funding per head than the original deal. It will increase prosperity and productivity and wage levels beyond anything we can achieve at the moment.”

Although the extra funding will be welcomed, there are worries that Northumberland could be left behind by the other two authorities.

Without the likes of Sunderland and Middlesborough in the mix, could the interests of Newcastle dominate?

Coun. Jackson admitted: “It is a bit of a concern. But the way that the cabinet is structured, Northumberland will actually have a veto on all of the main decisions.

“All three of the authorities and the mayor have to agree to do anything significant.

“We have protected the interests of Northumberland going forward.”

Devolution represents the biggest shake-up of regional government in the North-East in decades.

A number of barriers to its success mean it will take the hard work of all involved to achieve the “golden era” envisioned by Jake Berry.