Tees Valley Combined Authority is consulting on plans to establish an elected mayor by next May.
The authority, which came into being in April, comprises Hartlepool, Darlington, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees councils.
Hartlepool is one of five councils in the Tees Valley CA
It has already agreed a devolution deal with ministers, worth £15m a year for 30 years, and has launched a consultation on the powers of the new mayor in what will become a mayoral combined authority from May 2017.
Christopher Akers-Belcher, leader of Hartlepool Council, said: ‘The creation of a combined authority and the devolution deal presents an excellent opportunity over the coming years to attract substantial funds from central government over and above what we are expected to receive.
‘It results in more decision-making at a local level and gives us more influence to shape our future.
‘This latest consultation is really important as it is seeking people’s views on the powers of a new mayor for the combined authority. I urge residents and the business community to get involved in the consultation and have their say.’
Hartlepool stressed that the new authority ‘is not a re-creation of Cleveland County Council’ as the councils would continue in their own right to deliver local services while uniting as a combined authority on areas including transport, infrastructure, employment and skills.
Separately, Derbyshire County Council is considering its position after receiving a response to its threat of legal action over Sheffield City Region Combined Authority’s consultation on plans for an elected mayor.
Derbyshire objects to Chesterfield BC’s plans to join a combined authority for the city region, with which the borough does not share a border.
Last month the county council sent the combined authority a letter before claim, alleging that a consultation on plans for an elected mayor was so ‘misleading and flawed’ that it should be withdrawn.
The deadline in the letter expired last week and Derbyshire confirmed that it had received a response, although neither party has yet disclosed the response.
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