In his penultimate article, John D Clare explains what the Devolution Agreement proposes in terms of Skills and Transport.

(2) SKILLS AND EDUCATION
The Devolution Agreement proposes to set up an ‘Employment and Skills Board’ to review post-16 support for harder-to-help claimants, and to develop new strategies for post-16 education, deepening links with business and encouraging “vocational training, experience of work and enterprise learning”.
However, there is no funding identified, except the post-19 adult skills budget and the new Apprenticeship Levy.  The Board will be dominated by senior Whitehall civil servants, chaired by the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, and responsible to the government – so it is hard to see much ‘devolution’ going on here.
MY VERDICT:
One has to wonder whether the powers and funding on offer will achieve the ambitious aims, and it is very depressing to see a final proposal for a ‘Service Transformation Fund’ intended “to reduce high dependency on public services” – has the Skills part of the proposal been hijacked by the government’s Welfare agenda?
(3) TRANSPORT
The Devolution Agreement hopes “to create the UK’s first fully integrated transport system … to bring together responsibilities for rail, local highways, metro, buses and ferries, for urban, suburban and rural communities”.  To this end, moreover, the Agreement promises the Mayor legal powers, and a multi-year transport settlement.
The Mayor will introduce a regional ‘smart ticketing’ system (e.g. like the London Oystercard).  He will “oversee” the work of a government organisation called ‘Rail North’, which will have responsibility for rail services, rolling stock and connections in the north east.  He will control franchising of bus services, and he will have a voice in inter-regional transport issues and investment, including Highways.
The Devolution Proposal also promises to “consider” funding a multi-year investment programme in the Tyne and Wear Metro.  This is of particular significance to County Durham residents because funding the Metro – from which we currently gain nothing – was such a worry that we secured a specific exemption in the NECA agreement, and there is no such exclusion (yet) in the Devolution Agreement.
MY VERDICT:
Very ambitious, but to be welcomed if it comes off.  Doing the job properly, however, will require £-billions, and sceptics will note the absence of any specific numbers amongst the promises.  Bus-franchising powers are included in the Buses Bill going through Parliament, but this may be compromised by the recent legal defeat of Tyne and Wear’s attempted re-regulation.
John D Clare

This is my interpretation only, and not official DCC policy.  You can read the full Devolution Proposal here: http://bit.ly/NECADeal  Next, in the concluding article, I will explain how the Devolved Authority would be run.