The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the combined authority for the Tees Valley strategic authority area in North East England. It consists of the following five unitary authorities: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees. It is a strategic authority with powers over transport, economic development and regeneration including the flagship Teesside Freeport.
The strategic authority governs a population of approximately 700,000 people. Its area is divided between the ceremonial counties of North Yorkshire and County Durham.
The strategic authority was established on 1 April 2016, after Local Government Minister James Wharton MP signed the necessary Order. It was first proposed that a combined authority be established by statutory instrument under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. 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 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 and the Cleveland Fire Brigade.
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 and the Council of the Nations and Regions.
As of October 2026, the composition of the combined authority was:
Name Membership Nominating authority Position within nominating authority Ben Houchen Chair Tees Valley Combined Authority Tees Valley Mayor Steve Harker Constituent Darlington Borough Council Leader of the Council Dave Bruce Constituent Hartlepool Borough Council Leader of the Council Chris Cooke Constituent Middlesbrough Borough Council Mayor of Middlesbrough Alec Brown Constituent Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council Leader of the Council Lisa Evans Constituent Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Leader of the Council Matthew Ord Non-constituent Tees Valley Combined Authority Business Board Chair of the TVCA Business Board
Demographics
Population
Religion +2021 Religious DataReligionTees Valley CA (Approximate)England %Capita%No religion264,10839.036.7Christian343,34050.746.3Buddhist2,0320.30.5Hindu3,3860.51.8Jewish –0.00.5Muslim25,7343.86.7Sikh2,0320.30.9Other religion2,0320.30.6Not answered35,2145.26.0
Ethnicity and Identity +2021 Ethnicity of Tees ValleyCategoryTees Valley CAEnglandAsian, Asian British or Asian Welsh4.4%9.6%Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African1.1%4.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups1.3%3%White92.1%81%Other ethnic group1.1%2.2%
See also Cleveland (county) Teesside Tees Valley Tees Valley Mayor
Notes
References
External links
Tees Valley Unlimited LEP