NORTH of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll will speak at a public meeting in Hexham on the subject of levelling up.

Mr Driscoll will speak at the meeting on Tuesday, September 13 at 7pm at St Mary's Church Hall, Hencotes.

The meeting is open to everyone and there will be questions after his talk from the public.

The North of Tyne Combined Authority comprises Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle councils.

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Metro Mayors are directly elected by people in their area, and chair their region's Combined Authority.

He was elected the first Metro Mayor of North of Tyne in May 2019. He has been focused on using the £20 million annual Investment Fund to transform the North of Tyne to a green economy and to tackle poverty.

His use of the £24 million annual Adult Education Budget will enable the public to benefit from the jobs being created.

Despite the pandemic, 4,487 well-paid jobs are in the pipeline, all underpinned by the Good Work Pledge.

He is helping local communities through the Community Hubs programme and the North of Tyne Crowdfund scheme, which supports projects addressing food poverty and improving the local environment.