THE government has confirmed that the Tees Valley will control a £29.5 million adult education budget from the next academic year.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, and the Tees Valley Combined Authority will take responsibility for the way post-19 adult education in the region is delivered.

The budget will be used to enhance adult education, its funding and performance management for residents across the Tees Valley.

Mayor Ben Houchen said: “This September we will control a £29.5million annual fund to improve post-19 education across the Tees Valley.

"We are only getting control of this fund because our region agreed to a directly-elected Mayor.

"This is yet another example of devolution working for our area.

"This confirmation is the final step in taking local control of the post-19 adult education budget for our residents.

Mr Houchen said the budget will allow enhanced adult education to develop "home-grown" talent.

He added: "Thanks to devolution and because we agreed to a directly elected Mayor, we can now invest in training, or retraining, home-grown talent and focus on giving priority to those skills our employees are crying out for.

"For decades, some companies took the easy way out and brought in cheap labour to fill demand.

"But with this new fund, we will start investing in local people by re-training them to fill our skills gap.

The Tees Valley Devolution was signed in 2015 and it was agreed that the adult education budget would remain permanently devolved to the region.

The Tees Valley Combined Authority was created and became reality in March 2016, covering Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, and Redcar and Cleveland.

The new combined authority meant greater control on a local level over health, education, policing and the emergency services.

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher Tees Valley Combined Authority cabinet member and leader of Hartlepool Borough Council said: "We’re committed to creating jobs, but that alone won’t help if our residents aren’t prepared and able to access rewarding careers.

"Now we can take local decisions to decide where best we can spend our money to change the fortunes of people across the region.

"By working with providers in the public and private sectors, we can help adults back into the world of work.

The Tees Valley will take control from August 1, 2019.