County Durham residents have their say about government's devolution deal
Postal poll papers will arrive on doorsteps across the county over the next couple of days, asking about things like a directly elected mayor and the impact on the economy.
Residents across County Durham will be given their say about the devolution deal when a postal poll begins this week.
Durham County Council hope the vote will help them make a decision regarding a final North East devolution agreement.
The government's proposed plans would see more decisions made locally and a £30million-a-year additional funding made available.
The region would also receive a directly elected mayor.
From today, information packs and poll papers will be delivered to all those registered to vote in the county.
Cllr Simon Henig, Leader of Durham County Council said: "The proposed devolution agreement would change the way a number of key decisions are made in the North East.
"It would see more decisions about our economy, transport, jobs and housing development being made in the region instead of in London.
"We believe it is important that the people of County Durham are given the chance to give their views on whether this is the right thing to do."
The public will be asked to answer four questions, compiled by Durham University.
There will be 15 possible responses to the four questions included in the poll, which include issues like the economy and the power of the region.
Bob Hudson is a public policy specialist from the university, and fears the public just don't know enough about devolution to answer these questions effectively.
He said: "It's a good idea, my problems are it's lengthy and it's complicated.
"It assumes people already know a fair bit about the devolution deal but I suspect most people won't know.
"My worry would be the response rate would be low, the findings would be inconclusive and people will ask 'what was that all about?'.
More information about the devolution polls can be found HERE.