Ben Houchen to stand down as chair of development corporations
Plus: TVCA spends £35,000 in a single week on overseas trips for staff
It’s the 46th edition of The Teesside Lead, and it’s been yet another eventful week in Tees Valley politics (yes, another one).
Ben Houchen has confirmed his intention to stand down as chair of the three development corporations after umm-ing and ahh-ing over it, and I can reveal his combined authority spent around £35,000 in a single week sending staff members to overseas events.
It’s free to subscribe to The Teesside Lead and get it delivered straight to your inbox. If you’re able to support financially, it’s only £4.99 a month to support independent investigative journalism in the Tees Valley. If you enjoy reading, please share it!
Thanks as always for reading. Get in touch at teesside@thelead.uk or via Bluesky.
Leigh
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has confirmed he will stand down as chair of the three mayoral development corporations (MDCs) he leads, following government advice to do so.
The decision to stand down was made a week after the government issued Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) with a Best Value Notice, and also issued guidance saying metro mayors should not chair MDCs to avoid conflicts of interest.
Only a day before Lord Houchen confirmed his intention to step aside, TVCA refused to confirm it would happen, only saying it would “reflect carefully” on the government’s newly-issued guidance. The region’s six Labour MPs subsequently wrote to Lord Houchen calling for his resignation.
“The imperative is that everyone must have confidence in all the governance arrangements of the TVCA and its development corporations and therefore we ask that you publicly set out your timetable for stepping down,” they wrote.
The Government’s new guidance about MDCs and their chairs is as a result of one of the Tees Valley Review’s recommendations which said it should “clarify the regulations in respect of TVCA and STDC (and if necessary other combined authorities and development corporations) including oversight, reserve matters and consents as well as stranded liabilities.”
Lord Houchen will step down at TVCA’s AGM on June 27.
The constitutions of the Hartlepool and Middlesbrough development corporations state “The Chair shall be the Tees Valley Combined Authority Mayor or other Board members nominated by him/her”. The board for Hartlepool can be found here, while Middlesbrough’s is here. Both constitutions will need to be updated to reflect the government’s new guidance about mayors not chairing development corporations.
Meanwhile, the constitution of the South Tees Development Corporation (STDC), responsible for overseeing the Teesworks project, says its board can approve a new chair based on a proposal from the Tees Valley Mayor.
In his usual style, Lord Houchen accepted eventually accepted the government’s new guidance, calling the Labour MPs who called for his resignation “disappointing”.
“I am incredibly proud of all we’ve achieved and will achieve. I have already said that I will respect the new guidance, and the boards will be updated at the AGM as per the constitution. So this is a nice political letter but behind the times,” he said. Although it’s not clear when he had previously indicated his intention to “respect the new guidance”, particularly given his press team’s non-committal answer only the previous day.
“Jobs and progress are my priority and I’ll continue to put local people first,” he added, “as I have done for 8 years.”
Credit is due to Local Democracy Reporter Daniel Hodgson of the Gazette/TeessideLive for pushing TVCA on Lord Houchen’s position as chair of his development corporations after the government’s new guidance was published last week. His work appeared to spur the Labour MPs into action in writing their letter calling for Houchen’s resignation.
Teesside stories you may have missed…
🦦 Work has begun to improve wildlife habitats in Stockton
⚽ Boro legend George Boateng is holding an ‘evening with’ event in June
🏡 Residents say the expansion of their village is turning it into a housing estate
🐈 A Middlesbrough cat shelter says it’s having trouble re-homing black and white cats
TVCA spends £35,000 on attending two conferences in a single week
The Teesside Lead can reveal Tees Valley Combined Authority spent at least £34,000 on sending staff to overseas events in a single week last month.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Teesside Lead to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.