Linthorpe Road cycle lane funding not yet approved by TVCA
Plus: Fuel Poverty Awareness Day
As the weeks pass and the subscriber count grows, all I can say to begin the eleventh edition of The Teesside Lead is a huge “thank you” for your support. Subscribing and sharing are easy and free ways of supporting my work as an independent journalist covering Teesside. However, if you have the means, a paid subscription goes even further.
Earlier this week the Northern Powerhouse Partnership published new research showing how schools in the North of England are unfairly rated by the current system, with the North East being most unfairly impacted.
Arlen Pettitt is a comms and policy expert based in the North East. He crunches the data behind the report the latest edition of his weekly newsletter, which you can read here.
I’ve previously written about today’s main story as being described as “whiny-baby politics”, with an undignified public back-and-forth between two mayors.
But a written answer published to the Tees Valley Combined Authority’s website last week, with no fanfare, provides an illuminating insight into where things actually stand with the removal of the Linthorpe Road cycle lane, and it also suggests one of the mayors was not particularly accurate with previous statements…
Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen has been contradicted by his own officers after he previously claimed money for removing the Linthorpe Road cycle lane had been “signed off”.
The ongoing public spat between Lord Houchen and Middlesbrough’s Labour mayor Chris Cooke had seen the Conservative previously saying, “there is a pot of money that we have, that’s available and signed off”. However, a document published on Tees Valley Combined Authority’s (TVCA) website last week contradicts his statement.
It came in the form of a written answer to a question to Tees Valley Combined Authority’s Transport Committee.
The question, from the unnamed member of the public, mentions how discussion of the issue between both mayors had taken place “entirely via social media”, before asking if TVCA’s officers had been working to reach an amicable solution to the issue.
In its response, the combined authority confirmed, “TVCA officers have continued to engage with Middlesbrough Council officers.”
The answer continues by saying the next step in the process is for the new design of the road to be approved by Middlesbrough Council’s Executive at a meeting next week, on 4 December. It’s expected to be the same layout as before the cycle lane was installed.
After Middlesbrough’s approval of the scheme as the highway authority responsible, TVCA says it “can finalise the business case. The business case will then be subject to approval through the TVCA Assurance Framework.”
This admission that the business case for funding removal of the cycle lane has not been finalised, much less approved, entirely contradicts Lord Houchen’s previous claims that the money had been “signed off.”
Lord Houchen did not respond to a request for comment.
After the business case does get approval by TVCA, it adds, “the timeframe for delivery will be confirmed in due course.”
As previously reported by The Teesside Lead, legal responsibility of the works lies with Middlesbrough Council, and it cannot approve commencement of the works until they receive funds promised by TVCA.
I’m told the removal works will cost around £3m, which includes re-paying the Government the original £1.7m grant that was used to build the cycle lane in the first place.
Middlesbrough Council did not provide a comment to The Teesside Lead, however, documents for next week’s Executive meeting which were published last night confirm the council’s position as wanting to remove the cycle lane as a “political priority” which was first identified in early 2023.
The recommendations for the Executive are to accept the new layout for Linthorpe Road, and to agree “a further report will be brought to the Executive, following a final, funded proposal from TVCA.”
Two weeks ago I covered the opening of the Middlesbrough Multibank, a project led by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown to help redistribute unsold stock from retailers to families in need of essential goods.
The Multibank has just launched its Christmas campaign - aimed at tackling hygiene poverty. It says more than 400,000 households in the UK don’t have toothpaste or soap.
As part of its nationwide campaign it’s asking Middlesbrough FC fans to donate hygiene products when Boro play Millwall at the Riverside on 14 December. You can read more about the campaign on the Multibank’s website, as well as donate the old fashioned way by sending them some cash.
Meanwhile, North East charity Action Foundation has also launched its Christmas campaign.
The charity, which helps refugees and vulnerable migrants in the region, will see all donations up to £250 to its Unwrap the Joy campaign matched by the Aviva Community Fund, meaning a £50 donation is worth £100 to the charity.
Cards on the table, I ran the Great North Run this year in support of Action Foundation. I believe in the importance of their work in helping vulnerable people who have fled war and persecution who have no means to access state support.
Only £10 buys a move-in pack to help someone move into a new home, while £20 can buy hot food for a drop-in client for a while month.
One of their key services is providing English lessons to their service users, and £50 is the cost of a whole term’s travel costs to help people access those lessons.
You can donate to Action Foundation at this link.
Teesside stories you may have missed…
👪🏻 Hartlepool’s MP has accused child social care providers of “outrageous profiteering”
🏥 North East Bylines has an interesting read on the state of the social care market
🚌 Around 1 in 40 miles of bus service is lost each year due to driver numbers in the Tees Valley
Today is Fuel Poverty Awareness Day, and the number of UK households in fuel poverty has increased by a quarter in the last four years, according to a North East charity.
National Energy Action (NEA) has calculated the current number of UK households in fuel poverty is 6 million, compared to 4.5 million in October 2021. The day couldn’t come on a more timely date, with energy regulator Ofcom announcing last week the energy price cap would be raised again in January, meaning the average energy bill for a household will be £1,738 a year.
The charity estimates the number of households unable to afford to heat their homes has increased by 400,000 since July this year. In new figures published yesterday, NEA estimates 6.1 million households in the UK will be in fuel poverty in by January, when the energy price cap is set to rise again.
A survey it conducted with YouGov found 46% of people are likely to ration their energy use this winter.
In February this year, the government’s calculation was that 3.2 million households were in fuel poverty in 2023, predicting it to drop to 3.1 million this year. However, NEA disputes the government’s definition.
The definition used by the charity is that any household which needs to spend more than 10% of its income on energy is in fuel poverty. This definition, it argues, is responsive to changes in fuel prices, while the government’s definition is not.
The government’s definition for fuel poverty is based on the efficiency of homes. The Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) model it uses makes no consideration of the impact of the volatile energy market on people. Despite this, the government calculates 238,000 households entered fuel poverty between 2022 and 2023 just because of increases in energy costs.
However, research conducted by NEA with the University of Salford has revealed how cheap it could be to keep warm this winter. The recommended temperature to keep a home to avoid risks to respiratory and cardiovascular health in healthy adults is 18°C. Turning the thermostat down to 16°C only saves 66p per day, according to the new study.
National Energy Action Chief Executive Adam Scorer says: “Every day, our advisers speak to clients who turn down their heating below a healthy level of warmth. They hope to save pounds every day. Our work with Salford shows the cost difference could be much less than most people think.
“At the same time, the health and wellbeing impact of a home heated below 18 degrees can be far worse than people know. For every degree below 18, cold homes take an increasing toll on people’s health, wellbeing and lives.
“Cold homes, cause ill health. Our work with Salford is to understand how the decisions that people take to cope with unaffordable bills affect them, and how we might guide them towards better approaches. We know that rationing and self disconnecting comes at an unacceptable price to their health and wellbeing.”
A Government spokesperson told The Teesside Lead: “We will do everything possible to support vulnerable families this winter - including with the £150 Warm Home Discount, expected to support three million eligible households, and our drive to boost Pension Credit, which has already seen a 152% increase in claims.
“Over one million households are set to be lifted out of fuel poverty through the biggest potential boost to home energy standards in history.
“We have also announced the next steps of our Warm Homes Plan, with up to 300,000 homes set to benefit from upgrades next year, making them cheaper and cleaner to run.”
“We’re off to Middlesbrough where the Christmas lights will be switched on, but by whom, Kris Kamara?”
The switch will be flicked/plunger plunged by Hartlepudlian sports broadcasting legend Jeff Stelling at a free event in Centre Square tomorrow night (28th Nov). Expect the lights to go on at around 5.45pm.
Meanwhile, Redcar town’s Christmas light event was cancelled on Sunday because of Storm Bert. The forecast for high winds meant stages couldn’t be built and safety not guaranteed for those attending.
The planned Illumination Parade will instead take place during Guisborough's Christmas festivities on 3 December.
Redcar Council leader Alec Brown said he was “gutted,” adding, “Christmas is my favourite time of the year.”
Once again, thank you so much for reading The Teesside Lead. It twists my little melon to think of how quickly support has grown in little over a month.
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Thanks again!
Leigh