MP calls for safeguards to stop £1bn funding being "funnelled" to property developers
Plus: Carbon capture project at Teesworks latest
Hello, it’s the 54th edition of The Teesside Lead. Straight into your inbox if you’ve signed up for free (don’t forget to do so, it’s a simple way of supporting independent journalism in the Tees Valley!).
As this edition lands with you, I should be in the air over Europe somewhere, heading for a week of Greek sun. For next week’s edition I’ve lined up two guest pieces.
The big political news next week should be the government’s spending review, but in drip-feeding little bits last week so that the public gets a chance to digest it, the biggest and most important part for the Tees Valley was announced on Wednesday. For this week’s edition, I’ve spotted a Commons exchange on the subject which wasn’t picked up elsewhere, which may lead to more questions.
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Enjoy your week, I’ll try my best to enjoy mine!
Leigh
A Teesside MP has called for the government to impose safeguards on £1bn of funding allocated by the government to Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen this week, to ensure its not “funnelled into the purses of property developers.”
Stockton North’s Labour MP Chris McDonald raised the issue in the House of Commons on Wednesday, the same day the Treasury confirmed it would provide £978m to Conservative Lord Houchen for transport projects in the Tees Valley.
The funding had been initially announced by the previous government in 2023, but had been put on hold by the incoming Labour administration as it undertook its spending review, which is due to be published this week.
The decision was made to take the brakes off on the funding and provide the full £978m allocation to Ben Houchen (who has routinely rounded it up as a “billion” every time he’s mentioned it). Tees Valley Combined Authority’s Cabinet had signed off on how the full funding would be spent at a meeting in February 2024.
That includes spending on emergency repairs to the Tees Transporter bridge, but more practically things like a new rail station for Teesside Park and a new link road north of Darlington connecting the A66 and A1(M).
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Chris McDonald MP raised the funding and what it might achieve.
“There is enough money here to deliver a safe crossing over the A689 in Wynyard, buses in Port Clarence, more trains in Billingham, and the restoration of our much-loved transporter bridge,” he said.
He then raised concerns with Treasury minister Darren Jones about how much he trusts Lord Houchen with spending the money.
“Will [Mr Jones] assure me that there will be sufficient governance to ensure that every penny is spent on the priorities of local people, and that the money will not be funnelled into the purses of property developers, which was a concern in Teesside under the previous Conservative Government?”
Mr Jones replied in favour of devolution, saying that metro mayors were best-placed to decide how money was spent locally. “My honourable friend rightly raises the point that the best combined authority mayors are those who work with local Members of Parliament and their communities to ensure that money is spent in the best way to meet the needs of local communities,” he said.
However, as a result of previous concerns over value for money, Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) differs from other combined authorities and does not receive an integrated settlement from the Treasury, meaning it can only spend on things approved by central government.
“Measures are in place in Whitehall to supervise spending by combined authority mayors and to audit where appropriate,” added Mr Jones. “Further measures are coming in due course. He is right to welcome this historic level of funding for his constituency and region, and we look forward to the money being spent well on his constituents’ priorities.”
What “further measures coming in due course” are not clear, with the minister’s comments coming shortly after TVCA was issued with a best value notice to improve governance and value-for-money arrangements in the region.
On Friday, TVCA issued a press release saying it had completed a draft response to the best value notice issued by the Government two months ago.
TVCA’s Interim Chief Executive Tom Bryant said: “Invaluable input and support from our constituent authorities and committees has informed our draft plan, which sets out actions to embed improvements at the heart of our organisation. I’d like to thank everyone involved in this work so far.”
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Questions over carbon capture as Teesworks scheme appoints MD
The Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), the company in charge of the proposed carbon capture project at Teesworks, has appointed a Managing Director.
Rich Denny will lead the BP, Equinor and Total-backed project which hopes to capture carbon created by the Net Zero Teesside gas-fired power plant at Teesworks, and trap it underground beneath the North Sea.
He’s previously worked at Shell in different technical, commercial and leadership roles.
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