Tees Valley Combined Authority hopes government intervention is end point in Teesworks saga

Plus: We investigate Ben Houchen's 'most FOI-d authority' claim

What a week to decide to go weekly with The Teesside Lead!

This is edition number 45, and what a week it’s been, with Tees Valley Combined Authority being issued with a Best Value Notice by the Government. I’ll look into what it means for the government to intervene into Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen’s work.

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I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face, but there’s no other coverage or analysis like this of Teesside politics.

Thanks as always for reading. Get in touch at teesside@thelead.uk or via Bluesky.

Leigh

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Ben Houchen (Image: TVCA).

After weeks of speculation that something would happen imminently, the Government has finally taken action in response to the Teesworks review which was published over a year ago.

Last March, previous Local Government minister Michael Gove set Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen a six-month deadline to respond to the 28 recommendations in the Tees Valley Review, and six months after that, the new Government has finally decided to respond to that response.

It chose to inform Lord Houchen it was imposing a Best Value Notice on his Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) because of concerns over value for money arrangements only two days after the mayor flew to the south coast of Spain with his family.

TVCA is using this Government intervention over serious concerns about governance, transparency and value for money to continue as normal. They insist this marks “an end point” to the serious questions which were raised in response to the revelation that 90% of a public-private joint venture - which has benefited from £560m of public investment - had been handed to two businessmen for free.

The non-statutory Best Value Notice is the least severe option the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government could have taken, short of taking no action at all.

Lest we forget, in December 2023 - a month before the Tees Valley Review was published - Ben Houchen was calling for the Government to take the extreme option of taking control of Middlesbrough Council because it was struggling to balance its books for the following financial year.

In a written statement to the House of Commons this week, government minister Jim McMahon MP said his “department has concerns regarding the Authority and requests that the Authority engages with the department to provide assurance of improvement.”

This is not an “end point” by any means.

“The department expects authorities that have been issued with a best value notice to continue leading their own improvement,” said McMahon.

Statement from Mayor Ben Houchen:

“I’m pleased the Government has recognised the real progress we’ve made - and confirmed there is no need for a National Audit Office investigation. That’s the right call, and it reflects the work we’ve done to improve governance while continuing to deliver for local people.

“I’ve always said I’ll put politics to one side and work constructively with the Government and the Prime Minister to secure jobs, investment and opportunity for our region. That remains my complete and only focus.

“No organisation is perfect, and my fellow Labour council leaders and I must reflect on this as the Combined Authority improves. But let’s not lose sight of what really matters: thousands of good-quality jobs, billions in private investment, and global companies choosing Teesside as their home. That’s the ‘best value’ we’re delivering for local people every single day.

“I hope those who have spent months talking down Teesside will now stop the politicking and start putting our communities in Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool first.”

If the purpose of issuing the notice was unclear, McMahon spells it out: “This notice today is about rebuilding trust in the Combined Authority after a long period of uncertainty, so that it can continue its journey towards deeper devolution.”

In April last year, now-Chancellor Rachel Reeves told me a Labour government would send in the National Audit Office to investigate if it won that year’s election. Ben Houchen has said the Government has “confirmed there is no need for a National Audit Office investigation.”

I repeatedly pushed the Government on whether or not they had indeed “confirmed” this since the announcement of the Best Value Notice, but they refused to confirm or deny. Instead the Government told me there are still questions which remain following the Tees Valley Review, and they believe a Best Value Notice is the way to get them answered.

McMahon says he hopes the Best Value Notice will provide the “opportunity for a reset”, so that TVCA can lay the foundations “for future investment into the area oriented towards the public good, underpinned by good governance, transparency, and accountability.

“The focus now must be to ensure that the improvements needed are not only secured but also sustained,” he added, “embedding a culture of continuous improvement and responsible stewardship in line with statutory Best Value obligations.”

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Teesside stories you may have missed…

🚂 A train hit a car in Redcar last year because of an error by the signaller

✈️ Walkers on Roseberry Topping were surprised by a fighter jet swooping past them

🐈 A cat missing from Darlington has been found six months later in Inverness

🔥 Redcar Council deferred its decision over the Teesworks incinerator following protests outside the meeting

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Investigated: Ben Houchen’s comment at recent Cabinet meeting over FOI data claim

In the last edition of The Teesside Lead I reported that Ben Houchen claimed Tees Valley Combined Authority was “the most FOI’d public body outside central London”.

This claim was completely unsupported at the time, and this week both TVCA and the Information Commissioner’s Office have been unable to back up Houchen’s claims.