This week I saw something I haven’t seen in probably a couple of years. Something that used to be quite a common sight, but over time has become less visible. But at the slightest provocation this week, we saw the defensive and angry Tees Valley mayor for the first time in ages.
In his monthly BBC Radio Tees Hot Seat, the mayor was given the lightest of grillings by Richard Moss. It got to such a point that both of their microphones were faded in a vain attempt to restore order.
Ben Houchen refused to take any responsibility for the fact the government is sending inspectors in to check his homework, and he got quite tetchy about it all, blaming anybody but himself.
At the end of the phone-in, he was asked about a recent story in Private Eye…
And it’s off the back of that story from The Eye that we have this week’s edition of The Teesside Lead. I’ve been given exclusive access to the data they gathered for their own story, and it looks like more bad news for Teesside taxpayers…
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has charged local taxpayers to upgrade his hotel room when visiting London.
Documents secured by Private Eye magazine through local audit laws, and shared exclusively with The Teesside Lead, show the Conservative mayor spent £816.33 of taxpayers’ money - paid for by Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) - for a two night stay in London.
It comes after The Eye published a story last month showing Lord Houchen has claimed more than £30,000 in allowances for attending the House of Lords, with little evidence of Parliamentary work done to justify the claims.
Since his ennoblement in July 2023, Lord Houchen has claimed the daily tax-free allowance of £371 on 73 days, but has only ever spoken in the chamber three times, and voted on 19 different days.
TVCA refused to respond to Private Eye, but Lord Houchen defended his Parliamentary record while speaking to BBC Radio Tees this week, saying: “It is not left to a member of the House of Lords to claim those expenses themselves. You have officers in Parliament - some of them are called doorkeepers - and they are the ones that have to physically see you in the chamber, they mark you off as being there and doing the job. And only then are you able to claim for attendance.”
He said there had been “a lot of nonsense written”.
However, a tranche of documents shared by Private Eye with The Teesside Lead shows huge travel expenses to London with the purpose rarely explicitly stated. TVCA’s data retention policy means it’s almost impossible to capture the mayor’s diary appointments to cross-reference the purpose of a journey.
In 2025/26, TVCA paid £10,000 in rail fares for Lord Houchen, and £5,000 in hotels fees - including at least one upgrade at a four-star hotel.
Hotel rates paid for by TVCA for Lord Houchen in London range from £120.65 a night to £380.47 according to documents shared with The Teesside Lead.
Lord Houchen stayed at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge for two nights on 8 April 2025, with TVCA paying £329 per night. However the documents released by TVCA show a £158.33 transaction listed as “Room upgrade for B Houchen”.
The Teesside Lead asked TVCA why it was paying for upgrades on already-high rates, but received no response.
Last month TVCA asked Private Eye to delete this document, claiming it had released it in error and had referred itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office. It reissued the document with the room upgrade line redacted.