What next after TVCA sacks two top officers?

PLUS: A possible change of strategy at Teesworks

I’d heard rumours about notice being handed in, but my jaw hit the floor this week when I found out TVCA had sacked not one, but two of its top officers. In this edition of The Teesside Lead (number 61), I look at what happened, and what happens next.

For paid subs I dig out some information about planning applications being made at Teesworks, and if there’s been change of strategy for how the thousands of acres of former steelworks land will be used.

You won’t get this sort of coverage or analysis on events in the Tees Valley anywhere else. If you want to support The Teesside Lead, it’s free to subscribe. Paid subs get a bit more for only £4.99 a month, or £49 a year.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to all who get in touch with story tips. Discretion assured, as always! Get in touch at teesside@thelead.uk or via Bluesky.

Enjoy your week,

Leigh

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TVCA’s offices (Image: Leigh Jones).

I alluded to it in the previous edition of The Teesside Lead, when I wrote that I’d asked TVCA why the decision to reject scrutiny of decisions at its AGM was taken by their deputy chief legal officer.

In the email to TVCA, which went unanswered, I directly asked if Emma Simson remained their Monitoring Officer.

The next day, Daniel Hodgson landed the scoop that both Simson and Finance Director Gary Macdonald had been “relieved of their roles” at Tees Valley Combined Authority.

In an additional scoop, Hodgson has confirmed the authority will have to spend an extra £200,000 to fill the roles on an interim basis.

TVCA argues the additional expenditure is “cost neutral” because, in what can only be considered a not-so-subtle dig at their outgoing legal chief, they’ll be saving money on external legal advice.

In the last two years, TVCA has spent £1.7m on external legal advice, and forecasts it will spend £968,000 for the same during the current financial year.

Don’t forget, in early 2024 the long-running legal case which TVCA brought against PD Ports in the High Court came to an end, with PD Ports declared by the judge to be the “clear winner”.

After it was announced last December that then-chief executive Julie Gilhespie would be leaving TVCA, the organisation felt like it was treading water until her replacement was formally appointed in April.

This was a period when the authority’s auditors raised concerns about a “limited engagement” when trying to do their work, and was only made aware of Gilhespie’s impending departure by press coverage. This led to the auditors writing to the secretary of state about the state of things at TVCA.

Now, with two of the authority’s three statutory officers removed from post, it would be remarkable if TVCA doesn’t enter another period of drift and aimlessness unless it appoints interim replacements ASAP.

On Friday TVCA’s cabinet will be asked to approve those interim replacements for Simson and Macdonald as Jodie Townsend and Jo Moore, respectively.

Townsend and Moore have long histories as troubleshooters at local authorities, and it’s unlikely they’ll want to stick around longer than is necessary to start the job of rebuilding the organisation.

The plan for that rebuilding, in response to the Government’s Best Value Notice, was approved by TVCA’s Cabinet less than a month ago, but the details of the plan were kept from the public.

I asked the Government when they were told about Simson and Macdonald’s dismissals, but they wouldn’t comment on individual staffing members at TVCA. They did, however, re-emphasise that BVNs are subject to constant review, and may be withdrawn or escalated at any point besides the mandatory 12-month review stage.

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Teesside stories you may have missed…

💥 A planned demolition explosion took place yesterday at Seaton port

🔥 The Teesworks TVERF incinerator was given an operating permit

🏛️ There were fireworks at a council meeting last week

🚂 The world’s oldest railway station has been saved (we covered its plight back in November)

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First trade union at Teesworks recognised

The first trade union of workers on the Teesworks site has been recognised after a decision from the Central Arbitration Committee.

Workers at the SeAH Wind site are claiming victory after the company initially refused to voluntarily recognise the GMB union in its workforce.

As the news broke on Friday, GMB organiser Andy Blunt said: “This is a major breakthrough for workers' rights at SEAH and should send a clear message to all employers working out of Teesworks; trade union recognition is not an optional extra.”

Earlier in the week the union had begun balloting its members at the site, who number more than 150, on whether or not to take strike action.

They’ve refused a 3.1% pay increase and imposed shift allowances from the offshore monopile manufacturer, criticising the increase as being below both inflation as well as industry standards.

“SeAH Wind should be the model of future industry on Teesside,” said Blunt, “yet despite its promise of a greener, fairer future - bosses are holding on to bad working practices. Workers overwhelmingly rejected this frankly miserly pay offer and instructed us to move to a formal strike ballot.”

Members have until 31st July to return their ballots.

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Cleveland fire company to cease trading

Last month I wrote about a company owned by the Cleveland Fire Authority being summoned to the High Court with a winding up petition, as it owed the taxman millions in unpaid tax.

I’m now told staff at CFB Risk Management Services CIC have been told the company will cease trading on August 10th. The company was next due in court on the 13th.

If you work with the company, or want to share any information at all, get in touch via teesside@thelead.uk!

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Change of strategy at Teesworks?

In last Sunday’s edition of The Teesside Lead, I wrote about Teesworks and South Tees Development Corporation (STDC) making formal objections to BP’s planned H2Teesside blue hydrogen facility.

There had been rumours for a while about a possible change in strategy at Teesworks, but buried among the papers, it was written out in black and white.