The UK government has halted the discharge of paperwork that may reveal the decision-making process behind the contentious investigation into the redevelopment of Teesside. Conservative MPs voted in opposition to a Labour measure within the House of Commons, with a result of 272 to 166. This choice followed the announcement by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove of a three-person panel that will look at the Teesworks website.
The dispute arose after Labour MPs requested a statutory inquiry into the North East challenge, which the federal government refused to authorise. Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald previously expressed considerations about the Teesworks scheme, alleging “truly surprising, industrial-scale corruption”. However, rather than commissioning the National Audit Office to investigate Teesworks, Gove assembled “an unbiased assurance review” in an unconventional move.
Teesworks is the challenge responsible for redeveloping the Teesside industrial website, including the former Redcar steelworks. Controversy has surrounded the project’s administration, significantly the switch of a good portion of the ownership of a company creating the location from the publicly run Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) to non-public arms.
Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of the Tees Valley, has confronted scrutiny as the chief of the TVCA and chair of the South Tees Development Company, which is now 90% privately held, instead of a 50-50 split with the public. Houchen has been amongst these calling for a full inquiry and claims to don’t have anything to hide.
The panel answerable for the investigation includes Angie Ridgwell, chief govt of Lancashire County Council; Quentin Baker, the director of law and governance at Hertfordshire County Council; and Richard Paver, the first treasurer of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
After the parliamentary vote, Labour’s shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said: “Having rejected cross-party calls, including from the Conservative Mayor, for a National Audit Office investigation, ministers need to make clear that the evaluation they have set up will have all the identical powers as the NAO would have had to evaluate the accounts and assess the selections which have been made in relation to Teesworks.”
Nandy accused Gove of initiating “an investigation on his personal terms, hand-picking a panel to research a problem the place accountability has totally damaged down”. In response, Houchen acknowledged: “I look ahead to the result, in the end, and will be making no further comment till the impartial evaluation has been completed, so to allow the unbiased body to carry out their work with out influence or favour. Key stand prepared to provide any and all information requested by the unbiased review.”