Houchen: Government doesn't understand potential of Teesside
The potential of Teesside is not fully understood by the UK government and those in Whitehall, the region’s mayor has said.
Lord Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Mayor, told The Yorkshire Post: “We’ve done a lot of lobbying over the last 10 years on the opportunity of Teesside and what we’re doing, and it still isn’t understood.
“It is in pockets and obviously we’re doing great things, but it is not as understood as you would expect it to be.”
It comes as Lord Houchen launched a combined bio-industrial cluster alongside fellow mayor, York and North Yorkshire’s David Skaith.
“We need to be more joined up like this - working with the government and ministers and getting adopted by the system,” he added.
Some of Lord Houchen’s projects to drive investment on Teesside have been highly controversial.
Teesworks, which covers the former Redcar steelworks site, was initially a 50-50 joint venture between public body South Tees Development Corporation (STDC) and two local businessmen, Chris Musgrave and Martin Corney.
A transfer of shares in November 2021 saw the businessmen take control of 90 per cent of Teesworks Ltd, the company vehicle for the scheme, which was supported by Lord Houchen.
More than £500m of taxpayers’ money has been spent, with Mr Musgrave and Mr Corney extracting at least £120m via dividends and other payments.
Industry Minister Chris McDonald, the MP for Stockton North, said: “Now I’m sat in the chair, we can be absolutely sure that we’ve got a voice of Teesside and a voice of the North East of England right at the heart of government.”