£1bn transport announcement event held by Ben Houchen cost taxpayer £5,500
On January 15 Conservative Tees Valley mayor Lord Houchen held an event attended by local politicians, press and business leaders at Middlesbrough railway station to announce plans for Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) to spend £1bn on transport projects in the region, subject to cabinet approval.
The event was held in the station’s undercroft, currently a building site as it undergoes a complete renovation as part of a £35m redevelopment programme. The Yorkshire Post’s FOI request has revealed generator hire cost £500, while the hiring of “set, sound, video and crew” cost the combined authority £5,000.
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Hide AdLord Houchen’s £1bn spending pledge announcement came exactly one week after the mayor formally announced his re-election campaign at a similar event held at Teesside Airport which was live-streamed online. TVCA denied its resources were being used for campaigning purposes, saying it had “no control (nor should it) over when politicians choose to launch their election [campaign].”
They confirmed the transport announcement was “the first event of its kind held for some time.”
Proposals at the announcement, including spending £250m on a new Darlington link road and £20m on “autonomous trams”, were approved by TVCA’s cabinet in a meeting the following week.
A spokesperson for TVCA said: “It was appropriate for TVCA to host a major public consultation event ahead of the TVCA cabinet meeting, which was to consider approving the £1bn plan. It is essential that public bodies are open and consult with the public to take on board comments and answer any questions people may have about the proposed schemes.
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Hide Ad“It even attracted The Yorkshire Post to attend a Combined Authority event for the first time.”
The Yorkshire Post has not previously been invited to TVCA events and only attended the transport announcement after receiving a tip-off and subsequently requesting an invite from TVCA.
They added: “Sending out a mailout is very unlikely to have secured the engagement from the public we received from hosting this event and with broadcast media in attendance, a mailshot would not have secured the same significant reach to the wider public.
“In-person events are also important in terms of scrutiny, whereby politicians can be challenged on important proposals, not least by the media. There would, of course, also be an expense in sending mailouts.”
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