Latest news with #AtlanticSuperConnector

BBC News

Ben Houchen quizzed on Teesworks in BBC Radio Tees hotseat

The Tees Valley Mayor has been quizzed on his involvement in the Teesworks site while in the BBC Radio Tees Houchen was asked by a listener why he continued to defend "an organisation that has had a very critical independent review".He admitted there was room for improvement at Teesworks but defended the organisation for providing "billions of pounds of investment" for the independent review into claims of cronyism and corruption surrounding finances at the Teesworks site in 2024 found no evidence of wrongdoing, but criticised a lack of transparency. Houchen said: "Most of the controversy that came about over the last couple of years was highly political."He spoke of one large investment which he said had been deterred from committing to the region because of the controversy."As soon as those accusations were made it caused certain investors to pause looking at Teesside as a location for investment," he told BBC Radio Tees."There was one particular investor, Atlantic SuperConnector, that people can look up that publicly decided not to come to Teesside with their £800m investment because of the accusations that had been made."That's 1,200 permanent jobs that are not coming to the region because of that." Auditor recommendations On Tuesday, a Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) cabinet meeting was held in reaction to criticism of the local authority from Ernst and Young (EY) a 40-minute meeting, the TVCA director of finance highlighted three recommendations in the EY report, according to the Local Democracy Reporting combined authority was recommended to review the finance team "to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to support the breadth of its activities" and its process around the public inspection period "to ensure it fully understands the statutory requirements".It was also asked to set out a clear timetable for the production of its 2024-25 recommendations were all approved by the cabinet the BBC Tees interview, Houchen was also asked questions about Teesside International Airport, Tees Flex buses, when the cycle lane on Linthorpe Road will be closed and crime in Stockton. Additional reporting by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.