One of the issues not much discussed since the publication of the Teesworks Independent Review is what it reveals about how the five council Leaders and other elected councillors are treated when they go to do business at TVCA.
TVCA is a combined authority of our local councils, its aim is to work collaboratively for the good of the Tees Valley. It is the result of years of successful partnership working. The elected mayor is a relatively late addition, only becoming part of the set up in 2017. The TVCA constitution is clear, our council leaders, alongside the TV Mayor are collectively custodians of all that TVCA do. It is surprising then to find just how little council leaders and councillors are involved in important decisions at TVCA.
Poor information given to TVCA Cabinet
The Independent Report records the poor quality and content of many reports that go to TVCA Cabinet (the most senior body) with little detail and often no source of legal or other professional advice. It also highlights the short notice given for decision making, the fact that leaders and councillors have to depend on verbal briefings for information and the lack of full explanations of the consequences arising from decisions. If this were a local authority cabinet, important financial and policy decisions that impact all residents would never be taken on the basis of such poor information.
Scrutiny committee unable to scrutinise properly
For councillor members of the scrutiny or audit committee things are even worse. They complained of a lack of information which undermined their ability to scrutinise activity and in the case of the South Tees Development Corporation they were told, wrongly as it turns out, it was outside their remit to scrutinise it all.
When I was a member of the TVCA scrutiny committee, we were given access to confidential reports that had been to Cabinet but it seems by the time the Review Report was written even these were being denied to scrutiny members, and anecdotally I have heard that when the Labour councillors asked for a room to meet before a scrutiny meeting they were told the facilities at TVCA were not available to them as they were not part of the organisation!
The powers of the mayor
And then there is the question of the powers of the mayor. This is in dispute throughout the review report which frequently questions where the mayor can take decisions alone and where things have to be referred to the cabinet for ‘consent.’
It appears that in every instance where a choice has to be made TVCA officers come down on the side that excludes the council leaders. Not, I would suggest, an indication that they are regarded as equal partners in the decision-making process.
And the five councils own senior officers do not come off scot-free. By seemingly not being alert to what was going on they have allowed the influence of their leaders and councillors to be eroded and as a result decisions have been made without their full knowledge or positive agreement.
Any leader or councillor reading the review report should be concerned about the dismissive way they have been treated, and question how they have ended up such a poor second in the TVCA decision making process and in the case of scrutiny and audit not relevant at all.
This Independent Review Report, coupled with the upcoming mayoral elections gives an opportunity to reboot. The five councils should collectively review their role and function in TVCA to urgently reinstate their position and influence as the equal partners. Then at last we might start to see TVCA decisions taken with the proactive involvement of our councils, with full visibility and accountability and most importantly in the best interest of the whole of the Tees Valley.
Sue Jeffrey, Founder member of TVCA, Leader Redcar and Cleveland Council 2015-2019
