Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) held its annual general meeting (AGM) on 26 June at the end of a turbulent year, during which it has been under a best value notice (BVN) imposed by the government and lost its top legal and financial officials (not long after also losing its chief executive), Immediately after the AGM its cabinet held an ordinary meeting. These were ideal opportunities for the five cabinet members to question the mayor, Lord Ben Houchen, and senior officials about the events of the past year and prospects for the 12 months to come.
The cabinet is described in the TVCA constitution as its principal decision-making body. Cabinet members have a duty to ensure that decisions are, among many other things, transparent and accountable and not subject to any form of predetermination, that consideration is given to alternative options and that there is a presumption in favour of openness and transparency. This is how it went:
Annual general meeting
Much of the business at the AGMs of local authorities is often formal and simply needs to be nodded through. As the agenda for this meeting stated: “Constitutionally, there are a number of items of business that the combined authority cabinet is required to note, agree and approve at its AGM.” Thus, in ten cases the cabinet was asked simply to note appointments to various positions and boards. It was recommended to approve four, including to the theoretically powerful overview & scrutiny and audit & governance committees and agree to the allocation of portfolios to cabinet members.
The Reform leader of Hartlepool said he was pleased to have been allocated the housing portfolio (jointly with the mayor), but abstained on the appointments in general, without any explanation. Otherwise there were no questions or comments from cabinet members.
The cabinet was also asked to note that three “independent persons” to support the monitoring (legal) officer with any potential alleged code of conduct breaches and other standards matters had been appointed.
It was also noted that the terms of office of board members of the three development corporations were going to be extended pending a mayoral review and that two appointments to the board of the Teesside Freeport had been ratified by the chief executive and the monitoring officer (interim monitoring officer, presumably) to enable the continued and effective conduct of business.
It was clear from the start from the time set aside for the meeting – 15 minutes – that everyone expected it to be short. But not as short as it was. The whole thing was over for another year in 2mins 23secs. The recording is here.
Ordinary meeting
The ordinary meeting which followed was, judged by the length of the agenda (336 pages) and importance of the items on it, arguably much more significant.
After the usual formalities (apologies, minutes, declarations of intertest), the cabinet was recommended to appoint a new monitoring (legal) officer. This is a key appointment and is statutory (required by law). The last holder of the position left abruptly last summer at the same time as the group director of finance and resources. TVCA has since had two interim holders of the monitoring officer post and was experiencing difficulty filling it, as reported by North East Bylines on 17 April.
The new post holder comes to TVCA from Barnsley Council and was recommended by a panel including significant representation from outside TVCA. A written report to the cabinet, while not identifying the new officer, said his salary costs (we now know it is a man) are affordable within the approved 2026-27 budget. At the meeting, however, cabinet members were told verbally by chief executive Tom Bryant that he was upgrading the post (under delegated powers) to director level because of increased responsibilities due to extra statutory powers coming to mayors in the fields of planning and policing, and on the recommendation of the current interim monitoring officer to bring TVCA into line with other authorities.
There was also a mention at this point of the three “independent persons” referred, to above who were described to by an official as “excellent people” and “outstanding candidates.”
The only question from a cabinet member was an attempt at a friendly joke: were the mayor and/or chief executive concerned about their ability to recruit a new finance and resources director as good as the current interim post-holder (who was present to hear this compliment). General laughter.
Best Value Notice
Next on the agenda was a progress report on the organisational improvement plan designed to liberate TVCA from the best value notice (BVN) imposed by the government in April 2025. There were hopes that the BVN would be lifted after 12 months but it has not happened. The 47-page report was introduced by Chris Cooke, Mayor of Middlesbrough, who said the improvement plan was in a good place. The chief executive reported that a meeting had been held with the chair of the independent advisory board, which is overseeing the improvement plan, to discuss whether they had the “right board members”. The cabinet would be kept briefed. There were no questions.
Draft annual governance statement 2025-26
This is a document that must be published annually and must comply with a variety of governance and audit requirements. This time it covers what was, as mentioned, a turbulent year. It had already been considered at what was described as an informal meeting of the audit and governance committee on 21 May. (Actually, that meeting was informal because it was inquorate; not enough members turned up). The 33-page document, plus covering report, were introduced by an official, who described it as a “herculean effort” and “a tremendous piece of work”. There were no questions.
Two financial reports on South Tees Development Corporation (STDC)
STDC is the body responsible for the public’s remaining 10% stake in the Teesworks brownfield regeneration site at Redcar, which has been at the centre of huge controversy documented over the past three years by Private Eye, North East Bylines and others. Two reports to the cabinet set out its medium-term financial plan (MTFP) and its capital and revenue budgets for 2026-27.
According to these documents (44 pages in all, including financial tables) STDC’s underlying borrowing requirement by next March will be £594.4mn. an increase of £8.1mn during this year. To balance its revenue (day-to-day) budget this year it will have to use £4.762mn from its reserves, leaving £11.062mn. There were no questions on the first of these reports, while the second was “taken as read”.
Whistleblowing policy
The TVCA whistleblowing policy has been reviewed in light of the Employment Rights Act 2025. The ten-page policy document plus covering report were introduced by an official. The amended policy had been presented to the informal meeting of the audit and governance committee referred to above. The official drew attention to two points: complaints should be taken seriously whether signed or anonymous, and – because the monitoring officer was the senior official who received complaints – there should be something in the policy to mitigate against the possibility of an allegation against the monitoring officer. Houchen said he thought that in nine years as mayor there had only been one whistle-blowing submission. There were no questions.
Quarter 4 Draft Revenue & Capital Outturn 2025/26
The interim director of finance and resources introduced the 38-page report, including much financial detail, and explained why the draft revenue outturn of a net deficit of £5.798mn for the year ending 31 March 2026 was £0.026mn more than the budgeted deficit of £5.772mn at the start of the financial year but £5.204mn more than the reported deficit of £0.594mn at Quarter 3. The Reform leader of Hartlepool Council commented cryptically that the investment committee could play an important role in challenging and scrutinising the delivery of projects. There were no other comments or questions.
Treasury Management Outturn Report 2025/26
Treasury management in local government refers to an authority’s borrowings and investments and the associated risks. Total borrowing at 31 March 2026 was £429.17mn and this had increased by £30.94mn from 1 April 2025 when total borrowing was £398.23mn. Cash invested at 31 March 2026 was £53.49mn compared to £46.44mn at 1 April 2025. An official introduced the 14-page report, which again included much financial detail. Mayor Houchen commended Middlesbrough Mayor Chris Cooke, the portfolio holder for finance: “Keep up the good work”. There were no questions.
Tees Valley Local Growth Plan and Investment Pipeline
Mayoral strategic authorities like TVCA are required by law to produce local growth plans, which are at the centre of the government’s approach to local economic growth. An updated version was presented to the cabinet in April and was now reported back – for approval – with an investment pipeline to support it.
An official who introduced the 90-page plan, plus covering report, said it had been completely reframed and now told a really positive story about Tees Valley. She thanked those involved in producing it and said a launch event would be held to encourage partners to get involved in delivering it. Houchen said it was a huge piece of work and also thanked all those involved. Mayor Chris Cooke also praised the plan and thanked those involved. There were no questions.
Skills Programme including Local Skills Improvement Plan
A Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) is another plan that all parts of England are required to develop, and for Tees Valley it is the North East Chamber of Commerce that has been taking the lead. There was praise and thanks at the cabinet for the LSIP. There were no questions.
Delegated decisions
At each meeting the cabinet receives a report confirming the delegated and urgent decisions taken since its previous meeting. This written report includes an explanation of what each decision was about, why it was delegated or urgent, who took the decision and what the decision was. The relevant decision-maker and two top officials sign the documents. On this occasion there were two delegated decisions.
In one case an official, acting in accordance with a cabinet decision of 24 April, allocated £110,362.34 for local implementation of a government skills training scheme for the construction industry.
In the other case, an official acting in accordance with cabinet decisions in March 2025 and April 2026, approved arrangements for allocating £5mn received from the government for the Tees Valley Youth Guarantee Trailblazer. There were no questions. That concluded the business.
Comment
Unlike the AGM, which was always expected to be short – if not quite as short as it was – the ordinary meeting might have been anticipated as long, perhaps very long. Weighty matters like the budget and treasury management, the best value notice and the local growth plan, resulted not surprisingly in an agenda of 15 items and 366 pages. But the cabinet got through the lot in 26 mins 44secs. The recording is here.
The meeting of 26 June should not be seen in isolation. Some of the reports on the agenda have been doing the rounds at TVCA for weeks or even months. North East Bylines has written about some, of the issues raised, such as the draft annual governance statement on 18 May, the best value notice on 24 April and South Tees and the other development corporations on 24 March. So cabinet members have had other opportunities to raise questions and may have done so. But we know that at least one of those occasions was informal/inquorate – the audit and governance committee on 21 May.
Accountability, like justice, must not only be done but be seen to be done. And the place above all others where the public expect that to happen is the cabinet. If an item is placed on a cabinet agenda it should be thoroughly scrutinised. It is not too much to ask; the cabinet is only due to meet six times in the coming 12 months. But thorough scrutiny certainly did not happen on 26 June.
TVCA may fairly be judged an organisational failure. The Teesworks controversy; the consequent Tees Valley Review of 2024, with its finding that standards expected when handling public funds had not been met (but no evidence of corruption); the best value notice imposed by the government; the necessity for an organisational improvement plan and an independent advisory board to oversee it; and the loss last year of all three of its statutory officers (one through redundancy) are all evidence of that. The chummy atmosphere and lack of challenge of major reports, some dealing in hundreds of millions of pounds, at the cabinet meeting of 26 June is evidence that this failure is not just one man’s, the mayor’s. At TVCA, failure is a collective achievement.
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