TVM



Submission to

Teesworks

Corruption

Inquiry

11 January 2024

Preamble

Tees Valley Monitor was not invited to submit evidence to the inquiry panel until September 2023, long after what we were led to believe the report would be published.  While we respect the integrity of the civil servants charged with conducting the investigation, we lack confidence in their ability to produce a report without political interference.  Levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, undermined the panel's independence by having them submit the report to his department for publication, given that he is a self-confessed admirer of the Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen.  We therefore believe that the published report will either be wiped clean of any criticism of the mayor, or published at a date where the political fallout can be minimised.  We are not alone in that supposition.

Once invited to submit evidence, we took the view that there were other interested parties who were much better equipped than us to present details of the financial mismanagement issues at Teesworks, and so chose instead to present details of what we believe to be misuse of public funds in commissioning the construction of the Teesworks Skills Academy.  The squandering of public money on pointless construction and refurbishment projects is actually more characteristic of the TVCA in relation to Teesside Airport (TIAL) rather than Teesworks, but TIAL is also part of the freeport, and therefore part the wider regeneration project. 

In our view an inquiry into the work of the TVCA as a whole is required, that will include consideration of the funding and clandestine management of Teesside Airport and also the role of Teesworks in the 2021 mortality event in Tees Bay and beyond.

Evidence submitted

Teesworks Skills Academy, Eston Road TS6 6UA

The Teesworks Skills Academy, built in 2022 at a cost of £2.5 million, serves no discernible purpose. It is an example of a pointless building contract being handed to a favoured contractor. I contend the STDC must defend its spending on this building, and its choice of contractor.

Background

The Adult Education Budget (AEB) was devolved in 2019, at which point the TVCA became responsible for delivering the apprenticeship programme. The Authority sought a partner and set up an entity names Teesworks Skills Academy. The partner is Education Training Collective, or Etc.

All of the providers managed through Etc have their own premises. They have no use for the Academy building. And the AEB is consumed entirely by those providers. This information is in the public domain. Therefore, the build was not financed from the AEB.

The Construction of the Academy Building



Planning records show that the applicant was STDC:

The location of the building is itself unusual, as another screenshot from the planning record shows that it is adjacent to a land parcel for which planning permission has been granted to build an incinerator:

Outline planning for this facility was granted by RCBC in 2020, final permission on 20 July 2023. The Skills Academy is the small oblong shape at the bottom left just below the green area.

Use of the building

Information on how the building is used has been supplied by two whistle blowers, who provided evidence on condition of anonymity. However, the official version of the purpose of the building is contained in the following video clip (supplied by one of the whistle blowers), produced by TVCA and featuring Skills Academy Development manager, Neil Young. The blurring is my edit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdfvY_wMgTw&ab_channel=TeesValleyMonitor

Shortly before building work commenced, the purpose of the build was described on https://www.teesworks.co.uk/news/first-steel-in-ground-for-teesworks-skills-academy-building

as follows:

“The two-floor, 5,400sq ft academy includes three classrooms, plus meeting and interview rooms and office space for the Skills Academy team, as well as hotdesking for companies looking to base themselves on-site, and space for information sessions and training events.”

The building opened officially in November 2022 (https://www.teesworks.co.uk/news/teesworks-skills-academy-welcomes-hundreds-of-pupils-as-it-throws-open-doors). Our informants have stated that, by early 2023, the Skills Academy team had been moved out of the building and are now housed in TVCA headquarters at Teesside Airport.

Moreover, the above news item states that 200 pupils were welcomed there. However, it is worth noting that the building, with only three classrooms, does not have the capacity to welcome 200 pupils simultaneously.