james waterson

2 weeks ago | northeastbylines.co.uk | james waterson

After updated guidance issued by the government on 3 April Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has decided to comply and resign from his role in three development corporations. One of the Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC), the controversial South Tees Development Corporation (STDC), oversees the redevelopment of the former Redcar Steelworks site was put under review by the last Conservative government.

3 weeks ago | northeastbylines.co.uk | james waterson

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has issued a Best Value Notice (BVN) to the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) led by Ben Houchen.

1 month ago | northeastbylines.co.uk | james waterson

The spring budget has been announced and a new round of cuts to Social Security for disabled people is in the pipeline dubbed ‘austerity 2.0’. So, let’s delve into what happened the first time around. Austerity first came to our shores through David Cameron‘s Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in 2010.

2 months ago | northeastbylines.co.uk | james waterson

Council offices are usually situated within town halls or similar meeting spaces with adequate conference rooms and microphones so all members are heard equally. Why is the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) such an outlier? The TVCA was formed in April 2016. The first combined authority in the country. It will be its ten year anniversary next year. Let’s take a look at the current format of the oldest combined authority in the country. It should be a tight ship by now.

Jan 22, 2025 | northeastbylines.co.uk | james waterson

The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) brought a new policy to their Audit and Governance committee on 16 January, entitled ‘Managing Unreasonable Behaviour from Members of the Public Policy’. It can be found on page 112 of the agenda. The nine page body of work contains 2,475 words and a two page list of examples of unreasonable behaviour. In contrast their whistleblowing policy has 726 words; complaints sits at 484 words, and their equality and diversity policy has just 207 words.