A record of delivery, a promise of more: Ben Houchen

Congratulations on your re-election. What are your key priorities for your third term in office?

I’m turning my attention to our towns, high streets and communities, working alongside the Tees Valley Business Board to ensure SMEs are getting support at the granular level.

On a more strategic level, we’ll be ramping up the work of Hartlepool and Middlesbrough Development Corporations while, in towns without them, interventions working with the local councils are already under way.

The Teesside Investment Zone will also be established in earnest, working with Teesside University and with £160 million of Government funding to boost our digital tech and creative sectors right across the region.

This is primed to create more than 2000 jobs and potentially unlock a further £175 million of extra investment.

After Andy Street’s West Midlands deposing, you are now the UK’s only Conservative metro-mayor. What does that say about your record over your previous two terms?

Since my first anniversary in office in 2018, I’ve worked on the principle of ‘a record of delivery, a promise of more’, which I think speaks for itself.

People can see the investments and schemes I’ve helped secure, the jobs we have created and are enjoying the transformation of their towns with infrastructure projects.

Whether it’s Net Zero Teesside or SeAH Wind at Teesworks, upgrades to all our major railway stations or things like the TeesFlex bus service, the redevelopment of Redcar’s Regent Cinema and the creation of Darlington’s bioscience-focused National Horizons Centre, there are real, tangible examples of how our work has made a huge impact.

You faced criticism during your election campaign around the Teesworks scheme, which is seeking to turn ex-Redcar steelworks land into a clean energy hub. Opponents continue to lobby for a National Audit Office enquiry on the back of an independent review into the project that made 28 recommendations and called for greater transparency. What is your response to their calls?

The Tees Valley Review made it clear there was no evidence of corruption or wrongdoing, vindicating our work at Teesworks.

We’ve taken on board the recommendations and set up a working group to address every point it laid out, but it’s important to remember how unique Teesworks is – there’s no blueprint for this sort of thing.

As far as I’m concerned, we now need to look to the future to bring more businesses, jobs and investment to the site, which is going to transform our local economy.

A key pillar of your plans is a commitment to building a replacement for Stockton’s University Hospital of North Tees. However, the Department of Health and Social Care has previously inferred such a scheme lies outside your authority. How will you make the blueprint a reality against that backdrop?

I’ve proved people wrong in the past about delivering things that appear to be outside of my remit, and I’ll do it again.

We can work with the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust to deliver a capital budget that complements their operational budget.

And, quite frankly, we’ve made the case to the Government before for transformational projects, and I think we can again.

Teesside International Airport is another of your flagship redevelopment projects. You’ve added flights to its roster and attracted aviation-based tenants, and work is being carried out to create a new business park. How sustainable is the base, and where are you looking to make further improvements?

The airport is continuing in line with its ten-year turnaround plan, and the first unit and link road for the business park have been completed.

It’s incredibly sustainable, given the recent announcements of FedEx increasing its operations by moving its freight flight operation from Newcastle, and (aircraft painting company) Airbourne Colours coming to our newly-built hangar.

In the future, it has a key role to play in the development and uptake of sustainable aviation fuel, and is working with five local firms that have been awarded £40 million to carry out research and development.

They include Willis, which already has a base at the airport and is bringing its sustainable aviation fuel project to Teesworks.

It’s this joined-up operation that really makes a difference and allows the airport to be more than just flights to Alicante – as important as they are.

For passengers, in 2023 we enjoyed our best year for 12 years, and we want to improve further this year, with a new service to Dalaman.

We’ve also worked hard to maintain crucial routes such as the service to Aberdeen, which is vital for our offshore workers.

I’m also working with the airport to secure flights to Malaga and Tenerife – an election pledge I’m confident I can deliver.

Your tenure as mayor has always been accompanied by national Conservative rule. However, as North East Times Magazine went to print, polls were suggesting Labour would be successful at the General Election. If those projections prove correct, how would working alongside a rival party affect your role?

I’ve worked alongside Labour leaders all my political life, and all five local authorities are currently Labour-run and make up the rest of the Tees Valley Combined Authority cabinet.

It’s nothing new. The point is to find common ground.

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to go further with devolution, which will give me more powers and money to do my job and deliver for local people.

The region now has two directly-elected regeneration leaders, with Labour’s Kim McGuinness installed as the first North East mayor. You both have remits and priorities for your respective geographies, but is there scope for you to work together and collectively strengthen the region?

Obviously, there’s a lot of crossover in our respective areas in terms of where people work and live; you only have to look at the likes of Hitachi, in County Durham, which employs workers from Darlington.

And I’ve never been shy about banging the drum for its success, or for Nissan, in Sunderland.

But my main priority is to improve the lives of people in Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool. I’m happy to work with any of my counterparts if it provides what I genuinely believe is in the best interests of those I serve.

And my door would always be open to discuss wider-ranging schemes if they would help meet my goals.

 

LinkedIn: Tees Valley Combined Authority

Photography by Ben Benoliel