Ben Houchen is the first directly-elected Mayor of the Tees Valley, representing almost 700,000 people in the five boroughs of Darlington, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Hartlepool, and Redcar & Cleveland. As Chairman of the Tees Valley Combined Authority, he has a £500million fund to drive economic growth in the area, with a plan to deliver 25,000 new jobs by 2026.
Our Airport
In January 2018, the Mayor delivered on his pledge to the people of the Tees Valley to bring our airport back into public ownership to secure its long-term future. A 10 Year Rescue Plan is now being implemented to bring the airport back to life. Highlights below:
- Stop the airport from closing in 2021
- Secure a new low-cost airline
- Secure ten additional routes by 2022
- Achieve 1.4 million passengers by 2029
- Drive the creation of 7,600 jobs and add £420 million to our local economy each year
- Return the airport to profit
- Scrap the hated £6 passenger fee
- Stop the planned 350-home development
Read the full plan here.
Much of the plan has already been achieved, including bringing back the airport’s well-known Teesside International name, beating the schedule to secure 13 destinations, confirming Ryanair flights to Alicante and Loganair flights to London Heathrow, and the start of refurbishment work to upgrade the airport lounge and bring back the airport station.
Teesworks
In August 2017 the South Tees Development Corporation was officially launched by the Prime Minister. Led by Mayor Ben Houchen, it was victorious in its battle to secure the former SSI steelworks site by compulsory purchase from the control of foreign banks. Now named Teesworks, the Corporation is now actively developing the 4,500 acre investment opportunity. It is the single biggest development opportunity in the UK and represents an international-scale opportunity to attract investors and boost the regional economy.
- The first Mayoral Development Corporation to be set up outside of Greater London
- The South Tees Development Corporation site has become the UK's first Special Economic Area – ensuring businesses help clean up the site
- £208 million of new money secured from Government to prepare the site for private investment
- 1,420 acres of land secured – an area the size of Gibraltar! – before the compulsory purchase battle secured SSI’s 870 acres on top of this
- 25-year vision to create 20,000 jobs and an additional £1 billion a year into the local economy
- Multi-billion pound Net Zero Teesside project announced, creating 5,500 jobs and building a green and sustainable future for industry in our region, protecting 6,000 good quality chemicals jobs
- £250million PMAC Energy from Waste plant announced
- Home to £650million MGT power plant – the world’s largest biomass plant
- 100 investor inquiries from global companies wanting to base themselves on site
- State-of-the-art heavy lift quay, supporting 2,250 jobs at GE’s new turbine plant (plus hundreds more construction jobs)
- Plans for steelmaking in the pipeline
Freeport
In March 2021 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced that that Teesside would be home to the UK's biggest freeport, the culmination of more than 3-years work by Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, who's been leading the campaign for the introduction of the free-trade zone to the UK. Teesside Freeport is set to be a job-creation dynamo and will include the Port of Hartlepool, Port of Middlesbrough and Teesside International Airport as well the Teesworks site and the Wilton International. The freeport will create 18,000 jobs over the next 5-years and subject to hammering out final details with HMRC it’s set to commence in later 2021. The wide package of tax reliefs, simplified customs procedures and streamlined planning processes freeports will increase inward investment into Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool by over £1.4billion, boosting the local economy by £3.2billion and unlocking new opportunities in turn.
Treasury North
In March 2021 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, also announced that, following a campaign by Ben backed by more than 100 local business leaders, Treasury North would be coming to Teesside. This will create hundreds of jobs for local people and allow them to build great careers in the Civil Service without leaving the region. It will also put local priorities at the heart of the Government's most powerful departments. It will as opportunities in construction, clerical work, hospitality, and other sectors across the region.
- Darlington to be home to hundreds of the government’s top civil servants in its most powerful department, the Treasury
- Hundreds more roles in DIT and MHCLG to follow, including top international trade experts based in Trade North – helping us make the most of our new freeport
Transport
- £75 million secured from the Government's Transforming Cities Fund to improve local connectivity
- £25million to support the redevelopment of Darlington station – work which will not only improve travel from Darlington and help bring in investment to the town, but will enable an expansion of local trains across the region as it fixes a network pinch point
- £20million to enable the £35million redevelopment of Middlesbrough station – work has now started – enhancing travel to and from Middlesbrough and enabling the arrival of a regular direct service to London, now confirmed by LNER
- Nearly £40m of improvements for the A689 in and around Hartlepool
- £8.2 million secured to improve three key road pinchpoints in Tees Valley
- Developing business cases for a new A19 Tees Crossing and bypass for Darlington, now far advanced
- £1 million investment to improve the region’s rail freight network.
- £220,000 to help bring a fleet of hydrogen road vehicles and new refuelling infrastructure to the region
- £4 million for the Elwick bypass, a vital new road in Hartlepool
- £8.5 million to enhance Eaglescliffe Station
- £6 million for Teesside International Airport station
- £1 million to improve disabled access at Billingham Station
- £3 million for Tees Flex, a fantastic on-demand bus service for our rural communities, bringing buses back to places which had lacked them for years
- With TWI, the Mayor has established a new national centre of excellence for the research and development of the use of hydrogen to power transport, with £14 million backing from the Mayor, and a Hydrogen Transport Centre, with a share of £8million funding. The Tees Valley is to become the UK’s first Hydrogen Transport Hub, and the Mayor has secured £1.3 million from government and is committing a further £2 million towards creating hydrogen refuelling stations in Middlesbrough and Redcar, plus a fleet of cars which use hydrogen technology for long-range travel (300+ miles) and fast refuelling capability. The new refuelling stations could allow cars, buses, bin lorries and even trains to be powered by the super fuel.
- The Mayor is also investing £2 million for Electric Vehicle Charging Point infrastructure, enabling wider takeup of electric vehicles across the Tees Valley.
New money secured from Government since 2017
Since 2017, we’ve been busy banging down the door of Government to secure extra cash for the Tees Valley. We are seeing great results with £360 million new money flooding into our area in the first year alone. Take a look at some of what we’ve been awarded:
- £208 million to start remediation works on the former SSI steelworks site (October 2017, here , October 2018, here, January 2020, here )
- £75.5 million to improve local transport connectivity (March 2018, here , October 2018 here )
- £15 million annual payment as part of our Devolution Deal with government, worth £450m over 30 years (See here )
- £12.8 million from the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund to unlock two sites in Stockton and Darlington (February 2018, here )
- £8.4 million from the National Productivity Investment Fund for three pinchpoint road schemes (October 2017, here )
- £6 million from the DWP to launch ‘Routes to Work’ - helping 2,500 people back into work (August 2017, here )
- £1.3 million from the Great Places Fund to support popular cultural events (March 2017, here )
- £107million for the Centre for Process Innovation in Redcar (July 2018, here ) plus a further £14.5million for clinical-scale mRNA21 vaccine manufacturing (2020-21, here )
- £19.4 million from the Brownfield Housing Fund to regenerate brownfield sites and improve local housing across the Tees Valley (2020, here )
- £52 million for Net Zero Teesside (March 2021, here )
Investing in our communities
Together we investing your money - taxpayers’ money - so we can build that high growth, high wage, low welfare economy we desperately need. Our £588million 10 year investment plan is being delivered.
- £183,000 for Central Park infrastructure improvements in Darlington
- £8.3 million for the new Cleveland College of Art and Design campus in Hartlepool
- £3.2 million for Salters Lane Ingenium Park in Darlington
- £17.5 million for the new National Horizons Centre in Darlington
- £7.6 million for a new dock bridge in Middlehaven, unlocking brownfield land for development
- £7.6 million for the new Tees Advanced Manufacturing Park in Middlesbrough
- £370,000 for the Rail Heritage Quarter in Darlington
- £6.3 million for the Kirkleatham Catering Academy in Redcar
- £300,000 for infrastructure improvements between Offshore Structures Britain and Wilton Engineering in Redcar
- £830,000 for NETA skills centre refurbishment
- £9.7 million for the CPI Healthcare Futures Centre
- £7 million for the Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies Billingham Biocampus
- £1 million for South Bank Wharf roundabout
- £2 million for the Kirkleatham walled garden project in Redcar
- £3.2 million for Feethams grade A office space in Darlington
- £3 million for the new open-access technology centre for MPI
- £100,000 to kick start plans for Boho Next Generation
- Launched a £8.3 million Sustainable Access to Employment programme
- Established a £7.5 million Routes to Work programme to support 2,500 disadvantaged people back into employment
- Launched a £1.3 million Apprenticeship Fund
- £200million investment deal with the Teesside Pension Fund to support local projects
- £12.8 million secured from the Housing Infrastructure Fund for two schemes unlocking 3,350 homes in Darlington and Stockton
- £4.6million for Liberty's ground-breaking powder metals project, boosting our research credentials while creating good quality jobs
- £218,000 for district heating project, allowing James Cook University Hospital to save money on energy bills meaning more cash for patient
- Financial backing to bring the Tall Ships festival back to Hartlepool in summer 2023
Supporting our businesses
Private businesses are the engine of our economy. They are investing, employing, training and exporting, and we are on their side. If we back the innovators, job creators, entrepreneurs and risk takers, everyone benefits.
- Thousands of businesses backed by tees Valley Business and it's predecessor Business Compass
- Millions of pounds in direct grant support for capital investment provided to business which has created and safeguard hundreds of jobs
- A pipeline of new private sector investment of more than £3.5 billion, with the potential to create and safeguard more than 9,700 jobs
- A new service will be launched, in partnership with Teesside University and Virgin Money, to support high growth businesses
- Invested £2.4 million for superfast broadband
- More than £32million of private sector capital investment supported
- £16million supporting more than 1,000 businesses
- Provided million of pounds in support for hospitality businesses and venues through the Covid-19 pandemic – including through the Welcome Back Fund and the Back to Business Fund
- £16million to support the creative sector across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool
- £1m to support apprenticeships through the Covid-19 pandemic through the Emergency Apprenticeship Fund - backing 100 apprentices
Developing home-grown talent
For too long, many employers have taken the easy way out by bringing in cheap labour to fill demand. This needs to end. Employment is at a record high and more students are in good or outstanding schools. But for too long, technical excellence has not been valued as highly as academic success. This needs to change. That’s why we are investing in home-grown talent.
- £29.5million annual fund to improve post-19 education to ensure local people are re-skilled to fill local jobs
- £7.5million for new ‘Routes to Work’ scheme to help 2,500 long-term unemployed back to work
- TeesValleyCareers.com launched – a £3million initiative to deliver excellent, consistent careers education across the five Tees Valley boroughs
- £1.3million new Apprenticeship Fund to prioritise quality vocational courses in high-growth sectors
- Over-achieved on target for Tees Valley Enterprise Advisor Network with 47 schools/colleges and 55 Enterprise Advisors signed up
- Annual skills events engaging with over 2,000 young people from 30 different schools and colleges with 75 local and national employers, universities and learning providers
- Direct intervention to financially secure 100 apprenticeships affected by the Covid-19 pandemic
- Launch of the new Tees Valley jobs website ( here ), helping local people into local jobs