Watchdog forces Ben Houchen authority to answer Yorkshire Post questions for second time in a week

In an attempt to measure success of the ongoing redevelopment of the former-Redcar steelworks, The Yorkshire Post submitted an FOI to TVCA in February, asking the Ben Houchen-led authority to “provide any targets that TVCA has for the Teesworks site in relation to site occupancy and related time frames”.

The combined authority’s South Tees Development Corporation’s current model involves selling a remediated parcel of land in order to pay for the remediation of the next. Counting the number of tenants at Teesworks is a very broad way of gauging the project’s success.

As per the previous FOI request about the number of tenants secured for the site, the authority declined to answer on the basis of commercial sensitivity. However, as with the previous request, a complaint to the ICO about the handling of the case has forced TVCA to provide the answer.

In its arguments against disclosure, TVCA said in revealing any commercial targets set it had to consider, “the likelihood and magnitude of harm to the level of prospective or new tenant.”

In responding to FOI requests, public bodies must confirm whether or not they hold the information requested. Since TVCA had not confirmed this, or adequately considered the public interest argument of measuring the performance of an enormous capital project using public money, The Yorkshire Post requested an internal review to take place.

After conducting the authority’s review, Chief Executive Julie Gilhespie once again denied the right to the information, writing in May: “Concerning TVCA’s targets for Teesworks Limited, the fact that the exemption for commercial interests has been applied confirms the existence of targets. The right to neither confirm nor deny the targets was not exercised in this instance.”

However, after the ICO conducted an independent investigation into a complaint by The Yorkshire Post, Ms Gilhespie has since confirmed no targets for site occupancy at Teesworks exist, in stark contrast to her previous claim that such a target existed.

“TVCA has confirmed to the ICO that the Authority does not hold any such targets for site occupancy,” she wrote.

“The Authority holds targets for other metrics issued by Government, but none of them relate to site occupancy.”

As a result of the same complaint, the TVCA has also revealed the number of businesses who had entered discussions about becoming prospective tenants at Teesworks, with 28 in ongoing discussions as of March 21. This was in response to the question: “How many businesses are in the process of completing necessary paperwork to become tenants on the Teesworks site as of 13th February 2023?”

A row erupted in May after Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald accused those involved at Teesworks of “industrial-scale corruption” during a speech in the House of Commons. Lord Houchen accused McDonald of being a “liar and a coward” during a press interview, and a Government investigation into governance of TVCA and its subsidiary South Tees Development Corporation was set up in June.

It’s expected to complete its investigation next month.