Teesworks timeline from last 18 months: What's happened since independent review launched

The Teesworks site pictured in 2016, left, and Net Zero Teesside at the site in January 2024
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Teesworks has made local and national headlines in recent years. The redevelopment of the former Redcar steelworks is Europe's largest brownfield site.

Permission to create the South Tees Development Corporation (STDC) was granted by the government in 2017, for the purposes of managing the site and keeping it safe. The STDC Board created a 50/50 joint venture (JV) agreement on February 10, 2020. In August of the following year, The JV agreement was amended to 90/10.

Developers Chris Musgrave and Martin Corney were involved prior to this. The 50/50 joint venture meant 50% of shares belonged to STDC and 50% belonged to Mr Musgrave and Mr Corney’s companies JC Musgrave Capital and Northern Land Management. There was no public tender process to acquire shares in Teesworks, however, Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said the scheme would never have happened without Mr Corney and Mr Musgrave, which is why they became the development partners.

A previous explainer on the background is available here, and lists the activities that occurred in the lead up to the investigation being announced.

The following lists the different events aound the report since Andy McDonald made allegations against Teesworks in the House of Commons, which was followed by the Tees Valley Review, its recommendations and the response agreed by the TVCA cabinet, which was then sent to the Secretary of State, by Tees Valley Mayor, Lord Houchen.

April 20, 2023 : Andy McDonald uses parliamentary privilege to level allegations in the House of Commons of “industrial-scale corruption on Teesside”. During his speech, he said “The only economic growth that is being delivered is being delivered to the accounts of Ben Houchen’s pals Messrs Musgrave and Corney, who, for a bargain £100, will benefit to the tune of £100 million”.

April 21, 2023 : It is reported that Mayor Houchen strenuously denies the allegations and calls on Andy McDonald to repeat the allegations outside of the safety of the House of Commons, where he wouldn’t be protected against claims of defamation. Mr. McDonald did not repeat the claims outside of parliament.

In a statement from Teesworks, Mr Musgrave and Mr Corney said they had "nothing to hide" and accused Mr McDonald of "an abuse of power"

May 16, 2023 : Mayor Houchen wrote a letter to Michael Gove, then Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). The Mayor requested an independent review by a “relevant body”.

May 24, 2023 : Michael Gove responds to Mayor Houchen to confirm he had “taken the exceptional decision to support the commissioning of an independent review of the South Tees Development Corporation (STDC) and Teesworks Joint Venture.”

The Secretary of State wrote in his letter: “I do not think it would be appropriate to expand so significantly the role of the NAO by asking them to lead this inquiry”. Instead, Mr. Gove said: “I will appoint a Panel, in line with established practice, to undertake an independent, external assurance review”.

June 7, 2023 : The terms of reference of the review are published on the gov.uk website. The themes of the review were to be governance and finance. The terms included: “An assessment of the governance arrangements at the STDC, including how decisions are made and the transparency of those decisions.”

Another one of the issues to be explored was “the robustness of local systems and operations in place to guard against any alleged wrongdoing”. One of the points of “alleged wrongdoing” was the change in the Teesworks ownership structure in August 2021 from 50% public to 90% private.

On the same day: Suzanne Clarke, Deputy Director for Local Government Finance wrote to the three appointed individuals, Angie Ridgewell, Richard Paver, and Quentin Baker. The letters to each of them read: “You should complete your work as soon as practicable, given the Department expects it to be complete for the summer.”

January 29, 2024 : The Teesworks report is published. The report stated that the panel had not found any evidence to support allegations of corruption or illegality. However, “there are issues of governance and transparency that need to be addressed and a number of decisions taken by the bodies involved do not meet the standards expected when managing public funds.”

The report made 28 recommendations. These included recommendation 10 which was to “ensure boundaries between the two organisations [STDC and TVCA] are maintained”. A lot of the recommendations aim for increased transparency. Recommendation 22 was that “STDC should explore opportunities to influence when and how land is drawn down and developed and if possible, renegotiate a better settlement for taxpayers under the JV agreement.”

Mayor Houchen said he welcomed the recommendations and said they were already working to improve processes and procedures. MP Andy McDonald said the report is "by a country mile the most damning thing I have ever read of a public body and how it conducts its affairs."

Michael Gove also writes to Lord Houchen regarding the findings and publication of the independent review.

February 28, 2024 : Mayor Houchen writes to Michael Gove to give his initial response to the review’s recommendations.

February 28-September 27 : Meetings occur within different TVCA and STDC bodies and organisations to come up with a response to the government recommendations.

March 7: Michael Gove responds to Mayor Houchen, requesting an update in six months on the mayor's “detailed proposals for the recommendations”.

July 4, 2024 : UK General Election held which returned a Labour majority government.

July 5, 2024 : Angela Rayner appointed Deputy Prime Minister and DLUHC Secretary.

July 9, 2024 : Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities renamed Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government with Ms. Rayner as Secretary of State.

September 17, 2024 : Mr. Musgrave and Mr. Corney write to Julie Gilhespie, Group Chief Executive of the TVCA, stating the they "see no reason to vary the JV agreement insofar as changing the settlement terms."

September 27, 2024 : Julie Gilhespie shares her report with cabinet and publicly. It states “A Local Government Association representative has been appointed and agreed to work with TVCA to provide independent oversight of the implementation of the recommendations and to place and to undertake the training required, as identified in the Tees Valley Report”.

The TVCA cabinet unanimously approves the response to the Tees Valley Review and Mayor Houchen writes to Angela Rayner, who leads the department under the new government.

Mayor Houchen commented on the occasion: “The response has been developed following one of the most wide-ranging and extensive processes ever undertaken by the Combined Authority and its constituent authorities. It has produced a robust and highly detailed response to the Tees Valley Review and I would like to put on record my sincere thanks to all elected members, officers and external bodies who have contributed.”

September 30, 2024 : A multiple month peer-review process was due to start with the LGA panel meeting with the TVCA executive to plan the work ahead.

October 1, 2024 : Commenting to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a MHCLG spokesperson said: “We thank the Mayor for his response to the independent review and will respond in due course.” The spokesperson did not give a timeframe on when a response could be expected.

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