24/08/2026
Tees Valley Combined Authority Cabinet is chaired by the Mayor of the Tees Valley, Ben Houchen and is made up of representatives from the five Tees Valley Local Authorities including our very own council leader Graham Harrison.
Maybe Mr Harrison can help answer some very poignant questions that Private Eye have unearthed around the use of public money. Which would come under point 4 of their 100 days in office post on Facebook: reviewing boards and groups that spend public money..
There are dysfunctional public bodies and then there’s Lord (Ben) Houchen’s Tees Valley Authority and its wholly owned South Tees Development Corporation.
The latter has recently put out its 2025/26 accounts (the combined authority itself is overdue with its report), providing a timely object lesson in financial chaos, including unpaid bills, undocumented debts from business partners and major accounting errors. In short, how not to do devolution.
Full story online and in the latest issue: https://www.private-eye.co.uk/in-the-back
For the rest, including cartoons, Pseuds, Dumb Britain and all the other regulars, you’ll have to buy the magazine.
