The Government has issued Tees Valley Combined Authority with a best value notice due to concerns over governance and culture.
The notice follows a Tees Valley review in January which identified ‘serious governance issues’ and a finding by external auditors of ‘significant weaknesses’ in the authority’s value for money arrangements.
The minister for local government and English devolution, Jim McMahon, said the Government was mainly concerned about ‘governance, culture, partnerships and continuous improvement.’
He acknowledged that the combined authority had ‘engaged constructively’ with the review and was taking steps to improve, but said ‘further assurances’ of improvement were required.
The combined authority’s chairperson, Mayor Ben Houchen, said: ‘No organisation is perfect, and my fellow Labour council leaders and I must reflect on this as the combined authority improves.’
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