Police confirm no investigation as no complaints have been received

CLEVELAND Police have confirmed that there have been no investigations into Teesworks.

Last month, Labour Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald alleged “industrial-scale corruption” at the freeport.

In response, a Teesworks spokesperson urged him to report it to the police if he believed criminal offences had occurred.

A spokesperson for the force has now confirmed it had not received any complaints and no investigations have taken place, or are ongoing, into Teesworks, the South Tees Development Corporation (STDC), the Tees Valley

Combined Authority (TVCA), Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen or developers Martin Corney and Chris Musgrave.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service also asked the Serious Fraud Office whether an investigation was ongoing but as per its standard practice, it would neither confirm nor deny.

Levelling Up Minister Dehenna Davison also responded to Mr McDonald on behalf of the government this week after he requested a meeting to discuss his concerns.

She said that they’d seen “no evidence of corruption, wrongdoing, or illegality”. At Prime Minister’s Questions, Conservative Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Simon Clarke claimed Mr McDonald had led a “shameful attempt” to “smear” the freeport scheme.

Mr McDonald said the Tories were being “totally ridiculous” blaming Labour and they had to accept there are “very serious and legitimate concerns”.

Ms Davison, Mr Clarke and Mr Houchen have all received donations in 2019 (that were declared at the time) from Ian Waller, a director at Northern

Land Management Ltd, which has a 25% share in Teesworks Ltd.

This week, Labour’s Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa

Nandy wrote to National Audit Office chief Gareth Davies to demand a full investigation into Teesworks.

Later the same day, Mr Houchen wrote to Mr Davies and Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove to also call for a review.

On Wednesday night, Mr Houchen would not directly answer BBC Newsnight’s question about how much had been spent by private developers on the freeport.

Mr Musgrave and Mr Corney’s companies own 90% of shares in

Teesworks. Mr Houchen said they were currently liable for a £107m loan and remediation works worth £20m to £50m for the Net Zero Teesside Power site.

This is a joint venture between BP and Equinor and is aiming to be the UK’s first fully integrated commercial-scale gas-fired power station with carbon capture.

Mr Houchen added that it was a “simplistic view to take” when asked if it was correct that the developers had not invested anything yet.

It’s thought the developers have received around £45m in dividends so far from the project.