Tees Valley Mayor pushing to keep investment zones.

The Tees Valley Mayor has said he will continue to push for investment zones after the Levelling Up Secretary confirmed they were under review.

The investment zones were a key part of Liz Truss’s growth plan, if they were rolled out they would significantly reduce taxes on businesses and relax planning rules. However, the scheme could now be axed. The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) has already submitted applications of interest for Middlesbrough and Hartlepool to be involved.

Campaigners are concerned about the environmental impact of relaxing planning rules. The zones are also a costly measure and Treasury officials warned Ms. Truss that they could result in up to £12bn of lost tax for the government per year.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his chancellor Jeremy Hunt are looking to plug a £40bn to £50bn black hole in next year’s budget. It is thought that higher taxes will be relied on to target the shortfall.

On Sunday, Mr Gove told Sky’s Sophie Ridge that he would be reviewing investment zones. He added: “We need to make sure that any change that we make is one which of course helps to support economic growth and good jobs for people, but also one of the concerns raised about investment zones was the impact on the environment.

“I’ve been very clear and the prime minister has been very clear that under no circumstances will we weaken environmental protections.” He went on to add: “Anything that might in any way undermine environmental protections is out.”

However, the Tory Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said he would continue to put pressure on the government. He added: “We’ve submitted our bids to secure investment zones in our region, which would help accelerate investment, driving good-quality, well-paid jobs, boosting our economy and – ultimately – putting more money in people’s pockets.

“I’ll continue to push for these zones until government makes a decision and, in the meantime, we’re pushing ahead with our plans for development corporations in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool. The boards have been agreed, so we can waste no time in kick-starting plans to transform our town centres.”

Mr Houchen will chair both development corporation boards and Cleveland Police’s Conservative Crime Commissioner Steve Turner will sit on both as a full member. Cleveland Police Chief Constable Mark Webster and Combined Authority Chief Executive Julie Gilhespie will be associate members.

Middlesbrough’s membership is made up of Independent Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston, former Sabic Petrochemicals UK and Tees Valley LEP chair Paul Booth CBE, BME Network CIC operations director Idrees Rashid and the town’s Conservative deputy mayor Mieka Smiles. Everyone will be acting in a personal capacity.

Hartlepool’s board will include Independent Cllr Shane Moore, leader of Hartlepool Borough Council, Learning Curve Group’s CEO Brenda McLeish OBE, the commercial director of construction firm Strabag Lisa Molloy, Orangebox Training Solutions’ CEO Simon Corbett and HMB accountants director Sarah Bedford.

The aim of the development corporations is to regenerate the towns making them more attractive to live and visit, secure private sector funding for developments and support small businesses. Mr Houchen has written to the government to formally designate the bids and he is just waiting for approval – it’s expected that they will be up and running by the end of the year.

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