Mayor's Secret Deal Transfers Hartlepool Property

Ben Houchen's past deals with developers have been criticized for being unclear. He promised to move resources to these developers. However, the details of these agreements were not disclosed. This lack of transparency raised concerns about the fairness of the deals.

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The mayor of the Conservative party, Ben Houchen, is being accused of secrecy again. This is because plans for a third public asset transfer in his north-east England region were leaked to the Financial Times.

The Tees Valley mayor, Houchen made a secret agreement with Hartlepool council. This deal gave him control of important buildings that the public didn't know about before.

There's been a leak about Houchen's Teesworks project in Redcar. It happened a week after the government asked for an inquiry. People are worried that public assets were given to developers secretly.

The Hartlepool properties might be given to a local group called the Hartlepool Mayoral Development Corporation. This group helps regenerate the area and is led by the mayor. The government needs to approve this.

Houchen said plan helps bring in private investment. Labour criticized Houchen and Conservatives for avoiding accountability.

The council publicized the assets to transfer after inquiries by the FT about leaked document info.

Hartlepool has some buildings like the town hall, magistrates court and main leisure centre.

In Tees Valley, Houchen is in charge of three organizations, including the Hartlepool MDC. They all work towards boosting local regeneration.

The South Tees Development Corporation made a private deal. They gave 90% of the old Redcar steelworks to two local developers. They were the first ones to do this.

The South Tees deal has raised concerns about secrecy and value for money. Politicians, experts and the media have been questioning it. The government has promised an independent review into the deal.

Houchen made an MDC in Middlesbrough. It will take assets from council. Councillors voted against it in February.

Nobody has shared a list of things that need to be moved to MDC in Hartlepool yet.

The FT got leaked documents showing that the mayor asked for civic properties in January. There was a private council document in February with a list that everyone agreed on.

The FT asked Hartlepool council why they didn't share the details. The council then gave the letter from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to councillors. The letter included the assets that were going to be transferred.

Houchen got a letter. The letter said something. Houchen said the assets were important. The assets help deliver the masterplan.

Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, thinks the masterplan can change Hartlepool for the better. The plan will focus on areas in need of improvement. It's called a "transformational change."

The Labour party tried before but couldn't pass a motion to reveal the list, according to Jonathan Brash, Hartlepool council's deputy leader.

Brash said that the list of assets shouldn't be secret. He said the fact that it was kept secret and only revealed because of pressure from the press makes it seem like there's not enough transparency.

He said that the local Conservatives hate being transparent and accountable.

Last week, Hartlepool MDC revealed its masterplan. It wants to make the town centre sustainable, create 2,000 jobs, and build up to 1,300 new homes.

The mayor didn't give any comments. The Tees Valley Combined Authority, a group of five councils led by the mayor, stated that the council was accountable for the procedures governing the disclosure of assets going to the MDC.