WIREDGOV

The government has today (15 October) confirmed that an inspection will be undertaken at Tees Valley Combined Authority to determine whether the authority is complying with its Best Value Duty, as Ministers have ongoing concerns and remaining questions about financial sustainability and management, leadership and governance. 

Inspectors will be appointed under the Local Government Act 1999 to assess the authority’s arrangements for continuous improvement. They will report their findings to Ministers by March 2027.

This follows on from the publication of the independent Tees Valley Review Report in January 2024 which made 26 formal recommendations to the authority over the issues identified.  

In April 2025, Ministers issued a non-statutory Best Value Notice to the authority seeking further assurance of improvement. This set out expectations for improvement around governance, culture, partnerships and continuing improvement, including action to address recommendations from the 2024 review. 

The Department has engaged closely with the authority, and its independent Improvement and Advisory Board during the last 18 months to scrutinise progress against the Best Value Notice and the authority’s improvement plan. 

While sustained improvement efforts have been made, Ministers have today confirmed they have remaining concerns about risks arising from the authority’s high levels of debt, leadership and governance arrangements, and would like assurance about its capacity and capability to deliver, embed and evidence outstanding improvements with sufficient pace. 

Due to signs of potential Best Value failure, Ministers have appointed Laura Shoaf CBE as lead inspector, and will shortly on her recommendation appoint three assistant inspectors, to conduct an inspection and produce an evidence-based assessment of the authority. Ministers will carefully consider the report before determining any next steps. 

In an update to Parliament, Minister for Local Government, Devolution and Regional Growth, Jim McMahon OBE said:

The government is committed to a radical shift in where power and resources lie, empowering local leaders to drive growth and improve outcomes for their communities.  

But stronger local leadership must be matched by strong local institutions. As powers and investment increase, so too does the responsibility to demonstrate strong governance, sound financial management, transparent-decision making and effective stewardship of public resources.

This inspection will focus on but is not limited to: governance and decision-making across the authority; use of resources and audit and accounting arrangements; capacity and capability at leadership level and across the organisation, the adequacy of the authority’s plans and capacity to deliver its Organisational Excellence Strategy and how these functions and arrangements are impacting organisational culture, partnerships and community engagement, and service delivery.   

Further devolution will be rolled out as quickly as possible and additional powers and control, as set out in the Rewiring the State plan, will be available to Tees Valley Combined Authority as with all Mayoral Strategic Authorities, benefitting local people. More details on this approach will be set out this Autumn. 

For more information:

• Best Value Duty relates to the statutory requirement for local authorities and other public bodies defined as best value authorities in Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1999 (“the 1999 Act”) to “make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness”.