Ben Houchen won’t lift Best Value Notice for ‘some time’

Conservative Mayor Ben Houchen gave his view to Tees Valley residents during ‘Mayor’s Question Time’, held in Darlington on Wednesday, March 18, to which approximately 20 members of the public attended.

He said that he had told the team at TVCA a long time ago that there were “lots” of things that the organisation needed to improve on and while he believes there have been a “huge” number of improvements, he had also said:

“I personally believe that the Best Value Notice won’t be lifted for some time, because we need a clean set of audited accounts.” 

While Mayor Houchen did not put a date on when this would happen, it was reported earlier this year that external auditor EY thinks it is likely that 2028/29 will be the earliest that a clean, also known as unqualified, opinion would be issued for TVCA.

If the BVN is to remain until a clean set of accounts is signed off by the auditors, then that would mean that the combined authority is likely to be under the notice until at least late 2029. 

Mayor Houchen added: “I don’t think an official in MHCLG [the relevant government department] would make a recommendation to the Secretary of State to get rid of it [the BVN], until they have audited and signed off accounts, so they can hide behind those and say: ‘Well the auditors have signed it off so that’s fine.’”

When it comes to improvement, he said what had made a “huge difference” is the publication of budget papers going to TVCA Cabinet on Friday, March 20, saying the budget is “very clear”, along with clarity being provided on how TVCA and STDC are able to manage loan arrangements, which he believes will provide a “huge amount of confidence” to both EY and MHCLG, adding that the reports are more digestible for people, such as local council leaders, rather than an individual needing to be a “fully qualified, registered accountant”, to understand the papers. 

He added that there are a lot of councils across the country who haven’t had their accounts signed off by auditors, saying that while he was not “downplaying” the situation, he asserted that it isn’t “unique” to TVCA. 

While there was a national auditing backlog that started to be addressed in 2024, TVCA and its three development corporations were four of 16 authorities in the land to fail to publish their 2023/24 audited accounts by a government deadline of October 31, 2025 – out of hundreds of public bodies. Since then, TVCA has missed the backstop deadline of February 27, 2026, for its 24/25 accounts. 

Mayor Houchen also highlighted how other combined authorities have been hit with BVNs. The government website details that two other combined authorities have found themselves under a BVN for periods of time since the start of 2023.

He also pointed out how combined authorities are “brand new”, leaving officers needing to use their “judgement” when legislation is “non-existent, or very opaque”.

While the audit issues were well known when the non-statutory BVN was issued, on April 3, 2025, the letter containing statutory recommendations from EY had not been sent – it came later the same month.

The BVN was issued following concerns highlighted by the Tees Valley Review, which was the independent review into Teesworks, published in January 2024. A local government minister told Mayor Houchen at the time that “further assurance” was needed following both the review and “weaknesses in value for money arrangements”.