Commenting on today’s Tees Valley Growth Deal announcement, Alex said:
“Any new investment to boost the Tees Valley is welcome but today’s statement includes cash previously announced, a vague provisional promise of more from 2016 and a claim that it will lead to £100 million invested by others. The government even has the cheek to include Stockton Borough Council’s town centre redevelopment in their news release as if it was their success story when that has been a project principally financed and driven by the Council and its partners.
“This appears to be high quality window dressing of very limited Government help which offers just a few million pounds out of a national budget of £12 billion for an area of the country that is crying out to share in the growth enjoyed in the South. What we need are substantially more funds delegated to local councils and the Local Enterprise Partnership to invest in their priorities.”
