Business of the House

Debate between Andy McDonald and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 7th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for again raising the appalling maladministration of the Mayor of London. Londoners are paying more to prop up the Mayor’s budget, not just in the increased headline rates, but also in a whole series of stealth taxes and fines that are being levied. Even the most fundamental services in London, such as the police, have enormous black holes in their budgets. It is an absolute scandal, and I hope that Londoners will rectify that situation in the coming months.

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Ind)]

The sorry saga of Teesworks continues, including the mysterious £20 million paid out to the joint venture partners over rubble. Putting to one side the bizarre hailing by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities of Lord Houchen as Teesside’s best champion since Sunderland won the FA cup in 1973—the Leader of the House might want to send him a map of the north- east—will she prevail upon him to come to the House and make a statement to explain how the £560 million of public money so far invested, which is providing eye-watering incomes for the joint venture partners without them putting in any money of their own, is in any way consistent with his claim that the remediation of the site was achieved by bringing in private investment? There has been no such private investment; the taxpayer has paid for the lot. Can she please ask the Secretary of State to come to the House and explain himself?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I dispute what the hon. Gentleman says, and I think it goes to the heart of his prejudices against private sector involvement. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and the employment rate in Teesside is now 3% above the national average. I am sorry he does not welcome that success. We do, and we want it to continue.

Business of the House

Debate between Andy McDonald and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 11th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

That sounds like a very worthwhile initiative and I congratulate those behind it. It is incredibly important that we give people the tools they need to support their children through the changes they will go through. I will certainly make sure that the relevant Department has heard about this scheme and see what else can be done to support it and scale it.

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)]

I have raised this issue before with the Leader of the House, but at yesterday’s Prime Minister’s questions, when confronted with the dubious dealings at Teesworks by my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central (Julie Elliott), the Prime Minister said:

“Contracts at the site will be a commercial matter for the companies involved.”—[Official Report, 10 May 2023; Vol. 732, c. 334.]

Could the Leader convey to the Prime Minister that the people of Teesside are extremely angry and, even if he does not, they think that how £350 million of public money has ended up so massively benefiting a few preferred developers is very much a matter for them? The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has agreed to meet my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) to discuss the issue, so I have written to him to ask him to extend that invitation to me. Could I prevail upon her to ask the Chief Secretary to do that and to include my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Alex Cunningham) as well?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I will certainly make sure that the Chief Secretary has heard what the hon. Gentleman has said. He will know that, on the spending and delivery for that site, the Tees Valley Combined Authority has judged that that is on track and the transfer presented value for money. These matters are independently audited and those who are doing that have not raised any concerns about the judgment that South Tees Development Corporation has made or the management of the organisation. These are important matters. They are a concern to the hon. Gentleman and I shall act on his request, but it is also important that those facts are out there. I am sure he would not want to stifle investment in the area; I know that that is not his intention. We must be careful of that.

Business of the House

Debate between Andy McDonald and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 20th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

It was a pleasure to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency and see Veterans in Communities, an amazing organisation—I am particularly keen to get updates on the progress of the giant model railway that it is constructing. I thank her for what she has done to champion such organisations and ensure that they have all they need to reach everyone in the community who can benefit from their services.

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)]

Yesterday Private Eye revealed truly shocking, industrial-scale corruption on Teesside. A huge site acquired by the public body South Tees Developments Limited for £12 million in 2019 subsequently received hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer investment. Any future sale had to be on market terms, but we now know that private developers exercised their option to purchase for a mere £1 an acre plus inflation, paying £96.79 in December 2022. I have the transfer. The only economic growth that is being delivered is being delivered to the accounts of Ben Houchen’s pals Messrs Musgrave and Corney, who, for a bargain £100, will benefit to the tune of £100 million—and all the while the state remains on the hook for the ongoing environmental costs. Will the Leader of the House ensure that the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities comes to that Dispatch Box and tells the House what plans the Government have for a full investigation of this industrial-scale corruption?

[Penny Mordaunt]

The relevant questions session will not take place until 5 June, but I will write a letter, on the hon. Gentleman’s behalf, to ensure that the Secretary of State has heard what he has said. I should add that the Mayor has been doing an incredible job in regenerating that part of the country and making it a world leader in clean technology. However, the hon. Gentleman has raised serious issues, so I will, as I say, raise them with the Secretary of State on his behalf, although I assume he has already done so.

Business of the House

Debate between Andy McDonald and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 13th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising the topic. I think it would make for a timely debate, and she will know how to go about securing one. There is already a comprehensive regulatory framework in place for fireworks, and we are determined to tackle all forms of antisocial behaviour, including fireworks being used as weapons. I will raise her concerns with my colleagues at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Home Office.

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)]

Will the Leader of the House urge the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to come to the House next week and make a statement about the appalling ecological disaster that has blighted the east coast north and south of the Tees bay, with massive numbers of dead crustaceans washed up on our beaches? DEFRA says that it is naturally occurring algal bloom, but there is not a scientist or marine biologist worth their sea salt who buys any of that. We need an independent analysis and report that our communities can rely on. While she is at it, will she persuade the Tory Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, to stop pumping out false and misleading information about the quantity and content of capital industrial dredgings from the River Tees being dumped at sea?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am very sorry to hear the hon. Gentleman’s first point; no doubt that will be having an economic impact on his local area, so I will raise it with the Department and ask it to get in touch with his office. I think the local Mayor is doing a fantastic job. I know that he has the confidence of the business community and his constituents, which is why he keeps doing so well at the ballot box.