A former chief executive of a Teesside council is the new chair of one of the region’s development corporations.
Tony Parkinson, who led Middlesbrough Council from 2016 to 2023, has taken on the role of chair of Middlesbrough Development Corporation (MDC). The development corporations in Hartlepool (HDC) and South Tees (STDC) will be chaired by Mark Robinson and David Smith, respectively. Each of the men will serve a four-year term.
Described by Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) as a “trio of highly experienced leaders”, the three men will each work three days a month on an annual salary of £15,120. Recruitment was launched for the chairships in May and the aim for the new chairs is to drive forward key regeneration projects in the Tees Valley. Hartlepool Council leader Cllr Brenda Harrison, Middlesbrough Mayor Chris Cooke, and Redcar & Cleveland Council leader, Cllr Alec Brown (all Labour ) have separately been appointed as vice-chairs of the boards in their respective boroughs.
The changes come as Tees Valley Conservative Mayor Ben Houchen steps down from chairing the three development corporations after advice was issued from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on 3 April, the same day that the TVCA was hit with a Best Value Notice.
The Government is clear that legislation does not prevent a mayor from being chair of a development corporation, however, “their oversight role is not compatible with them also taking the role of chair. The oversight function should be clearly separate from decision making to avoid conflicts of interest.”
However, Darlington Labour Cllr Ian Haszeldine raised a concern about the process by which the chair appointments have been made, saying Mayor Houchen should have laid out his picks “subject to cabinet approval” and added “then you can’t argue with it”.
The TVCA constitution did previously say new appointments should be proposed by the mayor and decided on by the chair and members of the mayoral development corporation. But as a spokesperson for Mayor Houchen pointed out – “amendments have been made to the development corporation [DC] constitution to reflect the legal position that the appointments made to the DC boards are a mayoral power exercised by the mayor.”
They added that the changes were agreed unanimously, including by Labour leaders of the councils, at the HDC and MDC Board meetings on 18 June.
