THE trials of Teesworks have now reached such a toxic state that some form of an independent audit or inquiry is the only way forward.

Once a multi-national investor like BP has to be re-assured that the land at the former Redcar steelworks site has not been acquired by an “unacceptable act”, you know that the rumours and the perception are damaging the project and, indeed, the region.

The perception is that 90 per cent of the Teesworks site has ended up in private hands – hands which are closely connected to a Tory donor and hands which are apparently not digging deep into their pockets to reclaim the industrial land which is costing the taxpayer hundreds of millions.

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But equally, Teesworks is moving ahead at pace. It is attracting investors and, hopefully, soon we will have the thousands of new jobs.

Wider questions also need to be asked about tendering processes and about structures of development corporations which do not have the same level of scrutiny as local councils and which could be repeating the mistakes of the 1980s and the Teesside Development Corporation.

And finally, the really big question: is the public getting value for money?

We must acknowledge that there are also politics at play here. The Conservatives need Ben Houchen, the levelling up poster boy, to succeed. Indeed, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak needs Mr Houchen to translate his freeport idea into reality.

But Labour, badly beaten in 2019, is newly emboldened and needs to make an impression if it is to regain seats from Redcar right up to North West Durham.

We have long called for greater transparency and understanding of all aspects of Teesworks and now, as both the Conservatives and Labour seem now to agree, the best way of achieving that is through an independent audit.