TEESSIDE Development Corporation has left its mark on our region.

It transformed acres of derelict and contaminated urban land, helping to create thousands of jobs and laying the foundations for economic regeneration well into the future.

It is a matter of great regret that much of the attention since its dissolution in 1998 has centred on its administration rather than its undoubted achievements.

The TDC was created in a blaze of glory, a symbol of the Thatcherite belief that redevelopment is quicker by quango.

While it may be quicker, examination of the TDC's record suggests it is not necessarily better.

There is no evidence, for example, that the work of the TDC could not have been achieved as efficiently and effectively by the local authorities.

The great virtue of local authorities is that they are accountable to the communities they serve. Even in the new era of 'Cabinet' rule, their decision-making processes remain in the public domain, and their decisions a matter of public record.

Quangos, on the other hand, are only accountable to the Government which appoints their boards of directors.

The TDC, as is apparent from the Public Accounts Committee report published today, was not even properly accountable to the Government.

It suggests that an elected assembly may be in a better position to scrutinise the use of public money in our region than a remote tier of ministers and civil servants in Whitehall.

A sorry chapter

ROY Keane is captain of probably the greatest football club in England, possibly the world. He is one of the greatest individual players of the modern game. He is undoubtedly a role model.

But he has admitted - in a way calculated to sell extra copies of his book to supplement his meagre £65,000-a-week wages - that he sets out to maim his opponents.

If, after Leeds' unpleasant problems last season and the on-going trial of Chelsea players, football has any care for its reputation and its place in the community, it will hang Mr Keane out to dry.