Teesside Freeport is the largest Freeport in the United Kingdom, where special arrangements apply for taxation and customs. [1] It was launched in 2021. [2]
The freeport covers 4,500 acres across multiple sites including:
South Tees Development Corporation, which predates the freeport, has made substantial investments at the Teesworks site. [4] [3] With the announcement of the freeport, and the anticipated demand for land within it, the programme of demolition and remediation work was accelerated.
In 2022 work began on a £400m factory for SeAH Wind to make offshore wind turbine bases on part of the Teesworks site acquired by Teesworks Ltd for £100. Other projects have been announced. [3]
A Net Zero Teesside Power project broke ground in 2023. NZT Power is a gas-fired power station with carbon capture and storage capability, aiming to become a de-carbonised industrial cluster. [5]
Politicians and the media have criticised Teesworks for possible pollution of the Tees in the context of an unexplained shellfish die-off near Teesside and for a perceived lack of transparency in the transfer of assets. [6]
In October 2021 work started on the 1.2 km South Bank Quay project to provide a deep water facility. In the same month thousands of dead crabs and lobsters were washed up on the Tees estuary and beaches along the North-East coast of England. The deaths were first reported in Seaton Carew, Redcar and Seaham. [7] Some people blamed dredging of the Tees, but this was not supported by government enquiries.
The corporate structure behind the freeport includes multiple subsidiary companies of which several have local business owners Chris Musgrave and Martin Corney as directors. MPs have alleged that significant assets have been transferred to these directors without a formal tendering process as is usual for public-sector development projects in the UK. [8] Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald, citing a Private Eye article in Parliament, said that the only economic growth being delivered at Teesworks "is into the accounts of Ben Houchen's pals, Messrs Musgrave and Corney". He alleged that for a £100 investment, the developers would "benefit to the tune of £100m". [9]
Some people would have liked more involvement on the part of the National Audit Office, but the government preferred to have an independent inquiry which was announced in May 2023. [10] On the same day the freeport's director, Nolan Gray, announced that he was leaving; the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) said that the role which was created in 2021 was no longer necessary and that Gray would not be replaced. [11] The inquiry reported in January 2024. It found no evidence of corruption, but criticised lack of transparency. [12]
The River Tees, in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for 85 miles (137 km) to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern day history of the river has been tied with the industries on Teesside in its lower reaches, where it has provided the means of import and export of goods to and from the North East England. The need for water further downstream also meant that reservoirs were built in the extreme upper reaches, such as Cow Green.
Redcar and Cleveland is a unitary authority area with borough status in North Yorkshire, England.
Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located 7 miles (11 km) east of Middlesbrough.
The Tees Valley is a devolved region in Northern England, around the lower River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley; the local term for the valley is Teesdale. The combined authority covers five council areas: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.
Teesside International Airport, previously Durham Tees Valley Airport, is a minor international airport located between Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, Northern England. It is about 10 mi (16 km) south-west of Middlesbrough. The airport serves the North East, primarily Teesside, County Durham and North Yorkshire.
Grangetown is an area in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. The area is 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Middlesbrough and 4 miles (6.4 km) from south-west of Redcar.
The Teesside Development Corporation was a government-backed development corporation that was established in 1987 to fund and manage regeneration projects in the former county of Cleveland in North East England.
The Teesside Steelworks was a large steelworks that formed a continuous stretch along the south bank of the River Tees from the towns of Middlesbrough to Redcar in North Yorkshire, England. At its height there were 91 blast furnaces within a 10-mile radius of the area. By the end of the 1970s there was only one left on Teesside. Opened in 1979 and located near the mouth of the River Tees, the Redcar blast furnace was the second largest in Europe.
The Tees Valley Metro was a project to upgrade the Tees Valley Line and sections of the Esk Valley Line and Durham Coast Line to provide a faster and more frequent service across the North of England. In the initial phases the services would have been heavy rail mostly along existing alignments. The later phase would have introduced tram-trains to allow street running. The project was backed by all the local authorities through which the system would have run, the authorities are: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-On-Tees. Support was also forthcoming from the Department for Transport. The project has been cancelled due to lack of funding. Focus is now on Northern Rail franchise. Of the original "Tees Valley Metro" project, only the construction of a new station at James Cook University Hospital has come to fruition.
Teesside Wind Farm, or alternatively referred to as Redcar Wind Farm, is a 27 turbine 62 MW capacity offshore wind farm constructed just to the east of the mouth of the River Tees and 1.5 km north of Redcar off the North Yorkshire coast, in the North Sea, England.
Andrew Joseph McDonald is a British politician and solicitor serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Middlesbrough since 2012. A member of the Labour Party, he sat as an independent MP from October 2023 to March 2024 after being placed under "precautionary suspension" for a period of three months, pending an investigation from the Party whip. McDonald had the Labour whip reinstated on 11 March 2024.
The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in England consisting of the following five unitary authorities: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees, covering a population of approximately 700,000 people. It was proposed that a combined authority be established by statutory instrument under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. It is a strategic authority with powers over transport, economic development and regeneration including the flagship Teesside Freeport.
The Mayor of the Tees Valley is a directly elected metro mayor in England, first elected in May 2017. The mayor is leader of the Tees Valley Combined Authority.
Ben Houchen, Baron Houchen of High Leven, is a British Conservative politician who was elected as Tees Valley Mayor in May 2017 after winning the 2017 mayoral election, defeating Labour candidate Sue Jeffrey by 2.2 per cent in the second round. Houchen was re-elected in 2021, again defeating a Labour candidate, Jessie Joe Jacobs.
The 2021 Tees Valley mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of Tees Valley on the same day as other local elections across the country. The mayor was elected by the supplementary vote. The election was originally due to take place in May 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The MSG Sphere London was a proposed music and entertainment venue to be built in the Stratford area of East London, England. Initially proposed by the United States-based Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) in 2018, and subjected to a protracted planning process, the plans were officially withdrawn by MSG in January 2024.
Jacob Young is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up since 18 September 2023. He previously served as Assistant Government Whip between September 2022 and September 2023. He was elected as MP for Redcar at the 2019 general election. He is the first Conservative MP to represent the constituency.
Freeports in the United Kingdom are a series of government assigned special economic zones where customs rules such as taxes do not apply until goods leave the specified zone. The theoretical purpose of such freeports is to encourage economic activity in the surrounding area and increase manufacturing. Critics of such schemes, including the parliamentary opposition, see them as possible tax havens and open to money laundering.
The 2021 North-East England shellfish die-off was a series of occasions where a mass of shellfish were found on beaches on the Durham and Yorkshire Coasts in northern England, either dead, or in stages of dying.
The 2024 Tees Valley mayoral election was held on 2 May 2024 to elect the mayor of the Tees Valley, part of the 2024 United Kingdom local elections.