Committee chair backs calls for Teesside freeport investigation

The chair of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has backed calls for an investigation into the Teesworks freeport project. Labour’s Dame Meg Hillier urged ministers to allow a full National Audit Office investigation into the flagship government-backed regeneration scheme in the North East, which is overseen by Conservative mayor Ben Houchen. In a letter to the Financial Times, Hiller said it would be “wise” for levelling up secretary Michael Gove to order a probe, adding that the existing financial oversight system for England’s directly elected mayors was not “robust”. The FT (£)