THE blueprint to deliver economic growth across the Tees Valley received a warm welcome when it was launched – but some dissenting voices have already urged caution about the prospect of it being successfully fulfilled.

Lord Heseltine's 90 page independent report highlights a raft of recommendations to help boost the financial recovery of the area in the wake of the closure of the SSI steel plant near Redcar.

The Tory grandee accepts that the Government can "put the report in the bin if they want to" but maintains it is now in the hands of the local authorities and businesses to deliver his recommendations.

Members of the newly created South Tees Development Corporation welcomed the recommendations but were realistic about the need to keep the pressure on the Government to deliver the funds to fulfil the report's ambition.

Delivering his report at Middlesbrough FC's Riverside Stadium, the former Deputy Prime Minister confirmed the Government was under no obligation to fund the recommendations – but assured people that cash is available.

"There is already a great deal of money available within expending programmes but this is about how you use the money differently," he said.

"Within the deal that has been done in Tees Valley, there's already and additional £15million a year and other funds as well, so the money is alway scarce.

"But much more important is how you use it, and within that, how much the private sector is prepared to invest in for example a new road."

Steve Gibson, Middlesbrough FC chairman and member of the board for the newly created South Tees Development Corporation, believes that getting education right is the key to the future growth of the Tees Valley.

He said: "At times it's a very hard-hitting report. We have to put education at the very heart of everything, the criticism of poor schools is something that we need to address and we need to improve further education to sort out the skills shortage in the Tees Valley."

Northern Powerhouse Minister and Stockton South MP James Wharton said the report highlighted plenty of positives amongst the negatives.

"It looks at what needs to change and what we need to build on but at it's heart is the belief in the people of Teesside," he said.

"With the Government's devolution agenda and wit the election of a Tees Valley Mayor next year, and some of the funding that comes with that, there's a really opportunity to grasp many of the achievements that our area has already secured and do more with it in the future."

Cllr Sue Jeffrey, the Labour leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council and outgoing chairwoman of the Tees Valley Combined Authority, said it was important that the pressure was maintained on the Government to help deliver results.

She said: "There is no point this report sitting on the shelf in someone's London office, we need to make sure that we can secure the funding to deliver on these recommendations. The report isn't all negative about Tees Valley, it recognises the hard work that we have already put in and we just have to build on that now."

However, some of the area's Labour MP's were less impressed with the content of the document calling it 'paper thin' and 'paying lip service' to the area's problems.

Redcar MP Anna Turley said: "The report is paper thin, containing virtually nothing of real substance and represents a missed opportunity for the government to have tried to repair some of the damage done to our local economy and to people's livelihoods."

And Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Tom Blenkinsop added: “The single biggest issue - the future of the strategic land where SSI once operated is merely relegated to a new "Mayoral Development Corporation" with no mention of that Corporation having anything more than a meagre cash dowry to somehow plan, implement and complete one of Europe's biggest industrial site clean ups.

“There was no concept of the remediation works that may be needed and no suggestion of any future use for a site containing one of the UK's best deep water berths for bulk imports and exports.

“Lord Heseltine's report could have offered the support Teesside needs but it was nothing more than lip service.”

And Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham added: “I was looking for something of real substance, not a series of patronising statements such as the one saying local councils should continue to write to underperforming schools and the suggestion the Teesside Collective should work with existing petroleum and carbon dioxide licence holders. Both these things are already happening."