Business forum accused of being ‘fifth columnist’

Ray Mallon, Mayor of Middlesbrough has hit out at the Northern Business Forum (NBF) claiming it has “reneged”

on its support for a Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

However, the NBF has argued that it has always made its view clear – that the region would be best served as a whole.

LEPs will replace regional development agencies, such as One North East, which are soon to be abolished under the Government’s shake-up of local enterprise funding.

Mr Mallon said the NBF were signatories to the Tees Valley bid last month and were now performing a U-turn as the Government prepared to announce which bids were successful.

He said: “Its actions have been entirely dishonourable and disingenuous from the outset and I will be telling them that to their face when next we meet.

“In hindsight I do not believe they ever had any intention of standing side by side with this area.

“I believe that the NBF have turned fifth columnists in a deliberate bid to derail the Tees Valley and other LEP bids in order that they can then fill the gap.”

His comments were sparked by a letter sent by the NBF, which represents some of the region’s main business organisations, which stated it believes a single organisation should be the preferred option rather than individual LEPs.

Robin Bloom, an NBF member, and head of legal functions at Gibson O’Neill, a company built by Middlesbrough FC chairman Steve Gibson, has resigned from the NBF over the letter, it emerged yesterday.

John Cuthbert, chairman of the Northern Business Forum, said last night: “NBF has been crystal clear from the outset about what businesses need from local enterprise partnerships.

“We were equally clear and have agreed this with local authorities in the region – that this needs to be delivered by a North-East economic partnership.

“The business community agreed that a range of other services could be delivered at a more local level as long as the Government supported the North-East-wide approach.

This hasn’t changed.”

He added: “The business community continues to maintain that it could not support an LEP in isolation from the North-East economic partnership.”

Councils move to protect museums

THE impending spending review has seen councils across the Tees Valley look at securing the future of museum services.

The work has been commissioned by the area’s five local authorities in an attempt to protect attractions that welcome one million visitors a year.

With heavy cuts to public sector spending due to be announced later this month, the councils – Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool, Darlington, Middlesbrough and Stockton – are looking at ways of sharing services to save money.

There are seven local authority- run museums in the Tees Valley. They are the Museum of Hartlepool, Hartlepool Art Gallery, the Dorman Museum, the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, Preston Hall Museum, Kirkleatham Old Hall Museum and Darlington Railway Museum.

There are also independent museums, including the Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum, at Skinningrove, Hartlepool Heugh Battery and Winkies Castle, at Marske. The council group overseeing the review is working with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. Trades unions are being kept up to date with implications for staff.

Margie Stewart-Piercy, the North-East chief executive of the MLA, said: “This independent review will give the local authorities involved every opportunity to develop efficient, modern and integrated museum services that are based around the needs of people and communities in Tees Valley.”

Museum specialist Egeria is working alongside the councils with the research findings and proposals for the future being considered early next year by the Tees Valley chief executives group.

Kate Brindley, Middlesbrough Council’s director of museums and galleries, said: “Our museums are hugely popular and rightly so. They are a vital part of the Tees Valley and the wider region, both in terms of securing our culture and heritage in attracting visitors to the area.”