THE Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) spent £113m overall in the last 12 months, up from £99m the previous year.

The figure was revealed in the authority’s draft statement of accounts for 2019/20 and included £84m which was invested in programmes, projects, grant schemes and development funding for future projects.

Overall income also rose from £86m to £122m, of which £110m came from Government grants and contributions.

The authority also took on an adult education budget, worth £30m a year, under devolved powers.

Despite increases in income, long term borrowing was also up – by £29m year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the six most senior managers at the authority received more than £600,000 between them in 2019/20, a figure which included pension contributions. The highest earner was chief executive Julie Gilhespie, receiving £165,125 in total.

The number of staff whose total remuneration exceeded £50,000 a year, including benefits, redundancy and other severance payments, increased from two to eight, although that did not take into account the chief executive and her senior staff.

The purchase of Teesside Airport, which was brought back into public hands last year at a cost of £39m, preceded the 2019/20 financial year and was not included in the accounts – a deal having been completed in February 2019.

Director of finance and resources Gary Macdonald was quizzed about the authority’s borrowing at a meeting of its audit and governance committee.

He said: “We were mindful of the schemes we have got coming up and took a judgement call on the level of delivery.

“We were well below the level we expected to borrow for the year. There can be uncertainty around programmes and delivery. I am not in a huge rush to do more [borrowing], we do have cash reserves and the key is utilising that against the programmes we have got.”

A report by Mr Macdonald attached to the accounts referred to the coronavirus outbreak and said the nature of the authority’s work and robust business continuity plans meant it had been possible to minimise the impact of disruption on the delivery of services and finances.

It said the full financial impact of the virus would be reflected in the 2020/21 financial statement and it may also be necessary to re-evaluate long-term plans in light of changed circumstances.

The report said there continued to be a determination to secure a greater transfer of funding, powers and responsibilities from London with the aim being to establish the Tees Valley as a ‘flagship of successful devolution’.

The accounts statement was originally due to be published in draft form by May 31, but due to the coronavirus crisis it was postponed.

The public are legally entitled to inspect the accounts once published and make objections.

Once any inspection period has ended, the final audited accounts will be published before the end of November.