Mayor gets a grilling over future of area

RESIDENTS GET A CHANCE TO ASK THEIR QUESTIONS

- By DANIEL HODGSON

BEN Houchen has been quizzed on employment, crime, transport and Teesworks by residents from across the region.

The Tees Valley Mayor was grilled on all manner of topics as he began his monthly appearances in BBC Radio Tees' "hot seat" on Thursday of last week.

Chatting to host Amy Oakden, the Conservative Mayor fielded questions about a skills shortage, drink and drugs in Stockton town centre, and capping bus fares, amongst many other topics.

The two were joined by political reporter David Macmillan, who explained what the metro mayor is responsible for, saying: "The mayoral roles were essentially set up above anything else to try and create wealth and prosperity and jobs and make region-wide places better to live," adding: "One of Ben Houchen's roles is to make sure that people have the right abilities to get a career and that local businesses can find staff they need to grow." There are also transport and tourism related responsibilities, and a need to attract investment.

The first question of the day came from John Kruse, from Ramp Training Group in Middlesbrough. He asked about the "skills shortage", and the estimates of an extra 250,000 extra skilled workers being needed by 2028 across the country. He asked what support and opportunities there are for school leavers and young adults "to bridge that skills gap".

Lord Houchen firstly recognised the work of local colleges, Teesside University and private providers of skills programmes.

He went on to explain that he has direct control over the adult education budget. He said funding is provided to enable training to match jobs that are being created in the local area.