A £190m funding package to create up to 1,000 jobs, build up to 1,500 homes and strengthen transport in the Tees Valley has been signed by Local Growth Minister Penny Mordaunt

The Tees Valley Growth Deal includes:

o a £12.8m transport package to improve roads to key business locations including the Central Park enterprise zone in Darlington, Durham Tees Valley Airport, improved junctions at Ingleby Way/Myton Way, Ingleby Barwick, and road widening and signal improvements on the A689 at Wynyard.

o £5.8m for the Tees Valley Business Growth Hub to ensure companies can expand through common-sense, practical support.

o £3m for the Tees Valley Advanced Manufacturing Park to provide services for the offshore wind, oil, gas and sub-sea sectors.

o Projects to improve skills including a new Oil and Gas Academy to provide specialist training at Redcar and Cleveland College.

o Joint investment in the Materials Processing Institute at Wilton to provide laboratory, pilot and demonstration space for companies to test new products.

Ms Mordaunt said: “This package is part of our long-term economic plan to boost businesses in the north and provide more security for hard-working families. I am delighted to be able to put pen to paper and make it happen.”

The Deal involves £90.3m of Government funding and at least £100m from local partners and the private sector.

The Minister signed the deal on Thursday of last week, during a tour of businesses and growth schemes in the area.

The visit began in Redcar and Cleveland where £580,000 from the Government’s Coastal Communities Fund is supporting a range of projects along the seafront, including Coatham Boating Lake, Redcar Beacon, the Rock n’ Roll Diner and the town’s revitalised market. Since April 2013, it has supported more than 40 small enterprises and start-up businesses, and helped more than 50 people gain jobs and apprenticeships.

Ms Mordaunt then saw the £38m programme to rejuvenate Stockton town centre and in Darlington saw the new Tees Valley Business Growth Hub where £6.3m of Government money has helped create 3,200 square metres of high quality offices which will create at least 25 new businesses and 350 new jobs within its first 15 years.

Coun Bill Dixon, leader of Darlington Borough Council and TVU vice-chairman, said: "The unlocking of £90m worth of investment will help us build a stronger economy. Our success in securing Growth Fund finance demonstrates the effectiveness of the public/private partnership approach within Tees Valley."

Coun Christopher Akers-Belcher, leader of Hartlepool Council, said a new College of Art & Design was key to their vision of creating an innovation and skills quarter in the town, and mCoun Bob Cook, leader of Stockton Council, said all the investment would make the area a place where people want to live and do business.