Candidates standing on 4 July are answering your questions in the Your Voice, Your Vote BBC Tees election debate
The debate is running between 11:00 BST and midday
Questions have been submitted by members of the public
You can watch here, on iPlayer, and listen on BBC Tees and BBC Sounds
Follow updates on @BBCTees, external on X
A full list of candidates standing in all constituencies can be found here
We've come to an end of our live Your Voice, Your Vote BBC Tees debate and coverage. You can watch again on BBC iPlayer or click below and listen back on BBC Sounds.
Richard Moss hosts a special general election debate where candidates are questioned
Luke Walton
Political correspondent, BBC North East and Cumbria
Interesting clash between the Greens and Labour over new housing.
The Green Party’s Matthew Snedker accuses Labour of promoting “urban sprawl” in Darlington, saying the Labour-run council is building “car-dependent” developments. He says his party would put the focus on affordable, social homes.
Labour’s Alan Strickland says his party would build 1.5 million homes across the country in the next parliament, by taking “tough decisions”, ensuring councils have local plans and building on brown-field sites.
For the Liberal Democrats, Jemma Joy says her party would create “garden cities”, creating affordable housing and retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency.
Conservative Jane MacBean wants the right homes in the right places and supports planning reform.
Meanwhile Reform UK’s Steve Matthews says he’s “pro-building”, saying it’s important housing is built in areas with sufficient infrastructure.
Jemma Joy, Liberal Democrat
Jane MacBean, Conservatives
Steve Matthews, Reform UK
Matthew Snedker, Green
Alan Strickland, Labour
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Business
"I’d like to know what a new government is going to do for small businesses. Over three million small businesses had no government support during the pandemic, apart from bounce back loans which, unlike the grants, have to be paid back."
Your Voice, Your Vote will put your stories and questions at the heart of our general election coverage.
Get in touch and tell us the election issues that matter to you.
Political Editor Richard Moss asks the guests what their policies and thoughts are on crime and anti-social behaviour
Luke Walton
Political correspondent, BBC North East and Cumbria
Both Jade and Julie complain about a lack of NHS dentists on Teesside – and they are not alone.
Recently, Labour described the area as a “dental desert” and earlier this year it was reported that only one dentist across Teesside was accepting NHS patients.
That’s led to worries that an increasing number of patients – unable to afford going private – are resorting to “DIY” dentistry, including pulling out their own teeth.
As for solutions, Green candidate Matthew Snedker tells the BBC Tees debate his party would reform the dental contract with extra investment of £3bn a year.
Liberal Democrat challenger Jemma Joy wants more supervised brushing and VAT off children’s toothbrushes.
Labour’s Alan Strickland says his party will fund another 700,000 dental appointments every year and renegotiate the dental contract.
Conservative Jane MacBean says her party will incentivise dentists to move to areas with a shortage.
Meanwhile, Reform UK’s Steve Matthews says it’s an issue of “supply and demand”, adding that immigration is putting extra strain on dentistry and the rest of the health service.
Housing
"We’ve moved to a rural area and young people here struggle to find rental properties yet there are lots of empty buildings. Can councils use compulsory purchase orders?"
Jemma Joy, Liberal Democrat
Jane MacBean, Conservatives
Steve Matthews, Reform UK
Matthew Snedker, Green
Alan Strickland, Labour
Immigration
"When will politicians stop kicking minorities to stoke public division?"
Luke Walton
Political correspondent, BBC North East and Cumbria
The Conservative promise to “level up” the North was a key commitment in their 2019 election victory, which saw a clutch of seats across the BBC Tees area switch from red to blue.
Since then, local Conservatives, among them Tory Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, have pointed to investments such as the Teesworks regeneration of the former Redcar steelworks, and the new Treasury HQ in Darlington, as examples of the policy’s impact.
The government says about £1.3bn of levelling up cash has been announced for dozens of schemes across the North East since 2019.
But many local projects have been delayed – in part because of the pandemic and inflation – and some communities complain they’ve been left empty-handed.
A recent report by a cross-party group of MPs found only 10% of the levelling up cash announced by ministers for projects across the country had actually been spent.
The Public Accounts Committee found ministers were "unable to provide any compelling examples of what levelling up funding has delivered so far". It also criticised a "worrying lack of transparency" in how cash was allotted.
Supporters of the approach say there has been progress, and insist that transformation of towns and cities takes time.
But in 2019, the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson raised expectations of a levelling up “payback” to his new North East voters.
Five years on, many are disappointed.
Dentists and the NHS
"I was told I needed a filling by my NHS dentist, who had been my dentist since the age of three. Unfortunately, he then unexpectedly passed away and the dental surgery advised they could not find an NHS dentist to replace him.
"Now over a year later, I can’t access NHS treatment, the filling now needs to be a root canal, which I can’t have done under the NHS."
Big changes have been made to the political map since 2019. Boundaries have changed and many constituencies will be new or different from the last general election for millions of people.
You can use our lookup to find out which constituency you are in, who is standing as a candidate in your area and to which polling station you can go to vote.
Cost of Living
"Which party is going to look after pensioners? We have paid into the system since we were teenagers so have completed our part of the contract and now want the government to complete theirs and look after us.
"The majority of pensioners only have an old age pension to survive on so by the time they pay for a roof over their heads, rent, gas, electric and water, the money left for food is a struggle. It would help if pensions were not taxed."
Levelling up
"I live in Newton Aycliffe in County Durham and have done my whole life. You hear about levelling up but we are the forgotten town between Darlington and Bishop Auckland.
"There's eight charity shops and no banks whatsoever. We have to go to Darlington, Bishop Auckland or Durham and pay for transport and then parking fees. The whole town looks a mess."
The candidates are introducing themselves and the debate runs until midday
You can watch the debate live here or using the Watch Live link at the top of the page.
Live coverage from BBC News
Here is a list of all the candidates taking part in this morning's debate:
BBC North East and Cumbria Political Editor Richard Moss is preparing for the debate at the BBC's studios in Newcastle
