'Sexist' Tees Valley mayor and 'useless' Cleveland police boss in row

Barry Coppinger and Ben Houchen disagree over eachother's staffing

A mayor and police commissioner have become embroiled in a war of words after a disagreement over staffing.

Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger criticised a £1.39m rise in staff salaries at Ben Houchen's Tees Valley Combined Authority.

Labour's Mr Coppinger also said Mr Houchen used "sexist" language when the mayor dubbed the commissioner's plan to hire an assistant "jobs for the boys".

Conservative Mr Houchen labelled Mr Coppinger "useless" in a Facebook post.

Conservative Ben Houchen was elected as Tees Valley Mayor in 2017

The argument was sparked when it was revealed the commissioner is seeking a new full-time £60,000 a year assistant chief executive, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Houchen said: "This is no time for expanding bureaucracy and middle management.

"It is a betrayal of public trust and of our front-line officers to use this [coronavirus] crisis to sneak through more jobs for the boys."

Labour's Barry Coppinger was elected as Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner in 2012

In response, Mr Coppinger pointed to analysis showing staff salaries at the Tees Valley Combined Authority had risen by from £1.39m in 2016/17 to £3.9m in this financial year.

The number of high earners - pulling in more than £50,000 a year - had also increased over the same four year period from eight to 15, Mr Coppinger's office said.

Mr Coppinger said Mr Houchen had overseen a "staggering rise" in staffing costs and the mayor's "jobs for the boys" comment "has no place in today's society".

In a response posted on Facebook, Mr Houchen said: "The useless Barry Coppinger has decided to use police resources to politically attack me. Sad when he should be using those resources to concentrate on his job of reducing crime, which he's failing at spectacularly."

Mr Coppinger was due to step down in May but said he would stay on until a replacement was selected after elections were postponed for a year because of the coronavirus.