Tories were accused of "extraordinary arrogance" for pushing back on efforts to establish the facts around the UK's largest freeport.
Labour has called for the National Audit Office (NAO) to investigate claims of wrongdoing at the Teesworks site.
But the Government has instead announced a panel to probe claims after Labour's Middlesborough MP Andy McDonald in the Commons, who alleged "truly shocking, industrial-scale corruption" related to funding.
