A letter outlining a plot by some Muslims to take over schools in Birmingham was "no hoax", according to the city's education commissioner Sir Mike Tomlinson.

The anonymous Trojan Horse letter, discovered in 2013, included advice on installing school governors.
It has been the subject of four major inquiries.
Sir Mike said he believed many details in the letter "were happening [in schools], without a shadow of doubt".
The letter outlined a plan to bring in new school governors, undermine head teachers and ultimately introduce changes sympathetic to the group of conservative Muslims.
"Whatever anybody says, it was no hoax," Sir Mike said.
He said evidence uncovered in inquiries by the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted "mirrored what was said in the letter".
Sir Mike's comments add to a volume of opposing views on the origins of, and claims contained in, the letter.
The former Ofsted chief, appointed by the government in September, is tasked with overseeing improvements in Birmingham in the wake of the controversy.
A letter, anonymously written, was passed on to Birmingham City Council by a "concerned citizen" in November 2013 and came to light the following March.
It purports to be advice to a contact in Bradford with instructions on how to install new governors with the aim of taking over schools and introducing Islam-friendly changes.
The letter reads: "I have detailed the plan we have in Birmingham and how well it has worked and you will see how easy the whole process is to get the head teacher out and your own person in."
4
Schools named in original Trojan Horse letter
200
Complaints received by city council against 25 schools following letter
5 Schools placed in special measures out of 21 inspected by Ofsted
3 Schools praised by inspectors
Almost exactly a year ago, a government inquiry led by former counter-terrorism chief Peter Clarke found "sustained action carried out by a number of associated individuals to introduce an intolerant and aggressive Islamist ethos into a few schools in Birmingham".
Birmingham City Council said while there were problems with governance in some schools, there was no evidence of a plot.
It has since introduced new rules for appointing governors.
Tahir Alam, the former head of governors for Park View Education Trust and named directly in the Trojan Horse letter, said he had always argued its claims were nothing more than "a myth".
He was forced to resign last July and now faces the possibility of being permanently banned from involvement in education.
Trojan Horse timeline
Sir Mike said there had been "significant changes" over the past year since the report by Peter Clarke.
"One of the most important things right now is that we have much improved governance in schools, we have much-improved safeguarding, helped by the creation of a multi-agency hub," he said.
However, Sir Mike said work remained to improve "community cohesion".
Progress in Birmingham was also highlighted by Sir Michael Wilshaw on Tuesday.
In a letter to Education Secretary Nikki Morgan, he said the picture was "improving slowly", although problems remained at the schools placed in special measures last year.
Anderton Park Primary was not part of the official inquiries, but its head Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson said she had experienced similar pressures to those highlighted by the Trojan Horse letter, including intimidation from governors and opposition from the local community over issues such as sex education classes.
She said while measures recently introduced, such as new rules for governors, had improved matters, issues raised by the official inquiries had "not gone away".
Sir Mike Tomlinson's full interview with BBC Midlands Today is on BBC One in the West Midlands from 18:30 BST on 16 July.


A car explosion in the heart of the Bahraini capital Manama has heightened security concerns ahead of Sunday's Formula 1 Grand Prix.

The blast occurred late on Sunday night in the Financial Harbour district of the city.
An opposition group calling itself the February 14 movement has  claimed it was behind the blast.
The Ministry of Interior acknowledged the blast and said it had caused no casualties.
In a statement the ministry said: "A terrorist group used a gas cylinder to burn a car in Manama at night on Sunday causing an explosion, causing no damage."
The explosion occurred only a few hours after a press conference given by Samira Rajab, Bahrain's Information Affairs minister.
Ms Rajab had described the situation in Bahrain as "very reassuring".  She blamed foreign media for "blowing the security situation out of proportion".
"There has been no major escalation of violence on the ground recently as the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix is drawing nearer," the minister said.
But there have been daily protests and one hundred have reportedly been arrested in connection with the race.
The claim by February 14 that it carried out the blast cannot be independently verified but if confirmed the attack would mark the first time the group has said it was behind such an attack.
An observer who asked not to be identified expressed surprise that the explosion had occurred in the Financial Harbour.
"Security there is tight. If they can get away with something like that I am worried something big will happen at F1."
On  social media sites, the 14 February movement has said it will carry out more "actions" in a bid to force the cancellation of the race.
However when asked about the blast F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone dismissed concerns,  telling reporters in Shanghai he saw "no reason"  why the Bahrain race would not be a success.
For the government and its supporters, holding the F1 race demonstrates that after two years of unrest the kingdom is stable and back on track. But many in the opposition oppose the race arguing that the government has failed to deliver on promises of reform.
On 14 February 2011, peaceful protesters took over Pearl Roundabout, an iconic landmark in the capital, Manama. Three days later security forces cleared the site using tear gas, batons and birdshot.
As violence escalated 35 people, including five police officers, were killed, hundreds more were hurt and thousands jailed in February and March 2011.
Since then, opposition and human rights activists say more than 50 people have died, a figure which the government disputes.


Government forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have captured Bunagana town, the main base of the M23 rebel group, officials say.

The troops entered the town on the Ugandan border in large numbers as the rebels fled, residents told the BBC.
M23 political leader Bertrand Bisimwa was earlier reported to have crossed into Uganda as Congolese troops advanced on his base.
The M23 launched a rebellion in eastern DR Congo in April 2012.
It is made up of army deserters who say they are fighting for the rights of the minority Tutsi ethnic group.
At least 800,000 people have been left homeless since the conflict started.
By Gabriel GatehouseBBC East Africa correspondent
It is a remarkable turnaround in this year-and-a-half long rebellion. Until this week, a relatively small number of rebels had controlled vast swathes of territory in the jungle-covered hills on the borders of DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
Last November, UN troops had stood by, powerless, as M23 fighters briefly captured Goma. The UN had pledged to protect the city, and blamed the defeat on what they said was military backing from Rwanda. For the 18,000-strong UN force ,it was an embarrassing demonstration of their ineffectiveness.
But an injection of fresh peacekeepers earlier this year with a stronger mandate to actively take the fight to the rebels appears to have turned the tide. In less than a week, the Congolese army, backed by UN artillery and helicopter gunships, has routed the rebels.
This almost certainly will not mean the end of hostilities in this region plagued numerous armed groups. But it may well provide a template for a more robust style of peacekeeping in Africa and elsewhere.
About 10,000 people fled to Uganda this week, with about half of them arriving on Wednesday, said Lucy Beck, a spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the Associated Press (AP) news agency reports.
On Monday, the UN special envoy to DR Congo, Martin Kobler, said the M23 was all but finished as a military threat in DR Congo.
His comments came after government forces captured five M23-held areas, including Rumangabo where the rebels had a big military training camp.
The government forces have been backed by a UN intervention brigade deployed earlier this year to confront the M23 and other armed groups.
The BBC's Ignatius Bahizi in Uganda says residents in Bunagana told him there was heavy shelling, before the town fell to government forces.
"Bunagana is completely under our control. We had been fighting since the early morning," DR Congo's government spokesman Lambert Mende told the AFP news agency.
Bunagana, a town of several thousand people and the headquarters of Mr Bisimwa, is on the Uganda-DR Congo border.
Mr Bisimwa had surrendered to Ugandan security operatives after crossing the border in a convoy of two vehicles, Uganda's state-owned New Vision newspaper reported.
He left Bunagana when government and UN forces were about 5km (three miles) away from the town and he was being questioned by Ugandan security operatives, the paper said.
However, M23 officials denied that Mr Bisimwa had fled.
They told our reporter that the M23 political leader had travelled to Uganda to sign a peace accord with the government.
Peace talks hosted by Uganda broke down last week.
The UN and DR Congo government have repeatedly accused Rwanda and Uganda of backing the rebels.  They deny the allegation.
Eastern DR Congo has been wracked by conflict since 1994, when Hutu militias fled across the border from Rwanda after carrying out a genocide against Tutsis and moderate Hutus.


Twitter has responded to an epilepsy charity that said two of its online adverts were "irresponsible".

The social media giant had uploaded two short videos on Vine that featured a looping, rapid succession of flashing colours.
"Twitter's ads were dangerous to people living with photo-sensitive epilepsy," said Epilepsy Action's deputy chief executive, Simon Wigglesworth.
Twitter told the BBC it had removed the videos on Friday morning.
Around one in 3,500 people in the UK has photosensitive epilepsy, according to Epilepsy Action. Seizures can be triggered by flashing lights and bold patterns.
An  episode of Japanese cartoon Pokemon was famously blamed for triggering convulsions in 1997.
"Eighty seven people are diagnosed with epilepsy every day and that first seizure can often come out of nowhere," said Mr Wigglesworth.
"For a huge corporation like Twitter to take that risk was irresponsible."
The Advertising Standards Authority told the BBC that "marketing communications", even those uploaded on a company's own website, should not include "visual effects or techniques that are likely to adversely affect members of the public with photosensitive epilepsy".
It said both online and broadcast adverts in the UK had to adhere to rules made by the Committees of Advertising Practice.
"We take very seriously ads in online media that might cause harm to people with photosensitive epilepsy," an ASA spokeswoman told the BBC.
Twitter's flashing Vine videos were online for 18 hours before the company removed them.
Epilepsy Action said it was "pleased" that Twitter had replied to its messages and removed the posts.
Rachel Bremer, Twitter's international communications director, thanked the charity for highlighting the issue.
"We appreciate your feedback," she said on Twitter.


A second crash involving a Tesla car - which includes a self-driving feature known as Autopilot - is being investigated by the US authorities.

The accident in Pennsylvania left the driver and his passenger injured.
The carmaker said that there was "no evidence" that Autopilot was responsible.
It follows an investigation into a fatal accident in Florida where the focus is on the apparent failure of Tesla's technology.
In the incident in Pennsylvania, the Model X car hit a guard rail and veered into the eastbound lane, ending up on its roof.
In a statement, Tesla said: "Based on the information we have now, we have no reason to believe that Autopilot had anything to do with this accident."
It said that it had received an automated alert from the car indicating airbags had been deployed but never received logs containing details about the state of vehicle controls, which would indicate whether Autopilot was on or off.
Autopilot is a feature which allows cars to automatically change lanes and react to traffic.
US car safety regulators are scrutinising the Pennsylvania crash to determine whether the Autopilot system was in use at the time.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a report last week following the death of 40-year-old Joshua Brown, who was killed while driving a Tesla in Florida.
It concluded that both the driver and the Autopilot system failed to detect a large tractor-trailer turning left in front of him.
In response to that, Tesla reiterated the safety record for its vehicles and the fact that the Autopilot feature is an auto-assist rather than autonomous feature - which means the driver needs to keep both hands on the wheel at all times.
The NHTSA is due to issue guidelines around the rules for autonomous car technology later this month.
Previously NHTSA chief Mark Rosekind has said that technology such as Autopilot needed to be twice as safe as the manual systems they replace.


Britons travelling to the United States have been warned to check they have an e-passport, or risk being turned away.

Vic Ryan, from Lincoln, said his family holiday to Florida had been "totally ruined" after he was turned away at airport check-in because he had an old style passport.
New rules requiring US visitors to have passports with a biometric trip came into force on 1 April.
Tour operators have urged customers to check their passports.
Biometric passports are identifiable on British passports by the camera logo at the bottom of the front cover, and have an embedded electronic chip holding the carrier's facial details, in a bid to combat fraud and forgery.
It is understood that British passports affected are those issued between April and October 2006 - before the introduction of the biometric passport.
Simon Calder, travel editor at the Independent newspaper, estimates about 1.3 million British passports are currently valid but not biometric.
In a Facebook post that was shared more than 60,000 times, Mr Ryan said he was prevented from boarding his flight on 1 May, despite having a passport valid for six months, because it was not biometric.
"I have now spent best part of three hours on the phone being passed from pillar to post," he said.
"And had to fork out over Â£500 to try and get to the US on Wednesday to meet up with a very distraught family to try and rescue a totally ruined holiday."
Despite booking through travel agent Thomson, and filling in advanced passenger information and Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (Esta), the issue was never flagged, he said.
Thomson said it was "sorry to hear that a small number of customers had been unclear on the passport and visa guidelines" for entry to the US.
"We also advise customers it's their responsibility to check the passport, visa and health requirements for their holiday destination," the company said, adding that it was also reviewing how it could better highlight the issue to customers.
The new rules, which were decided in as part of an anti-terrorism strategy in December 2015, say that only people with a biometric passport will be allowed entry to the United States from 1 April 2016.
US Homeland Security states:
UK passports which are biometric feature a small gold symbol at the bottom of the front cover.
Any Briton travelling to the US for tourism or business for 90 days or less also needs fill in a form to obtain a valid Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (Esta). This is not a visa, but is part of a system to increase security for travellers entering the US from the 38 countries signed up to the Visa Waiver Programme - including the UK.
Babies, and those passing through America in transit, also need an Esta.
Hannah Elphick, 25, told BBC Radio 5 live her partner Kevin Nash was refused travel at Stansted Airport check-in on 6 April.
She was forced to go without him to Florida with their two-year-old, Kloe.
"It was awful, we were all pretty upset," she said, adding that it had taken more than two days and Â£700 for Mr Nash to finally get to the US.
"What annoys me most is that British Airways didn't inform me when I phoned them," she said.
British Airways said: "Customers should ensure they have the relevant documents before they travel."â€‹
The relevant information is on its website, and customers are prompted when booking and later reminded again by email, the company said.
Sean Tipton, from the Association of British Agents (ABTA), said airlines and travel agents "certainly should have been" alerting customers.
"We sent out two notifications to our members saying rules were changing and people needed to be informed. From our side, we did tell them to do so," he said.
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has encouraged travellers to check they have the right passport, and said warnings had been issued on their website and via email where possible.
Those without an e-passport and who wished to travel to the US could obtain a non-immigrant visa, a spokeswoman said.
Such visas can be applied for and obtained from the nearest US embassy or consulate, according to advice on the Home Office website.


The headquarters of what was once the biggest independent bus firm in Western Europe could become a 300-home development.

Barton's in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, operated buses from 1908 to 1989.
From 2008 the former bus depot hosted outdoor cinemas, comedy nights, gigs and other events.
The Prince's Foundation charity, involved in the project, said it was helping to create a "new community" on the edge of Nottingham.
When it was founded, the fourth-generation family business was one of the first bus firms in Britain.
Its first service was between Long Eaton, Derbyshire, and the Nottingham Goose Fair in October, 1908.
During World War One, workers were transported to and from the nearby National Shell Filling Factory.
In 1930, it operated the first diesel-engine passenger-carrying road vehicle. Twenty years later it had a fleet of over 280.
Bus deregulation in the 1980s rendered the firm uncompetitive and the transport arm was sold off to rival Trent, which still operates in the East Midlands as Trent Barton.
From then Barton's focused on property investment.
From its centenary year to 2014, the building in High Road hosted a series of events.
But managing director Simon Barton has said the land was now "ripe for redevelopment".
"It's a valuable and well-situated brownfield site and when greenbelt is under threat it's better to come to sites like this in order to redevelop those," he said.
Earlier this month Mr Barton was granted a comprehensive licence for the sale of alcohol and for live music and sports events, despite opposition from some neighbours.
The Prince Charles-backed foundation, which has been called the "creative force" behind the scheme, said it would try to maintain a balance between heritage and the redevelopment.
Senior director Ben Bolgar said: "It has so much history and character, it's crucial to incorporate these elements into anything new that we build. From the style of the building, to the materials used, even to its name."
Plans went on public display earlier this month and, if they are approved by Broxtowe Borough Council, work could start before the end of the year.


Aboriginal Australian actor "Uncle" Jack Charles says he has been refused taxi rides two times in three days.

Mr Charles' manager, Patrice Capogreco, said the actor may take legal action against the drivers and taxi company.
The first incident occurred on Wednesday night after a Melbourne event where Mr Charles was declared Victorian Senior Australian of the Year.
When Mr Charles tried to get in a taxi the driver allegedly demanded upfront payment because "he might not pay".
The second incident occurred at Melbourne airport at 15:00 local time Friday (04:00 GMT).
Mr Charles was attempting to get inside a taxi when it suddenly drove away, Ms Capogreco told the BBC.
"He's a strong, resilient man and it takes a lot to affect him, but enough is enough," she said.
The Victorian taxi regulator said it was investigating the case as a matter of priority.
"This type of behaviour is unacceptable and illegal.  [We] deplore discrimination and racism of any kind," the Taxi Services Commission said in a statement.
It said taxi fares must be prepaid for all trips between 22:00 and 05:00.
However, Mr Charles had said Wednesday's incident had occurred at around 21:00.
In an interview before the second incident, Mr Charles told the BBC it was common for Indigenous Australians to be refused a taxi.
He said some Aboriginal Australians were forced to ask strangers to flag taxis down on their behalf.
"We're so used to it ... being abused by this behaviour," Mr Charles said. "White Australia has to get used to the term racial vilification."
The actor had a cameo role in the Warner Brothers Peter Pan sequel film Pan this year. He is best known for his work on Australian films, including Tom White and The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith.
Mr Charles is also well known as an Aboriginal elder and role model.
Musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was involved in a similar incident in 2012.


The Scottish government plans use its new social security powers for the first time to increase the frequency of Universal Credit payments.

Universal Credit itself remains reserved, but ministers will use new powers to give claimants the option to be paid fortnightly instead of monthly.
The government also plans to offer to pay housing benefits direct to landlords rather than via claimants.
Opposition MSPs welcomed the move, but said the government should do more.
Holyrood is taking on a series of newly-devolved welfare powers, from personal independence payments to carer's allowances. A new social security agency is being set up and a Social Security Bill is set to be introduced this year.
The UK's Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) will retain overall control over Universal Credit, the single payment for working-age people introduced by the UK government. However, the Scottish government is to take on powers to introduce some flexibilities over payments.
Ministers plan to use these powers to give new claimants in areas where a digital planning system has been set up the option of twice-monthly payments, instead of the current monthly system.
Meanwhile, tenants will have the choice of having the housing element of their Universal Credit payment sent directly to their landlord.
Social Security Minister Jeane Freeman said this option would be available to tenants in the private rented sector as well as those in social housing.
She told the Good Morning Scotland programme that increasing the frequency of the payment was key to many claimants.
She said: "When you're on a very tight budget as people on benefits are, then it is very hard to budget that amount over a whole month.
"Knowing that a payment is coming to you, for the benefit that you are entitled to every fortnight, makes that budgeting exercise easier for those households and that means you can make better decisions and be more in control of your finances over those two-week periods."
She denied that her government was not going far enough and insisted any Scottish government change to the Universal Credit was dependant on what the UK government's Department of Work and Pensions systems could cope with.
In particular, she said ministers were working to change the current situation where a single benefit payment was made to a single person within a household after lobbying from women's groups.
She added: "We're in discussions with DWP about how they can deliver that change for us. So I'd hope that that further change will be something that we'll be able to do in the near future."
She also told the programme that a number of organisations had made the case for the Scottish government to top up the benefit.
She said: "I completely understand and am sympathetic towards those claims, but I have to make the point that the UK government is cutting welfare spend by Â£2bn in Scotland by 2020.
"We are currently spending Â£100m every single year to mitigate the worst affects of those benefits in a context where our overall Scottish budget has been cut by 9.2%."
Ms Freeman said another consultation will be carried out in the coming weeks to gather views on the draft regulations.
John Blackwood, chief executive of Scottish Association of Landlords, welcomed the option of direct payments to landlords.
He said: "This should help protect tenancies and minimise rent arrears which will benefit both the tenant and the landlord. It is only fair that private sector tenants have the same option to choose direct payments as tenants in the social sector."
However, Scottish Conservative MSP Annie Wells pointed to the fact the transition of some benefits could take until 2020 to complete, saying she wanted the Scottish government to use more of its powers.
She said: "I welcome the fact the UK government has given the Scottish government these powers. However, the Scottish government has now shown that they'll only use a small portion of the powers devolved through the Scotland Act. I want to see them use more of the powers.
"They've asked for a hold-off for three years to take all these powers on board. It's alright complaining and not governing, but we need to see them actually governing and using the powers they were given."
Labour's Iain Gray welcomed the changes, but also highlighted that Westminster will continue to administer some devolved benefits for some time.
He said: "While I welcome the intention to use this little bit of the welfare power which was devolved through Smith, we have this situation where the Scottish government have delayed taking on the powers over most benefits for three years, and we're not very sure about when the flexibility they've talked about is going to come in."
Meanwhile, Scottish Greens social security spokeswoman Alison Johnstone said the rollout of Universal Credit was "clearly causing serious problems" in parts of Scotland.
She said: "We look forward to seeing the Scottish government's plans for use of its 'new flexibilities' on Universal Credit in more detail because it's becoming increasingly clear that the DWP remains unlikely to improve how it operates.
"The changes the Scottish government propose are welcome and will make life easier for people receiving Universal Credit. It's important we make the most of every power coming our way."


The newly-installed boss of Volkswagen, Matthias Mueller, has said the company can shine again in two to three years.

In a speech to managers he said the company needed to become leaner and take decisions more rapidly.
The comments come as VW said it would recall 8.5 million cars in Europe as a result of the diesel emissions scandal.
The move was prompted by Germany's automotive watchdog, which had earlier told VW to recall 2.4 million domestic cars.
German media reports suggest the KBA had rejected VW's proposals that car owners could voluntarily bring their cars in for repair.
VW gave no details of the recall and said it would contact individual customers directly.
It added that it was working on solutions to fix the recalled cars "at full speed".
Mr Mueller took over as chief executive last month when the previous head, Mr Winterkorn, stepped down as a result of the scandal.
He told managers on Thursday: "We will significantly streamline structures, processes and (decision-making) bodies. We must become leaner and take decisions more rapidly."
"Our competitors are only waiting for us to fall behind on technology matters because we are so preoccupied with ourselves. But we won't let that happen," he added.
Meanwhile, Italian police have raided VW offices in Verona and Lamborghini offices in Bologna.
Reports suggest Italian prosecutors are investigating alleged commercial fraud.
Last month, authorities in the US discovered some VW diesel cars had been fitted with a device to cheat emissions tests. The carmaker subsequently admitted that up to 11 million cars worldwide could have the device fitted.
The company has launched a thorough investigation into the scandal, but new chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch has warned that answers would take "some time".
VW has set aside â‚¬6.5bn ($7.4bn; Â£4.8bn) to cover the costs of the scandal, but some experts believe the final bill could be much higher.
Shares in the company recovered slightly last week but are still down almost 20% since the scandal broke in the middle of September.
Separately, the man tipped to become VW's North America boss has resigned.
The company said Winfried Vahland was leaving because of "differing views on the organisation of the new group region".


Britain recorded their first America's Cup Qualifiers win since Saturday's opening day with victory over Sweden on day four of racing in Bermuda.

The six-man British crew, steered by Ben Ainslie, won by 30 seconds to end a run of four straight defeats.
Ainslie's Land Rover BAR team now have two wins from their six races - both against Sweden.
The result means Britain stay in third place on four points, two clear of Sweden, France and Japan.
New Zealand are in second, while the United States top the standings.
"We made some big changes to the boat and we had a great race," said Ainslie, whose crew take on New Zealand and France on Wednesday.
"It's a big win for us but we need to keep looking forward."
Sweden led for the majority of their race against New Zealand but the Kiwis took advantage of a late slip-up for victory.
In Tuesday's other race on the Great Sound, the United States comfortably beat France, who were almost two minutes adrift.
Wednesday, 31 May
Racing from 18:00-20:00 BST
Race 4 - Japan v France, Race 5 - Great Britain v New Zealand, Race 6 - United States v Japan, Race 7 - France v Great Britain
Full schedule
The top four qualifiers are split into two best-of-five semi-finals from 4 June, with the winners competing in the final for the right to take on holders Oracle Team USA, who advance automatically to the actual America's Cup matches.
The first to seven points wins the America's Cup, or the Auld Mug as the trophy is known, with a possible 13 races to be sailed on 17-18 and 24-27 June.
The America's Cup, the oldest competition in international sport, was first raced in 1851 around the Isle of Wight and has only been won by four nations.


Scottish Borders Council is to consider setting up a Brexit response team to monitor the impact on the region.

The main implications for the area of the UK's exit from the European Union are highlighted in a report to the local authority.
It said economic development funding, agriculture and access to the single market were among the areas of concern.
The implications for about 3,500 EU nationals in the region could also be monitored if the team is created.
The council's executive committee is being asked to agree to the move so it can "effectively monitor and respond most effectively" to any changes as a result of the UK leaving the EU.
The team would have a representative from each of its main service areas likely to be affected by Brexit.
Initially this would include economic development, finance, regulatory services, procurement, human resources and the legal department.


A dog and its owner have been rescued after becoming trapped in more than four metres of water in a sluice gate.

The woman spent hours searching for her pet near Prickwillow on Tuesday evening after it ran off, climbing down into the gate where it had become stuck, Cambridgeshire Fire Service said.
If the water level had risen further, the pair could have been dragged into the gate's mechanisms, fire crews said.
It took nearly three hours to rescue the woman and her collie.
"We understand how precious animals are but the owner had put herself in extreme danger," said Station Commander Paul Clarke.
"With sluice gates you don't know when they are going to activate.
"We have to emphasise to owners the dangers of trying to rescue their animals. If your pets are in danger then please call the fire service."


British Olympic chiefs are asking England rugby head coach Eddie Jones for help to prepare for the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

Ex-Japan coach Jones has guided England to a record-equalling 14 Test wins in a row since taking up the role last year.
His side will be competing at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
"We're seeking his advice for a number of reasons," said British Olympic Association chairman Sir Hugh Robertson.
"Firstly, he's an extraordinarily successful coach. Secondly, he's going to Japan before us because the Rugby World Cup is there in 2019.
"And thirdly, because it's a country he knows extraordinarily well," Robertson told the BBC's sports editor Dan Roan.
"His experience as a coach, as a coach here in England and as a coach in Japan and someone who knows the country very well, will be invaluable to us as we seek a performance advantage going to Tokyo."
Britain's record-breaking Olympic squad won 67 medals at this summer's Rio Games - two more than they won at London 2012. It meant Britain became the first host nation to improve on their medal tally at the following Games.
Australian Jones replaced Stuart Lancaster as England head coach following a poor 2015 World Cup campaign in which the hosts were dumped out of the tournament in the group stages.
Since then, England have matched the record of 14 successive wins set by Sir Clive Woodward's side in the run-up to their 2003 World Cup triumph.
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Meanwhile, Robertson said governing bodies that boycott sports events in protest at Russian doping will be supported by the BOA.
Last week's second McLaren report claimed that over 1,000 Russians benefited from state-sponsored doping between 2011 and 2015.
British Olympian Lizzy Yarnold has said she may boycott the bobsleigh and skeleton World Championships in Sochi.
"For any governing body or athlete who took that stance, we'd support them entirely," Robertson said.
He earlier told reporters: "On a personal level, I don't think sporting boycotts really work."
But speaking to BBC Sport, Robertson also said he had "enormous sympathy" for Yarnold, who won skeleton gold at the Sochi winter Olympics in 2014.
On Sunday, Latvia became the first country to pull out of February's bobsleigh and skeleton championships.
Great Britain and the United States are waiting for the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation to make an official statement before taking a decision on their participation.
"If they chose not to compete for the reason that the Latvians have we would support them entirely," Robertson said.
There have also been calls for Russia to be banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, and to be stripped of the right to host the 2018 football World Cup.
However, Robertson called for caution before such decisions are made.
"We need to look at them very carefully indeed," he said.
"We're in a process, the International Olympic Committee issued a strong statement - a huge help would be if Russia admitted it has got it wrong and has a problem."
The IOC said the report showed "there was a fundamental attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and on sport in general".
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Bana Alabed - the seven-year-old Syrian who tweeted about life inside rebel-held east Aleppo - has met Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Bana and her little brother have been pictured sitting on Mr Erdogan's knee in the presidential complex in Ankara.
President Erdogan sent a special representative to Syria to collect Bana and her family after they fled east Aleppo, the BBC has been told.
Bana's plight came to light after she joined Twitter in September.
The account captured everything from the death of her friends to her attempts to live a normal life.
Along the way, she has picked up more than 325,000 followers, including JK Rowling, who sent her an electronic copy of Harry Potter to read.
On Wednesday, Bana tweeted a picture of herself and Mr Erdogan, writing she was "very happy" to meet the president, while in a short video she is heard saying: "Thank-you for supporting the children of Aleppo, and helping us to get out from war."
Bana's mother, Fatemah, who runs the Twitter account, decided to start it to show "how much kids are suffering from bombs and everything".
In recent weeks, the appeals for help - from both Bana and her mother - have become more frequent, as forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began to close in around the rebel-held districts, which were being bombed from above by Syrian and Russian planes.
After government forces surrounded the city, the family escaped under an evacuation programme.
But they did not stay long in Syria. Within hours of Bana, her mother, father and two little brothers arriving in the rebel-held countryside to the west of Aleppo, they had been flown by helicopter to Turkey.
Some had questioned whether the Twitter account was a publicity stunt and claimed Bana actually lived in Turkey already.
However, an investigation by citizen journalism site Bellingcat deduced she was tweeting from inside rebel-held Aleppo.
It is unclear whether the family are to stay in Turkey, where they would join almost 2.8 million Syrian refugees already living in the country.


A card skimming device has been found at an ATM in Fife.

It was found in Market Street in St Andrews on Wednesday. Police Scotland are now warning people to check machines before they insert a card.
Sgt Neil Johnston, of Police Scotland, said: "If you suspect an ATM has been interfered with, do not use it.
"If the cash machine is attached to a bank and the bank is open, then alert the staff who will check the machine." If not, police should be called.
Sgt Johnston added: "If you believe you may have used this ATM prior to Wednesday then check your bank account immediately and report any suspicious transactions you notice to police immediately."


Energy customers on pre-payment meters have been paying an average of £226 a year more than they would have done on the cheapest direct debit tariff, Citizens Advice has said.

The charity said the gap between the cheapest and most expensive tariffs widened by up to a third in six months.
Co-Operative Energy, which had the widest gap of £405, responded by saying it was cutting its pre-payment rates.
It comes ahead of the results of an inquiry into the whole energy industry.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) began its investigation a year ago, and is due to report on Tuesday.
"The CMA investigation provides an opportunity to overhaul the energy industry and make it fairer," said Gillian Guy, the chief executive of Citizens Advice.
"Giving pre-payment meter customers a better deal is a crucial part of this."
By John Moylan, BBC industry correspondent
It's not new that those least-able to afford high bills are paying over the odds for energy. But what's striking about this report is both the size of the differential - up to £400 - and the timing of the publication.
It comes just days before the the initial findings from the year-long CMA probe into the energy sector.
That's expected to highlight the plight of millions of customers who either can't or don't switch and come up with remedies to change this.
It could be a landmark moment for the entire industry.
The Citizens Advice report feels like a shot across the CMA's bows - a warning that the energy market has to change to work better for millions of vulnerable customers - not least the increasing number of households that are tied to a pre-payment meter.
Those who have pre-payments meters are more likely to be on a low income, and 80% of those getting them installed are already in debt. Those who fall behind with payments can be forced to have them, if their supplier obtains a court order.
Users pay for their electricity or gas in advance, by topping up cards or buying tokens.
In the most extreme example, a customer of Co-operative Energy would have had to pay £951 a year if on the cheapest online direct debit deal, but £1,356 if they had a pre-payment meter - a difference of £405 a year.
But having had the contrast pointed out to them by Citizens Advice, the company said they would close some of the gap.
Co-operative Energy told the BBC: "Following contact with Citizens Advice, we have taken the opportunity to review our dual fuel pre-payment tariff and will be reducing it to match the cheapest of the Big Six rates immediately."
It said the tariff had 214 customers and was expensive to manage because accounts were updated manually.
By contrast, British Gas charges pre-payment customers £22 extra.
Responding to the figures, the energy industry said it was committed to delivering fair and competitive tariffs for all customers.
"Suppliers are constantly reviewing their tariffs. We urge customers to shop around for the deal that suits them best," said a spokesperson for Energy UK.
Last month the energy regulator Ofgem found that some pre-payment customers were charged as much as £180 to have meters installed - and up to £160 to have them removed.
It wants energy suppliers to stop the practice by the autumn.


England bowlers James Anderson and Mark Wood have been ruled out of next month's tour to Bangladesh after a recurrence of recent injuries.

Anderson, England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker, has not played since the fourth Test loss to Pakistan in August because of a damaged shoulder.
Durham paceman Wood, 26, has been having treatment for an ankle injury.
England play three one-day internationals and two Tests on the tour, for which they leave on Thursday.
The first ODI takes place in Mirpur on 7 October, with the opening Test in Chittagong starting on 20 October.
Wood was named in both squads while Lancashire's Anderson, 34, was due to play only in the Tests.
Nottinghamshire's Jake Ball, 25, has been called up to the Test squad, and selectors will consider a further addition at a later date.
Middlesex's Steven Finn, 27, has been added to the ODI squad.
Anderson, who missed two Tests against South Africa last year with a calf problem, suffered a stress fracture of the right shoulder in the third Test draw against Sri Lanka at Lord's in June.
He was subsequently not selected for the first Test against Pakistan despite declaring himself fit, a row captain Alastair Cook called a "messy affair".
Anderson, who has taken 463 Test wickets, was rested when England last toured Bangladesh in 2010.
He hopes to be fit for the five-Test tour of India, which begins on 9 November.
Media playback is not supported on this device
BBC Sport cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew:
Anderson's injury was widely reported this morning, but Wood's withdrawal, also due to a recurrence of a previous problem - his left ankle - comes as a surprise and a disappointment.
This will be a tough enough series anyway without losing two men whose skill and experience in Anderson's case, and pace in Wood's, would have made a difference in the benign conditions England can expect in Bangladesh.
Both players hope to be available for the India Test series that follows.


A 2nd Century map of the British Isles has been made available for the public to view online by the National Library of Wales.

The 1486 woodcut map is one of the earliest surviving copies of Ptolemy's map.
It was bought by the Aberystwyth library at an auction in 2008.
An image of the map has been given to People's Collection Wales and Wikimedia Commons.
Ptolemy was a Greek-Roman astronomer and geographer who established the use of longitude and latitude lines.


Patients in Leicestershire are being put at risk because of a disorganised health system, says a new report.

A six-month review of the service has found there were transfer and assessment delays for patients and communication problems.
Giving more than 180 recommendations, the report also calls for more patients to be treated at home.
An NHS spokesman said many of the changes were already being implemented.
The independent report commissioned by the region's health services explored departments at Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) as well as other hospitals and health centres.
It came after the LRI was found to be one of the worst performing hospitals in the country for emergency admission in a December 2013 report.
Officials said the LRI's A&E department was built to treat 100,000 patients annually, but is currently seeing 160,000 patients a year.
Rob Sissons, Health Correspondent, BBC East Midlands Today
In some ways, identifying what is wrong in the health service is the easy part.
Fixing it is a far more challenging proposition.
Dr Ian Sturgess, a renowned troubleshooter, identifies clearly the huge pressures that the NHS in Leicestershire and Rutland is under.
He identifies the prize - an improved healthcare system where patients get home quicker and frail patients with chronic conditions get support they need in the community.
Of course, people have been discussing that for years. A buzz phrase in the world of NHS jargon is "care closer to home ".
There are 183 recommendations for change but making sure everyone is on the same page will be the tricky part to make sure it is sustainable.
The report, prepared by former geriatrician Dr Ian Sturgess, said "a level of mistrust" exists between different departments and centres in the Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland urgent care system that results in "repeat assessments" of patients.
He writes: "The first step in resolving this is for the system to accept that for a variety of reasons what has been designed is not providing the highest quality of urgent health and social care the population deserve.
"There are very significant opportunities for quality improvement with reductions in mortality, harm and improvements in patient experience by improving the processes identified."
A hospital spokesman said local NHS organisations and councils have already been working with Dr Sturgess to tackle the issues.
Azhar Farooqi, of the city's clinical commissioning group, said: "The review has confirmed a lot of what we already know about what's not working in our system...while many of these things are already being tackled or were planned, the report has helped us to re-focus our efforts."


How might planes reach the new runway that has been proposed at Heathrow?

Media playback is unsupported on your device
1 July 2015 Last updated at 16:42 BST
The Airports Commission has released details of one possible option, illustrated in this video with satellite images and Google Earth.
Planes typically approach Heathrow from the east, as shown here. This is sometimes reversed depending on prevailing wind conditions.
Both the commission and Heathrow itself stress that the final route over London would be subject to extensive consultation and may well differ from this version.
And the government has not yet decided whether to proceed with a third runway at Heathrow.


Wall Street banking giant JP Morgan Chase has reported a stronger-than-expected rise in second-quarter profits as legal and restructuring costs fell.

The largest US bank by assets reported a 5.2% rise in profits for the three months to end-June of $6.29bn (£4bn). Revenue fell 3.2% to $24.53bn.
Banks have been under pressure to cut costs and hold more capital in reserve in case of future financial shocks.
JP Morgan said legal costs fell sharply, from $669m last year to $291m.
"We've made good progress this quarter," said chief executive Jamie Dimon in a statement. "We are also on target to deliver on our expense commitments."
The fall in revenue was mainly due to a drop money made from mortgage banking and fixed-income trading.
FBR Capital Markets analyst Paul Miller said a lower-than-expected tax rate boosted the profit figures. "If you held their tax rate constant, the quarter is not as good as it looks," he said.
JP Morgan is one of the first of the big banks to report its latest quarterly figures. Analysts had expected the firm's profits to be weak, reflecting pressures on trading and worries about the global economy.
Wells Fargo also reported figures on Tuesday, with the largest mortgage lender in the US reporting a fall in second-quarter profits of $5.72bn, down slightly from $5.73bn.
Wells Fargo made $62bn of home loans in the three months to 30 June, up from $47bn a year earlier and $49bn in the first quarter.
"Mortgage banking was a little weaker than I had thought... that was a little bit of a disappointment," said Sandler O'Neill analyst R Scott Siefers.
JPMorgan shares were more than 1% higher at midday US time, while Wells Fargo was 0.85% up.


Sales of new cars plunged nearly 20% in April from a year ago, but the industry said the fall was due to consumers bringing forward purchases to avoid a rise in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED).

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 152,076 new cars were registered in April.
Sales of alternatively fuelled cars fell for the first time in four years.
However, new car registrations are up 1.1% overall for the first four months of the year to a record 972,092.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said he expected demand to stabilise this year.
"With the rush to register new cars and avoid VED tax rises before the end of March, as well as fewer selling days due to the later Easter, April was always going to be much slower.
"It's important to note that the market remains at record levels as customers still see many benefits in purchasing a new car. We therefore expect demand to stabilise over the year as the turbulence created by these tax changes decreases," he added.
Registrations of alternatively fuelled vehicles fell by 1.3%, the first fall in 47 months, as demand for hybrid vehicles was hit by higher VED rates.
Since 1 April, only newly-registered cars with zero emissions have been exempt from paying VED, which only includes electric and hydrogen cars. However, petrol cars with carbon dioxide emissions of up to 100g per km, registered before this date, are also exempt.
There is a sliding scale of charges for the first year of ownership, and after that petrol or diesel vehicles are subject to a "standard" rate of Â£140 a year.
For those buying cars costing more than Â£40,000 there is an additional Â£310 "premium" levy for the first five years of ownership.
Is this fall in sales down to the VED changes or are there other factors at play?
There's no doubt the VED changes led some buyers to pull forward purchases to March. The April fall in alternatively fuelled vehicles - the first in 47 months - also suggests that the increases in VED made a difference.
But the biggest fall in demand (-28.4%) came from private buyers, who are seeing prices rise faster than their wages. That could be an indication of more subdued car sales ahead.
The headlines over diesel may have been a factor too. About 25,000 fewer diesel cars were registered in April compared with a year earlier. Then again, larger cars, which tend to have diesel engines, were particularly hit by the VED changes.


The election agent for the Isle of Wight's Conservative candidate has been replaced, just over a week before polling day.

The agent for Andrew Turner, David Walter, asked to leave his position, claiming it had become "untenable".
In a letter seen by the BBC, Mr Walter raised concerns he had about campaign funds and management.
Mr Turner said Mr Walter's opinions were "not shared by other members" of the campaign team.
Election agents are legally responsible for their candidate's campaign. Under Electoral Commission rules they cannot resign, instead the appointment has to be revoked by the candidate.
In the letter to Mr Turner, Mr Walter said: "I have for some time been unhappy to continue as your nominated election agent."
He said he was concerned about "significant anomalies and ambiguities" relating to financial aspects of the campaign.
In a statement, Mr Turner said: "David of course is entitled to his opinions, but they are not shared by other members of the team, the Conservative Association's officers or the majority of voters I have been speaking to every day.
"Naturally, this is disappointing, but with only 10 days to go to the election I will be concentrating on the issues that islanders are concerned about and working with my tremendously supportive campaign team towards a victory."
Mr Turner, who was first elected as the island's MP in 2001, survived a vote of no confidence earlier this year from within his own party.
The other candidates for the constituency are:
Stewart Blackmore (Labour)
David Goodall (Liberal Democrats)
Vix Lowthion (Green)
Iain McKie (UKIP)
Ian Stephens (Independent)


Former Liverpool and France striker Djibril Cisse has retired from football at the age of 35.

Cisse originally called time on his playing career in October 2015 because of a hip injury but hoped to make a return after having surgery last year.
He trained with his first club Auxerre in a bid to get fit but, after failing to earn a contract, decided to bring an end to his 17-year career.
Cisse now plans to focus on his career as "a DJ, producer and pundit".
"I have loved being a footballer," he said. "Up until now, the ball was my whole life.
"I would have liked to have continued my career, but I have to admit today that football is finished."
Cisse, who won 41 international caps, played for Liverpool for three years from 2004 before returning to his native France with Marseille.
He also had spells at Sunderland, Panathinaikos, Lazio, QPR, Kuban Krasnodar and Bastia.


Donald Trump has accused the FBI of impropriety after it once again exonerated his rival Hillary Clinton of criminal conduct on her emails.

The FBI director said a fresh inquiry into the Democratic candidate's communications found nothing to change the bureau's conclusion this summer.
The Clinton campaign said it was "glad" the lingering issue had been resolved.
The dramatic twist lifted a cloud from her campaign as the final day of the marathon US election race loomed.
The latest opinion polls on Sunday, before news broke of the FBI announcement, gave Mrs Clinton a four to five-point lead over Mr Trump.
The Republican nominee cried foul after learning about the law enforcement bureau's decision.
At a rally in the Detroit suburbs, Mr Trump insisted it would have been impossible for the FBI to review what has been reported to be as many as 650,000 emails in such a short time.
"Right now she's being protected by a rigged system. It's a totally rigged system. I've been saying it for a long time," he told supporters in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
"Hillary Clinton is guilty, she knows it, the FBI knows it, the people know it and now it's up to the American people to deliver justice at the ballot box on November 8."
While Mrs Clinton herself did not address the FBI director's letter on the trail, her campaign said it was always confident she would be cleared.
In Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sunday, she said the country was facing "a moment of reckoning" and Americans must choose between "division and unity".
In July, the FBI said she had been "extremely careless" to handle classified material on a private email server as secretary of state from 2009-13, but it had found no evidence she committed a crime.
However, 11 days before the election, FBI director James Comey had pitched the race into turmoil by announcing a newly discovered batch of Clinton emails would be investigated.
The bombshell infuriated the Clinton camp, but threw a lifeline to a Trump campaign that had been receding in the polls.
It was much ado about nothing, but it certainly amounted to something. While FBI Director James Comey, in effect, said "never mind" with regards to Hillary Clinton's emails, for the past two weeks the story has dominated the political conversation, and Democrats have paid a price.
While Mrs Clinton's presidential hopes have stabilised, talk of a possible rout - and sweeping down-ballot victories in congressional races - are a distant memory.
Mrs Clinton will now try to focus on her closing campaign message. Donald Trump will continue to accuse his opponent of corruption and, perhaps, again allege the FBI is covering for her.
On the eve of voting, the dust kicked up by this story won't have fully settled by the time Americans head to the polls.
Once this election is over, there should be serious soul-searching within the FBI and the media about how this saga played out. The nation's top law-enforcement agency was a source of constant leaks, as internal disputes spilled into public view.
If Mr Trump wins, many on the left will blame Mr Comey for the result. If Mrs Clinton prevails, she likely will bear a lasting grudge over this political near-miss.
How FBI email verdict affects election
In a letter to Congress on Sunday, Mr Comey said his investigators had "worked around the clock" on the latest emails, which were found in early October in a separate investigation.
The messages reportedly turned up on a laptop belonging to the estranged husband of one of Mrs Clinton's closest advisers, former congressman Anthony Weiner, who is accused of sending illicit messages to a 15-year-old girl.
Mr Comey said investigators had found no reason to change the FBI's earlier assessment that Mrs Clinton should not be charged for her handing of classified information.
Government officials told US media that investigators had established the newly found emails were either personal, or were duplicates of correspondence they had previously reviewed.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said Mr Comey's conclusion "underscores the irresponsibility" of the law enforcement chief's notice late last month to Congress about Mrs Clinton.
Both candidates are set for a whistle-stop tour of battleground states on Monday, in a last-ditch dash for votes.
Mrs Clinton starts the day in Michigan, a traditional Rust Belt, Democratic stronghold that has been heavily targeted by Mr Trump in recent days.
She will then head to Philadelphia where she will be joined by President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, husband Bill Clinton and Bruce Springsteen.
The Democratic candidate will end her White House campaign with a midnight "get out the vote rally" in North Carolina.
Mr Trump heads to Florida, North Carolina and Philadelphia before ending with a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
In states where early voting is allowed, nearly 42 million Americans have already cast ballots in the presidential election.
They have turned out in record numbers in crucial battlegrounds such as Florida, North Carolina and Nevada.
An estimated 126 million voters cast ballots in the 2012 White House election.
Who is ahead in the polls?
45%
Hillary Clinton
45%
Donald Trump
Last updated November 4, 2016
Who will win? Play our game to make your call


Bristol say they will "take all reasonable actions" after denying a deal had been done with the Rugby Football Union for Steve Borthwick to become England forwards coach.

The RFU released a statement saying former England captain Borthwick would join new head coach Eddie Jones' team.
Borthwick signed a long-term deal with Bristol after the World Cup, having worked under Jones with Japan.
"We have not agreed Steve Borthwick can leave our employment," Bristol said.
Borthwick is understood to have handed in his resignation on Tuesday, but the club said they had not given the RFU permission to speak to Borthwick and would "take all reasonable actions as necessary to protect the club's position".
Before Bristol intervened, Borthwick was quoted in an RFU statement saying it was a "huge honour to be asked as these chances don't come around often".
The former England captain was due to be Jones' first appointment after previous forwards coach Graham Rowntree departed on Monday, along with Mike Catt and Andy Farrell.
In the same RFU statement, Jones described Borthwick as a "great addition" who would "get the best out of the players at the highest level".
Jones also called Borthwick a "young coach with great potential" and praised his "analytical" approach as part of the RFU announcement.
Borthwick, 36, captained both Bath and Saracens during a 16-year playing career and won 57 England caps between 2001 and 2010.
The lock was part of the England side that reached the 2007 Rugby World Cup final in France and was appointed captain by then coach Martin Johnson in 2008.
Borthwick worked part-time with Jones for two years as a spot coach with Japan, before retiring in 2014 - with a record 265 Premiership appearances - and becoming the country's full-time forwards coach.
He helped Jones to mastermind Japan's stunning victory over South Africa in this year's Rugby World Cup before signing a contract with Bristol.
Jones, who also worked with Borthwick at Premiership side Saracens, was named as Stuart Lancaster's successor in November, following England's dismal World Cup campaign.
Jones, 55, will take charge of his first match on 9 February when England face Scotland in the Six Nations.
Jones is also looking to name replacements for previous attack coach Catt and defence coach Farrell.
The former Australia head coach has asked another former colleague Paul Gustard to join his team, with the Saracens defence and forwards coach currently considering the offer.
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder told BBC Sport that backs coach Alex King will meet Jones this week to discuss a position with England.
Mallinder says there has been no official approach yet from the RFU, but that Saints will not prevent King from leaving if he was offered a role.


Singer George Michael has said he has stopped his drug-taking lifestyle and not used cannabis for "well over a year-and-a-half".

The 50-year-old told The Big Issue recent health scares and time spent in prison shocked him into changing his life.
Michael has made no secret of his long-time use of cannabis and has a history of drug-related arrests.
However he said he had "completely stopped" using the drug.
"I decided to change my life and I haven't touched it," he said in his first print interview in five years.
The Wham! star received an eight-week prison sentence in 2010 after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of drugs, following an incident where he crashed his car into a photographic shop in London.
"Jail wasn't great. I just thought, get your head down and get on with it. It turned out to be easier than I was expecting because I knew I deserved to be there," he said.
Soap watching
A year later Michael suffered from life-threatening pneumonia while on tour in Austria in November 2011.
"It was very frightening... I was just so grateful to come out alive," said the singer, who added it was "a pretty horrible experience".
He had another scare last May when he fell of out his car while travelling on the M1 and was airlifted to hospital with a head injury.
The star said he was now living a much more sedate lifestyle and enjoyed watching ITV soap Coronation Street.
"I watch Corrie especially because it's more of a laugh. Even when life is tragic on Coronation Street, it's still funny," he said.
But he criticised EastEnders' for its treatment of gay characters.
He said: "I hope for their sakes and the sake of gay kids in this country, regardless of their cultural background, that EastEnders gets a clue and begins to acknowledge their responsibility and provide us with gay characters that have no reason to live in fear. We do exist."
A live album recorded during Michael's Symphonica tour is released this week, ahead of a new studio album next year.
Meanwhile, BBC One is to broadcast highlights from a charity concert the singer performed in Paris in September 2012.
Airing in April, it features some of Michael's favourite tracks accompanied by a 40-piece orchestra.
BBC Radio 2 will also broadcast a two-part documentary going behind the scenes of the Symphonica tour on 18 and 25 March.


Last year's Grand National winner Many Clouds has been handed the top weight of 11st 10lbs for the race at Aintree on 9 April.

The 12-1 favourite is a pound heavier than he was in his 2015 victory as he bids to become the first back-to-back winner since Red Rum in 1973 and 1974.
Cheltenham Gold Cup contender Don Poli is 11st 9lbs and King George VI Chase winner Silviniaco Conti 11st 8lbs.
Shutthefrontdoor, fifth for Tony McCoy last term, carries 10st 11lbs.
One of three entries for Jonjo O'Neill, Shutthefrontdoor shouldered 11st 2lbs last year.
Five of the first six horses home in 2015 are among the 126 initial entries, with runner-up Saint Are allocated 10st 5lbs, fourth-placed Alvarado 10st 2lbs and sixth Royale Knight on 10st 1lbs.
Dual Irish Gold Cup victor Carlingford Lough has been handed an initial weight of 11st 7lbs while well-backed Willie Mullins-trained Valseur Lido is 11st 6lb,
Saturday's Denman Chase winner Houblon Des Obeaux commands 11st 5lbs and Mouse Morris' First Lieutenant (11st 4lb) also feature at the top of the handicap.
Apart from Many Clouds, there is another horse attempting to win a second Grand National.  Pineau De Re is handed 10st 2lbs, compared to 10st 6lbs when victorious in 2014.
Champion trainer Paul Nicholls has more entries than any other trainer with nine engaged, headed by Silviniaco Conti.
There are two past winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup amongst the entries with the 2014 champion Lord Windermere on 11st1lb and the 2011 victor Long Run handed 10st 8lbs.


The BBC has learned that US officials "verified" a key claim in a report about Kremlin involvement in Donald Trump's election - that a Russian diplomat in Washington was in fact a spy.

So far, no single piece of evidence has been made public proving that the Trump campaign joined with Russia to steal the US presidency - nothing.
But the FBI Director, James Comey, told a hushed committee room in Congress last week that this is precisely what his agents are investigating.
Stop to let that thought reverberate for a moment.
"Investigation is not proof," said the president's spokesman.
Trump's supporters are entitled to ask why - with the FBI's powers to subpoena witnesses and threaten charges of obstructing justice - nothing damning has emerged.
Perhaps there is nothing to find. But some former senior officials say it is because of failings in the inquiry, of which more later.
The roadmap for the investigation, publicly acknowledged now for the first time, comes from Christopher Steele, once of Britain's secret intelligence service MI6.
He wrote a series of reports for political opponents of Donald Trump about Trump and Russia.
Steele's "dossier", as the material came to be known, contains a number of highly contested claims.
At one point he wrote: "A leading Russian diplomat, Mikhail KULAGIN, had been withdrawn from Washington at short notice because Moscow feared his heavy involvement in the US presidential election operation… would be exposed in the media there."
There was no diplomat called Kulagin in the Russian embassy; there was a Kalugin.
One of Trump's allies, Roger Stone, said to me of Steele, scornfully: "If 007 wants to be taken seriously, he ought to learn how to spell."
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Kalugin was head of the embassy's economics section.
He had gone home in August 2016 at the end of a six-year posting.
The man himself emailed journalists to complain about a "stream of lies and fake news about my person".
If anyone looks like a harmless economist, rather than a tough, arrogant KGB man, it is the bland-faced Kalugin.
But sources I know and trust have told me the US government identified Kalugin as a spy while he was still at the embassy.
It is not clear if the American intelligence agencies already believed this when they got Steele's report on the "diplomat", as early as May 2016.
But it is a judgment they made using their own methods, outside the dossier.
A retired member of a US intelligence agency told me that Kalugin was being kept under surveillance before he left the US.
In addition, State Department staff who dealt with Russia did not come across Kalugin, as would have been expected with a simple diplomat.
"Nobody had met him," one former official said. "It's classic. Just classic [of Russian intelligence]."
Last month, the McClatchy news website said he was under "scrutiny" by the FBI as he left the US. They did not report, as my sources say, that he was a member of one of Russia's spying organisations, the SVR or GRU.
Steele's work remains fiercely controversial, to some a "dodgy dossier" concocted by President Trump's enemies.
But on this vitally important point - Kalugin's status as a "spy under diplomatic cover" - people who saw the intelligence agree with the dossier, adding weight to Steele's other claims.
But then they knew him already.
I understand - from former officials - that from 2013-16, Steele gave the US government extensive information on Russia and Ukraine.
This was work done for private clients, but which Steele wanted the US authorities to see.
One former senior official who saw these reports told me: "It was found to be of value by the people whose job it was to look at Russia every day.
"They said things like, 'How can he get this so quickly? This fits exactly with what we have.' It was validated many times."
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Another who dealt with this material in government said: "Sometimes he would get spun by somebody. [But] it was always 80% there."
None of these reports touched on the nature of Trump's relationship with Russia.
But last June, Steele began sending pages of what would later be called his dossier.
In light of his earlier work, the US intelligence community saw him as "credible" (their highest praise).
The FBI thought the same; they had worked with Steele going back to his days in MI6.
He flew to Rome in August to talk to the FBI.
Then in early October, he came to the US and was extensively debriefed by them, over a week.
He gave the FBI the names of some of his informants, the so-called "key" to the dossier.
But the CIA never interviewed him, and never sought to.
This comes from several people who are in a position to know.
They are alarmed at how the investigation is going, and worry it is being fumbled.
One said: "The FBI doesn't know about Russia, the CIA knows about Russia.
"Any sources Steele has in Russia, the FBI doesn't know how to evaluate.
"The Agency does… Who's running this thing from Moscow? The FBI just aren't capable on that side, of even understanding what Chris has."
Another reflected growing frustration with the inquiry among some who served in the Obama administration: "We used to call them the Feebs. They would make the simple cases, but never see, let alone understand and go after, the bigger picture."
(My editors have asked me to explain, for readers outside North America, that feeb is slang for someone feeble-minded, used above as a contraction of the initials FBI.)
I understand that Steele himself did not ask to brief the CIA because he had a long-standing relationship with the FBI.
The Russia people at the CIA had moved on and he felt he did not have the personal contacts he would need.
The CIA and the FBI would not comment on any of this. But the FBI is said to have a large presence at the US embassy in Moscow and has long experience of investigating Russian organised crime in the US.
The FBI director, Comey, also said in his testimony to Congress: "This investigation began in late July, so for counter-intelligence investigation that's a fairly short period of time."
Several sources have told me that late last year Steele himself grew increasingly disillusioned with the FBI's progress.
"He really thought that what he had would sway the election," said one.
So in October, pages from his reports were seen by a few journalists, including me.
Most news organisations that got this material decided it was not solid enough to publish.
In early December, the whole thing, 35 pages, was sent to Senator John McCain, who pressed the FBI director to investigate exhaustively.
The following month, the intelligence agencies briefed both then-President Barack Obama and Trump about the dossier - and the entire contents were published by Buzzfeed.
In the report, Steele spoke of an "established operational liaison between the TRUMP team and the Kremlin… an intelligence exchange had been running between them for at least 8 years."
Members of the Obama administration believe, based on analysis they saw from the intelligence community, that the information exchange claimed by Steele continued into the election.
"This is a three-headed operation," said one former official, setting out the case, based on the intelligence: Firstly, hackers steal damaging emails from senior Democrats. Secondly, the stories based on this hacked information appear on Twitter and Facebook, posted by thousands of automated "bots", then on Russia's English-language outlets, RT and Sputnik, then right-wing US "news" sites such as Infowars and Breitbart, then Fox and the mainstream media. Thirdly, Russia downloads the online voter rolls.
The voter rolls are said to fit into this because of "microtargeting". Using email, Facebook and Twitter, political advertising can be tailored very precisely: individual messaging for individual voters.
"You are stealing the stuff and pushing it back into the US body politic," said the former official, "you know where to target that stuff when you're pushing it back."
This would take co-operation with the Trump campaign, it is claimed.
"If you need to ensure that white women in Pennsylvania don't vote or independents get pissed in Michigan so they stay home: that's voter suppression. You can figure what your target demographics and locations are from the voter rolls. Then you can use that to target your bot."
This is the "big picture" some accuse the FBI of failing to see.
It is, so far, all allegation - and not just the parts concerning Donald Trump and his people.
For instance, the US intelligence agencies said last October that the voter rolls had been "scanned and probed" from a server in Russia.
But the Russian government was never shown to have been responsible.
There are either a series of coincidences or there is a conspiracy of such reach and sophistication that it may take years to unravel.
"I hear a lot of people comparing this to Watergate," said Congressman Eric Swalwell, a Democrat who sits on the House Intelligence Committee.
"Let me just tell you, the complexity of this case is unlike anything we've ever seen.
"Watergate doesn't even come close. That was a burglary in the Metro section of the Washington Post.
"It doesn't have the international waypoints [of this]. Russia's M.O. is to avoid attribution. This investigation is going to take time."
In his testimony, the FBI director gave away nothing of the details of the inquiry. As I wrote in January, it is being done by a "counter-intelligence taskforce" that includes the CIA, with the FBI leading.
I wrote then that the secret US intelligence court had granted an order, a so-called Fisa warrant, to intercept the electronic records of two Russian banks.
The White House cited this report several times as evidence for President Trump's tweets that "Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower… This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!"
It isn't.
Since Watergate, no president can simply order the CIA or FBI to tap someone's phone.
I wrote that: "Neither Trump nor his associates are named in the Fisa order."
If they were, the court would have to see "probable cause" that they were agents of a foreign power.
It is possible that the communications of Trump associates were picked up in monitoring of foreign entities, such as the Russian banks, so-called "incidental collection".
This is presumably what the White House spokesman, Sean Spicer, is talking about when he asks Congress to investigate an "abuse of power" by the Obama administration.
Comey was careful in his testimony to say the investigation was into "co-ordination" rather than collusion.
"Collusion is not a term, a legal term of art," he said, "and it's one I haven't used here today, as we're investigating to see whether there was any co-ordination…"
"Explicit or implicit coordination?" a Congressman asked.
"Knowing or unknowing," Comey replied.
The investigation, then, is into a range of possibilities: at one end, unwitting co-operation with Russia by members of the Trump campaign; at the other conscious "co-ordination".
Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager, Robby Mook, said that if Trump's aides knew of Russia's plans, there should be charges of treason.
Trump's enemies ask us to believe that some of his people were either traitors or dupes.
The president himself has another version of events: there was no "co-ordination"; the whole thing is a monstrous lie created by the Obama administration, fed by the intelligence community and amplified by the "dishonest" media, billowing black clouds of smoke but no fire.
When the dossier was released, he tweeted: "Are we living in Nazi Germany?"
These two stories cannot be reconciled.
With each new drip of information, option three - the chance that this is all a giant mistake, an improbable series of coincidences - seems further out of reach.
Increasingly, the American people are being asked to choose between two unpalatable versions of events: abuse of power by one president or treason that put another in the White House.
It cannot be both.


When nine-year-old Shannon Matthews vanished after a swimming trip with her school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, her mother pleaded hysterically for her "beautiful, princess" daughter's safe return.

A huge police operation was mounted and three weeks after her disappearance in February 2008, the youngster was found hidden in the base of a divan bed in a flat in Batley Carr.
She was being held by her stepfather's uncle, Michael Donovan.
The subsequent arrest of Donovan and the child's mother Karen Matthews led to one of the most notorious cases of child abuse.
In court it emerged the pair had planned the kidnap in order to claim a Â£50,000 reward being offered by a national newspaper.
The schoolgirl had been "drugged, subdued and hidden from public view".
Matthews, then 33, was convicted in December 2008 and jailed for eight years for her part in the kidnapping.
Donovan, who was aged 40 at the time, was given the same prison sentence.
After the trial it emerged the abuse and neglect of Shannon started long before she went missing.
The BBC's Panorama programme learnt the youngster was well known to Kirklees social services and had been put on the "at-risk" register years before she disappeared.
The programme claimed she was later removed from the register because she was not considered to be at risk of significant harm.
Former neighbours said they had raised concerns about the family with social services but nothing appeared to be done.
Matthews' cousin Vicky Saunders, who contacted the authority on two separate occasions, said: "To me I feel let down with it."
She added: "They could have done more to help Karen but they weren't there for her."
Claire Wilson, a former neighbour when Matthews lived at Batley Carr, said: "We just kept reporting it but nothing seemed to be getting done.
"We were saying that something's going to happen to those children. How can you leave them in those conditions because the house was filthy, it stank."
Now 17 months after the investigation was first launched, Kirklees Council has published a long-awaited report looking at whether the kidnap could have been prevented.


A woman who suffered a brain injury in a car crash has said she fears planned changes to hospital services could damage patient care.

Nottingham's Clinical Commissioning Groups said some services could be delivered in a "community setting".
Heather Peacock, from West Bridgford, who went into coma following the crash in 2015, said this would be a mistake.
Dr James Hopkinson, clinical lead at one CCG, said the measures were about getting "best value" for patients.
Ms Peacock was in a coma for eight weeks following the accident on 1 April which, along with her brain injury, left her with limited movement down her left side.
The 24-year-old, who has been receiving care at Nottingham's City Hospital, said the part of the proposals involved providing only 16 weeks of outpatient care for people with brain injuries.
"I'm very worried about future patients... I want everyone to get the amount of great care and support that I received," she said.
"I've been going back to outpatients for a year now and it has only been in the last few weeks that I have improved quite dramatically."
Seven hospital-based services, including neurology assessment and brain injury care, could be affected if the proposals go ahead.
The local CCG groups said those services based at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) could be delivered in the community, closer to patients' homes.
Dr Hopkinson said: "We're aiming to ensure all those services are fit for purpose and meets the patients' needs and give the best value for money for the public and taxpayer."
The Health Service Journal said it had seen a leaked document to staff that said 13 services would be decommissioned by the CCGs this year.
One of its senior journalists, Shaun Lintern, said it referred an additional 17 services, which are not mentioned in the online consultation, but would be "redesigned".
He said many were to be finished and signed off by July which was "extremely ambitious."


The Hepworth Wakefield gallery in West Yorkshire has beaten the Tate Modern to be crowned the UK's Museum of the Year.

The venue, which opened six years ago, will receive a £100,000 prize from The Art Fund as well as the kudos that comes with winning the annual award.
The Art Fund director Stephen Deuchar said it had been "a powerful force of energy from the moment it opened".
Tate Modern had been nominated after a year in which it attracted a record 5.8 million visitors and opened a new wing.
But that was not enough to earn it the award at a ceremony at the British Museum in London on Wednesday.
The other nominees were the Lapworth Museum of Geology in Birmingham, Sir John Soane's Museum in London and the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art in Suffolk.
The Hepworth, which is named after sculptor Barbara Hepworth, impressed the judges by increasing its visitor numbers by 21% and launching a major new award for British sculpture last year, among other things.
Mr Deuchar praised the way the gallery had "kept growing in reach and impact" since it opened in a £35m building designed by David Chipperfield in 2011.
He also complimented the "determined originality" of the curatorial team, and said it served its local community "with unfailing flair and dedication".
Last year saw it stage exhibitions of painter Stanley Spencer, photographer Martin Parr and art-pop installationist Anthea Hamilton.
So far this year, it has had an exhibition curated by designer Jonathan Anderson, who brought together the worlds of fashion and sculpture.
And it has just opened a show focusing on the late painter Howard Hodgkin's fascination with India.
It also recently took receipt of 50 artworks donated by collector and former BBC radio news journalist Tim Sayer, while a 65,000 sq ft (6,000 sq m) riverside garden is due to be created in its grounds.
The Museum of the Year prize is the largest single arts prize in the UK. Last year's winner was the V&A in London.
The Art Fund aims to reward an institution that has shown "exceptional imagination, innovation and achievement across the preceding 12 months".
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Trade union staff are to take strike action against their own organisation, claiming it has been "acting in a manner which no employer would dare".

A group of employees from the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (Nipsa) union are in dispute with their employer over pay and job grading.
The grievance involves 12 higher executive officers (HEOs) at Nispa offices in Belfast and Londonderry.
In a statement, Nipsa said it was "committed to resolving this dispute".
Nipsa employees are not permitted to become members of the union they work for, but the staff involved are members of another trade union, Unite.
Unite representative Kevin Kelly said it was a long-standing dispute and he accused Nipsa's governing general council of a "failure to practice a standard of industrial relations that they would expect of their officials".
"My members are disgusted that their employer, who routinely challenges poor industrial relations practice across Northern Ireland, is acting in a manner which no employer would dare," Mr Kelly said.
"This dispute is resolvable if the will of the employer existed.
"It is therefore with reluctance and sadness that our members have been forced to take the ultimate action left open to them, that is the withdrawal of their labour".
The affected Nipsa employees are to hold a one-day strike on Friday 30 October and will then begin a work-to-rule protest from Monday 2 November.
Nipsa general secretary Brian Campfield said: "Nipsa is aware of the concerns of this group of its staff and has been involved in negotiations with their trade union, Unite, about how the issues in contention can be resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.
"Nipsa has advised Unite that it is committed to resolving this dispute and is presently engaged in further work which will hopefully settle any outstanding matters."


A Japanese pop star is in a critical condition after being repeatedly stabbed by a fan as she was waiting to perform at a concert venue in Tokyo.

Mayu Tomita, 20, received nearly two dozen wounds to her neck and chest.
Police arrested Tomohiro Iwazaki, 27, at the scene. He is reported to have said he was angry because Ms Tomita returned a gift he had sent her.
The singer had reportedly complained to police about the fan last month.
Japanese media says she contacted police after Mr Iwazaki started posting obsessive comments about her on Twitter and other social media sites.
When police arrested him after the attack, he is reported to have told them that he ambushed her at the station and asked her about the gift.
"I lost my temper because she didn't clearly answer," he reportedly said.
Ms Tomita had been working as a pop star and actor while completing her college studies.
In 2014, two teenage members of Japanese girl group AKB48 were attacked by a man wielding a saw at one of the band's regular meet-the-fans events.


Samsung has announced that it is ending sales of its laptop computers in Europe.

The move includes its Chromebook model, which had previously been one of the category's best-sellers.
The South Korean company's decision follows Sony's announcement earlier this year that it was selling its Vaio division and pulling out of PC sales altogether.
However, other firms have recently reported growth in the sector.
Samsung signalled it might consider similar action in other parts of the globe.
"We quickly adapt to market needs and demands," said the company in a statement.
"In Europe, we will be discontinuing sales of laptops including Chromebooks for now.
"This is specific to the region - and is not necessarily reflective of conditions in other markets.
"We will continue to thoroughly evaluate market conditions and will make further adjustments to maintain our competitiveness in emerging PC categories."
Market analysis firm IDC has predicted that portable PC sales will grow by 5.6% this year in mature markets, partly offsetting a decline in 2013.
However, Samsung does not feature in its list of the top five PC sellers, and it appears that rivals have accounted for what growth there is.
Lenovo recently reported a 17% rise in revenue from notebook sales in its April-to-June quarter compared to the same period the previous year. It claimed that made it the most popular laptop brand in 15 European, Middle Eastern and African nations.
Apple also posted a 13% year-on-year rise in Mac sales over the same three months,  driven in large part by demand for the MacBook Air.
"With Samsung you can clearly see the focus shifting towards the tablet and phablet space, rather than the laptop, and that's clearly from a consumer's perspective where the strength of its brand lies," commented Windsor Holden from tech consultancy Juniper Research.
"With someone like Apple you've got strength across the brand - the 'Macheads' are historically a loyal bunch - and Lenovo is also still doing very well in that market.
"But I think we're seeing a gradual thinning out of the players active in this sector."
Samsung's smartphones have also come under pressure in recent months.
Surveys indicate sales of its phones have been overtaken in India and China by local firms Micromax and Xiaomi.
That resulted in the Samsung Electronics division posting a 20% year-on-year drop in its net profit in June and dozens of executives voluntarily handing back part of their bonuses.
However, in recent weeks its soon-to-be-released Galaxy Note 4 large-screened smartphone and add-on virtual reality headset have both attracted warm reviews.
"What I think you may be seeing from Samsung is a renewed focus on its mobile devices, especially what it is doing in the Android market," said Rhoda Alexander from the IHS consultancy.
"You have a lot of competition in that sector at the moment, and this might be an opportunity for it to concentrate its energies in that direction rather than spreading them all about."


Overspending by NHS trusts in England has risen to £1.6bn this year as concerns about financial problems grow.

The official figures for April to September mark the half-way mark of the 2015-16 financial year - and mean the deficit has grown from the £930m posted in the first three months.
Regulators have described the problems as the "worst for a generation".
The figures cover 241 trusts running hospital, mental health, ambulance and some community services.
Between them they account for about two-thirds of the NHS's £116bn budget - with the rest going on other areas including GPs, drug prescribing and training.
Overall, eight in 10 trusts were in deficit by the end of September.
It means the combined overspend is already nearly double what it was for the entire 2014-15 financial year.
Then, the NHS finished £822m in the red - with the health service as a whole balancing the books only after a cash injection from the Treasury and by raiding the capital budget earmarked for buildings.
Overspending on agency staff has been highlighted as one of the major problems as well as rising demand for services - and there will now be further pressure on health bosses to cut back on spending.
The regulators also warned hospitals were facing growing problems discharging patients - this happens when there are not enough services available in the community either from councils or the NHS to care for the most vulnerable.
The news comes at a difficult time for the NHS. Performance is already suffering with many of the major targets, including ones for A&E, ambulances and cancer care, being missed, while health chiefs are having to prepare for three days of industrial action by junior doctors.
The release of the figures by the regulators Monitor and the Trust Development Authority comes ahead of the spending review next week when Chancellor George Osborne will announced his plans for this Parliament.
The government has promised the NHS an extra £8bn by 2020. Health service leaders have called for that money to be "front-loaded" so that most of it comes in the first few years to help them get on top of the pressures.
Jim Mackey, the incoming chief executive of the regulatory bodies, said the current situation was "really challenging".
Anita Charlesworth, chief economist at the Health Foundation, said: "The figures confirm the truly dire state of NHS finances.
"Next week's spending review needs to address the unprecedented scale of challenge."
Meanwhile, the BBC has learnt that, ahead of the spending review, there is consideration being given to cutting some parts of health spending.
The promises made by government have been specifically aimed at the front-line of the NHS.
The Treasury is understood to be pushing for cuts to public health budgets, held by councils for services such as stop smoking and sexual health clinics and training budgets.


"Persistent failure" to meet waiting time targets could signal "wider problems" at a Tees hospital trust, the health regulator has said.

Monitor is looking at whether South Tees Hospital NHS Trust breached its licence to provide healthcare services.
The watchdog is concerned about an increase in C difficile infections and a rise in "never events" - incidents so serious they should never happen.
The trust said it had made "significant improvement" and welcomed the scrutiny.
It said it had failed to meet the national target of 18 weeks between referral and treatment for three quarters of the past year with approval from its board of directors.
It was working through a "backlog of patients" after an "exceptionally busy and prolonged winter period", it said.
Monitor regional director Robert Davidson said: "Patients rightly expect the highest possible standards of care from their local hospital.
"We've got concerns that this isn't always happening at South Tees and that's why we have launched this investigation."
The trust said its aim was to have "a zero-harm culture to patients" but the target it had been set for for reducing cases of C difficile was "very difficult".
The eight "never events" it has reported since 2010 had been "subject to rigorous review", it said.
Stockton South conservative MP James Wharton called waiting times at the trust "unacceptably long" and said "clearly something is not as it should be".
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust runs services at the James Cook Hospital, Friarage Hospital and six community hospitals across Teesside, Hambleton and Richmondshire.


The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has strongly denied that a deal with a media company for broadcast rights to several African football tournaments has broken any laws.

On Wednesday the Egyptian Competition Authority said it had referred the Caf president Issa Hayatou to prosecutors for investigation.
It said he was suspected of not opening up the tender to free and fair competition as required by Egyptian law.
Caf is based in Cairo so the authorities say it must follow their laws.
Caf said the reports were false, adding that in the letter it was sent by the competition authority there was no mention of any prosecution against Mr Hayatou.
"False information, published in the Egyptian press since yesterday and widely reported around the world, indicates a recommendation for prosecution of the president of the Caf to the Attorney General of Egypt on corruption charges," said the statement.
"It should be noted that in the letter sent to Caf by the Egyptian Competition Authority, there is no mention of any prosecution against the president of Caf, whether for acts of corruption or something else."
"Caf wishes to point out that the contract with Lagardère Sports does not contravene national or supranational legislation, as established by categorical legal opinions in this regard."
In June 2015, Caf signed a deal with Lagardere which gave the French media company broadcasting rights to a variety of African football competitions, including the flagship Africa Cup of Nations, from 2017 until 2028.
The deal was valued at $1 billion by African football's ruling body and followed on from a previous contract with Lagardere, which had run from 2008 to 2016.
The French company is not the subject of the referral, but has denied any wrongdoing.
"Any allegations that the agreement breaches local Egyptian competition laws are wholly unfounded and we have clear and categorical legal advice to that effect," it said in a statement to the BBC.
The Egyptian Competition Authority's complaint comes days after the new deal took effect and a week before the Nations Cup gets underway.
The continent's largest sporting event kicks off in Gabon on 14 January, with the final taking place on 5 February.


Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has threatened to pull out of the band's reunion, unless he is presented with a "signable contract".

In a letter posted on his
          website
, the musician said he has been feeling "ostracised".
The 63-year-old added that he wants a contract that "reflects some dignity and respect toward me as an original member of the band."
In November, the group, led by Ozzy Osbourne, announced they would reunite.
They confirmed they would play the Download Festival in June, before embarking on a world tour.
But last month, guitarist Tony Iommi revealed he was receiving treatment for cancer after being diagnosed with lymphoma.
Ward said that due to Iommi's illness, it had been decided that the band would move production to the UK.
"I've tried to find out what's going on with the UK sessions, I've realised that I've been getting 'the cold shoulder' (and, I might add, not for the first time).
"Feeling somewhat ostracised, my guess is as of today, I will know nothing of what's happening unless I sign 'the unsignable contract'."
The drummer said he had been left feeling "lousy and lonely", but was refusing to sign the current contract because he stands to lose "my rights, dignity and respectability as a rock musician".
Ward acknowledged there was a possibility that he would be replaced over this and he asked fans not to hold him "responsible for the failure of an original Black Sabbath lineup as promoted".
The rest of the band have yet to comment on Ward's claims.
It is not the first time Ward has criticised Black Sabbath's management team.
In 2004, Osbourne's wife Sharon announced that Faith No More's Mike Bordin would replace the drummer on the Ozzfest tour.
However, the two parties eventually came to an agreement before the tour, and Ward did participate.