Will Blyth Reform Branch be bringing Jack Monroe into town to help the hungry?

 

Blyth, is home to one of the largest Parish Councils in England with five of the eight communities which make up the Town welded into zones of extremely high levels of both poverty and deprivation.

Blyth Town is like many East coast deindustrialised towns badly damaged over the long and medium term by Thatcherism and Osborne's austerity programs with recent Government figures showing 70% of residents living in the 20% most deprived areas in England with 35.9% of 16 yr olds living in low income households.

Using that poverty driven background as a yardstick the Parish Council, Blyth Town Council under Labour designed a plan to regularly fund Blyth's food bank to the tune of £10,000 per annum broken down into two half year assistant payments.

Blyth Food Bank assistance for personal emergency help is by referral from a professional who holds knowledge about the person or families needing assistance and it appears only three referrals can be made per year. (See Blyth Food Bank in the notes below.).

These rules protect food banks from being finger pointed as somewhere you can simply rock-up and do your weekly shop but Reform UK paints a different picture with its national and local leaders condemning the need for food banks stating “people just can't cook”.

The recent change of power at Blyth Town Council with the often infighting Reform UK now holding the reins some elected members see things in a different light and appear to no longer see poverty and hunger as a real time problem for Blyth’s less well off residents and have stopped the two half year payments from Community Funding schemes to Blyth Food Bank dragging it back into mainstream funding.

Local commentators are extremely concerned regarding this change due to the ‘rules’ surrounding the issue of grants by this Parish Council. The statement which seems to raise its head from the rules most of all on social media is : The aim of community funding is to support community groups and organisations to deliver activities that contribute to achieving the Council's ambition for the Town. Community Funding is generally not accessible for supporting the core funding/administration of a community group or organisation unless it applies to the initial/short term support of the project or organisation.

The ambition of any Council is set by the elected representatives who hold power at any Council. But with Northumberland County Council assisting businesses in Blyth by steering a £20m government ‘Pride of Place’ funding allocation towards what after all is its largest Town. 

Residents have yet to see any spin off which will raise incomes locally particularly among those in greatest need. Blyth charities and community groups worry that this government funding stream will concentrate on the educational centre being built on its former shopping mall site with its high street moving from its long known market place based commercial centre out to the very congested Cowpen Road following the Tories destruction of its market square and the Town Centre having a very slow night time economy set up thats not conducive to attracting visitors into the Town. It's openly stated by a number of social media commentators that the educational establishment will not increase the wealth required to revive its high street but it will block up its car parks.

Getting back to the business in hand we return to the statement that the Council’s ambition is certainly coloured by its elected members and some have illustrated that those citizens in need are not an element of their personal ambition for the Town with FOI requests to Northumberland County Council on immigrant housing from a Blyth Reform Uk Councillor showing support for Reform’s leadership view that's very anti those in need.

So, if the Blyth Reform members are following the vision of their national chief whip which we expect they are, Lee Anderson the ‘coat of many colours' MP told the house of commons “ There is no need for food banks, it's simply the poor can’t cook”. Since the word of their leaders seems to be the policy of their party NO NEED FOR FOOD BANKS is the policy of Reform UK Limited.

Lee Anderson was a coal miner and worked for the Citizens Advice Bureau. He was elected as a Labour Party councillor in the Ashfield District in 2015. Suspended by Labour in 2018, he defected to the Conservative Party later that year joining the Tories and was a Conservative councillor in Mansfield from 2019 to 2021 concurrently with his term as an MP. He was elected for Reform UK at the 2024 general election.focuses his policy arguments on cutting government waste, restricting welfare access for overseas nationals, and introducing tax cuts to lower household expenses, his youtube video (link below) explains his theory on household poverty and cooking skills.

In order to stick by their national leadership we want to know if Reform UK Blyth is bringing in an expert on the type of food issued by food banks to begin teaching Blyth’s poor to cook? That person can only be JACK MONROE the wizard of tinned food cookery.

JACK MONROE is a British food writer, journalist, and anti-poverty campaigner best known for creating low-cost budget recipes and advocating for people experiencing food insecurity and poverty, an advocacy that is denied open debate by top reformers. REFORMERS know it all don’t they?

NOTES

https://blythfoodbank.uk/about-blyth-foodbank/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ieCX-Mn1W8

https://oursouthend.wordpress.com/?shem=aimgspe,

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/blyth_food_bank

https://meriterra.co.uk/cost-of-living/blyth-northumberland

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Fsq-gwETAuIviAihENuuOvztgZUcLVN2/edit?slide=id.p1#slide=id.p1

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68779cba2bad77c3dae4dc71/Blyth__Northumberland_.pdf

https://www.blythtowncouncil.gov.uk/widescopecms/resources/blythtowncouncil-communitysupportgrants-4-1-1.pdf

https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/economy-and-regeneration/projects-and-programmes/town-regeneration/blyth-pride-place#meeting-documents

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/freedom_of_information_request_i_308

Planning Spin? Northumberland is NOT affected and has NO green belt battlegrounds to contend with.

 This week, Councillor Gordon Castle from Alnwick, a shifter from independent to the Tories following the formation of the Unitary County of Northumberland in 2009 embarrassed himself by asking a question of his one party cabinet in full Putin style regarding new future numbers for housing across England's most sparsely populated County.

Well known as the Duke’s man, Councillor Castle dwells in an area where workers find it hard to get housing and those who can afford to live here find it hard to get people to work for them. The rush for second homes from those selling up and planning to move up from the South to Northumberland when they retire is causing huge unrest county-wide yet Northumberland Tories regularly put Nelson’s eye to the glass.

Councillor Castle of course fully supported the collapse of the Council’s social housing list and the removal of over 7,000 people who dream of living in a secure safe social home in the County they were born and brought up in.

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Following Councillor Castle’s now well voiced shift to full capitalist even though the NHS saved his life in 2020 following a huge motor cycle accident an official press release has been pushed out via the local government press this month to ensure the spin being circulated by both Conservative and REFORM UK run Councils is able to be challenged openly by the public and Trade Unions representing hard pressed planning staff.

With the nation being forced to accept a 6% drop in housing development in its first year in office and the needs surveys of the previous Tory government showing that the nation urgently requires an additional 6.5m new homes in England and Wales. 

Those homes which many need to be social, council or affordable are required to house families sharing accommodation, people with complex needs, overcrowding and suffering poverty driven homelessness as well as the continued although greatly reduced need for slum clearance in areas where its unsuitable to modernise to the Government’s new ‘Decent Homes’ standard applying to privately let properties as well as Council and Housing Association homes.

In the recent budget John Healy promised £1Bn boost of funding to ensure the development of Council, Social and Affordable housing taking the future funding for housing to £40Bn with the budget addendum promising ‘very preferential rates of long term borrowing’ to finance the development of those homes. Yet Councillor Castle/s question this week shows that Northumberland Conservatives are stuck in the ‘NOT IN MY BACKYARD’ category.

New home registrations fell by 13% year on year, proving to the local government industry that social housing needs sit in their brightest spotlight for years particularly among those who were struck off the register by a wave of the Tory Council leaders hand. A leader who for a decade has ruled over an empty County asking those who live here to pay additional council tax each year to support service delivery as negative housing growth across Northumberland is keeping council taxable property numbers static with almost 3,000 homes sitting empty for more than five years, yet he whines on to have the A1 made into a dual carriageway when no one lives in the County he lords it over to effectively use that highway and deliver the value for money proof that the Department for Transport needs.

More Homes = More People and More People is better to prove VfM when arguing for better and ever More Highways.

https://www.localgov.co.uk/21-council-areas-named-as-green-belt-planning-battlegrounds/65133

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/northumberland-row-over-cruel-plans-33049611

Second Largest North-east Council Sees 88% of its residents awarded £100 by Labour then announce they are grabbing 104% of it from 8,450 of society’s poorest.

 Northumberland the unitary council which is home to the most properties sitting above band D in the North-east region wish in the words of Councillor Glen Sanderson a Farmer who possibly doesn’t have to pay much council tax on his agriculturally linked home as  (A Farmhouse is classified as an essential part of any farm operation, serving as an office, a store, a boardroom, a make-shift veterinary clinic as well as a works canteen and restroom.  

As a result HMRC acknowledges the uniqueness of the nature of a farmer’s expenditure in maintaining his home, and accepts a portion can be claimed as allowable business costs.

Normal practice is to include the full amount of the premises costs (such as council tax, water, light and heat, insurance and repairs) in a farmer’s accounts, with a portion added back in the tax computation.  This would, generally speaking, be between three quarters and two thirds). 

Glen Sanderson’s excuse for slashing aid to those in need who must never need to maintain their homes, never use water, light and heating pay insurance or repairs is to make their (the Councils) aid scheme bills “simpler” by slashing the available help while bumping up everyone's council tax by another 5%!.

‘Glamorous Glen’ whose often pictured in his very expensive suits that those he is cutting help from could never afford, has hidden his spin report in the local press behind his often financially troubled Cabinet Member Nick Oliver from Corbridge instead of fronting it up himself probably fearful that the Tories Liz Truss hopelessly national budget setting team may come back to haunt his secret cabinet team.

His press report is full of excuses of why he has not allowed other Councillors to view and comment on his plans prior to the spin release.

The released statement follows the admission that Northumberland have overcharged almost 1,500 council taxpayers and it looks to many commentating on social media like they wish to recover that cash from those who can least afford it while maintaining last year's massive £2m cut in emergency help.

The Council who have been slashing services annually since 2017 sit with 165,000 dwellings liable to Council tax payments according to a recent report in the Hexham courant with 2,500 of them empty for more than five years yet they have done nothing about bringing those homes back into viability even though they can borrow to bring them into their Council housing stock improving tax intake to help those in need and pick up the impetus on their ever deteriorating services.

It's been noted by many that Northumberland’s one party cabinet won’t allow detailed scrutiny of decision making to take place and this is a prime example of why they should change their minds or ensure they whip their full team on their next  council day or expect that decent councillors will tell them what residents really think of them.

NOTES to editors.

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/thousands-face-northumberland-council-tax-34825973

https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/politics/council/thousands-face-northumberland-council-tax-bill-increase-under-latest-support-scheme-changes-9313273

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/top-councillor-northumberland-county-council-18796382

https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/politics/councillor-booted-from-committee-job-3444828

https://www.hexham-courant.co.uk/news/26424630.council-finance-boss-defends-spending-amid-concerns-debt-levels/

Blyth bypass funding refusal shows its time to end the secrecy at County Hall and get scrutiny back on a proper footing?

 

Since 2022 scrutiny of Council decisions made by the secretive Conservative Cabinet at County Hall in Morpeth have been challenged by experienced Councillors from all directions with the Labour Leader on the Council being extremely vocal in his criticism calling the Council leaders “ a dictatorship” on several occasions in particular on the Tories failure to give true background information surrounding those decisions.

This secrecy began almost a decade ago when the Council kicked out its Conservative Leader and the Tories replaced him with a team of very illusive ‘secret society’ type regimists.

If northumberland county council made a decision previously it was always backed up with figures, copies of the Council’s Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) and the series of Local Performance Indicators that backed up the KPI information with the KPI’s being open public documents ensuring transparency in decision making. Since 2017 this process has been gradually reduced down the ‘twelfth of never’ route with information released to the public only through well managed, non-critical press releases, in other words ‘spin’.

Following Northumberland County Council’s apparent success in this field it was picked up by a number of other Conservative led Councils and seemed under the Boris Government and later to ‘the accepted norm’.

Since the 2024 General Election and Labour entering Government to find the national coffers empty with friends of the Conservative Government sitting with pockets full of publicly funded cash things have changed, with the funding by Government of Council spending necessarily shifting to an ‘open book policy’, with the department for transport leading the field to ensure the public purse is safe in this Government’s hands.

The Department for Transport, one of the nation's big spenders who bankrolled the Northumberland rail line decided that if Council’s arent at the forefront with locally scrutinised decision making then funding will be withdrawn until Councils can show they will manage the Government's cash safely on the public’s behalf and a colour coded system of measurement of policy was devised.

Although the Council has through its spin machine blamed the Government for not funding the two Blyth bypass roads the Council weren’t clear enough why? Blaming the Labour Government and covering their backs with glory.

The reason why is, obvious Northumberland County Council is one of those who are not as open as required by Government with the Department for Transport rating them in the AMBER category showing that with its failed scrutiny policy and spin only press releases they have not reached the trusted status to handle projects on the Government’s and therefore the public’s behalf. The completion of the Northumberland Rail Line was a strategic decision made by the Mayor for the region who was backed by the DfT over the delivery, handling and scrutiny of this spend.

According to the Department for Transport framework, an Amber rating indicates that the council is successfully patching up roads and has fundamental preventative measures in place, but still has considerable room for improvement regarding overall road conditions and long-term asset strategy of Council spend, with new strategic decision making taken from the Council’s hands and given to the regional mayor's office whose strategic decision making is scrutinised by elected representatives from nine Councils along with auditors and civil servants monitoring the spend.

That long term asset strategy failure by Northumberland County Council cannot be changed until the Council can illustrate that the whole Council backs its decision making process and an ‘open book policy’ to assist Government auditors is adopted with much greater public access to knowledge regarding public spend at County Hall.

On 14th April 2026 the Government in the shape of the DfT issued documentation that stated Council’s must issue ‘Mandatory Transparent Reports’ surrounding decisions taken which affects highways spend then told affected Council’s they would hold back over half a billion pounds in pothole repair funding until councils satisfactorily changed from behind closed doors to open and transparent.

During Late October 2026 the Labour Government stated that an additional £220m would be released to ensure winter maintenance of potholes in England this is in addition to the £4,9bn spent on resurfacing 7000 miles of highway this year.

Will Northumberland ‘Open the Door’ and let opposition parties receive full and unquestionable information about what needs to improve to become a trusted Council in Government's eyes or will the Conservative’s ‘secret society’ members keep the door tightly shut?

https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/politics/concerns-raised-over-manner-of-scrutiny-on-key-council-decisions-in-northumberland-4843683

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/how-well-does-your-council-fix-potholes-tough-new-guidance-for-councils-will-end-patch-up-fixes-and-lead-to-smoother-safer-journeys

https://www.localgov.co.uk/Councils-risk-losing-funding-under-new-pothole-performance-rules/64196

https://fixtyer.co.uk/authority-ratings

HOUSING NEWS Tory disc jockeys spinning the clock back to their former disgraced leaders times?

During September 2020 the then Leader of Northumberland County Council, Councillor Peter Jackson lost a vote of no confidence in his actions and ability to lead the Council forward following placing the then Council Chief Executive on extended leave leading to scandal being laid at the Tory leaders door. This followed a number of years of his role as a disc jockey running out inaccurate statements about the cost of relocation of the Council headquarters to Ashington and decrying the Council and social housing investments made by the Labour Party, with his party lining up behind the inaccurate slogan of ‘Labour will concrete over your county’.

The Chief Executive had claimed that her attempts to investigate "significant concerns" about the council's development arm, Advance Northumberland, had been frustrated; alleging a "possible bias" on the part of council leader Peter Jackson and accusing leaders of "failure to act in the best interests of the council".

The current Tory Group on the Council have done little regarding those concerns, in fact they have been trying to pour in £millions into Advance Northumberland to refinance the Councils own debt, luckily external auditors and advisors have slowed the process for now.

Northumberland is the least populated County in England, with only 66 people per sq.Km according to Wikipedia against a national average of 438. it is so devoid of residents that the current Tory leadership have had to and are slashing service delivery across all Council departments including the elderly and infirm due to the lack of income from any regular growth in Council tax through housing development while the cost of housing the homeless is stacking up each and every day behind the Tory groups dam of secrecy.

The Government in its wisdom to help Northumberland survive this  mismanagement of growth has allowed this Tory Council to be able to extend its spending powers in Labour's first budget in office at Westminster. This Council’s failure to absorb or deliver on this opportunity will lead to more unemployment as cuts beyond George Osborne's austerity measures are being rolled out annually.

The Council has approx. 2500 homes that have been sitting empty for more than five years and the Government’s new policy allows them to be brought into the Council’s housing stock with the new much reduced opportunity for right to buy elements sitting behind what would be a great step forward. Increasing the housing stock without laying a brick, and surely their arms length building company Advance Northumberland could manage a project like this on its owner, the Council’s behalf on a cost of repair basis without too much bother at all and prove their worth to the public whilst lowering the homeless situation across the county.

The current spinning disc is being run out by deputy leader Richard ‘fluff’ Wearmouth and his plans for the new local plan to to delivered over the next two decades

But comments apart its back to the Tory spin, ‘Fluff’s’ local plan designed as the headlines say “Northumberland residents urged not to panic over dramatic housing figures” are designed to do just that, panic the public, but as planning law and guidance currently states anyone can suggest a site be assessed - so landowners and developers can put sites into this stage of the process, even if there's little or no chance of them coming to fruition. It's a hugely speculative part of the process but it's intended to scope out how housing demand can be met. It's certainly not a reason to panic but this is social media where the two main options are always like or panic. 

The new raw figures are necessary to be delivered if the public wishes to have any services for their massive council tax payments in future and even after their delivery over the next two decades it will still leave Northumberland as the emptiest County in England.

Northumberland Labour Group have issued a great news report decrying the spin and we’ve reproduced it to help our readers understand the process without the spin.

Communities deserve facts about housing, not fear and scaremongering”

Northumberland Labour Group Leader Councillor Scott Dickinson MBE has accused the Conservatives of causing unnecessary anxiety across Northumberland by presenting potential housing development figures in a way that fails to explain the facts behind the numbers.

The comments follow the publication of figures from Northumberland’s Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA), which identifies land submitted by landowners and developers for potential development as part of the preparation of a new Local Plan.

Councillor Dickinson said:

“This is scaremongering at its worst. The Conservatives have been circulating enormous housing figures across our communities without properly explaining what those numbers actually represent.

“Let us be absolutely clear. This is part of a long-term planning process looking ahead over the next 20 years. These are sites that landowners and developers have put forward for consideration. They are not approved housing developments, they are not confirmed allocations, and in many cases the land may prove entirely unsuitable for development.

“To present these figures in a way that suggests thousands of homes are about to be built in individual towns and villages is simply not an accurate reflection of where we are in the process.

“Residents have every right to know what is being considered in their communities. They also deserve accurate information, proper consultation and the opportunity to have their say, rather than being presented with alarming figures without the necessary context.

“What makes this particularly frustrating is the Conservatives’ own record on housing in Northumberland.

“While they are busy circulating frightening figures about potential developments, the Council’s own performance figures show that just 283 affordable homes were delivered in 2025/26, against a target of 374. That’s 91 affordable homes fewer than the Council’s own target.

“That is the real housing challenge we should be talking about.

“We have families waiting for social housing, young people being priced out of the communities they grew up in, and residents struggling to find somewhere affordable to rent.

“Northumberland has seen growing pressure on housing waiting lists and homelessness services, yet too many local people still cannot access the homes they desperately need.

“The Conservatives need to explain why, despite new housing developments coming forward across Northumberland, we are still failing to deliver enough genuinely affordable homes for local people.

“Too often, our communities have seen large executive housing developments, second homes and holiday accommodation while local families struggle to find somewhere secure and affordable to call home.

“We have watched young people leave the towns and villages they have grown up in because they simply cannot afford to buy or rent locally. That should concern every elected representative in Northumberland.

“Rather than causing unnecessary anxiety over land that may never be developed, the Conservatives should be concentrating on their own housing record and what needs to change to ensure future developments actually meet the needs of Northumberland residents.

“Northumberland does need new homes. But we need the right homes, in the right places, supported by the right infrastructure.

“That means genuinely affordable homes, more council and social housing, homes for local families and young people, and developments that respect the character and identity of our towns and villages.

“It also means making sure our schools, roads, health services and other essential infrastructure can support any future growth.

“I will always stand up against inappropriate development, but I will equally stand up for those residents who desperately need somewhere affordable and secure to call home.

“We should be having a serious conversation about Northumberland’s housing future, not frightening communities with headline figures that do not represent agreed development plans.

“There will be opportunities for communities to have their say as the Local Plan progresses, and those views must be listened to and taken seriously.

“My message to residents is simple: these figures are not a list of developments that have been approved. There is a long process ahead, with further assessments, consultation and decisions still to be made.

“The Conservatives should stop treating this important issue as an opportunity to generate fear and instead join a constructive discussion about how we deliver the homes Northumberland actually needs.

“Our communities deserve better than political scaremongering. They deserve honesty, transparency and a housing strategy that puts local people first.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

• The Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) considers potential sites submitted for assessment as part of the Local Plan process.

• Inclusion in the HELAA does not grant planning permission, confirm a housing allocation or guarantee future development.

• The emerging Local Plan is intended to guide development over approximately 20 years.

• Northumberland County Council’s reported performance figures for 2025/26 show 283 affordable homes delivered against a target of 374, a shortfall of 91.

• It remains to be seen whether claimed affordable housing is actually affordable with the Council often not enforcing affordable housing percentages on commercial viability arguments with developers. 

• The new rented accommodation provided by the Council in recent years is none existent and government grants have not been applied for. 

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/peter-jackson-removed-leader-northumberland-18869192

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/northumberland-residents-urged-not-panic-34765205?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawVCfW1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mAXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR7BaBljjPAvSblyj376FoVIwlJGz9i_DLNPZ8cNCn9XB1Vj7dKPZQ-c3SmsrA_aem_s6hWWR2mp_J-7UdzfoZa5Q#Echobox=1792085527

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northumberland

https://www.plumplot.co.uk/Northumberland-population.html

https://www.ons.gov.uk/explore-local-statistics/areas/E06000057-northumberland/indicators

https://www.ca-north.org.uk/about/about-northumberland

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6257pr3q76o

https://www.thetimes.com/money/mortgages/article/end-of-right-to-buy-d7nfm67n3