Northumberland’s secret dysfunctional cabinet caught out through closing their books to Government scrutiny

 

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Northumberland County Council cabinet member for education Cllr. Guy Renner Thompson has been to the press and made statements about the County Council’s shortfall in funding to build a new high school in Berwick.

In deciding to build this new school the Northumberland conservative council have decided to put 142 jobs on the line with parents and residents of Wooler and Berwick accusing the Council of not having a proper plan in place. With the huge cost of school transport spiralling even more noticeable since Trump began his war against Iran, closing schools many miles away from their proposed alternative will be a millstone around the necks of the County Council for decades to come.

The job hasn’t begun, yet the costs have been bloated much higher than inflation for a project that was published last year at running out at £50m the county's cabinet member has stated. It now has risen by 22% to £64m. In one financial year.

The rise in costs are enormous, having jumped from £22M from when the Tories were going to deliver this project in 2022 up to almost three times that cost.

The department of education who didn’t fund this new build from its inception planning stage during 2017 when the Tories took office at County  Hall and a long standing Tory Government sat in Westminster are still now dubious about the council cabinet member for education's verbal public costs.

His costs have been called out by the Labour MP for Berwick for clarity and he has asked that County Hall opens its books to Government scrutiny to ensure that the true costs are brought out.

With Government and Local Government civil servants appearing not to be convinced that Northumberland Conservatives have improved on their secrecy one jot since the Max Caller Report. It was published in June 2022 and was a damning governance review that found the authority to be "dysfunctional," "distracted," and paralyzed by internal battles between political leadership and senior management labelling the ruling Councillors ‘bullies’.

That dysfunctionality still exists as the Council have failed to deliver best value for the last nine years and are ‘famous’ in local government circles for not publishing their Key Performance Indicators and where they sit in national league tables to let its Council Taxpayers scrutinise what they pay heavily for.

How can a constantly failing Council expect to be believed when they have not bothered to deliver what people really want in order to prioritise ‘glamour projects’ that will mean very little in a few years time.

https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/education/councillor-frustrated-with-government-over-funding-for-new-berwick-high-school-8664320

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62z7j830l4o#:~:text=After%20a%20consultation%2C%20Northumberland%20County,high%20school%20in%20the%20town.

https://etheses.durham.ac.uk/id/eprint/7227/

Dysfunctional Northumberland Tories start a new scrutiny panel.

New raging ‘nasty party’ has decided to ignore it to score soft political points?

Northumberland’s ‘raging nasties' have begun a campaign to expose all owners of houses of multiple occupancy across Blyth and Wansbeck in what we believe is in order to further expand ‘Fargage’s rage campaigns’ further North than Watford Gap and pressurise Landlords who have invested in increasing much needed housing numbers. As its County Council who are responsible for housing sits back and dine on their narrowing of opportunity for the young and those in need.

This is a follow-up to a Freedom of Information request from Natalie Rolls a leading member of Northumberland Reform UK Branch and an active County Councillor seeking information about homes now owned, many of them Homes of Multiple Occupancy, by the Mears Group who are a giant landlord and manage almost half a million homes and employ 5000 staff .

For readers unfamiliar with Mears it is a company which expanded rapidly during the last Tory Government to handle housing for migrant workers and asylum seekers. Ms Rolls last FOI request didn’t give the answers to expand the anti-migrant feeling into Northumberland so another method is being tried.

From their seat of power on Blyth Town Council, one of the nation's largest parish Councils they are driving up local feelings against homes of multiple occupancy.

Their new demands surround article 4 of the 2022 planning acts.

Article 4 Directions are a legal planning tool local authorities use to withdraw standard "permitted development" rights. When an Article 4 is in effect, building works or changes of use that usually wouldn't need permission now require a formal planning application to be submitted. 

Their demands are that the Council forces all smaller HMO’s to be registered and that data be open to all.

If the County Council cedes to that request Ms Rolls original request via ‘what do they know’ would be granted. We expect large landlords would take legal action against the County Council as they have a right to do under current planning law on protected data.

But we have said many times on this blog THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THE PROLIFERATION OF HOMES OF MULTIPLE OCCUPANCY IS TO BUILD MORE COUNCIL HOUSES,

The target for the refresh of Northumberland Council housing stock was set from May 2013 to May 2017 at 100 per annum under the chairmanship of Councillor Scott Dickinson MBE. Labour achieved the target therefore the Council is now 900 new homes behind target as the since Conservative held council hasn’t bothered to even attempt to develop a decent number of homes.

The housing regulator The Regulator of Social Housing handed Northumberland County Council a C4 grade (the lowest possible) following a damning inspection. The review found "very serious failings,"  The Council after dragging its heels has set up a scrutiny panel to investigate the report and make some suggestions, even after a number of long serving councillors were critical of this not being a ‘working group’ with teeth to drive forward policy change.

The ever optimistic Councillor Scott Dickinson MBE leader of Northumberland Labour Group said : “As we begin to see the work programme of the Housing Scrutiny Committee take shape, I'm incredibly proud of the work Northumberland Labour put in to secure these amendments during the Council budget process”.

“These weren't just proposals on paper; they were practical measures designed to tackle issues such as damp, mould, repairs, housing standards and need, helping to improve the lives of tenants and families across Northumberland”.

“Now the real work begins. It is vital that focused action is taken on these priorities and that robust monitoring ensures the amendments we secured are delivered in full. Residents deserve safe, warm and well-maintained homes, and we will continue to hold the Council to account to make sure these commitments lead to real improvements for tenants across the county especially when we get things right and get back on track to develop a new range of much needed Council Housing stock and try to get the target set by Labour of 100 new homes per year back on track to help ever more County families in housing need”.

Unfortunately the report from the first meeting of the scrutiny panel was dire with the completely out of touch Conservative Cabinet member for housing, Colin Horncastle displaying how little he understands the needs and wants of tenants, he said:” said the council was "not happy" with the result of the February report that identified "very serious failings" at the local authority.

They were very serious failings Councillor Horncastle and you should have been supporting the correction of those failings and not protecting your own failing to understand your own subject from criticism.

His Council has gone from being judged dysfunctional, then having a housing crisis in the middle of a bullying crisis and a lack of loyalty towards residents crisis illustrated clearly through its latest shocking policy of leaving grass uncut, which shows Northumberland under the Tories is not only failing its tenants its taxpayers who aren't tenants are suffering as well. If you look around at the workings of its equality working group and its displays of toying with their subject you may see where this scrutiny panel may be heading.

With the scrutiny meeting chaired by Reform Councillor Natalie Rolls it seems to onlookers that the information she sought on HMO’s last year and could lead to social problems and rage events may be made available as the County Council often fawns to its chairs even though the data behind it is now deemed private and not to be shared.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/county-council-sets-up-new-housing-scrutiny-committee-in-response-to-c4-grading-96948

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

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-of-social-housing-finds-very-serious-failings-at-northumberland-county-council

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/northumberland-county-council-not-happy-34068553?fbclid=IwY2xjawSQAiZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeO6rJjCK6bNc5IM3Srnt-9fkifC-Kcex3cAvm1JY26LQC_riN24wyuWKoAXY_aem_xA2Ag6z84ygWjsPqQLDDyQ#ICID=Android_ChronicleNewsApp_AppShare

Bog off? Northumberland County Council ignores their responsibilities to those in need.

 

The average band D council tax in England without adding any *Parish Precepts. stands at £2,392 whilst Northumberland County Council Tax is 8½% higher at £2,597 before parish precepts are added.

The usual massive year on year hike in Council Tax was due to this Conservative Council not applying its increased spending power allowance from the Government as a saving. Possibly as they planned to increase borrowing by millions to bail out its financially adrift development company Advance Northumberland. A project they have dropped like a hot potato as the noise via the public outcry from residents was even heard across the Tories rural heartlands fas they haven't delivered on their promise following their pre 2017 election attacks stating they would abandon the reliance of the then named ARCH and scatter it to the four winds.

They lied of course, they simply split the company into seven companies and changed its name to Advance, a dereliction of duty in the eyes of many of their supporters and it's now debt ridden shell hangs like an albatross around the necks of the County Conservative Leadership.

The County Council has a series of responsibilities that are mandatory that they have ignored and kept secret through their one party cabinet structure since May 2017 one of those services sadly left behind is that of ‘Public Health’ and the supply and maintenance of public toilets which are discretionary and not mandatory unfortunately,

Both the Blair and Brown Governments worked hard on insisting the supply and maintenance of public loos rose to match the Scottish standard in England with all their work destroyed after 2010 by successive Tory legislation and right wing party loyal Lords.

The British Loo Association has been actively campaigning to ensure Council provision gets better but it seems as if Unitary Status for Councils expects them to forget the great work of the former district councils and abandon them. Northumberland County Council has reduced its number of so-called strategic loos down to 54 and complaints about the lack of maintenance are making the press.

Northumberland has four Labour MP’s who cover the whole County and seeing the number of complaints on social media its either time for them to work as a team and force through legislation from their own former administrations and join in with the British Loo Association. It would be great for their status to bring forward legislation that may clear the NEW, house of lords giving Northumberland’s public and higher than average Council Taxpayers public toilets of similar quality to its neighbour Scotland. Or they could, in order to repay some of its debt to our local society who have to pay additional council tax to scaffold up Advance Northumberland the Conservative Councils development company get the Council’s secret cabinet  to pass the responsibility over Advance to supply and maintain public loos on the Councils behalf.

https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/politics/council/public-toilet-provision-branded-shambolic-as-fresh-call-made-for-improvements-in-northumberland-tourism-hotspot-8643033

https://www.hexham-courant.co.uk/news/16612960.haltwhistle-public-toilets-branded-disgrace/

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1hIf0WPjTQOLFxFCPWibZHbVfX1AJccU&femb=1&ll=55.10347924684738%2C-1.4965676257612825&z=12 still not open, why?

https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN00976/SN00976.pdf

http://www.btaloos.co.uk/?page_id=2521

King of Northumberland’s realm has shifted, His once loyal subjects are sadly missing out?

 

In a recent social media report the Deputy Leader of Northumberland County Council in a conversation with a long serving independent councillor from Berwick upon Tweed named Councillor Glen Sanderson the Tory Leader on Northumberland County Council as the ‘King of the County’.

King Glen has always centred his realm on the Town of Morpeth where residents have been linked with the Tories for quite a number of years as regular improvements have been delivered that people want. Glen has now shifted his ‘royal favor’ away from his once loyal base into untraditional territory and has lent his sovereign bestowal to the rival town of Ashington.

His highness has been subject to several claims and regular photoshoots showing him at every opportunity he gets to boast that he was responsible for spending £336.4 million on bringing the Northumberland line to Ashington, ignoring his loyal subjects in Morpeth who expected as was promised a number of years ago this new line to terminate at Morpeth and run through to Newcastle on a more regular basis as it picks up residents who dwell in the deep South-east of the County.

His shift of benevolence towards Ashington also includes a huge new further education valued at £52m that has been situated as close as physically possible to the terminus of the Northumberland Line along with a new cinema complete with a row of restaurants costing an extra £16m. Both projects are being organised using his delivery vehicle Active Northumberland.

A number of Morpeth commentators have illustrated their social media output laced with the knowledge that food outlets are disappearing from Morpeth and its surrounds while his highness is investing public money to develop a night time economy outside of the bounds of their town.

Spending £400m+ on the Town of Ashington with no spin off benefit for Morpeth doesn’t just stop there. He has gone public on the next expensive phase of the Northumberland Line in that he is going to fund an extension to Newbiggin by the Sea at huge expense that will leave Morpeth wallowing in the growth of poverty as it falls in his objectionable plans to hack back on his Morpeth based workforce in an austerity drive to force through his plans through a most peculiar package of prudence.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj4pqz98vpeo

https://northumberland.ac.uk/the-college/our-campuses/new-ashington-campus/#:~:text=Ashington%20Campus%2C%20Berwick%20Campus%2C%20Kirkley

https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/people/morpeth-restaurant-thanks-customers-after-permanently-closing-its-doors-8551367

https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/lifestyle/food-and-drink/morpeth-restaurant-the-townhouse-announces-closure-as-owner-hints-towards-new-plans-5612922

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/25749838.tomahawk-confirms-sudden-closure-morpeth-restaurant/

No Drill Baby Drill! As Northumberland chaotic Reform Councillors turn their back on Farage Energy Policy?

Following the unbelievable antics of Reform UK members at the County Council AGM when as a body they defied their Group Leader and ultra right wing Deputy Leader chosen by Reform Central Office, broke ranks and voted themselves out of all positions of responsibility. 

It appears they have sunk to new lows in the eyes of their top wealthy Brexiteer denier ranks who sit like Greek Gods controlling all from the new site for Mount Olympus, Millbank Tower 21-24 Millbank, London SW1P 4QP where it’s believed both their counting house for members fees and huge donations from international speculators along with their Russian training school for ex Conservative MPs is sited.

Those lows have illustrated to Farage’s black tee shirt brigade that Northumberland Reformers have drastically lurched to the left of UK politics and now sit closer to Labours North East Mayor Kim McGuinness than prospector in charge Richard Tice.

They are so sure of themselves that the under the counter deputy leader of the Northumberland sub-reform group, Rick Baker has smashed the shackles put on by Millbank Tower and come out against Farage’s only policy he hasn’t denied blabbing about: that of his personal and his Party support for Trump’s ‘Drill Baby Drill’ policy heaving a massive NO towards all of the left wing party’s yeses of support with Labour, Greens and LibDem getting as close to net zero as possible over the next decade.

In recent weeks a close working relationship has developed between the Crown Estates, North East’s Labour Mayor and her combined authority partners to develop a 462 turbine wind farm offshore from the Port of Blyth. 

Reform members from Northumberland have wholeheartedly (apart from their Leader and Deputy) shown huge support for this project which will ensure that the mega rich royals get a massive share of the UK’s net zero energy market. They have shown no dissent against Kim McGuinness’s energy jobs increase, if fact quite the opposite as Rick Baker has put out a video showing his support for this project kicking Brexit Farage we’ll truly in his sensitive bits.

Then to cap it all, as a county group they have shown no dissent at all against a 2000 Job energy park being developed on a sensitive site at West Hartford a project Black Tee Shirt Central is completely set against.

With such a breakdown of support for their glorious leader Farage’s prime policy coupled with the mess his early success councils are in, his laughing boy pictures are sure to change as his media infused public drift back towards struggling through Brexit failures all brought about by him and the ultra right.

Job slashing Blyth Reform Councillor fails to change Towns History?

 

But he’s leading the revolt against his nasty party mates?

A recent social media comment from Reform UK’s David Swinhoe stated that  Labour bought Manor Walks in Cramlington in order to close down Blyth Town Centre.

As a man who Google describes as a person who’s heart lies completely in Seaton Delaval where he was a Labour Party councillor before palling up with local racists and neo nazis and running away from his former obligations and long term friends in Seaton valley has got his assumptions completely wrong, a regular problem with Reform councillors.

With your party responsible for slashing grounds maintenance jobs by pulling the plug on additional grass cuts  without any objection from you in  your mayoral position on Blyth Town Council your low standing in Blyths community has taken its expected nosedive.

But back to Manor Walks; According to press releases and Council minutes at the time of purchase where the only dissenter was the Tory Councillor Wayne Daley who called it a 60 yr old relic , Labours reason for asking ARCH to enter into purchasing manor walks was two fold, opportunity and to save it from closure.

History shows that Labour in Northumberland tried to share activity across the whole county with new council homes in Amble and Blyth, top class flood protection for Morpeth and in the Tyne Valley, a new bypass for Morpeth aiding South-east and rural coalfield residents to gain easier access to the A1. Labour also began the engineering studies to ensure the Northumberland line could be reopened. 

Labour also pulled the cat out of the bag by renewing and modernising a number of Leisure Centres to assist in bettering people’s health and while on the subject of health it’s openly reported that they bought out the PFI deal on Hexham General Hospital to stop its closure and set up a lower cost loan scheme which would lead to the eventual renewal of Berwick Hospital.

But back to the slur from Councillor Swinhoe and Blyth? The Keel Row in Blyth wasn’t made available for purchase so Labour bought the massive, becoming derelict Westgate house and opened it up into three large units, they brought a number of excellent showpieces onto Blyths fantastic former market place including a regimental freedom of the County, a fantastic showcase in the Tour of Britain cycle race where Blyth staged a finish at the market place and the unforgettable tall ships race which brought Blyths reputation up as a marine friendly town along with the first Blyth music festival which was embryonically kickstarted by Labour.

Since 2017 the Tories have done nothing but run down the Town, pulling down the Keel Row after lining Northumberland Estates pockets with cash not even attempting to forge a link with the eventually very successful Manor Walks in Cramlington centre to increase Blyths retail offer and then they decided to build a cinema on the market place that ranks as one of the least stylish monoliths in the North.

Pulling down the Keel Row a decision made by Councillor Glen Sanderson’s one party Tory cabinet and build an energy learning centre that could be built near either of Blyth's new stations to benefit students, means that Blyth Town Centre does not have the space to launch a recovery and if the hundreds of millions of new money and jobs do come then your slur of forcing people to shop in Cramlington will come true, but it will be completely down to you and your Reform buddies for not opposing this policy as the major opposition on Northumberland County Council!

So councillor Swinhoe you appear to have followed your party leader and let the wind blow your lips without reading up on what Labour did for Blyth, but what you and your new play pals did at this week's full council in Morpeth showed exactly what Reform are. 

Joining in with the shambolic showing of the Councils leader who allegedly broke long standing agreements your rabble broke away from your own parties county leader and deputy’s voting pattern and turned the meeting into chaos.

Keep it up it’s great comedy.