Spite and Malice will further expose damaging Tory management of your cash!

 

For those who read local newspapers or follow Northumberlands political situation online you will be aware that a huge consultation is underway on changes to see if you wish to have local health and care managed by an NHS organisational partner from Harrogate or if Virgin Health should be engaged by the Council to ensure Health and Care in Northumberland is privatised early on your behalf.

The Conservative administration at County Hall have accepted the use of the NHS Model in a similar vein to near neighbours North Tyneside Council. A report on choice was presented to the one party cabinet at County Hall and the Leader of Council, Councillor Glenn Sanderson steered his colleagues towards the use of the NHS Model, that choice is under challenge via the call in process from the ultra right wing splinter group led by the shamed and disgraced Councillor Peter Jackson and his team of extremist followers centred around the former Castle Morpeth District Council zone.

What is a call-in?

From time to time, the Cabinet of the Council may take a decision that causes concern to some councillors to such an extent that they believe the decision should be changed. The Local Government Act 2000 requires every council to have a mechanistic process which allows for executive (cabinet) decisions made but not yet implemented to be 'called in' for consideration by scrutiny. This includes decisions taken by a single party Cabinet (collective or individual) or decisions delegated to Chief Officers.

The use of call-in is usually triggered by opposition parties. Differing political positions drive the camps engaged within the scrutiny process but this one is very interesting indeed as the call in has been triggered by members of the same party as the decision makers and that Party, the Conservatives have suddenly split in a Frank Kafka style undelegated metamorphosis into three distinct insect groups. Groups we will call the ‘splinters’ who aim to privatise Care and Health, the ‘superintendency’ those central to the Leader of Council and the ‘nucleus’ group a centrist cluster based around the geography of Cramlington.

This whole episode appears to have come as a shock to the Northumberland Labour Party. When they were last in office 2013-2017 they formed a partnership with Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust in an attempt to integrate health and care to offer the Counties public a seamless service without increasing costs. Labour invested heavily across the County, building Haltwhistle hospital, financing loans to develop a new hospital in Berwick and to help in the completion of the Cramlington Emergency Hospital facility. They also began the International department to trade knowledge world wide to help bring in much needed funds to both the NHS and the Council. The Leader of the splinter group, Councillor Peter Jackson the once high and mighty ‘Sun King’ of the Tory Party has been consistent in attacking this project along with the Officers of the County Council at every turn and is still at it even though his public allegations against the department were proven to be false.

We predict that the outcome of this latest episode in ridiculously bad governance, spitefully designed to hoist the deposed ‘Sun King’ and his Castle Morpeth’s splinter group back into power. This episode of crazed power grabbing will damage the Conservative Party at all levels and damage the opportunity some may feel they deserve as the Boundary Commission works over traditional seats in the North East on the Tory Party’s behalf and the splits in Northumberland’s Conservative Party will never heal.

Superintendents Group

Sanderson

Wendy Patterson

John Riddle
Colin Horncastle

Trevor Thorne

Daniel Carr

Castle

Colin Hardy
Mather
Plozzaj
Renner Thompson
Seymour
Watson

Splinter Group

Dodds
Jackson
Homer

Cessford
Wearmouth
Bawn
Oliver

Darwin

Hutchinson

Paul Scott
Gordon Stewart
Towns

Jones

Nucleus Group

Daley

Echilvechen
Dunbar
Flux
Ferguson
Humphrey
Scott Lee
Swinburn