I’m not to be challenged? Council Leader who has made fortunes by challenging other councils on behalf of the Local Government Association sacks challenge board from his own Council.

Wednesday 14th June 2023.

A rushed park bench group meeting was held as our codgers team couldn't believe the Conservative led Northumberland County Council had the gall to reverse up a back alley and deny progress to Northumberlands electorate through their dodgy decision making process in front of their new Chief Executive live on TV.

Full Council at the expensively & prestigious, (nearly empty apart from 10 days a year, less if the Leaders of the Council's Administration had their way), County Hall in Morpeth Northumberland, almost had its secrets exposed to public scrutiny by an outside team set up to drive improvement but the Leader of the Council which was shown up and reported to its own Government for bullying staff, decided he and his close associates didn’t fancy any more investigations that may lead to the true stones being unturned.

It's a Council that hasn’t yet achieved Best Value on behalf of the Counties residents in six years of Tory administration, but instead of improving and bettering the public service offer they decided that in order to maintain its secrets the challenge board must go!

Northumberland Labour Group did its best to maintain the current level of challenge by an outside body brought in to ensure public and council scrutiny improved beyond belief and that decision making was shared and openly debated. But their cries were to no avail as the Conservatives and their allies, some of whom have much to hide, ploughed on to vote regardless in the manner of a Boris Johnson speech in the house with the Leader’s body language saying it all live on TV.

 

It was the face attached to that body that told the saga of the ‘Council which Failed’ to deliver on the majority of its key performance indicators yet again. A Council which has now decided not to progress in the manner its leader who is a former lead regional peer for the North East, Humberside and Yorkshire for the Tory led LGA teaches other councils to achieve and a Council which repeats its failures publishing them as wins time and time again.

 

At our meetings over the summer we codgers will have to decipher where this Council goes in future as it is now aligning itself extremely closely to its crumbling Government and its top of the political tree dicey ever changing leaders.

 

Notes:
https://www.northeastlep.co.uk/about/our-boards-archive/councillor-glen-sanderson/