Slashing the regeneration of Ashington budget while borrowing to build an academy school the Council has no involvement in is a dysfunction too far

 

From 2015-2017 Northumberland Conservatives ran a campaign against any spend in Ashington, a town with the second highest level of deprivation in this huge county.

But looking at other poorer areas, they have backed away from Capital projects to improve those areas as much as they can, the need for a new swimming pool in Prudhoe is a prime example of their hatred of those living in areas of deprivation.

The Conservatives have raised council tax at the highest rate allowed plus sticking folk with the huge extra of the social services precept each and every year since 2018 yet still mismanaged a huge overspend of £7.5m in the social services/children’s services area this year.

This overspend is so large it couldn’t be massaged into hiding by the secret cabinet as they weren’t strong enough to flatten the lump down under their pantomime magic carpet which adorns the leaders office.

On Wednesday 10 October 2025 the council is expected to accept slashing the Ashington regeneration budget to support the capital borrowing of cash to finish the environmental works, stations etc on the Northumberland rail line project. Costs were forced up through the lack of fixed price contracting and the Council not finishing the GRIP studies for the line and agreeing acceptance of a GRIP and a half that has led to this dysfunctional mess stealing the headlines.

That’s not all that will affect the Councils poorer areas as in the last two weeks the Council Leader has agreed to borrow to build a new high school in Berwick. It’s an academy school which is meant to be developed by a sponsor. It seems the education sponsors have hidden from this new build as the redundancy/pension costs to shed 60 teaching staff in order to open the new school runs into £ millions and it’s expected the Council will have to ruin service delivery across the Ashington and Blyth area to cover the stretch in their revenue budget this mess will cost.

All in all the issues found in the Max Caller report and the BEST report are coming home to roost and it’s noticeable the Councils finance guru Councillor Nick Oliver appears to have gone into hiding under a stone ever since he was promised the cash to build a cycleway near his home just in case anyone noticed.

Northumberland: God help all who sail in her!