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
