Friday brief: ‘What we see so far is based on trickle-down economics’
Plus West unitary decides to go ahead with Daventry offices closure, the nurse strikes and news from Westminster
The way North Northamptonshire Council plans to spend millions of government cash intended for levelling up, has been criticised as an exercise in ‘trickle-down economics’.
The council executive’s plan to allocate the Shared Prosperity Fund came in for a bashing by opposition councillors yesterday, particularly the idea to spend more than £250,000 setting up a tourism centre in busy shopping retail park Rushden Lakes.
At the meeting held at Corby Cube, Labour councillor Anne Lee accused the executive of using the economic model championed by former PM Liz Truss, which swiftly led to the financial fortunes of the country worsening.
“What we see so far is based on trickle-down economics. The sort of principle that has already been discredited but this executive did not get the memo.
“A tourism centre in Rushden Lakes which is already an affluent, prosperous venture with a nature reserve, is not what these funds were attended for.
“This prosperity fund is to help communities in crisis, people in poverty, with debt counselling and infrastructure, for communities that don't have them.”
In total just over £4.8m has been allocated by the government to the North unitary - however the money has not as yet arrived in the authority’s account.
A feasibility study to extend the East Northamptonshire Green way sustainable travel model throughout the rest of the north of the county is part of the plan, along with improvements to some town centres and green spaces (specifics are not given within the report).
Leader of the Labour group John McGhee also criticised the plans, saying the decisions had been made behind closed doors by a small group of leading Conservative councillors and requested the minutes of the meetings. He accused the executive of not understanding the levelling up agenda and of not allocating enough to the areas three left behind communities of Kingswood and Hazel Leys in Corby, Queensway in Wellingborough and Avondale Grange in Kettering.
He said:
“What you are giving is little sweeties to these areas. Little bits to keep them quiet. Well that’s not good enough.”
Executive member for place and economy David Brackenbury, said the executive had thought long and hard about the allocation, denying decisions had been made behind closed doors.
“We have to carefully consider how funds are spent and how they can attract investment and footfall in North Northamptonshire.”
News in brief
The Department for Education is involved in contract negotiations between the independent children’s trust and the unitary councils.
Northamptonshire Children’s Trust was set up in 2020 after the former Conservative led county council failed to manage the service properly, ending in a children’s commissioner being sent in to oversee the service. Under the county council’s management two young children who were known to social services died, with serious case reviews pointing to failings.
A contract was set up between the former county council and the trust, without any scrutiny, and it is now being renegotiated.
There is a predicted overspend by the trust of several millions and in recent weeks there has been concern raised by councillors from both unitary councils about the costs. However the service, which is led by chief executive Colin Foster, has been hit by inflation and has children’s services have historically run over budget for many years while in the management of the local authority.
At the cabinet meeting on Tuesday council leader Jonathan Nunn said he would welcome the recommendation coming from the scrutiny committee to ask the DfE to pick up any additional spend of the service.
The council’s chief executive Anna Earnshaw said the DfE was involved in the negotiations between the trust and the councils.
She said:
“There is a process built into the contract that if we can’t agree it and we dispute it, to go into official dispute and then to DFE anyway.
“They are fully engaged in the process.”
Nurses at Kettering General Hospital will strike later this autumn, however those in Northampton’s General will not, as the ballot rules were not met.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing voted for the first time ever to walk out after their calls for additional pay and improved working conditions were not agreed with the government.
Teachers are currently being balloted and postal workers and rail staff are currently involved in industrial action.
A 37-year-old man, who duped a woman with a fake rental advert and then raped her in a Northampton park has been jailed.
Ion Cojan, placed an online ad selling a room for rent in early 2019 and after arranging to meet the woman in Northampton town centre he drove her to Delapre Park and raped her.
He was sentenced to 15 years this week after being found guilty at a trial at Northampton Crown Court in September.
A move by the leader of the Labour opposition to get the West unitary’s council to reconsider a plan to close Daventry’s main council offices has failed.
Cllr Wendy Randall, had requested a call in of the decision to shut down the Lodge Road building, which she said had been done so without proper consultation.
The council’s scrutiny committee had on Monday night agreed to send the matter back to the cabinet to look at again, but it was approved for a second time on Wednesday night.
It means the West unitary’s main office locations will be The Guildhall and One Angel Square in Northampton. There will also be locality hubs at The Forum, Towcester, The Abbey Centre, Daventry and The Guildhall.
Cabinet member for finance Cllr Malcolm Longley said:
“The issue here is we have an excess of property. The unitary was all about putting a number of councils together
“We’ve just frankly got too much office space.”
The authority is proposing to save more than £300,000 annually in costs by closing the building and aims to sell it off at the end of next year.
At the meeting Cllr Randall said staff morale was low, which was disputed by a number of the cabinet. Cllr Randall offered Cllr Daniel Lister, who had queried her low morale claim, to go and meet with employees.
The report that went before the council also highlighted that only 40 per cent of desk space at One Angel Square headquarters in Northampton’s town centre is in use. The building, which was opened in autumn 2017 just months before the county council’s financial collapse, was labelled as a white elephant and sold off in order to pay off the council’s debts. It was then rented back. The report said 1,387 of the 2,321 available desks in One Angel Square are unoccupied.
Westminster Watch
It’s been another busy week for Daventry MP and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris. While a date for an Stormant election has not been set as yet, Heaton-Harris has said the members of the legislative assembly will have their allowances cut.
In other news Heaton-Harris also tweeted that reports of his resignation were untrue, calling it tosh. His tweet then received a response from Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk.
NN Culture
🎤 The Skids are playing at the Roadmender in Northampton, tomorrow at 7pm.
🎭 The Simon and Garfunkel story is being staged at the Castle Theatre in Wellingborough on Sunday at 7.30pm
🎨 A pottery masterclass with Lisa Lovett is happening at the KHL Community Room in School Place, on Sunday from 10am to 4pm
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