A “reset” of frontline council services in Newcastle will put more focus on areas outside the city centre, Labour’s new leader in the city says.
Nick Kemp has pledged a “wholesale review of everything we do” at the civic centre if, as expected, he is in charge there come the end of May. The 53-year-old Byker councillor has taken over from the departing Nick Forbes as Labour’s figurehead in Newcastle, in what has been a turbulent few months for the city council’s divided ruling party.
Facing attacks on multiple fronts at next week’s local elections, Coun Kemp has promised voters that an administration led by him would have an “absolute focus on getting the basics right” in all parts of the city – with a “review and refresh” of services including bin collections and street cleaning. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that Labour was “very conscious” of complaints that the city council puts too much emphasis on the city centre at the expense of other areas, particularly outer west wards where independent councillors have stolen a march in recent years.
