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By ROB PARSONS - June 16 2022
With the temperature rising in the North and nationwide, are we heading for a summer of discontent? On top of the existing cost-of-living crisis there's a growing culture war over plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda and now the prospects of strikes crippling the rail network.
Half of Britain’s rail lines will be closed during strikes on June 21, 23 and 25 by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), with the North's main operators yesterday revealing the extent of the impact on their services.
Seemingly worst-affected is the region's biggest rail operator Northern, which urges passengers “not to travel” between June 21 and 26 as services will be suspended “on most routes” during strike days, and there will be a “significant impact” on non-strike days.
London North Eastern Railway - which runs trains from Yorkshire and the North East to the capital - said around 38% of usual service levels are planned. For Avanti West Coast it will be just a quarter. And Hull Trains said that on strike days, trains will only run between Doncaster and London King’s Cross.
Another operator, TransPennine Express, said there will be a “significant reduction in available services” on strike days and several stations will be closed, such as Middlesbrough, Scarborough and Selby.
The disputes have flared over pay, jobs and conditions, with the Transport Salaried Staffs Association announcing more strike ballots at rail companies yesterday, increasing the threat of a prolonged summer of disruption.
But in a speech in London today, Transport Secretary and Northern Powerhouse Minister Grant Shapps said rail strikes were “the last thing” the sector should be doing.
He said: “Many commuters, who three years ago had no alternative but to take the train, today have the option of not travelling at all. Wave them goodbye, and it will endanger the jobs of thousands of rail workers.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told Boris Johnson at Prime Minister’s Questions that his rival wanted the strikes to go ahead so he can “feed on the division”, adding that he himself opposed the industrial action.
Meanwhile, the RMT has called for talks with Grant Shapps and Chancellor Rishi Sunak. General secretary Mick Lynch said in a letter that the Treasury is “calling the shots” and not allowing rail employers to reach a negotiated settlement.
The industrial action is likely to prove awkward for Labour because of its longstanding links with the union movement - and sure enough a Tory attack email about 'Labour strikes' landed in your Northern Agenda Editor's email this morning.
And in the Commons yesterday a Government motion condemning the strikes and calling for unions to continue discussions was opposed by 13 Labour MPs including Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby), Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) and Rebecca Long-Bailey (Salford and Eccles).
Labour’s Leeds East MP Richard Burgon , one of those to oppose the motion, said railway workers earn their pay but “not every MP does”.
No end in sight for bus strike as talks break down
In Yorkshire the region's bus strikes, which have been going on since June 6, show no sign of ending as talks to resolve the dispute broke down yesterday.
As the BBC reports the walkout is hitting services across West Yorkshire as well as parts of North, South and East Yorkshire. The Unite union said Arriva's pay offer was below the current level of inflation, with some staff having to rely on foodbanks. And for its part Arriva said Unite had refused to put an improved offer to its members.
Phil Bown, Unite regional officer, has previously said the strike was "an absolute last resort" and members were having to "choose between paying their rent or eating".
"I've got bus drivers here who are working 40 to 50 hours a week [and] some of them are going to food banks to subsidise their income. They shouldn't have to do that - they're full-time workers," he added.
West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin said she was "deeply disappointed". She added: "As a bus user, I understand the frustrations of passengers and want nothing more than this action to be resolved. Sadly, because bus services outside of London are run by private operators, our powers are limited."
Her Greater Manchester counterpart Andy Burnham does have some powers after taking buses under public control. And he announced today that bus passengers could be travelling across Greater Manchester for no more than £2 a journey or £5 for an entire day’s travel by the end of the summer.
The fare caps - which mark the biggest change passengers will have seen since deregulation in 1986 - also include a single journey fare capped at £1 for children. The streamlined prices, a key component of the mayor's transformation of the bus network, will be launched in September, brought forward from Autumn 2023.
And whereas the initial plan was for a gradual roll-out across the conurbation, passengers across the whole of Greater Manchester will now benefit at the same time, writes Charlotte Cox for the Manchester Evening News.
The plan is reliant on co-operation from operators and the Government but means passengers could finally be freed from a ‘fragmented’ system involving more than 830 services run by 30 operators with 150 different ticket types.
Education leaders in the North urged to take back control
Michael Gove's 300-page Levelling Up White Paper landed with mixed reviews in February but according to Lord Jim O'Neill , one of the founders of the Northern Powerhouse concept, it was one of "the more substantive things" to come out of Boris Johnson's government.
Except that is, for education, the subject of a major summit being held today at the HOME centre for international contemporary art, theatre and film in Manchester.
Lord O'Neill told the Northern Powerhouse, Education, Employment and Skills Summit that "the Department of Education has been the most centralised department that I've come across in my decade-long experience of education and Northern Powerhouse matters".
But the Vice-Chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership said the White Paper and the creation of 55 educational cold spots where investment will be targeted creates opportunities for the North. With educational outcomes worse in our region than London and the South East, he said taking these opportunities would help with the "exciting journey to deliver the North in all its great potential".
"One is whether you can create a Multi Academy Trust [with more freedom to choose your own curriculum] as a local authority, I've been led to believe that you can," he said. "So those local authorities around the North that think they understand the nature of the challenge better than the central government people in Whitehall, here is a chance that wasn't there a few months ago for you to go for what you want."
There are no shortage of factors that can potentially hold children back and academics behind a Bradford study say they have found clear evidence that traffic pollution harms children’s brain development.
Born In Bradford, which tracks the lives of more than 30,000 Bradfordians, measured the brain development of over 2,000 children aged 4-5 years living in the city using a range of tests to measure their brain function.
They found that children who lived nearer busy roads with high levels of air pollution performed worse on the tests than those living in less polluted areas.
Living near green space, parks or recreational facilities was linked to better performance, with scientists saying this was due to the reduced pollution on those areas. The data has been published today to mark Clean Air Day, writes Local Democracy Reporter Chris Young.
Spreading the love as football world turns to Women's Euros
With no major men's football tournament this summer there'll be more attention than ever on the Women's Euro 2022 , with hosts England going up against 15 nations for the trophy.
And the tournament, which starts on July 6, was hailed by a Government Minister as an example of how the impact of big events can be felt outside London. Venues include Manchester, Rotherham, Sheffield, Trafford, Wigan and Leigh.
Speaking yesterday at the launch of a new inquiry by MPs into the importance of sport in the North, Nigel Huddleston said the UK was "gaining a particularly strong reputation in women's sports".
He told the online event, "that's something in terms of the strategic focus, how can we build on that reputation to host even more women's sports and one of my priorities is to make sure it's not all London-centric.
"And when we are bidding for some of these major events, and of course we've got the Women's Euros this year, we need to work with the organising bodies to make sure that then we spread the love of where the impact is going to be right across the country."
The Minister also described a recent visit to Wakefield to campaign in the upcoming by-election to speak with staff from the Wakefield Trinity Rugby League club about their expansion plans.
Councillors this week approved an £8.8m cash injection to allow Trinity to redevelop their Belle Vue ground. The funding has been released after a lengthy and controversial planning dispute which has jeopardised the club’s Super League status.
And Mr Huddleston said he was impressed by the planned improvements including extra commercial activities, convention centres and food and drink.
He added that the upcoming Rugby League World Cup this winter, to be played at grounds across the North, "is going to be delivering about £20 million of incremental projects as well into the heartland of Rugby League".
Protesters 'over the moon' as asylum seeker plans are put on hold
Last-ditch legal rulings blocked the Government’s plans to relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda. And could a U-turn now be on the cards on another major element of Home Secretary Priti Patel's immigration strategy?
Campaigners in a North Yorkshire village are "over the moon" after it was announced that plans to turn a former RAF base into an asylum seeker centre have been put on hold.
North Yorkshire's Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe received a response from the Home Office after raising concerns over the Linton-on-Ouse proposals to repurpose the old RAF base as an asylum seeker accommodation centre, as YorkshireLive reports.
Minister Kevin Foster said the site will not accommodate asylum seekers until it has been deemed safe and conforms to all legal requirements, including those of planning. He said that once this has been satisfied the Home Office will make a formal decision on whether to use the site for asylum accommodation.
Conservative Ms Metcalfe said: “I will continue to work closely with the Government and communities at Linton-on-Ouse to ensure that residents on and off the site are safe, and feel safe - and that the costs of any additional demand on police and fire services, are paid from central funds.”
The plans to house up to 1,500 asylum seekers has sparked outrage in the quiet village but Olga Matthias of the Linton-on-Ouse Action Group said she and other campaigners were "over the moon" about the recent development.
Council chief's £20,000 flights to Dubai at taxpayers' expense
A top council officer at the centre of a row over unlawful expenditure claimed almost £20,000 in taxpayer cash to pay for repeated trips to Dubai, new figures have revealed.
A freedom of information request by Local Democracy Reporter James Robinson revealed that under-fire Northumberland County Council CEO Daljit Lally flew to the Middle East country seven times between January 2018 and December 2019.
The total cost of the flights – excluding VAT – came to £18,825.87, with the most expensive flight in March 2018 costing the taxpayer an eye-watering £3,792.22. An additional £989.27 was claimed in the 2017/18 financial year for refreshments and hospitality, bringing the total amount claimed by Ms Lally between 2017 and 2020 for foreign travel expenses to £19,815.14.
The FOI request describes the work as “business development” related to the council’s international health consultancy business. It was for Ms Lally’s ancillary work for this business that she made the expenditure claims. According to the figures obtained, the income received by the council in relation to the international business was £2,894,702.28.
However, the business – known as Northumbria International Alliance – has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks after the county council’s chief finance officer, Jan Willis, uncovered evidence of “unlawful expenditure”.
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Northern Stories
• One of the largest electric vehicle charging hubs in the North has opened in York – almost a year late. The Monks Cross Hyperhub, located next to the park and ride site, contains 38 charge points. The hub will not charge for electricity “for a limited time”, City of York Council said, to encourage residents and visitors to use the facility. Deputy leader, Coun Andy D’Agorne, said it would aid the city’s ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030.
• Specialist rape courts are to be set up in Newcastle and Leeds as part of a pilot scheme designed to improve dismal conviction rates for serious sexual offences. All court staff, police and prosecutors working on serious sex offence cases in the three pilot courts will receive specialist trauma training, the Government said, while Independent Sexual Violence Advisers will also be made available to victims. The scheme will be rolled out in Leeds, Newcastle and Snaresbrook Crown Courts, which will each have a dedicated courtroom for dealing with rape cases, while the rest of the building deals with other offences.
• Conservatives in North Tyneside have been branded “an absolute disgrace” after launching an online attack on a long-serving councillor battling serious illness. The party accused Jim Allan of being the borough’s “laziest Labour councillor” and claimed he “didn’t think it was necessary” to attend meetings, after a by-election was called to replace the former deputy mayor. Mr Allan, who was also leader of North Tyneside’s Labour group, has been unable to attend a council meeting since last November due to being “severely unwell”
• Thousands of families in one area of Greater Manchester will be offered vouchers worth up to £50 to spend on school uniforms. Bury council is one of the first in the country to provide help with the price of uniforms as the cost of living crisis continues to bite. Any school-aged children in receipt of free school meals will be eligible for a voucher, which can be used at supermarkets and specific clothing shops. A total of £240,000 has been set aside to cover the cost of the scheme. In all, around 6,000 children will be included in the vouchers project
• An innovative new service for magazine lovers has launched in Middlesbrough libraries. It is the first service in the North East to add eMagazines to Borrowbox which provides online versions of popular publications including Good Food and Gardeners’ World from the BBC, Total Film, Hello and Computer Active. You can loan the magazines for free via the app and it’s available 24/7. Stephen Hill, Middlesbrough Council’s executive member for culture and communities, said: “Our amazing libraries team are always ahead of the game.
• A long-awaited new railway station in suburban Preston has chugged closer into view after constructors were invited to make a bid to build it. Cottam Parkway will be a new boarding point on the line between Preston and Blackpool – and it is hoped that it could be just the ticket for reducing congestion on the roads in and around Preston city centre, by encouraging commuters and visitors to let the train take the strain.
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Contact us: You can get in touch via email - rob.parsons@reachplc.com - or via our Twitter page.
