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By ROB PARSONS - July 5 2022
He's been described as deploying an "X-Factor style public vote" to help decide the headquarters of the new public sector body which will oversee Britain’s railways.
And today - a few weeks later than originally planned - Transport Secretary Grant Shapps did his best to channel Ant and Dec as he announced the shortlist of six places vying to host the base of Great British Railways (GBR).
Crewe, Doncaster, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and York, as well as Birmingham and Derby, are all in the running, meaning there will be plenty of Northern interest in the Department for Transport contest.
And with a public vote launched today - though with Mr Shapps making the final decision - and ministerial visits planned to each shortlisted site the scene is now set for frenzied lobbying for votes from local leaders. Mr Shapps said: “I’m calling on people across the country to play a key part in this once-in-a-generation reform and vote for the new home of our railways.”
The “central headquarters” will provide strategic direction for the running of GBR, and bring “highly skilled jobs to the area”, the DfT said. There will also be “regional headquarters across the country”.
Applications were measured against six key criteria, which were: alignment to levelling up objectives, connected and easy to get to, opportunities for GBR, railway heritage and links to the network, value for money and public support
So how do the Northern contenders measure up ? Newcastle boasts the Stephenson Quarter - where the Robert Stephenson & Co. Locomotive Works was established in 1823 as the first manufacturing facility of its kind in the world - and a major railways training centre in Gateshead.
Crewe 's bid is backed by record producer and railway enthusiast Pete Waterman. Crewe Railway Station opened in 1837 and is described as one of the most historically significant railway stations in the world. Supporters say the headquarters would also benefit many surrounding areas due to Crewe’s strong transport connections to the rest of the country.
Doncaster considers itself the perfect location given its historic links with the railways dating back to the 1850s as the birthplace of the Mallard and Flying Scotsman, its central position on the East Coast Main Line and its air, rail and road links.
And York says it has "unrivalled" railway heritage as well as being "the most important location outside of London for the running of the railways" and home to the National Railway Museum. It adds that the huge York Central site "presents a unique opportunity to create Britain’s biggest rail cluster".
Just for fun, The Northern Agenda has launched its own public vote on Twitter to see which of the four Northern sites is the best bet. Have a look here .
Perhaps equally significant - though without a public vote - is the shortlist for where engineering giant Rolls-Royce will start building small modular nuclear reactors in a project set to bring £200m investment and 200 jobs to the winning site.
The FTSE 100 firm announced a competition at the start of the year, asking development bodies to bid for the initial factory, which will be the first of three factories and will manufacture the ‘heavy vessels’ for its small modular reactor (SMR) power station.
It said it marks the largest and most complex facility and that construction will begin once Rolls-Royce SMR receives the go-ahead to build a fleet of SMRs - smaller sites seen as more affordable than traditional nuclear power reactors - in the UK.
Sunderland’s IAMP; Forrest Park Newton Aycliffe, Catterick 53, Richmond, North Yorkshire; Gateway in Deeside, North Wales; Ferrybridge in Yorkshire; Grimsby, Lincolnshire; Pioneer Park, Stallingborough, Lincolnshire and Kingmoor Park, Carlisle, Cumbria are the shortlisted locations, as Coreena Ford writes for BusinessLive.
MP: It's absurd to teach children about Windrush but not King Aethelstan
It is "absurd" that schools teach children about the Windrush migration and not medieval England, a Yorkshire Tory MP said in a debate last night.
Alex Stafford blasted the current curriculum, saying the period stretching from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West from 476, to the discovery of the New World in 1492 should be front and centre.
Instead, as our Westminster Editor Dan O'Donoghue reports, the Rother Valley MP said history had been reduced to "bizarre themes" such as “Migrants in Britain: Notting Hill 1948 to 1970”.
Speaking in a Commons debate , he said: "The medieval period is pivotal for England, but the focus tends to be rather on the Tudors and Nazis: the so-called Henry and Hitler version of history. Children are taught more about Stalin than about English historical characters. They are even taught more about the civil rights movement in the USA than about the unification of England under Aethelstan.
"Looking through the papers offered by exam boards, I was dumbfounded to find topics such as 'Migrants in Britain: Notting Hill 1948 to 1970' and 'Changes in entertainment and leisure in Britain, c.500 to the present day'. Those papers show the absurdity of the situation."
Responding, Education Minister Robin Walker said the current curriculum allowed "for some very rich, broad teaching" and gave numerous examples of schools that were already teaching medieval history.
Stark challenges facing North East at start of new era for NHS
Your Northern Agenda Editor is old enough to remember when primary care trusts were replaced as the main bodies planning local health services by NHS clinical commissioning groups (or CCGs) a decade ago.
But now the CCGs have themselves been replaced by new Integrated Care Systems (ICS) as part of the latest NHS restructure. In the North East it means the North East and North Cumbria ICS is now in charge of decision-making in the region's health service.
The first meeting of the new board took place last week, with the health inequalities faced by people across the area high on the agenda. In a report to the board, local leaders made a "call to action" - describing the "stark challenges facing the communities we are proud to serve".
It warned that the North East is "way behind the rest of the country" when it comes to how long people can expect to live healthy lives and has the highest levels of "preventable mortality" nationwide, as Sam Volpe reports for ChronicleLive .
Senior execs have now spoken of their mission to tackle public health issues here - which they warned are "among the worst in the country" on the back of "a century of declining prosperity".
ICS chief exec Sam Allen said "partnership working" would be key to solving the problems. And chair Professor Sir Liam Donaldson - who was England's chief medical officer until 2010 - added: "While health and care services in the region are consistently rated as amongst the best in the country, public health remains amongst the worst."
'Big, bad and nasty': New fly-tipping unit tackles worst offenders
Fly-tipping is one of the nastiest blights you can see on any cul-de-sac or country lane , and for many a serious blight on their quality of life. And in Leeds a new serious environmental crime unit has been set up to snare the "big, bad and nasty" perpetrators of the most serious offences.
The council team, established this year, is thought to be the only one of its kind in Yorkshire dedicated to tackling more organised and industrial-scale offences rather than small-scale, isolated incidents of fly-tipping.
While day-to-day fly-tipping cases are still dealt with by local neighbourhood staff, the new unit is focused on building intelligence on repeat offenders and ensnaring the dodgy unlicensed “waste carriers” responsible for so much dumped rubbish across Leeds.
Speaking at Skelton Lake in east Leeds, the site of a recent massive dump of rubbish, area team manager Chris Chamberlain tells Local Democracy Reporter David Spereall: “We look at the more complicated, complex and commercial aspect of fly-tipping.
“Anything big, bad and nasty really. We take more robust action in the sense we don’t necessarily look for quick wins. We build cases and we spend time gathering evidence and intelligence so that we can build a stronger case for when we go to court."
Among the powers now available to local authorities in the war against waste-dumping is stop-and-search. The five-strong team regularly go out with the police and can halt vehicles they suspect might be carrying rubbish illegally.
Beergate Chief Constable 'an inspirational leader', says police tsar
All eyes are on Durham Police this week as it concludes its 'Beergate' probe which could force the resignation of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
And the force's role in the high-profile political investigation was raised by a local councillor as he questioned the decision to extend the contract of Chief Constable Jo Farrell for a further three years .
A police and crime panel meeting heard that while chief constables' salaries are set nationally the extension would cost around £550,000 in salary and National Insurance contributions, writes Local Democracy Reporter Gareth Lightfoot.
But questioning police and crime commissioner Joy Allen, local Tory councillor Robert Potts referred to “Beergate” and listed issues concerning victims of crime, domestic violence, a £21m new custody suite, the 101 system, critical reports on child abuse and sexual exploitation.
He said: “Following that, the police and crime commissioner, having not held the Chief Constable to account for all those things, then gives an extension to her contract for three years. That to me will be perceived by members of the public as not being a very good thing to do.”
In reply, Ms Allen said Durham was rated as 'good' in a recent inspection programme and described the chief as 'an inspirational leader'. She said: “Some assistants in larger forces get paid more than our chief. Thankfully Durham is held in high regard because we have an outstanding force, we have got really good reputations with the inspectorate and nationally people look to Durham for best practice.”
Future of Yorkshire tourism unclear after regional agency collapses
Yorkshire's official tourism agency was placed into administration at the start of March after council leaders pulled the plug on public funding following years of reputational and financial problems.
And four months on from the collapse of Welcome to Yorkshire political leaders are still wrestling with the issue of what type of organisation is best placed to promote the region and how it ought to be funded. As Local Democracy Reporter Stuart Minting writes , a new council-backed tourism body is expected to be launched by spring next year.
A meeting of local authority leaders in North Yorkshire and York heard council officers’ discussions with tourism firms from across the region were set to conclude later this month.
The development of a proposal for a replacement organisation to Welcome to Yorkshire remains at a very early stage. While some council leaders say the collapse has seen the loss of potential significant interventions in the tourism economy this year, others have used their own staff to take on tasks previously undertaken by the tourism body.
Complications in deciding the way forward, the meeting heard, included agreeing potential deals with Wensleydale entrepreneur Robin Scott’s Silicone Dales, who bought Welcome to Yorkshire’s assets, including the rights to the Tour de Yorkshire, in April.
North Yorkshire County Council chief executive Richard Flinton said Welcome to Yorkshire’s assets had not been bought by local government but there was still “a lot of appetite” amongst councils for a body established to protect tourism, promote the brand of Yorkshire and pick up some of Welcome to Yorkshire’s work.
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Northern Stories
Housing minister Eddie Hughes pledged to clamp down on unscrupulous landlords who fail to provide proper support for their tenants during a visit to Blackpool . Mr Hughes, also minister for rough housing, said many vulnerable people were missing out on the support they needed while private landlords collected higher levels of housing benefit meant to pay for care. In the poorest areas of Blackpool, 85% of residents depend on housing benefit to pay their rent. The minister said: “We’re talking about supported housing but frequently that element of support is what’s missing."
An historic Grade II-listed Army drill hall has been closed 'on safety grounds'. Castle Armoury, in Bury town centre, was designed as the headquarters of the 8th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps and built on the remains of the former Bury Castle in 1868. Bury council has been told by the Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations hTat it has been closed on safety grounds. But councillors confirmed a 'broad-based campaign' would now be launched to lobby for funding to preserve the armoury.
An ice cream vendor could be forced to move after a child was hit by a car near his spot outside a Sheffield school. Paul Grayson wants to renew his licence to sell ice creams outside Birley Primary Academy, on Thornbridge Avenue. But Dawn McAughey, headteacher of the school, Clive Betts, MP for Sheffield South East, and Lauren Spacie, of South Yorkshire Police, have all objected. They are concerned about congestion, parking and the safety of pupils at busy times.
Northern Labour metro mayors have backed workers’ right to strike as they warned the cost-of-living crisis is “forcing an increasing number of people into industrial disputes”. In a statement, the mayors said striking is at times the only remaining means for people to “defend their livelihoods”, with those compelled to take a stand recently including rail workers, barristers and airport staff. The statement is signed by Labour mayors Steve Rotheram of the Liverpool City Region and Andy Burnham of Greater Manchester, as well as Oliver Coppard of South Yorkshire, and Jamie Driscoll of North of Tyne.
Under-fire Liverpool Council has referred itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office over a data breach involving 10,000 incorrect letters being sent out across the city. It was revealed last week that the local authority sent out thousands of letters to homes across the city relating to the council tax energy rebate scheme who do not pay by direct debit, inviting them to apply for the pay back. It was only after they were issued council officials realised that the wrong names had been placed on the letters.
Fresh plans have been lodged to pave the way for a manufacturing plant at a once cherished Teesside football ground. Billingham Synthonia’s Central Avenue ground hosted its last game in 2017 with bulldozers moving in two years later. Now Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies has lodged proposals to prepare the site after buying it up. Plans submitted to Stockton Council show the firm wants to start engineering operations up to 25 metres below ground, including piling, to lay the foundations for the technology giant’s campus expansion.
