More rows in the Counties and Districts

County under fire over cuts claims
Sep 29 2004
By Dave Black, The Journal

A new row has erupted over local government reform in Northumberland after the county council was accused of deliberately delaying controversial cuts in services.

Six district councils have sparked a fresh war of words over the town halls shake-up by claiming county council bosses are putting off "drastic" cutbacks until after the crunch referendum vote next month.

District leaders yesterday challenged the county to "come clean" about what they say are looming cuts, including the closure of middle schools, old people's homes, libraries and fire stations.

They say the county council is holding back on the highly-contentious moves until after the vote on the future of local government in the county.

The claims sparked an angry response last night from county council leader Coun Michael Davey who described them as nonsense and accused the districts of lacking the courage to make tough decisions.

Northumberland County Council is caught up in a huge row with parents over plans to axe 45 middle schools and switch to a two-tier education system.

Claims were made recently by the Fire Brigades' Union that up to four operational fire stations in Cramlington, Blyth, Ashington and Morpeth could close and be replaced by two new ones under a modernisation drive. The future of council-run old people's homes in Northumberland has been unclear since plans to close three were dropped earlier this year following a storm of protest. And there have been persistent rumours - denied by the county council - that up to nine libraries are in line for closure.

Northumberland County Council is campaigning for the county to be run by a single, unitary authority in the event of a yes vote in the November referendum on a North-East Regional Assembly.

It is at loggerheads with the six districts which favour two unitaries.

Berwick Borough Council leader Coun Tony Hughes said yesterday on behalf of the districts: "They (the county council) have delayed making decisions on closing middle schools against parents' wishes, they have delayed making decisions on the future of old peoples homes, they have decisions to make on the closure of libraries and, most recently, they have announced the possible closure of local fire stations.
"They don't want the bad news to come out in advance of a vote that will determine the county council's future.
"We challenge the county to come clean and announce its intentions."

Coun Davey said: "We are taking tough decisions and for the right reasons. For example, we are tackling under-achievement in our schools in the run-up to this referendum. We have delayed nothing.
"It would be a betrayal of our parents and pupils not to have tackled the schools issue this year. It would have been wrong not to have engaged older people in the future of our homes. We have no intention of making decisions on libraries and fire stations and would not, in any event, without full consultation.
"We have not, would not and will not delay a single decision that would make a difference to people's lives. The tragedy is that the districts probably would not have had the courage to take tough decisions. That is what we do