Saw this comment online the other day:

"The Government have pulled many millions from the Humber Sub Region in the last few weeks (£220 MILLION from the A63 Catle Street supported by Hull and the East Riding, £150 MILLION from Orchard Park, £90 MILLION from the Gateway scheme from Hull and the East Riding and 40% from the Building Schools for the Future amounting to £95 MILLION giving a total £555 MILLION cuts since this government put itself in to power".

So, Hull has seen £555 million of cuts already, not to mention Hull Forward as well.
I wonder if anyone from one of the other forums can tell us if their area has been affected this much too? it'd be interesting to know.

I copied the below post over here, from the 'Hull and Humber' Forum.

As Dazzar86 says, it would be very interesting to see how "all four areas" get on (relatively) in terms of the current round of CUTS.

I thought this communal area of our forum would be the best place to discuss it.

1,600 jobs will be axed by Durham County Council
December 15th 2010, by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/aug2010/7/2/durham-county-hall-553503806.jpg

THE leader of the North East’s largest local authority has accused the Government of being “Robin Hood in reverse” after his council received a £100m funding cut.

Simon Henig last night said Durham County Council was left with no choice but to slash 1,600 jobs and cut services after Communities Secretary Eric Pickles hugely reduced council grants.

Mr Henig accused the Conservative MP of unfairly targeting deprivation hit parts of the North while softening the funding blow to many Southern councils controlled by the Conservatives.

Almost £11m which could have been handed to Durham has been diverted to other councils.

While his authority losses some 14% of its budget for the next year, Mr Henig said councils, such as the relatively well-off Surrey, escaped with funding cuts worth less than 1% of their budgets.

He added: “This does not surprise me really. The Conservative Secretary of State has put together a programme of cuts which hits the poorest areas hardest and leaves large parts of the South relatively unhurt.

“If you look at Surrey County Council, they have escaped okay from this. What we are seeing is Robin Hood in reverse where the Government has taken from the poor to feed the rich.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2010/12/15/1-600-jobs-will-be-axed-by-durham-county-council-61634-27827825/#ixzz18Bt0yvmg

As I also put in the 'Hull & Humber' forum, similar to the Durham article above:

[For those of you who don't know, the East Riding of Yorkshire is split into two councils; Hull City Council and East Riding Council]

"Hull has to make savings of £40 million over ONE year, but the Tory run East Riding has to only save £30 million over FOUR years!??"

As I also put in the 'Hull & Humber' forum, similar to the Durham article above:

[For those of you who don't know, the East Riding of Yorkshire is split into two councils; Hull City Council and East Riding Council]

"Hull has to make savings of £40 million over ONE year, but the Tory run East Riding has to only save £30 million over FOUR years!??"


Hi Dazzar86, now these cuts we are all facing are bad enough, but "inequality of treatment" can/will make it even worse.

How, do you think, that has happened?

OK, I don't know the full background, but it just doesn't seem remotely fair!

Not sure how it's happened, but as the media is all based in the South and they're usually the outlet to kick up a fuss, they won't care about what is happening, so we won't hear much about it either IMO.

It seems like the Tories picked up a chart of the UK in the last election, saw which were red and which were blue on it. Blue got priority over red and Southern blues got priority over Northern blues.

.
Click the link at the bottom of this post for most of the article, and a very interesting MAP of UK Local Authority Areas . . .

Councils' cuts put thousands of jobs at risk
Dec 14 2010 by Adrian Pearson, Evening Chronicle


Areas of Tyneside are on track for thousands of job losses as the Government confirms plans to swipe millions of pounds from town hall budgets.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has ordered council bosses to cut services by more than £100m next year.

But the MP has faced a fierce backlash after he was accused of dismissing desperate pleas from councils to slow down the pace of the cuts, as city leaders try to save some of the 5,000 jobs so far set to go.

Despite finding extra cash for social services, the Government has been criticised for pushing ahead with “staggering” cuts.

No service is safe from scrutiny as council accountants struggle to make the numbers add up.

With the announcement of how much cash is set to be stripped from their budgets, council chiefs are having to review all the services they provide with cost-cutting in mind.

From bin collection to grass cutting, care for older people and public libraries, everything is going under the microscope in the hunt for savings.

Mr Pickles said no council will lose more than 8.9% of its cash in the first year of cuts, but South Tyneside is among those which faces that harshest blow and it will make 1,200 posts redundant.

Some Southern Tory-run councils face cuts worth only 1%, but it looks as if Labour’s Tyneside heartland is preparing for years of belt-tightening. The Lib Dem-run Newcastle City Council alone will lose more than £26m, making life difficult for finance chiefs already preparing to make 2,000 posts redundant


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2010/12/14/councils-cuts-put-thousands-of-jobs-at-risk-72703-27822868/#ixzz18GbFobDH

Losing out in the big divide
December 18th 2010, by Joanne Butcher, The Journal


A map of the UK, drawn up by The Journal, shows how the North East is losing out to affluent areas of the south in this week’s Government funding cuts.

Urban communities in the region are set to lose up to a fifth of Government funding, while leafy southern shires have cuts as low as 4%.

The Journal has put together a map to show the vast difference between spending cuts across the UK.

It shows that North East councils – already some of the UK’s poorest areas – will bear the brunt of slashed spending.

South Tyneside is worst affected, losing 21.5% of its government grants – the fifth highest cut in the whole of the UK.

Coun Ed Malcolm, lead member for resources at the council, said: “This is the toughest local government finance settlement in living memory and South Tyneside is one of the worst hit areas in the country.

“The settlement is far worse than we expected and has left us facing a £35m gap between what we need to spend next year and the funding we are going to have. Make no mistake, this budget will create hardship. We have been preparing for the worst and that is what we have got.

“We have been exploring efficiencies across all of our services but the scale of the reduction in our funding is so great that it will inevitably lead to cuts in services.

“We will continue to work closely with the trades unions and partners to approach these challenges together and to find ways of minimising the impact on our residents and our staff.”

Close behind were Sunderland, set to lose 19.5%, and Gateshead losing 19.3%. Newcastle will lose 18.2%, County Durham 18% and Northumberland 17.8%.

Least affected in the region is North Tyneside, which stands to lose 15.4% of grants.

But those figures are in stark contrast to areas such as Dorset, who will only lose 4%, and Surrey, which will lose 6.3%.

The map appears to contradict the claim of Communities Secretary Eric Pickles that his cuts were “progressive” and “fair between different parts of the country”.

Some 20 of the 30 hardest-hit councils are run by Labour, and two more by Labour in coalition. By contrast, 28 of the 30 councils that will see the smallest cuts are Conservative-led.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2010/12/18/losing-out-in-the-big-divide-61634-27846533/#ixzz18S56lnAs

There is also a lot of information on "Regional Funding" issues in this thread (which has been on the go for some time now) here . . .

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1041501

.

Losing out in the big divide
December 18th 2010, by Joanne Butcher, The Journal


A map of the UK, drawn up by The Journal, shows how the North East is losing out to affluent areas of the south in this week’s Government funding cuts.

Urban communities in the region are set to lose up to a fifth of Government funding, while leafy southern shires have cuts as low as 4%.

The Journal has put together a map to show the vast difference between spending cuts across the UK.

It shows that North East councils – already some of the UK’s poorest areas – will bear the brunt of slashed spending.

South Tyneside is worst affected, losing 21.5% of its government grants – the fifth highest cut in the whole of the UK.

Coun Ed Malcolm, lead member for resources at the council, said: “This is the toughest local government finance settlement in living memory and South Tyneside is one of the worst hit areas in the country.

“The settlement is far worse than we expected and has left us facing a £35m gap between what we need to spend next year and the funding we are going to have. Make no mistake, this budget will create hardship. We have been preparing for the worst and that is what we have got.

“We have been exploring efficiencies across all of our services but the scale of the reduction in our funding is so great that it will inevitably lead to cuts in services.

“We will continue to work closely with the trades unions and partners to approach these challenges together and to find ways of minimising the impact on our residents and our staff.”

Close behind were Sunderland, set to lose 19.5%, and Gateshead losing 19.3%. Newcastle will lose 18.2%, County Durham 18% and Northumberland 17.8%.

Least affected in the region is North Tyneside, which stands to lose 15.4% of grants.

But those figures are in stark contrast to areas such as Dorset, who will only lose 4%, and Surrey, which will lose 6.3%.

The map appears to contradict the claim of Communities Secretary Eric Pickles that his cuts were “progressive” and “fair between different parts of the country”.

Some 20 of the 30 hardest-hit councils are run by Labour, and two more by Labour in coalition. By contrast, 28 of the 30 councils that will see the smallest cuts are Conservative-led.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2010/12/18/losing-out-in-the-big-divide-61634-27846533/#ixzz18S56lnAs



Nothing surprises with this Government, ----I think we were all expecting to take a big hit, --but these people are giving every Labour voting area a right kicking, ---wonder how Mr Pickles will explain how this is fair, ---of course they will come up with some clap trap.

Achieve cuts by taking out wasteful managers, says Pickles
6:30am Wednesday 22nd December 2010

Print Email Share Comments(0) By Rob Merrick »

THE region’s town hall leaders are “stupid” if they cannot cope with the most savage cuts to their budgets in generations, a Cabinet minister claimed yesterday.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles turned his fire on council bosses who have warned of painful cuts to services, insisting they would be guilty of negligence if that happened.

Giving evidence to a committee of MPs, Mr Pickles again insisted the draconian cuts – announced last week – could be achieved by taking out a wasteful layer of middle management.

And he warned that council leaders – not himself – would be the target of the public’s anger if they axe libraries, leisure centres and care services, rather than get rid of managers.

From next month, all councils will be expected, although not legally required, to publish all items of spending above £500 on their websites – which ministers are convinced will reveal scandalous waste to local voters.

Mr Pickles said: “It will be a very brave decision, in the ‘Yes Minister’ sense, to cut front-line services if you have not tackled the layer of middle management that exists in local authorities.” On the scale of cuts, the Communities Secretary insisted: “You would have to be beyond the point of negligence – to the point of stupidity – as a local government leader or official, if you were not expecting cuts of this magnitude.”

Almost all the region’s councils have warned of cuts to services, faced with grant reductions of up to 17 per cent next year – with further pain to come in succeeding years.

Durham County Council must find more than £100m of savings, warning of 1,600 job losses and admitting that libraries, museums, theatres, welfare rights, youth centres and leisure are all at risk.

Mr Pickles has been accused of agreeing to deeper departmental cuts than other ministers to curry favour with David Cameron and because of an ideological crusade to hack back public spending.

Read more, http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/8750877.Achieve_cuts_by_taking_out_wasteful_managers__says_Pickles/

Government criticised over funding shortfall
December 31st 2010, Evening Chronicle


A council is facing a £14m budget black hole to cover the cost of slashing jobs.

The Government has announced it will only fund 38% of what local authorities requested to pay for job cuts.

In Newcastle that means the city council is facing being left with a massive bill and could have to look at scaling back its enhanced redundancy terms for workers leaving.

Council bosses and union leaders have criticised the move, saying it will mean councils having to make deeper cuts to pay for redundancies.

City council chiefs announced in October that 2,000 jobs would go as they try to deal with a budget cut of £100m over four years.

Of the 1,000 jobs due to be axed over the next year to 18 months, bosses believe 800 will be redundancies.

Based on the council’s enhanced redundancy agreement, they are predicting costs totaling £17.6m. But the Government has told city chiefs they will only allow them to use borrowing to fund £3.8m, leaving it with £13.8m costs to meet.


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2010/12/31/government-criticised-over-funding-shortfall-72703-27912984/#ixzz19hKbwgCu

I doubt Chris is arguing against free speech - as he says, Labour should simply "take a long hard look at themselves", which in this case they certainly should. It's childish rubbish like this that makes people sick of politics.

What makes me sick is the unfair treatment of the North East by this coaliton government.

North East efforts to create work crippled by £33m cuts

Read More http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2010/09/25/north-east-efforts-to-create-work-crippled-by-33m-cuts-61634-27338786/#ixzz19oLXz3WF

Northumberland council chiefs upset by services threat
January 3rd 2011, by David Black, The Journal

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/aug2010/3/0/county-hall-northumberland-county-council-667110861.jpg

ANGER has erupted after grass roots councils across Northumberland were asked to rescue valued local services that are facing the axe under a £110m cost-cutting drive.

Scores of town and parish councils have been told that unless they agree to take over a range of duties from County Hall this year, the services could be significantly reduced or even scrapped completely.

Yesterday, county council bosses were accused of trying to “blackmail” their town and parish colleagues into saving threatened services at the 11th hour.

The unitary authority is facing the budget cut over the next four years and £60m must be found in 2011/12.

Services that it now wants town and parish councils to take over from April include youth provision, parks, playing fields and playgrounds, community centres, litter collection, grass cutting and public toilets.

A letter from County Hall says it is a “realistic possibility” that a number of services will either reduce or stop altogether, unless they are taken over.

Town and parish councils would have to increase their own spending to accept the extra responsibilities, but they are being warned that the alternative is to risk losing valued services.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news//tm_headline=northumberland-council-chiefs-upset-by-services-threat%26method=full%26objectid=27922924%26siteid=61634-name_page.html#ixzz19xy10J5o

http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/news/Guildhall-maps-deep-cuts/article-3059142-detail/article.html

Guildhall maps out deep cuts: Minns set to unveil tough budget plans

FINANCIAL DECISIONS: Council leader Carl Minns was briefing his Liberal Democrat group today.
DETAILS of the deepest cuts in city council spending for a generation are expected to be unveiled tomorrow.

Council leader Carl Minns will outline the authority's proposed budget for the coming year as it faces a reduction in Government funding of about £50 million.

Despite the squeeze, he will confirm a freeze on council tax bills for the second year running.

That has been made possible by a one-off Government grant.

But the rest of the budget's headlines are likely to make grim reading.

As the Mail revealed, Councillor Minns has already indicated the council is set to launch a second voluntary redundancy programme after 110 staff were allowed to leave before Christmas following an initial round that attracted more than 1,000 initial expressions of interest.

He has yet to rule out compulsory redundancies although they have usually been regarded as a last resort at the Guildhall.

Staffing cuts are expected to be made alongside a continuing reduction in the number of buildings the council operates from.

Reduced opening times already approved for museums, some sports centres and customer service centres are also set to be rolled out to other premises, including libraries.

Frontline services, once regarded as virtually untouchable in local government, are also likely to come under pressure.

That could mean big changes in adult social care where the introduction of so-called personal budgets means that money once automatically given to councils to run services now goes straight to individuals and their carers instead.

Other more radical savings options, including shutting the Priory Park park-and- ride bus service, are believed to have been rejected during the budget preparation process.

Mr Minns said: "I am not going to make any comment before the budget details are officially released."

He was due to present a final draft of his budget proposals to the council's ruling Liberal Democrat group today.

Brian Strutton, general secretary of the GMB union, said: "The Local Government Association has predicted that 140,000 posts will be lost in local government in 2011-12 and that seems very realistic to us.

"It is going to be a very bleak 2011 for local council workers."


-------------------------------------------------------------
^Hull is about to find out the damage in the next few days it seems.
What has annoyed me most is that George Osborne stated now is the time for this country to capitalise on tourism, whilst the pound is weak against other currencies, yet because Hull has received such huge cuts to it's budget, tourism, which brings a lot into the local economy as well as creating in-direct 'branch off' businesses such as cafe's from having extra people needing food/drink, is having to be put on the back foot and has seen Hull's museums and galleries turned into 'part-time' attractions with opening hours of only 4 hours per day! Thankfully The Deep isn't council/government owned, so hopefully people wil go there whilst waiting for the other museums to open.

Thousands of public sector jobs under threat
January 4th 2011, by Andrew Glover, Evening Chronicle


LETTERS warning public sector workers they’re “at risk” of redundancy are landing on thousands of doormats across the North East.

They have been sent out as councils get to grips with millions of pounds being wiped from their budgets by the coalition Government. In the letters, staff are told a formal 90-day consultation period is under way.

Trade unions expect 30,000 public sector jobs to be axed in the North East over the next four years.

Gill Hale, regional secretary of the public sector union, Unison, said town halls were still making calculations and it could be some weeks before the full extent of redundancies is known. But she warned: “For some people 2011 is going to be a bleak year.

“It is a worrying time for everybody working in the public sector and the timing of the notices being sent out makes it all the more difficult for families, especially considering some families will have both parents working in the public sector.”


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2011/01/04/thousands-of-public-sector-jobs-under-threat-72703-27929696/#ixzz1A4gfux2P

The full extent of the Hull cuts are to be in tomorrow's Hull Daily Mail, but so far a little bit has come out today, which includes:
1,600 jobs to be axed ASAP
libraries to be merged
2 or 3 housing for the elderly to close.
and the closing of many council offices to reduce the number it uses.

along with this little gem:

Lights go out in council offices to save cash – bulbs may not be replaced

The Guildhall, home of Hull City Council.​COUNCIL staff in Hull could find themselves working in partially-lit offices as part of a cost-cutting drive.

A spending squeeze at the city council is forcing officials to put some repairs on standby.

As part of a new policy, faulty light bulbs in authority-owned buildings may not be replaced to help save money.

Immediate repairs will not be carried out in a room if more than half the lights are still working.

Instead, rooms with single lights and flickering bulbs will be given priority.

Faulty lights on stairways and landings will also receive a quicker response.

Council leader Carl Minns said the new criteria for replacing light bulbs was a “sensible way” to organise such repairs.

However, critics said they were unconvinced over how not immediately replacing light bulbs would save substantial amounts of cash.

Some have said the move could also lead to “sub-standard” lighting of offices.

The council, which is facing having to make £50 million of savings over the coming financial year, owns just over 300 buildings in the city.

more at:
http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/news/Lights-council-offices-save-cash-8211-bulbs-replaced/article-3065860-detail/article.html

.
A very specific, and potentially disastrous, impact of the cuts here . . .

£8m black hole in Newcastle Science City project
January 12th 2011, by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/jan2011/3/9/science-city-image-2-324904928.jpg

SCIENCE City bosses face an £8m funding black hole after regeneration cash was pulled from the huge city centre jobs project.

Government spending chiefs have turned down a request by development agency One North East for permission to hand over the £8m it had promised for the Science Central building, in Newcastle. The refusal could threaten the next phase of the much overdue project, which is hoped will breathe new life into derelict areas of the city.

Project partners at Newcastle Council and Newcastle University have now been left searching for a means of replacing the money needed to keep the Science City masterplan on track.

The funding deficit has emerged despite a planning application for the initial funded work being submitted.

The Coalition Government is understood to have handed defunct RDA One North East just enough cash to pay off its current bills and no more for capital expenditure – including crucial schemes like Science City.

Science City leaders will now be forced to look for regeneration cash from Europe. Shadow Science Minister, Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah, accused the Treasury of sparking “total chaos” around the region’s most important regeneration scheme.

She said: “What this does is underline the asset chaos really. One North East will likely lose a lot of assets which could be kept in the region.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/01/12/8m-black-hole-in-newcastle-science-city-project-61634-27970855/#ixzz1AoQ0nex0

City leaders accuse treasury over council cuts
January 13th 2011, by Adrian Pearson, The Journal


CITY leaders have accused the Treasury of deliberately withholding £2bn worth of councils funds which would save thousands of jobs.

As a result, says the region’s leading council treasurer, the North East has been handed a council settlement which leaves it subsidising the South.

Newcastle City Council spending chief Paul Woods, with the backing of his Liberal Democrat leaders, said the Treasury has deliberately underestimated how much money it can make from business rates – the cash used to fund most councils – and used this as an excuse to speed up the cuts programme.

Mr Woods has written to the Comptroller and Auditor General, head of the National Audit Office, asking why its figure for business rates show £21bn is likely to be raised, but the Treasury’s predicts only £19bn.

In a Newcastle City Council meeting last night to agree a £50m cuts report, which could see up to 2,000 jobs go, Mr Woods said the city loses £98 per head through Government cuts.

But councils in less deprived areas in the South have escaped the worst blows, with the likes of Surrey losing only £9 per head. “The North East is effectively subsidising the South,” Mr Woods said.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/01/13/city-leaders-accuse-treasury-over-council-cuts-61634-27978901/#ixzz1AuB2P4g2

'Cuts aren't hitting the North East too hard'
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, January 15th 20110

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/jan2011/5/4/david-cameron-image-3-787309356.jpg

THE Prime Minister sparked outrage yesterday by claiming the North East has not been as hard hit as the South by the Government’s cuts.

And in an attempt to deflect blame from the Coalition’s budget cutting he questioned whether Newcastle Council chief executive Barry Rowland deserved his £165,000 pay packet – a salary Mr Cameron said was higher even than his own.

On a visit to the region, Mr Cameron insisted there was no North-South divide in the cuts, despite claims Newcastle is losing around £98 per head and Durham as much as £134 per head while the likes of Surrey escaped with just a £9 per head reduction.

Mr Cameron justified his claims with an example from his own constituency – Witney in Oxfordshire.

“My constituency is losing 23% of its grant, much more than anywhere in the North East and so I think the settlement is fair in that way,” he said.

Seen as a percentage Mr Cameron’s claims are correct, but The Journal can reveal the actual cash spending cut is tiny compared to those in the North.

While Newcastle City Council is losing £25m in one year, with rising costs bringing the shortfall up to £50m, the 23% cut to Mr Cameron’s West Oxfordshire council is worth just £775,000.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/01/15/cuts-aren-t-hitting-the-north-east-too-hard-61634-27989680/#ixzz1B6HBtQxx

Northumbria Police may axe hundreds of jobs
by Andy Hughes, Evening Chronicle, January 17th 2011


COST-CUTTING measures forced by the Government could see up to 500 fewer police on Tyneside’s streets in the coming years.

Northumbria Police chiefs have been ordered to impose a recruitment freeze and will not be allowed to take on any more staff until numbers are down by around 12%, the Chronicle understands.

Hundreds of the force’s civilian staff are also expected to lose their jobs. This announcement is expected to be made official either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Today a senior police source told how he fears the cuts could lead to a less effective force.

The detective, who did not wish to be named, said: “This news could cripple Northumbria Police due to lack of man power.

“However, it’s not the force’s fault. It’s the Government who are imposing these cuts.


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2011/01/17/northumbria-police-may-axe-hundreds-of-jobs-72703-28000421/#ixzz1BIX8mKgF

Anger over forced sell-off of key North East assets
by William Green, The Journal, January 18th 2011


MINISTERS in London want to begin selling valuable regional assets from April and could accelerate the closure of the North East’s development agency, The Journal can reveal.

Moves to sell up to £500m of assets held by regional development agencies (RDAs) – including One North East’s £150m property portfolio – are set to begin within three months. And RDAs could be shut down this year rather than 2012 as previously promised by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.

Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson accused ministers of operating a “scorched earth policy” that risked the region’s economic future.

Development chiefs have also warned of “major risks” in selling assets and bringing forward closure of RDAs.

It has left further questions marks over assets such as Newcastle Science Central development – already £38m short after One North East was forced to hold back any further cash help.

Labour MP Mr Wilson said: “These assets could have been developed with a sustainable approach that would have been developed by the RDAs.

“Fundamentally if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The approach is just a scorched earth policy.”

He added One North East had been the “main dynamo” in developing the regional economy by supporting businesses, helping the region export more than it imported.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/01/18/anger-over-forced-sell-off-of-key-north-east-assets-61634-28003525/#ixzz1BNRVxRT4

North forced to bear the brunt of massive cuts
by Amy Hunt, The Journal, January 24th 2011

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/jan2011/6/6/wearmouth-bridge-in-sunderland-457357296.JPG
Wearmouth Bridge in Sunderland

PLANS to slash the country's debt through massive spending cuts will hit the North much harder than the South, new research concludes.

Think-tank Centre for Cities has highlighted a division in how different parts of the UK are recovering from recession and are placed to absorb cuts to the public sector.

Sunderland is named in the Cities Outlook 2011 report as one of the most vulnerable places in the country, prompting a backlash from the council’s boss.

The report pulls together figures on things like unemployment, the number of people on benefits, average earnings and the number of public versus private sector jobs.

It finds certain parts of the country will be much harder hit by forthcoming cuts to welfare and the public sector, as the Government tries to reduce the country’s deficit and will find it much harder to bounce back from recession.

Cities in the North East and North West are most likely to be affected, with those in the South and South East least hard hit.

Sunderland is said to be among those cities with “weaker private sector economies” which rely heavily on public sector employment.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/01/24/north-forced-to-bear-the-brunt-of-massive-cuts-61634-28042033/#ixzz1BwSvcudU

Alarm over cuts to arts in the North East
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, January 27th 2011

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/aug2010/5/6/theatre-royal-94565858.jpg

THE threat to arts in the North East has been raised in Parliament, with a warning that the Government is risking the region’s cultural renaissance.

Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell has called on ministers to look again at support for theatre groups as funding cuts threaten to undermine the city’s cultural achievements over the last 10 years.

Millions of pounds have been wiped off funding for North East arts organisations as part of a 30% cuts to Arts Council budgets and further blows passed on the by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Ms McKinnell says this and funding cuts at Newcastle Council will see touring companies left with no choice but to miss out Newcastle, and jobs likely to go across Tyneside.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/01/27/alarm-over-cuts-to-arts-in-the-north-east-61634-28063348/#ixzz1CFeGLR32

Warning storm is brewing over funding cuts
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, February 2nd 2011


ACADEMICS have warned the Government its funding cuts will hit the North East like a “perfect storm”.

In the latest row over the Government’s multi-billion pound deficit reduction plans, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has been told his “unfair” funding cuts will disadvantage the North over the South. Research from Newcastle University has been commissioned by Middlesbrough mayor Ray Mallon, which he held up yesterday to show a North-South divide in the Government’s approach to cuts.

The former police officer accused the coalition Government of carrying out the cuts “for purely ideological reasons”.

At his side was Newcastle University’s Professor John Tomaney, head of the university’s Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies, Prof Tomaney, who described the cuts as “the perfect storm”. He has analysed a series of grant reductions which will see more than £500m taken from North East councils over the next four years and lead to some 4,000 jobs going.

He said: “We can see from this research that the impact of the cuts will not be felt evenly across the country".


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/02/02/warning-storm-is-brewing-over-funding-cuts-61634-28098022/#ixzz1CnH5X8RJ

The City is inviting comments from residents, using a simple form with tick-boxes, about the options for reducing expenditure in 2011-12.
Here : http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/condiary.nsf/diary/0963AD7EF4B521818025782500492037?opendocument

The impact of government spending reductions on Newcastle
Newcastle City Council has been planning for reductions in public spending for some time. However the scale of the cuts announced in the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review last year was higher than we expected.

As result of cuts to the main government grant to local councils, and the reduction or removal to other government grants, external funding to Newcastle City Council (including schools) will fall from £410m to £376m - a reduction of £34m. When you add in spending pressures arising from things like an increased demand for services, pay and price inflation, and lower income levels because of the economic downturn, the gap in the council's budget next year rises to over £45m.

The council has identified savings to bridge this budget gap, the majority of which will come from improving efficiency. However, the council has estimated that there could be a reduction of around 700 posts across the council in the next year, significantly fewer than the 1,000 we originally estimated.

The council is actively lobbying government on a range of issues to help reduce the impact these cuts have in areas with high levels of deprivation like Newcastle. They have listened to some of our arguments, but overall the drop in funding for Newcastle works out at about £93 per person in Newcastle, compared to a national average of around £50 per person.


The first item for consideration in the form is:
'Reduce spending on cultural events around the city (£200K)'
followed by many options for reducing libraries, service centre staff, support for the young and the elderly and for increasing parking charges.

Some tough choices, but its nice to be asked!

Morpeth 'singled out' for grim news, says MP
by William Green, The Journal, February 5th 2011


A NORTH East town has been “singled out” by the Government for a triple-whammy of blows, its MP claims.

Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery spoke out after the Government announced a decision on a bypass scheme was being delayed until the end of the year – with no guarantee that it will go ahead.

The news comes in the wake of Morpeth’s £17m flood defence scheme being thrown into doubt by cuts imposed by the Government. Work on the project was supposed to get under way in December 2011 and be finished in late 2013.

The Labour MP also fears the impact of spending cuts on employment in the town, with half of Morpeth’s workers employed by the public sector.

Mr Lavery said: “Morpeth seems to have been targeted more than anywhere else in the North East. It seems to be singled out.”


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/02/05/morpeth-singled-out-for-grim-news-says-mp-61634-28117441/#ixzz1D566F5Rt

Hospital's amazing work may be at risk in review
February 6th 2011, by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun


IT is a place where miracles are worked, where young lives are saved in their hundreds.

But despite its amazing work, this leading North hospital’s heart unit could soon close as part of a Government review.

The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle came under the Government microscope last year, as part of a review of the UK’s 11 heart units.

Now, having been delayed twice, a public announcement on the issue is to be made on Wednesday, February 16.

Having provided such a superb service over the years, users and staff clearly hope it will remain open, but there is still a chance the Government will decide otherwise, instead favouring units which are more geographically centralised.

Should that happen, the unit could close on that very same day because all it would take is for its surgeons to leave and go to work in one of the chosen heart units.


Read More - http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/news/north-east-news/2011/02/06/hospital-s-amazing-work-may-be-at-risk-in-review-79310-28120160/

London hogs centre stage in the race for arts cash
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, February 7th 2011


A LONDON arts “bias” will see three-quarters of Government cultural cash handed to the capital this year as projects in regions such as the North East face closure, it has been claimed.

Ministers have been told they must act on “a plea for the English regions” as arts organisations face up to the impact of cuts worth in some cases more than 30% of their budgets.

Former Newcastle Council leader Lord Shipley has spoken of the “stark” contrast between the way the Department of Culture, Media and Sport handles the capital and the rest of England.

London, Lord Shipley told the House of Lords, has had its Government cultural cash relatively protected while at the same time having a large number of wealthy businesses ready to make substantial contributions.

Neither of those conditions are present in the North East, where the Royal Shakespeare Company has said it will not be touring this year, a move Lord Shipley said was a “consequence of the way arts public funding works”.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/02/07/london-hogs-centre-stage-in-the-race-for-arts-cash-61634-28125220/#ixzz1DGFO8eeU

Vital European funds to be wasted due to cuts
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, February 7th 2011


TENS of millions of pounds in European funds meant to create thousands of jobs in the North East will have to be handed back as a result of Government cuts, it is feared.

A pot of European regeneration money worth up to £180m needs to be allocated to North East projects before March 2012 or the European Commission will claw it back.

But it cannot be spent without matched funding being provided from councils, businesses or the doomed development agency One North East.

If money is handed back, the Treasury will be able to claim it off future contributions to the EU, saving it money at the cost of North East jobs.

Critics have warned that as a result of Government cuts there is no spare cash to seize the last tranche of cash from a pot which was initially worth £340m to the region.

Hugh Morgan Williams, a leading businessman chairing a regional loan fund, said at best the private sector would find £30m in the time available.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/02/07/vital-funds-to-be-wasted-as-the-cuts-bite-61634-28125223/#ixzz1DGGV9aX3

Region will be hit by forestry job loses
by Tony Henderson, The Journal, Feb 8 2011

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/feb2011/8/8/forest-deforestation-harvester-tree-felling-image-2-114873878.jpg

GOVERNMENT spending cuts may leave the North East without Forestry Commission bases.

Staff consultation has started on proposals to close the Forestry Commission offices in Rothbury in Northumberland and Hamsterley Forest in County Durham.

The potential closures come against a backdrop of a 26% budget reduction for the Forestry Commission because of the Government’s spending review. This is separate from another current Government consultation on plans to sell off publicly-owned Forestry Commission woodlands.

The work of the Rothbury and Hamsterley offices would go to either York or Cheshire.

There are also proposals to withdraw Forestry Commission staff from running visitor centres at Kielder and Hamsterley forests, which together attract almost 400,000 people a year.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/02/08/region-will-be-hit-by-forestry-job-loses-61634-28131123/#ixzz1DMH19SBC

Cash cuts leave The Tyneside Cinema in trouble
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, February 9th 2011

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/feb2011/5/3/tyneside-cinema-mark-dobson-image-2-188284412.jpg

THE region’s top alternative cinema is facing financial uncertainty as a result of Government cuts.

With just weeks to go before the new financial year, the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle is still waiting to see if there will be any interim funding to help it continue its specialist work.

The Government’s decision to scrap the UK Film Council has created funding chaos, with Newcastle’s Lord Shipley calling on the coalition Government to show its commitment to arts outside the capital.

Tyneside Cinema bosses say they are prepared for a reduction in funding of anywhere up to 40% spread out over the next four years, but have heard nothing on the settlement needed this April.

The continuing uncertainty, and the chance of a 100% budget cut, would see the cinema look again at how it funds specialist screenings and community work, although there is no suggestion of the cinema closing.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/02/09/cash-cuts-leave-tyneside-cinema-in-trouble-61634-28138517/#ixzz1DSA1v1bG

Newcastle City Council looks at major cuts to libraries
by Amy Hunt, Evening Chronicle, February 10th 2011


LIBRARIES could be replaced by DIY book-borrowing points at community centres under plans to save cash.

The proposals by Newcastle City Council are the latest to emerge as part of the authority’s efforts to balance its books in the face of budget cuts.

Huge chunks have been hacked from councils’ budgets by the Coalition Government, leaving Britain’s town hall leaders with tough decisions about where to spend their money.

And with Chancellor George Osborne set to announce his Budget next month, regional chiefs are braced for yet more hard times to come.

In Newcastle up to half of the city’s 18 libraries could be closed and replaced with “library express” facilities in buildings shared with anything from shops to schools.

The new-style service would have only a skeleton staff at certain times of the day and would allow members to browse a small selection of books and take them out through self-service machines.


Read More (Three Pages) - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2011/02/10/city-council-looks-at-major-cuts-to-libraries-72703-28147914/#ixzz1DYtQnNIw

North police forces facing £100m cuts
February 13th 2011 by Sara Nichol, Sunday Sun


HARD-PRESSED North police forces are to have their budgets slashed by a staggering £100m-plus over the next three years.

The savage Government cash cuts will hit the region hard and could see nearly 2,000 jobs axed.

The budget cuts are so deep, some of the North’s five forces could see officer numbers shrink to levels of the 1970s. And they will struggle to keep the impact to front-line services to a minimum.

Some forces hope to achieve redundancy figures through a recruitment freeze, while others have admitted some job losses will be forced.

The Northumbria, Durham, Cleveland, Cumbria and North Yorkshire forces will have to make a combined saving of £127m over the next three years.

Around 1,700 jobs are facing the axe – a mixture of both civilian and front-line police officers – with Cleveland yet to announce their expected losses.


Read More - http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/news/north-east-news/2011/02/13/north-police-forces-face-100m-budget-cuts-79310-28163249/

Stamp duty battle over region's assets
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, February 18th 2011

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/sep2010/4/7/one-north-east-950472098.jpg

A BATTLE is on to prevent a multi-million pound tax bill being passed to taxpayers as the region tries to save assets key to the region’s economic future.

The Government’s decision to scrap development agency One North East will see councils forced to pay if they want to keep £54m worth of vital assets such as a full stake in Newcastle Science Central. The decision effectively adds bills worth tens of millions of pounds to council costs just to keep regeneration projects going.

But it has now emerged council bosses will also have to pay stamp duty on any land they buy at a time when they face the deepest spending cuts in a generation. Staff from the development agency met with London-based civil servants to argue against imposing stamp duty. Eventually councillors will have to decide between paying huge bills to keep projects going and creating jobs or saving cash for day-to-day services such as bin collections and elderly care.

The Journal has seen a copy One North East’s assets and liabilities list handed over to the Department for Business detailing its plans to close the agency down. In this the agency puts the case for allowing the region to retain assets paid for already with public money.

In his submission to the Government, obtained by the Local Government Chronicle, Mr Clarke made clear “ownership is as a result of inherited properties and an active strategy to assemble sites which are key to the economic development and successful regeneration of the North East”.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/02/18/stamp-duty-battle-over-region-s-assets-61634-28191482/#ixzz1EJTpGhsM


ALSO, from the Journal, Friday February 18th 2011 . .
http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv345/manorpark_photos/Newcastle%203/OneNorthEast-18Feb2011_0001.jpg
http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv345/manorpark_photos/Newcastle%203/OneNorthEast-18Feb2011_0002.jpg

Housing cash for North East will head South
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, February 24th 2011


MILLIONS of pounds will be taken from the money for the North to pay for incentives to build houses in the South, it has been revealed.

A Government scheme to hand over extra cash for every new home built will largely be funded by diverting money from Northern council funds.

Because the New Homes Bonus is based on the council tax value of the property, the more populated Southern councils will need to receive much more than the North.

And ministers believe the only way to find that money is to take from council budgets.

Latest estimates say that from 2012 onwards the North will lose out on £102m while councils in the South East will gain £324m.

The more homes that are built in London and the South East, the greater the reduction in support for services will be in the North.

Housing bosses last night warned the funding will worsen the North-South divide as money is passed from deprived areas to prosperous Southern councils.

It comes just months after the Government had safeguarded predominantly Southern councils from the worst of the national spending cuts, with figures revealing the 'per head' reductions up to ten-times worse in the North.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/02/24/housing-cash-for-north-east-will-head-south-61634-28224741/#ixzz1EsHimUvK

North will suffer in planning ‘vacuum’
by William Green, The Journal, March 2nd 2011


THE North East economy could suffer because ministers have left a planning “vacuum” after sweeping away regional bodies, MPs today warned.

The Commons transport committee also demanded a fair funding deal with London grabbing a huge share of available money despite the recession having a bigger impact on the North.

Ministers were also urged to develop a clear strategy for the nation’s major ports and airports.

Blaydon MP Dave Anderson said the coalition had failed to recognise the fact that transport was a public service.

He added: “By pulling out one layer, it just destroys things. They have done that willy-nilly across the board without thinking what they are doing. And clearly, it has had an impact on transport.

“While I am sad by what the transport select committee has reported, I am not surprised.”

In a hard-hitting report, MPs said the abolition of regional development agencies along with planning and Government offices could prove highly damaging. And they questioned whether Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) could pick up the pieces. Ministers have insisted groups of LEPs, bringing together local business and council chiefs, will do a better job of drawing up transport priorities.

But the committee warned major schemes crossing LEP boundaries may not be “adequately” promoted with decisions made by Whitehall rather than by local organisations which best know the priorities of their area.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/03/02/north-will-suffer-in-planning-vacuum-61634-28260924/#ixzz1FQvmoexT

Coalition slammed for revelling in cuts
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, March 3rd 2011


CUTS worth £102m were agreed in the North’s biggest cities last night as a result of the coalition’s “glee and enthusiasm” for hitting the North East.

Both Sunderland and Newcastle Councils put through budget reductions which will see services reduced or jobs go. In Tyneside the police had to hold back several dozen protesters intent on disrupting the meeting.

Sunderland Council has promised there will be no redundancies as it faces up to cuts and rising bills worth £58m this year. Councillors in Wearside were told at a full council meeting yesterday it was the first time in more than 30 years that no direct grant was available for the most deprived communities.

In Newcastle the Liberal Democrats pushed through a budget which sees £44m cut this year.

More than 600 jobs will go as a result over the next 18 months. There are fears libraries will be turned into “self-service hubs” and centres for disabled people merged.

In Sunderland council leader Paul Watson warned that “in these toughest of economic times we are facing an unprecedented scale of challenge”.

Mr Watson, leader also of the Association of North East Councils and tasked with being the link from the region to Whitehall, went on to launch one of the strongest attacks yet on the coalition.

The Labour councillor said: “We all knew that reductions in public spending had to happen but I for one am saddened, even to anger, at the apparent glee and enthusiasm shown by the coalition Government in inflicting these cuts and especially at the relish they have taken in the front-loading of local government cuts rather than have the reductions spread evenly across the four years.”


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/03/03/coalition-slammed-for-revelling-in-cuts-61634-28271554/#ixzz1FWf7nqjN

On the other side of the equation, based on population Newcastle alone this year alone is paying £208 million of the national debt interest minimum repayment (currently £44 billion, or £120 million a day) - and that's just to service the debt, rather than repay it. Just think what we could do in the city with that sum.

£16m redundancy cost of NHS cuts drive
The Journal, March 12th 2011


NHS cutbacks have cost North East taxpayers £16m in redundancy payouts in a year, new figures show.

From April last year, 430 employees from the region’s Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and many from NHS Foundation Trusts have lost their jobs in widespread cutbacks which have cost £15.874m.

In a bid to save £27m annually, managerial positions have been axed at local PCTs including staff within the board and executive committee, plus directors of nursing.

The highest single payout was £223,542 from NHS Tees, and last night union leaders expressed concern over the “staggering” amount of money to have come out of the region’s NHS budget.

Glenn Turp, regional director of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “The fact is that this is all money that is being ‘lost’ to the NHS, rather than to pay frontline nurses to deliver services.

“The Conservatives said in the lead up to the election ‘no more top-down NHS structural overhauls’ and yet, with GP commissioning, that is exactly what they are doing.”

The cutbacks are part of Government’s controversial reforms where PCTs will be abolished in 2013 when GPs will be handed power over commissioning treatment worth £80bn.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/03/12/16m-redundancy-cost-of-nhs-cuts-drive-61634-28322910/#ixzz1GO30I283

Bloody retarded cutting the film council the way they have. Its been pretty proven it makes more money than it costs.

I can't help but think with these cuts they're specifically targeting labour safe seats, safe in the knowledge they're losing nothing politically there.

New warning over massive North job losses
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, March 19th 2011


THE impact of thousands of public sector job losses will hit the North East of England with as much devastation as the end of shipbuilding and mining, it has been claimed.

Paul Callaghan, chairman of One North East and head of leading software firm Leighton, said the region has yet to feel the full impact of the Government’s spending cuts. Speaking at an event organised by Newcastle North MP Chi Onwurah, Mr Callaghan set out the challenge facing the region as it prepares for the Government-ordered closure of his multi-million pound job creation agency.

Mr Callaghan said: “In unemployment we have seen the figures rise by nearly 20,000 in the last 12 months. We have reached the highest levels since the 90s.

“But that increase in unemployment is not yet coming from the public sector, it is mainly the private sector, accounting for around 15,000 of those job losses.

“We are standing at the edge of the real impact. The potential increase in public sector unemployment is most likely going to be felt as the single biggest economic blow to hit the region since the end of the mining industry or of shipbuilding.

“The spending reductions are going to bring major problems.”

He added that since the Government’s much hailed Regional Growth Fund has less cash than One North East had, and needed to spread it out across the country, there were only limited opportunities for Government-led job creation.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/03/19/new-warning-over-massive-north-job-losses-61634-28366008/#ixzz1H2FW6WQN

Newcastle blood unit may shut in cost cuts
by Helen Rae, Evening Chronicle, April 1st 2011

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nechronical/apr2011/9/3/workers-at-the-blood-donor-centre-stage-a-demo-at-the-unit-503026072.jpg
Workers at the Blood Donor Centre stage a demo at the unit

LIVES will be in danger if health bosses give go ahead and close Newcastle’s blood testing laboratory, unions claimed today.

NHS Blood and Transplant were informing staff today about the future of the laboratory at the city’s Barrack Road, following talks at a board meeting in London yesterday.

It is the second time in five years cost-cutting has threatened the future of the lab and it has been suggested transferring donor testing to Manchester.

The move would hit 16 jobs and union chiefs fear it could endanger lives as blood would have to travel hundreds of miles and deliveries could be subject to delays in cases of roadworks and traffic congestion.

Beverly Easton, Unison’s Northern Blood Centre branch secretary, said: “If blood has to be transferred to Manchester then lives will be put at risk in the North East.

“Staff are understandably concerned about patients’ welfare as it will affect how quickly blood is transferred to local hospitals.

“It is unacceptable that Newcastle’s blood testing laboratory is under threat. It will undermine the local NHS and the plans have not been thought through properly.”


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2011/04/01/newcastle-blood-unit-may-shut-in-cost-cuts-72703-28442068/#ixzz1IIBj9hla

Schooling cuts to hit children in the North East
by Rachel Wearmouth, The Journal, April 26th 2011


MINISTERS have been warned not to cut extended schools services after research in the North East found they offer huge benefits to society.

Liz Todd, from Newcastle University, is calling for fresh debate on the “win/win” extended services in schools to stop Government chiefs making a “great mistake”.

The approach sees schools team up with outside organisations, offer childcare, parenting support and let the community use facilities.

In research published this week, the professor of educational inclusion will argue that extended schools can lead to economic benefits of £160,000 over a child’s lifetime by boosting grades.

Money will also be saved by other state services when people later sidestep problems like teenage pregnancy and mental health issues, the academic says.

Ms Todd said: “In the current economic climate, it’s tempting to see them as little more than an unnecessary interference in the core business of schools, but this would be a great mistake.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/04/26/schooling-cuts-to-hit-children-in-the-north-east-61634-28582081/#ixzz1KctKS8K1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13193403

North East bears the brunt of college cuts
by Nicola Weatherall, The Journal, May 3rd 2011


NORTH East colleges are facing the biggest further education jobs crisis in England as the Government cuts continue.

Funding cuts to further education are deeper here than anywhere else in the country, a teaching union has warned.

There are known to be around 1,500 jobs at risk in 44 colleges across England – and more than half of them are based at just a handful of FE institutions in our region.

Newcastle, South Tyneside, Tyne Metropolitan, City of Sunderland, East Durham, Bishop Auckland and Stockton Riverside colleges have all announced job cuts, which in total add up to 809 posts.

Northumberland College is facing dozens of job losses as it looks to cope with a 6.2% budget cut.

University and College Union (UCU) regional official Iain Owens said the North East was being affected more than other regions due to its high reliance on the public sector for employment.

“We are getting absolutely hammered at the moment,” he said. “With its reliance on public sector jobs, which are being cut, the North East is being disproportionately affected.


Read More (three pages) - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news//tm_headline=north-east-bears-the-brunt-of-college-cuts%26method=full%26objectid=28623480%26siteid=61634-name_page.html#ixzz1LGyotjKz

Roberta Blackman-Woods: Charities risk being
destroyed by spending cuts
by William Green, The Journal, May 14th 2011


GOVERNMENT spending cuts risk pulling apart the “fabric” of community groups, a North MP has warned.

Shadow Civil Society Minister Roberta Blackman-Woods said the speed of cuts meant voluntary and community groups had not been given enough time to develop new sources of funding or alternative ways of working.

In a new attack on the issue already raised by charitable leaders in the region, the MP claimed the impact on the North East called into question the Prime Minister’s dreams of a “Big Society”.

The Labour MP for City of Durham said the cuts were in fact weakening society.

Dr Blackman-Woods has issued the warning after looking into the state of the voluntary and charitable sector amid concerns from organisations about their ability to plan for the future.

She said the North East has had an excellent record in terms of the voluntary sector, but that many groups were now suffering from public sector cuts that were being “disproportionately” applied to the region.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/05/14/roberta-blackman-woods-charities-risk-being-destroyed-by-spending-cuts-61634-28692393/#ixzz1MJfrYlOY

North East losing £10m a month of Euro job-creation cash
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, May 19th 2011


THE North East is losing out on up to £10m a month of European regeneration cash because of delays in Government changes.

The job-creation money is being held up as ministers push through a decision to scrap development agency One North East, which has spent years investing in the European super-fund.

The European Commission says 137m euros still owed to the region to help boost its economy must be spent by the end of next year, or be clawed back.

But in the last five months just 2.7m euros of the money has been handed out to create new jobs.

Ministers have been warned the region could lose out on long-term growth as a result.

The problem has been made worse by strict EU rules which mean the European Regional Development Fund can only be spent if councils, Government departments or businesses match-fund the cash pound for pound

With councils suffering the deepest cuts in a generation, and banks remaining reluctant to lend to private firms, the region risks losing out on the money.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/05/19/north-east-losing-10m-a-month-of-euro-job-creation-cash-61634-28721580/#ixzz1MmtLusLD

TUC paints a bleak picture of North East jobs future
by Stephen Cape, The Journal, June 15th 2011


THE North East jobs market could be one of the last areas of the UK economy to recover from the recession and Government cuts, according to new research published today.

In a study of labour market figures, the TUC compared employment rates across the UK at the beginning of the recession in February 2008 until the same time this year.

The research revealed that at the current rate of progress, it will take five-and-a-half years for the UK to return to pre-recession job levels, but in the North East it will be “considerably longer”.

Unions said the gap in employment rates between the best and worst regions widened to nearly 10% over the last year, with only 65.5% of people in the North East in full employment compared to 75% in the South East.

Northern TUC Policy and Campaign officer Neil Foster said: “These figures show that the Government’s absence of a plan for jobs and growth and their obsession with cuts is not working.

“It is real people in real communities who are paying the price for George Osborne’s ideological experiment”.

But last night, leading business figures hit out at the findings and said a more positive picture was emerging.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/06/15/tuc-paints-a-bleak-picture-of-north-east-jobs-future-61634-28879685/#ixzz1PKeNaMk4

Fear for 2,000 jobs as DWP told to speed up cuts
by Stephen Cape, The Journal, June 23rd 2011


MORE than 2,000 North East public sector jobs could be axed sooner than expected after an official report urged civil servants to speed up a programme of savage cuts, it was claimed last night.

The National Audit Office has warned the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) it needs to make “rapid progress” in order to meet targets set for 2014/15.

In the North East there are 10,617 people employed in jobcentres, benefit and pension offices and other sections of the DWP, including full and part-time workers.

But union bosses last night warned stepping up the programme of cuts could cause some 2,500 redundancies around the region, with those on fixed-term contracts being most at risk.

It is feared the cuts could hit jobcentres as well as administration staff at the sprawling 'Longbenton' office complex (Benton Park View) in Newcastle, which employs around 1,500 DWP workers.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/06/23/fear-for-2-000-jobs-as-dwp-told-to-speed-up-cuts-61634-28927205/#ixzz1Q5beIQiY

Police to cut 800 officers across North East Region
by Sophie Doughty, The Journal, July 22nd 2011

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/sep2010/1/4/he-police-federation-has-warned-that-thousands-of-front-line-jobs-are-at-risk-as-forces-prepare-for-cuts-306472661.jpg

CRIME RATES could jump after new figures showed more than 800 North East police officers will lose their jobs as a result of Government cuts.

Forces in Northumbria and Durham have revealed the true extent of the cuts to staff and officer numbers to cope with budget reductions of more than £88m in the next four years.

The proposals outlined by the two forces also include cutting the number of civilian staff they employ by more than 1,000, and the loss of almost 200 community support officer jobs across the two forces.

The figures have been revealed in a report published by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies (HMIC) which has inspected all 43 forces in the country to see how well prepared they are to cope with the strict austerity measures.

And though the Adapting to Austerity report says both North East forces are doing well in planning for the future, the report says that protecting frontline policing will be “very challenging” over the next 18 months.

Police Federation chairman Paul McKeever said: “This will fundamentally change the way we police our communities and an almost inevitable consequence will be a rise in crime rates as the population continues to increase and police numbers fall.”

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Theresa May has put Chief Constables up and down the country in an impossible position.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/07/22/police-to-cut-800-officers-across-north-east-region-61634-29099283/#ixzz1Sovv85JL

£28m cash cuts loom at Newcastle City Council
by Adrian Pearson, Evening Chronicle, July 25th 2011


CITY leaders have been urged to rule out further job losses as Newcastle Council prepares for another £28m worth of cuts.

Council leaders meeting this week will be told work must start now on finding the next round of spending reductions needed to solve the multi-million pound budget blackhole facing the council in 2012.

It is the latest round of Government funding cuts and rising costs to hit the councils.

Over the last year and half, more than £55m has been wiped off City Council budgets, with around 660 jobs gone as a result.


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2011/07/25/28m-cash-cuts-loom-at-newcastle-council-72703-29114557/#ixzz1T7OJMWqN

Rural North East councils could lose essential funds
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, August 4th 2011


Rural areas of the North East could be left without enough money to fund essential council services, leaders have warned.

Northumberland County Council is worried that a Government funding shake-up will severely disadvantage rural areas.

Ministers want to see councils handed control over the business rates they collect from local firms, ending the current process in which the money is handed to the Government and redistributed based on a council’s needs.

But the cash collected in sparsely populated Northumberland is far less than that handed back to it by the Government, meaning a multi-million pound funding gap could hit the council.

Already the authority is making £45m cuts in just one year, leading to plans to axe hundreds of jobs.

Council leaders have been given assurances that no authority will lose out, although critics have pointed out that this may not last past the first two years of the changes.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/08/04/rural-north-east-councils-could-lose-essential-funds-61634-29174182/#ixzz1U2llaD00

North East tourism industry hit by spending cuts
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, August 30th 2011


SCRAPPING a multi-million pound tourism support package has put jobs at risk as latest figures show a drop in visitor numbers.

Tens of thousands of people are employed in tourism jobs across the North East, but despite this, the coalition Government last year banned development chiefs from promoting the region and cancelled out spending plans.

Now hotel groups and staff from some of the North’s leading attractions have said figures are already falling.

Calls have been made for extra help to reverse the changes before jobs start to be put at risk.

In the North East visitor numbers were down 1% in 2010, the joint worst performing region.

The hotel industry also reported a blow to the region, with room occupancy dropping by more than 3%. Takings in hotel bars and leisure services were also down.

Research by Hospitality Consulting suggested Newcastle was one of the worst-hit locations in England, with total revenue down 4% year on year.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/08/30/north-east-tourism-industry-hit-by-spending-cuts-61634-29325557/#ixzz1WUv1zegh

Hopes hit as regeneration group 1NG is axed
by Adrian Pearson, Evening Chronicle, September 29th 2011

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nechronical/sep2011/0/2/gateshead-quays-plans-for-an-international-conference-and-exhibition-centre-910967376.jpg
Gateshead Quays plans for an International Conference and Exhibition Centre

£4m regeneration group 1NG is the latest to be scrapped as the Government cuts continue. Adrian Pearson looks to see what the money, and the efforts, achieved.
IT started with hopes of bringing thousands of jobs to Tyneside.

But three years, a recession and a new Government later the city development company is to be scrapped with many of its aims unreached.

Councils leaders at Newcastle and Gateshead are closing down 1NG after pouring nearly £4m into the company.

Its chief executive, Jim McIntyre, was tasked with leading major projects, such as bringing a conference centre to Gateshead or a new home for science firms in Newcastle.

Both of those are still unfunded, but council bosses say the city development company did good work in difficult financial conditions.


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2011/09/29/hopes-hit-as-regeneration-group-1ng-is-axed-72703-29507419/#ixzz1ZLJqfbQI

Disabled North East marchers
protest about spending cuts
by Joanne Butcher, The Journal, October 22nd 2011


HUNDREDS of disabled people from across the North East will today take to the streets to show their anger at Government cuts to some of society’s most vulnerable people.

They will march from Newcastle’s Bigg Market through the city centre in protest against an estimated £9bn loss to their incomes over the next four years ... on top of cuts to many local care and support services.

Disabled people say they have been hardest hit by the Government and many face threats to their ability to live independently.

Clare Williams said: “From the beginning the Government have targeted disabled people in terms of their benefits and the services that are provided to them. This Government is relentless in attacking those most in need of public and voluntary and community-based services.

The Hardest Hit Day of Action in Central Newcastle is one of many events taking place simultaneously across the UK to voice disabled peoples’ anger at the way they are being treated.

Organised jointly by the Disability Benefits Consortium and the UK Disabled People’s Council, over 50 organisations are taking part, as well as many more individuals. The organisers hope that by coming together as one group, disabled people can convince the Government to think again as well as raising other people’s awareness about their plight.

For more information, visit www. hardesthit.org.uk or www.facebook.com/thehardesthit for more information on the campaign.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/10/22/disabled-north-east-marchers-take-protest-about-spending-cuts-61634-29639994/#ixzz1bftDRzq5

Job loss warning as Tyneside council cuts begin again
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, October 25th 2011


TOWN hall leaders on Tyneside are preparing for a fresh round of budget cuts set to lead to redundancies and reduced services. Families have been warned to expect a massively reduced role from local authorities as councils across the region admit they simply cannot cut any further without impacting on day-to-day services.

Gateshead Council is this week starting its budget consultation as it looks to find £38m of savings which will see residents asked to pick the services they can live without. That will see everything but the legally necessary services put up for the chop, including reduced winter road maintenance cash, scrapping lollipop ladies and closing libraries.

A consultation document to go out this week suggests scrapping or reducing involvement in some of Gateshead’s biggest events including the Great North City Games, the Junior Great North Run and the Summer Flower Show. Money for arts projects and venues such as the Baltic and The Sage Gateshead will also be considered for the chop.

Mick Henry, leader of Gateshead Council, said “I think people need to know that these are savage cuts which hit the North East harder than many other areas


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/10/25/job-loss-warning-as-tyneside-council-cuts-begin-again-61634-29654799/#ixzz1bmOvLTVV

Warning over impact of Tyne and Wear
fire and rescue service cuts
by William Green, The Journal, November 1st 2011


FIREFIGHTERS will lose their jobs and fire stations closed unless the Government rethinks spending cuts, a North East MP yesterday warned.

Blaydon MP Dave Anderson issued the grim warning in Parliament after talks with the local chief fire officer in Tyne and Wear.

The Labour MP said: “In discussions I’ve had with the local chief officer in Tyne and Wear, he advises me that while the average loss across the country is 6.5%, in metropolitan areas it is 12.9%.

“And he believes that if that goes ahead, what will happen is a weakening of national and local resilience, firefighters being made compulsorily redundant, a further reduction in the number of rescuers, the number of relief available firefighters falling significantly and fire station closures.

“What will the minister do to make sure that prophecy does not come true?”

Fire Minister Bob Neill said cutting the deficit was the Government’s top priority, but insisted it had protected fire and rescue services by “back-loading” cuts between 2013 and 2015.

It meant authorities would see their “spending power” fall by 2.2% in 2011-12 and 0.5% in 2012-13, claimed the Tory minister.

He said all fire and rescue authorities must carry out their legal duties, adding the Government had increased weighting given to urban areas in its funding formula after talks with fire chiefs.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/11/01/warning-over-impact-of-tyne-and-wear-fire-and-rescue-service-cuts-61634-29694866/#ixzz1cRf8PlB5

Solar power subsidies cuts to cost North East economy dear
by Michael Brown, The Journal, November 8th 2011

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/may2011/0/7/460-solar-panels-being-fitted-at-ingram-village-hall-333755389.jpg

GOVERNMENT plans to slash subsidies for solar power have already cost the North East economy more than £6m in jobs and investment, it has been claimed.

Last week ministers announced that feed-in tariffs – the amount paid to generate electricity from the sun – will be cut by more than half for panels installed after December 12.

The proposals have come under fire from environmentalists, and councillors in the region say that many of their flagship green schemes, which could have helped the poorest people, are now dead in the water.


Read More (Two Pages) - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/11/08/solar-power-subsidies-cuts-to-cost-north-east-economy-dear-61634-29737672/#ixzz1d7KAO4NM

North East facing toughest cuts in the country
by Stephen Cape, The Journal, November 17th 2011


AN official report will today outline how Government cuts have hit councils in the North East worse than any other part of the country.

Councils in the region have seen their budgets slashed by £291m since 2010 because of a cut in central Government funding.

An Audit Commission report will today show that cuts amount to £112 per person in the North East while people in the East of England are losing out on £20 and the South East £22.

The North East historically receives the most Government support outside inner London because of its high levels of deprivation.

While retaining that position, it has seen a 15% cut in funding – the highest level nationally – while other areas have seen cuts of only 8-10%. Councils in deprived areas of the North, the Midlands and Inner London saw the highest level of cuts, the report says, and there was a warning of worse to come.

Almost 60% of the planned reduction in local government funding will take place in the next three years, putting local authorities under increasing strain to cut more jobs and reduce services.


Read More (Two Pages) - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/11/17/north-east-facing-toughest-cuts-in-the-country-61634-29791915/#ixzz1dx5Og5CX

Budget cuts drawn up after City-wide consultation
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, November 26th 2011


CITY leaders preparing multi-million pound budget cuts have earmarked the services they want to safeguard. Newcastle City Council is to set out where the axe will fall as cabinet members put together next year’s budget. The spending process comes as the council prepares for the latest in a series of annual Government grant reductions throughout the Region, which have already seen hundreds of jobs go.

Government cuts added to rising costs mean the council needs to save £30m next year, and officials admit the easiest and less controversial savings have already been made. As councillors look to introduce the more difficult changes they have revealed the areas they are prepared to save, after a city-wide consultation.

The protected areas include a promise to keep weekly bin collections and maintain high levels of child protection. Also avoiding the larger cuts will be social care for vulnerable adults with substantial as well as critical needs preserved. And there is a promise that services such as libraries, leisure centres and children’s centres will also be saved.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/11/26/budget-cuts-drawn-up-after-city-is-consulted-61634-29844603/#ixzz1enttGih5

Gateshead Council jobs to go as £70m axed from budget
by Katie Davies, The Journal, November 29th 2011


HUNDREDS of council jobs will be slashed as town hall leaders on Tyneside cope with a fresh round of Government cuts.

Gateshead Council has anticipated that 450 jobs will be axed as the council is forced to find £70m savings during the current three-year period.

Efforts are being made to achieve the reduction through voluntary measures but council bosses say compulsory redundancies can not be ruled out.

The latest blow, the equivalent to £88 less per person every year, follows last year’s £32m reduction in which around 1,000 posts went at the council.

During the first round of consultation earlier this month, residents set out the services they see as most important, which allowed the council to draw up proposals to protect the core services.

At a meeting today the council’s Cabinet is being asked to agree to begin consultation on the proposals. They will discuss how library services can be delivered in a different way and ask trusts, charities and community groups to take on the running of leisure facilities and community centres.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/11/29/gateshead-council-jobs-to-go-as-70m-axed-from-budget-61634-29861849/#ixzz1f5W3RUMG

Durham City Arts to close after spending cuts
by Neil McKay, The Journal, January 28th 2012


LOCAL government spending cuts have forced the closure of the agency behind some of the North East’s biggest cultural events.

Durham City Arts (DCA) blamed a decision by the county council to cut funding for its decision to close its doors at the end of March.

A statement from the charity, which was instrumental in introducing book festivals, brass music festivals and a light festival to the city, said: “Durham City Arts has run an amazing series of series of arts programmes and events worth over £1.1m since 2006.

“However, despite this success, Durham County Council has made the decision that no future funding was possible for the company, as it implements its programme of budget reductions to cope with a 30% cut in Government grant.

“This decision follows that of Arts Council England, which had announced the company would be among hundreds to be cut from its new national portfolio. The Arts Council itself has restructured nationally in response to its own funding cuts of 15%.

“Without this core funding, Durham City Arts could no longer see a way forward financially and sadly made the decision to wind up the company.”


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/01/28/durham-city-arts-to-close-after-spending-cuts-61634-30214780/#ixzz1kk1sA3CM

Durham County Council chief warns of more brutal cuts
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, February 1st 2012


THE FULL extent of George Osborne’s additional two years of cuts is spelled out today as a council boss warns the North will find itself unable to provide the same standard of services as the South. Durham County Council has gone through the Chancellor’s autumn statement and now predicts an additional £50m will need to be lost from its budget by 2017. Other councils are planning for similar amounts.

The move means that when rising bills and an aging population are added to the mix the council will be £171m a year worse off – a 40% reduction compared to 2010. Last year Simon Henig, the Labour council leader, set out £123m of cuts up to 2015, bringing with it 1,950 job losses and scrapped posts. Mr Henig’s officers have now had to plan for a far worse scenario, one which the council leader says will usher in a radically different role for the council.

Mr Henig said: “We are looking at a future where we have to be thinner and leaner and our big worry is that we will be forced into a position where we are not able to deal with the needs of the people in Durham. “And what is very obvious to me is that this is not a fair position. Why are we in a situation where a North-South divide is forced upon us?

“Why should an older person in Wokingham or Surrey be given the care they need by their local authority but an older person here face a situation where the council cannot fund the same level of care? “I don’t understand why the Government would want to distribute the pain in this way, but that is what is happening.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/02/01/durham-county-council-chief-warns-of-more-brutal-cuts-61634-30239299/#ixzz1l7cxvmSC

I just lost my job at Newcastle City Council yesterday. Just waiting for my final date. Another victim of the cuts. In a way, I feel lucky to escape when I have. Says it all that, although I was angry and upset on the day, today I feel much more optimistic about the future and the challenges that lie ahead.

Northumberland Theatre Company dealt a funding blow
by Brian Daniel, The Journal, May 10th 2012


A TOURING theatre company based in Northumberland has been dealt a further funding blow which leaves its long-term future still uncertain. The Northumberland Theatre Company (NTC) which has toured productions at village halls in rural areas across the country for the last 33 years, was given major bad news last year when Arts Council England withdrew its regular funding.

The company, based at Alnwick Playhouse, recently applied for strategic touring funding from the same body and had been advised that it was recommended for approval. It said it needed the money to allow its autumn tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to go ahead.

However, NTC announced yesterday that its application had been unsuccessful. In spite of the blow, the company is determined that the autumn tour will proceed as planned.

Bosses have also revealed they are to reapply to the same fund – the outcome of which will be known on August 20 – and that they have a series of other funding applications in the pipeline. However, they say the company continues to face an uncertain future.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/05/10/northumberland-theatre-company-dealt-a-funding-blow-61634-30936085/#ixzz1uSBnqkh3

Cuts and recession hitting tourism in Northumberland
by Tony Henderson, The Journal, June 8th 2012

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/apr2011/1/5/visitors-at-housesteads-fort-on-hadrian-s-wall-28124377.jpg
Visitors at Housesteads Fort on Hadrian's Wall

THE IMPACT has been revealed of cuts and the recession on the North East’s finest landscapes. In December 2010, Northumberland National Park Authority was told by Defra its budget would be cut by 33% over four years.

The tourism pull of the park in 2010 was worth £62m, with 1.35 million visitors, but because of cutbacks, one in four of the park’s staff has now left and numbers arriving at its visitor centres have dropped by 26% compared to the previous five-year average. Reports to the authority’s annual meeting next week say factors for the slide include poor summer weather last year, the economic downturn, lack of regional tourism marketing after the demise of regional development agency One NorthEast, and rising fuel prices which have made drivers think carefully about the length of trips.

Attempts to involve the private sector in running the park’s visitor centres at Rothbury and Ingram in the Breamish Valley have not been successful. The centres are likely to close at the end of the 2012-13 visitor season. A financial report to the park authority’s annual meeting says: “The authority has reacted effectively to achieve the savings required by the reduction in grant from Defra.”, but it adds: “The lack of alternative sources of income and few capital assets to draw income from does make Northumberland very susceptible to changes in Government funding.”

Park chief executive Tony Gates says in his performance review there has been a “significant drop in the level of activity the authority has been achieving over a number of years.” He adds: “It is clear the authority’s capacity to deliver has been significantly dented."


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/06/08/recession-is-hitting-tourism-in-northumberland-61634-31138308/#ixzz1xBoPN9bn

'Cuts aren't hitting the North East too hard'
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, January 15th 20110

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/jan2011/5/4/david-cameron-image-3-787309356.jpg

THE Prime Minister sparked outrage yesterday by claiming the North East has not been as hard hit as the South by the Government’s cuts.

And in an attempt to deflect blame from the Coalition’s budget cutting he questioned whether Newcastle Council chief executive Barry Rowland deserved his £165,000 pay packet – a salary Mr Cameron said was higher even than his own.

On a visit to the region, Mr Cameron insisted there was no North-South divide in the cuts, despite claims Newcastle is losing around £98 per head and Durham as much as £134 per head while the likes of Surrey escaped with just a £9 per head reduction.

Mr Cameron justified his claims with an example from his own constituency – Witney in Oxfordshire.

“My constituency is losing 23% of its grant, much more than anywhere in the North East and so I think the settlement is fair in that way,” he said.

Seen as a percentage Mr Cameron’s claims are correct, but The Journal can reveal the actual cash spending cut is tiny compared to those in the North.

While Newcastle City Council is losing £25m in one year, with rising costs bringing the shortfall up to £50m, the 23% cut to Mr Cameron’s West Oxfordshire council is worth just £775,000.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/01/15/cuts-aren-t-hitting-the-north-east-too-hard-61634-27989680/#ixzz1B6HBtQxx

Sorry to go back to this post from January, but it's relevant to my question.

The government's theory is basically "private sector good, public sector bad". That's annoying for those of us that work in the public sector, but it's obviously true that the private sector generates the nation's wealth whereas the public sector only spends it (even if it does so on vital things without which the private sector would be in big trouble...).

So the logic is that a region like the north east, with a relatively high proportion of public sector workers, should change more than an area like, say, David Cameron's constituency in Oxfordshire where little public money is spent. Yes Witney's got a big cut as a percentage, but that's from a small budget; the north east is getting a smaller proportional cut but from a far bigger budget.

My question is simply whether anyone believes that the plan will work, i.e. that shrinking the state in places like NE England will make way for a more dynamic private sector, with the public-sector job losses being made up for by businesses hiring new staff. Does anyone already detect something like that happening?

1,000 North East NHS staff in fear of losing jobs
by Helen Rae, Evening Chronicle, June 18th 2012


MORE than 1,000 NHS staff in the North East face possible redundancy as a result of the Government’s controversial healthcare reforms. The Chronicle has seen documents which show that NHS staff-side trade unions have received an NHS letter informing them of potential job losses at Primary Care Trusts throughout the region. It is thought that a total of 1,367 posts could be affected in a “worst-case scenario” and unions are working hard with local management to try to keep the number of redundancies as low as possible.

As part of the Government’s unpopular Health and Social Care Act, which came into force earlier this year, all PCTs will cease to exist from April 1, 2013, to be replaced by GP-led clinical commissioning groups. Although it is expected that many staff will be transferred to the new organisations, there is no legal requirement for the commissioning groups to use the support services or staff from the PCTs.

The news of the possible wide-scale redundancies has angered MPs and union leaders, who warn that it could negatively impact upon patient care. Nick Brown, Newcastle East MP, said: “This news seems to mean that all 1,300 primary healthcare jobs in the north of the region are at risk. I don’t see how that many jobs can go without starting to have a serious effect on patient care. It is likely that some staff will be rehired by the new commissioning authorities making the redundancies both unnecessary and expensive for the taxpayer.”


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/06/18/1-000-north-east-nhs-staff-in-fear-of-losing-jobs-72703-31207596/#ixzz1y946Feh8

This from the Sunderland Echo, ---

Sunderland’s beach resorts office Concerned about the possible closure of the Sunderland Resorts Office, Marine Walk, Roker are l-r Sue and Tom Parkin and Margaret Alexander

Published on Monday 2 July 2012 09:40


CUTS could see Sunderland lose its beach resort office.


People living in Roker and Seaburn are concerned that the beach will suffer if the centre, which has duties including looking after council lifeguards, beach cleaning and monitoring the sands, was to close.

Hundreds of concerned people have signed a petition in a bid to save the office, in Marine Walk, which is under review along with other council services.

Read more http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/business/latest-news/fears-over-the-future-of-sunderland-s-beach-resorts-office-1-4699949

This from the Sunderland Echo, --


Theatre on at risk list as cuts threaten leisure and cultural activities Jack and the Beanstalk Panto, Gala Theatre, Durham

Published on Tuesday 17 July 2012 12:32


GOVERNMENT cuts could force the closure of libraries, theatres and leisure facilities, according to a new report.


The Local Government Association (LGA) claim that if current plans remain in place, a shortfall of £16.5billion in North East local authority funding will appear by the end of the decade.

Rising social care and waste costs could mean that by 2020, money available for services like libraries, leisure centres and theatres could be reduced by as much as 90 per cent in real terms.

Such a situation would place some of the area’s most valued public facilities at risk, including Durham’s Gala Theatre.

Read more http://www.sunderlandecho.com/lifestyle/theatre-on-at-risk-list-as-cuts-threaten-leisure-and-cultural-activities-1-4747443

South Tyneside Council to lose another 350 jobs

South Tyneside Council is shedding 350 further jobs over the next two years.

The council said it was facing "unprecedented cuts in government funding" but was committed to protecting front-line services and jobs "as far as possible".

More than 1,200 jobs have been cut at the council since 2010, through natural wastage or voluntary redundancy.

The Unison union said avoiding compulsory redundancies was getting "harder every time".

..............

Read more and source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-19353314

Actually the cuts started in Cumbria in the late noughties, but seem to have come to an end now. If you want a breakdown, local government has shed about 800 staff, the Rural Payments Agency( a big employer in the county) has shed 600 staff since 2007, Carlisle College about 200, the DVLA 40, Rufus House in Carlisle( DSS) 150 and the threat of 300 jobs to go at the Ministry of Defence in Longtown. However, this has been offset by the creation of 300 jobs at the HMRC in Workington and also many of the RPA staff that left were on fixed term contracts and coming close to retirement.

.
Newcastle City Council

I can't actually find a NCC ' thread [but as there'ins't one by now there's probably no need for one] - might fit in politics I suppose... NH help..

Anyway.... call from an 'informant' yesterday indicating significant redundancies in NCC. Some offers went out yesterday.

Consolidation of departments - informant involved in one of the call centres and told that there will be a single centralised centre for all NCC calls which will result in staff cuts but that there will also be cuts across the council. I'm unsure if this is 300odd announced in March or a different tranche.

Not a surprise but thought I ought to record.

.

It does seem the North East, and Tyneside in particular, has weathered the recession reasonably well. Unemployment in Newcastle is around the national average, whereas in previous recessions it was among the worst hit places in Britain, and new developments in the city and along the Tyne seem to be helping.

CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save services at the region's main hospitals say they plan to take their fight to the Government's Health Secretary.

The Save Our NHS Hull And East Yorkshire group organised a march through Hull city centre at the weekend as Hull And East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust is under pressure to save £99 million.

Full article: http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Hundreds-protest-Hull-city-centre-NHS-cuts/story-16973242-detail/story.html

"The cuts are disproportionate to the rest of the country and we can't absorb this level of cutbacks, given the challenges we face locally."

Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust runs Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham and its latest financial plan means £24 million of the £99 million has to be saved this year.

Their concerns follow the recent closure of ward six, a specialist cardiac ward at Castle Hill Hospital, and other planned cutbacks.

I mention this last quote because:

Almost 2,000 people in Hull living with severe heart problems

ALMOST 2,000 people in Hull are living with a severe heart problem, according to a charity.

The figure has been revealed by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), which has launched the latest phase of its Mending Broken Hearts Appeal.

Full article: http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/2-000-people-Hull-living-severe-heart-problems/story-16973182-detail/story.html


------

How long before the Government release another league table-like statement saying that healthcare in Hull is the worst and London is the best? Just like when they cut 40,000 private sector jobs in Hull (with the second hardest hit place (the North East) having only a fraction of that cut) and London gaining 40,000 private sector jobs at the same time followed by a Government statement of "Hull has high unemployment, London has low unemployment"

^^^^
Hard to argue with much of that.

Newcastle City Council

I can't actually find a NCC ' thread [but as there'ins't one by now there's probably no need for one] - might fit in politics I suppose... NH help..

Anyway.... call from an 'informant' yesterday indicating significant redundancies in NCC. Some offers went out yesterday.

Consolidation of departments - informant involved in one of the call centres and told that there will be a single centralised centre for all NCC calls which will result in staff cuts but that there will also be cuts across the council. I'm unsure if this is 300odd announced in March or a different tranche.

Not a surprise but thought I ought to record.

I worked at NCC until the end of March this year, where I was made redundant (from the IT dept).

I keep in touch with several people there. They had to save £42m in the year I went. This year, I hear they have to save £90m.

Quite a few went when I did, about 350ish I seem to remember, along with about 10 people I personally knew.

This year will be far worse if the figures are to be believed. I've heard between 1/4 and 1/3 of the workforce could be threatened (although take that with a pinch of salt, people always exagerrate in these situation, even if the situation IS quite bad).

Barry Rowland is getting a big golden handshake I would imagine, and they've just given everyone at the minimum wage a pay rise. Not sure how they can justify this considering the level of savings needed to be made.

Two Northumberland visitor centres are axed
by Brian Daniel, The Journal, October 6th 2012


AWARD-WINNING visitor centres in two Northumberland communities are to close, after efforts to find new operators failed. The closure of the facilities at Rothbury and Ingram was yesterday announced by Northumberland National Park Authority, with effect from the end of the current tourist season.

Bed and breakfast owners in both communities last night greeted the news with a mixture of sadness and anger, with one accusing the authority of focusing on Hadrian’s Wall to the detriment of the North of the park, and of not working hard enough publicly to find a new operator.

The authority last night explained how its funding from the government had been cut by 33% over a four-year period from March 2011. As a result, bosses had to “reprioritise” its work areas and allocate finances accordingly, putting in place a budget reduction strategy which has included the loss of 25% of authority staff.

The authority decided to withdraw from the visitor centres as of next March but allowed two years to explore other ways of delivering the services they provide.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/10/06/two-northumberland-visitor-centres-are-axed-61634-31977272/#ixzz28VH4x9N1

Unfortunately the country has a £ 180 billion deficit to pay off and cuts would have been inevitable whoever got in, unless we decided to spend and spend and then end up like Greece.

A big blow to Copeland's tourism industry as the Beacon museum and Whitehaven Civic Hall, which has featured musicians like Morrisey playing, are to close due to cutbacks by the district council. This will be a bigger blow to Whitehaven than the council shedding 50 office jobs.

Playtime's over as Newcastle City Council cuts start to bite
by Adrian Pearson, Evening Chronicle, November 9th 2012


AFTER-SCHOOL CLUBS, holiday play schemes and children’s groups across Newcastle are set to be axed as the next round of cuts start to bite. Staff behind play services for children aged five to 12 have been told their jobs are at risk as Newcastle Council looks to enforce £90m of Government cuts over the next three years. As civic centre treasurers put together the final stages of the most drastic budget yet, playgroups have held meetings in which council officials made it clear that youth funding is set to go. At least 10 facilities will be affected as £1.1m is axed in one of many funding changes.

City chiefs have blamed the Government for the moves, with the council’s leader calling on ministers to think again about three years of cuts to services. Currently the authority does not know what, if any, community groups will be able to pick up the slack, meaning an uncertain future for many services. While some independent nurseries will survive, for other after-hours groups and school holiday centres the funding cuts mean the services will be finished from April.

Those set to be hit include play centres in Byker, Scotswood, Benwell, as well as the Nunsmoor play centre in Arthurs Hill, among others. One playgroup member, who asked not to be named, told the Chronicle the wide-ranging cuts would in some cases damage children’s education. She said: “This is completely mad, many of these young children benefit from face-to-face work with experienced staff from an early age and yet the city is going to axe this service.”


Read More (Two Pages) - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/11/09/playtime-s-over-as-newcastle-council-cuts-start-to-bite-72703-32198304/#ixzz2BjenAZxE

90 jobs under threat at Newcastle NHS call centre
By Sara Nichol, Evening Chronicle, November 9th 2012


NHS DIRECT is to close its Newcastle call centre with the loss of 90 jobs. Unison said 24 out of 30 sites will close at the service across the country, which employs 1,500 frontline nursing and other professional staff, including the site at Balliol Business Park.

Sandra Maxwell, Unison’s convenor at NHS Direct, said: "Hundreds of dedicated nursing and NHS professionals are to be made redundant at a huge cost, when their skills could be used within the new NHS111 service if only the Department of Health took some decisive action."

An NHS Direct spokeswoman said the company had been bidding for contracts across England to provide the NHS 111 service, which is used when a patient needs medical help but it is not a 999 emergency.


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/11/09/90-jobs-under-threat-at-newcastle-nhs-call-centre-72703-32200806/#ixzz2BjhWODYD

Majority of Newcastle libraries to be axed as cuts bite
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, November 10th 2012

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/nov2012/1/1/featured-high-heaton-library-696540313.jpg
High Heaton Library which may have to be closed

LIBRARIES are to be closed down across Newcastle as the next round of spending cuts begins. The vast majority of Newcastle’s 18 libraries will either be closed down or handed over to community groups as city chiefs set out £90m of cuts over the next three years. Only the newly-rebuilt city centre library is said to be safe from the axe.

Branch libraries at Blakelaw, Cruddas Park, Denton Burn, Dinnington, Fawdon, Fenham, High Heaton, Jesmond, Moorside, Newbiggin Hall and Walker could all be under threat.

Council bosses will confirm final numbers next week, but are expected to say that those libraries not already part of a customer service centre or shared with another council facility will be axed. Even those locations will come under closer scrutiny to see if community groups can take over. The council has said it has no choice but to try to save £7m from the library budget, some 40% of the money handed to such cultural services over three years.

The move comes just 12 months after Newcastle’s Labour leadership saved library services from the cuts in their last budget. Now officers say they have no choice but to start closing down branches. Library services director Tony Durcan said the council had to ask were libraries and leisure affordable in an age of austerity? He told The Journal that over the next three years most of the council’s current library provision would go, either through closure or as a result of the service being taken over by other groups.


Read more (Three Pages) - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/11/10/majority-of-newcastle-libraries-to-be-axed-as-cuts-bite-61634-32203928/#ixzz2BoG4aPR2

Majority of Newcastle libraries to be axed as cuts bite
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, November 10th 2012

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/nov2012/1/1/featured-high-heaton-library-696540313.jpg
High Heaton Library which may have to be closed

LIBRARIES are to be closed down across Newcastle as the next round of spending cuts begins. The vast majority of Newcastle’s 18 libraries will either be closed down or handed over to community groups as city chiefs set out £90m of cuts over the next three years. Only the newly-rebuilt city centre library is said to be safe from the axe.

Branch libraries at Blakelaw, Cruddas Park, Denton Burn, Dinnington, Fawdon, Fenham, High Heaton, Jesmond, Moorside, Newbiggin Hall and Walker could all be under threat.

.................................................

Library services director Tony Durcan said the council had to ask were libraries and leisure affordable in an age of austerity? He told The Journal that over the next three years most of the council’s current library provision would go, either through closure or as a result of the service being taken over by other groups.


Read more (Three Pages) - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/11/10/majority-of-newcastle-libraries-to-be-axed-as-cuts-bite-61634-32203928/#ixzz2BoG4aPR2

Funny enough I was about to post on this - there's been a rumour about library closures for weeks. I sometimes work in the library [though more usually in the Lit and Phil], recently I visited the west end library [Condercum Rd] - it has a large photo archive...... well...

These libraries have extensive sets of computer terminals. I assumed for, well library sort of things, research, reading, perhaps school or college work where there are problems with PC access at home, job research and applications......nooooooo

In the west end library every terminal and in the central [a better sample as I visit perhaps twice a week] pretty much every terminal is occupied by 'the young people' [fair enough] playing music through headphones connected to the machine, online gaming, updating [continually] their facepage books....essentially they have become free webcafes. Sorry, no, that's not what libraries are for. Go to a webcafe.

Newcastle council... save some money.... block access to all but 'legitimate' library use websites. Research, jobs, programmes suitable for 'work' [office type applications]. It will either free up a pile of computers to legitimate job applicants etc, or there will be a batch of pcs for sale on ebay.

I was genuinely amazed the first time I noticed this phenomena, more so when it was clearly the norm and library staff didn't bat an eyelid.

Majority of Newcastle libraries to be axed as cuts bite
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, November 10th 2012

LIBRARIES are to be closed down across Newcastle as the next round of spending cuts begins. The vast majority of Newcastle’s 18 libraries will either be closed down or handed over to community groups as city chiefs set out £90m of cuts over the next three years. Only the newly-rebuilt city centre library is said to be safe from the axe.

Read more (Three Pages) - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/11/10/majority-of-newcastle-libraries-to-be-axed-as-cuts-bite-61634-32203928/#ixzz2BoG4aPR2


Like many people, I have been brought up using Libraries.

I have to admit, I always thought they would be there, as much a routine and regular part of everyday life as, well, "breathing" !!

It is a very sad thought, what might happen here in Newcastle (and probably elsewhere). The 'lack of availability' of books to read will have a long term effect on our future children's growth and educational development.

The more you know about the world, read about the world, learn about the world - the more aware you become in your own life.

It is already happening now, but not having a library in your own local area can only make peoples lives worse . . . in my opinion.

It's all about priorities though, and at the moment hard choices have to be made.

Like many people, I have been brought up using Libraries.

I have to admit, I always thought they would be there, as much a routine and regular part of everyday life as, well, "breathing" !!

It is a very sad thought, what might happen here, and the 'lack of availability' of books to read will have a long term effect on our future childrens growth and educational development.

The more you know about the world, read about the world, learn about the world - the more aware you become in your own life.

It is already happening now, but not having a library in your area, can only make peoples lives worse . . . in my opinion.

It's all about priorities though, and at the moment hard choices have to be made.

Oh I agree 100% - see my comments about Seven Stories and the importance of literacy passim. Literacy, I suspect more than any other single factor helps promote social mobility.

I was absolutely amazed at the type of computer use - and it struck me as an absolutely disgraceful waste of money, money which could and should be used to help kids from families without a 'pot to p#ss in' accessing IT for legitimate use and... read books.

What also worries me is that if libraries are moved to community groups that can easily end up being groups with a narrow interest. Essentially we have buildings that look like libraries but are bereft of books on [say] evolution. For completeness I'd be as concerned about a 'public library' being controlled by catholic or jewish organisations [my family's 'teams'] as I would by any other. If community groups do run them, there needs to be some form of assurance of a full range of texts available.

As for the integrity of libraries as curated repositories of catalogued print, then it's interesting to observe the membership desk at the British Library (of which I am a member) and notice that applicants who cannot demonstrate a need to access a specific resource which might not otherwise be available to them, are declined membership.

But don't we have to accept that, however we define 'literacy', it is undergoing its biggest revolution since the introduction of the printing press, perhaps even bigger. Tweeting, Texting and T'internet ARE literacy; and even these will soon be userped by alternatives which perhaps are even more remote from curated catalogued print.
Fifteen years ago, libraries were desperate to reverse a decline that was, at the time, blamed on the popularity of broadcast media, and simply wished to adapt to the culture of the day, hence the emergence of collections of popular music and magazines - but things have moved on so quickly now that a researcher really does have more refined indexing and broader access at home than from a local library (assuming access to the internet). I for one will let our libraries pass without a tear - the archives of historical record will remain for the curious reader - its not as if it's the Library of Alexandria that is at stake!

But to return to the social rather than cultural benefits of our libraries and of literacy, well, if we put the actual content of their bookshelves under the microscope, we'll have to admit that there's a lot of dross out there. On the other hand, there's an under-supply of community activity and community buildings in many parts of the UK. If the buildings that have housed our libraries can continue to provide accessible and meaningful functions for a print-less c21 society then I'll be content.

As for balance in a community-run library, I'm not sure that's ever been achievable nor ever can be. If people didn't have 'points of view' then there would be little to write (Ref: the view from nowhere). I'd expect to find a Jewish library, a catholic library and any other bias or special interest; isn't it that diversity of different views, each in their own self-sustaining context, that creates the intellectual challenges which we have to addresses as part of our development, rather than a bland uniformity which can be all to easy to 'learn' without actually learning anything?

For my part, I'm struggling to make the transition from printed books, but for many younger than me, there is no transition.

As for the integrity of libraries as curated repositories of catalogued print, then it's interesting to observe the membership desk at the British Library (of which I am a member) and notice that applicants who cannot demonstrate a need to access a specific resource which might not otherwise be available to them, are declined membership.

But don't we have to accept that, however we define 'literacy', it is undergoing its biggest revolution since the introduction of the printing press, perhaps even bigger. Tweeting, Texting and T'internet ARE literacy; and even these will soon be userped by alternatives which perhaps are even more remote from curated catalogued print.
Fifteen years ago, libraries were desperate to reverse a decline that was, at the time, blamed on the popularity of broadcast media, and simply wished to adapt to the culture of the day, hence the emergence of collections of popular music and magazines - but things have moved on so quickly now that a researcher really does have more refined indexing and broader access at home than from a local library (assuming access to the internet). I for one will let our libraries pass without a tear - the archives of historical record will remain for the curious reader - its not as if it's the Library of Alexandria that is at stake!

But to return to the social rather than cultural benefits of our libraries and of literacy, well, if we put the actual content of their bookshelves under the microscope, we'll have to admit that there's a lot of dross out there. On the other hand, there's an under-supply of community activity and community buildings in many parts of the UK. If the buildings that have housed our libraries can continue to provide accessible and meaningful functions for a print-less c21 society then I'll be content.

As for balance in a community-run library, I'm not sure that's ever been achievable nor ever can be. If people didn't have 'points of view' then there would be little to write (Ref: the view from nowhere). I'd expect to find a Jewish library, a catholic library and any other bias or special interest; isn't it that diversity of different views, each in their own self-sustaining context, that creates the intellectual challenges which we have to addresses as part of our development, rather than a bland uniformity which can be all to easy to 'learn' without actually learning anything?

For my part, I'm struggling to make the transition from printed books, but for many younger than me, there is no transition.

Good points, well made. I've still not read a full book on my tablet - I suspect the way is to spend 20 quid on something I really want to read so I have no choice.. might break a pattern.

I probably didn t express the concerns on the potential for community groups becoming a synonym for 'religious' groups that well. I've no problem with what you might call religious libraries, in fact I'd applaud it. My concern would be as follows [and this is a hypothetical, so no offence intended to any group].

Let's assume a well funded body - perhaps the Christian Institute [associated with Jesmond Church, Vardy etc] offers to take over the running of a library. As a group they have taken a robust stance on against] evolution. If they wanted to run a library then that's fine, but it ought not to be a repository for their views alone - unless of course it is wholly disassociated with NCC. In other words groups running libraries which are nominally 'state' ought to have to guarantee 'balance', so that in this example the books on evolution are not kept 'on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard' [to quote Douglas Adams].

Conversely, if [to use my example] The Christian Institute wanted to take over a library and fill it with books recommending a literal interpretation of Leviticus, from keeping slaves onwards then that's fine but the 'state' ought not to fund it and it ought to be disassociated from 'the state'.

There's a risk that groups with an agenda [by which I mean firm religious, or I suppose political beliefs] could take over libraries and effectively seem to be evangelising with the support of [or possible subsidy from] NCC.

Here is a link to an interview given by the head of libraries in Newcastle on the Today programme.

Essentially saying the service could be staffed with volunteers...

http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2012/04/not-brain-surgery-tony-durcan-on-bbc-radio-four.html

My experience is that a lot of people use them to surf the netty for 'free'.

If you use the internet overseas there are usually only internet cafes which charge a few Euros for a very slow connection.

Maybe there should be charges for internetty use here?

Other uses will have to be found for library buildings with local groups more involved in their running without being one dimensional.

Perhaps local businesses can get involved with practical and financial support?

Here is a link to an interview given by the head of libraries in Newcastle on the Today programme.

Essentially saying the service could be staffed with volunteers...

http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2012/04/not-brain-surgery-tony-durcan-on-bbc-radio-four.html

My experience is that a lot of people use them to surf the netty for 'free'.

If you use the internet overseas there are usually only internet cafes which charge a few Euros for a very slow connection.

Maybe there should be charges for internetty use here?

Other uses will have to be found for library buildings with local groups more involved in their running without being one dimensional.

Perhaps local businesses can get involved with practical and financial support?

I d have basic surfing for free - a whitelist of sites; research, jobs, 'office' etc. If you want to play online games or update your facepage then you pay.

Libraries are an expensive, self-indulgent anachronism.

Why, when all other media has gone digital, should books — uniquely — remain analogue?

Don't tell me Catherine bloody Cookson hasn't made it to Kindle yet.

Libraries are an expensive, self-indulgent anachronism.

Why, when all other media has gone digital, should books — uniquely — remain analogue?

Don't tell me Catherine bloody Cookson hasn't made it to Kindle yet.

Have to agree with the above comment. Alot of the comments in support of retaining libraries seem to be more nostalgic rather than practical.

It is a changing world and money could be spent in better ways....

This from the Gateshead Council Website 12/11/12:-

Councillors in Gateshead have agreed to consult the public on changes to Gateshead’s library service that would involve volunteers in the running of some of the borough’s libraries.

The proposals identify a network of 12 core libraries across the borough that are sustainable into the future and meet the Council’s statutory requirements.

The remaining five libraries - at Sunderland Road, Low Fell, Winlaton, Lobley Hill and Ryton - are to be offered to local people to be run as community-run libraries. The proposals take account of library performance and users, proximity, costs and social need.

Full article on http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Council%20and%20Democracy/news/News%20Articles/Proposals-for-Changes-to-Gateshead-Library-Services.aspx


The shape of the future for all of of us in the light of "the cuts in funding" ?

KEN

How serious is Newcastle council's plan to close the libraries? I am assuming that it's just posturing form Nick Forbes.

How serious is Newcastle council's plan to close the libraries? I am assuming that it's just posturing form Nick Forbes.

Hard to say. I would suspect serious on the face of things, but how many will end up as merged 'service centres' [that are not already] might be an interesting question. It may be a way of consolidating several functions into one building but not actually closing libraries.

There is to be a new integrated Library, Pharmacy and Doctors surgery to be built in Newburn.

This is possible a way forward in the future for integration of various local services.

When I lived in Fenham, Labour closed the local swimming pool despite protests so they have a track record here. :ohno:

Probably cheaper to buy every resident in Newcastle a kindle and open a digital library than to run the libraries service for one year.

There is to be a new integrated Library, Pharmacy and Doctors surgery to be built in Newburn.

This is possible a way forward in the future for integration of various local services.

When I lived in Fenham, Labour closed the local swimming pool despite protests so they have a track record here. :ohno:

Of course they still have to build it...which costs. I d a thought of something simpler. A desk or two moved into a library

Probably cheaper to buy every resident in Newcastle a kindle and open a digital library than to run the libraries service for one year.

You re probably not a million miles out. They want to save £7mil [p/a I assume]

Population = 280 000
Cost of Kindle = £69 retail, lets assume a fair discount for a quarter of a million+ sales... so perhaps £50 per person so an up front cost of £14 mil,

Break even is probably in year 3..... after that it's gravy. Even if they spent a million maintaining the virtual kindle library. You could go to your council drop-in centre to download books....

Of course they still have to build it...which costs. I d a thought of something simpler. A desk or two moved into a library

The current library is not used as much as it could due to accessability (it's up a steep flight of steps)

Don't know all the in and outs of funding but the overall cost may be offset by selling the current buildings.

Currently it's going through the planning process.

This from the Gateshead Council Website 12/11/12:-

Councillors in Gateshead have agreed to consult the public on changes to Gateshead’s library service that would involve volunteers in the running of some of the borough’s libraries. The proposals identify a network of 12 core libraries across the borough that are sustainable into the future and meet the Council’s statutory requirements. The remaining five libraries - at Sunderland Road, Low Fell, Winlaton, Lobley Hill and Ryton - are to be offered to local people to be run as community-run libraries. The proposals take account of library performance and users, proximity, costs and social need.

Full article on http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Council%20and%20Democracy/news/News%20Articles/Proposals-for-Changes-to-Gateshead-Library-Services.aspx

Further to ^^

Gateshead libraries now under threat
by Adrian Pearson, The Journal, November 13th 2012


MORE LIBRARIES could be set to close on Tyneside after councillors in Gateshead followed their Newcastle neighbours by announcing plans to pass on library facilities to local community groups. Gateshead Council has said it has 12 core libraries that are safe but the remaining five – at Sunderland Road, Low Fell, Winlaton, Lobley Hill and Ryton – are to be offered to local people to be operated as community-run libraries. The move follows plans in Newcastle to consider the future of the majority of its branch libraries, which has caused outrage in the city.

Budget consultations carried out by Gateshead Council in 2011 suggested that only 35% of respondents were in favour of reducing the number of libraries, but 62% were in favour of involving the community in running and delivering library services. Coun Linda Green, cabinet member for culture, said: “Residents will be aware of the difficult budget decisions which are currently facing the council. We’d like to encourage people to come along to our consultations to find out what it’s all about.”

The council will be holding a series of public meetings to discuss the plans and has also drawn up a questionnaire that will be available online and in libraries for people to leave their opinions. Council chiefs in Newcastle are coming under pressure to re-consider their decision on library closures.


Read more - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/11/13/gateshead-libraries-now-under-threat-61634-32220097/#ixzz2C5vlYWzd

Not sure of the best place for this but...

Newcastle swimming pools could close in council cuts
By Graeme Whitfield Nov 13 2012

Swimming pools across Newcastle could be the latest to close under sweeping cuts being considered by the city council.

The majority of the city's pools are thought to be at risk. The council is hoping that community groups will come forward to take over the running of some facilities.
More to follow but let us know your comments about this.



More....http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/11/13/newcastle-swimming-pools-could-close-in-cuts-72703-32224397/

Volunteers might be able to run libraries but it's an entirely different ball game running pools.

I ve a little knowledgeable of this field and pools haemorrhage money at a spectacular rate pretty much however you run them.

I didnt use libraries much until I became a parent: they are a godsend in all sorts of ways that cant be resolved thru a kindle! While there I see other groups (elders, teens etc) also using them as social places and for that reason have intangible benefits that are hard to cost. THis isnt to say never close one, but its a harder call than a benefit-cost analysis will ever give you.

On a personal note i like libraries too, browsing physical product, especially related to matters of urban history, is a compliment to online work, one area of life that isnt mediated thru a screen and for that reason alone worth keeping.

OPEN LETTER TO NICK FORBES, LEADER OF NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL

Dear Nick Forbes

I am writing to urge you in the strongest possible terms to rethink the recently announced programme of library closures. I can see the council is in an invidious position. The Coalition's programme of austerity is wrongheaded, self-defeating and vastly unfair. However, a Labour administration which would even consider closing all local libraries travesties the history of the Party and the Labour movement. For more than a century Libraries have been central to a vision that ordinary lives are blighted if they are denied access to learning and culture. The idea that a library should be at the heart of the community from the pit-head libraries of the late Victorian Age to the library van that used to arrive once a week in Walkerville when I was young was at the centre of the vision of the just and civilised society we were all trying to build.

This notion that the library was central to our lives survived two World Wars, the Great Depression, Thatcher and any number of philistine administrations. If these closures go through on your watch I believe it will be a scar on your legacy you will regret for the rest of your political life. These are difficult times but they require much more canny solutions. Although removing the libraries will take away vital support for the poor and the elderly who use them as a daily resource (inevitably putting the strain on many of the council's other budgets) few people will actually die. But you will kill generation after generation of kids who, denied access to culture, science, business, technology or art, will not become the scientists, doctors, lawyers, politicians, writers or psychiatrists who will sustain the region, protect the vulnerable, kickstart the economy and provide a civilised environment for us all regardless of how economically underprivileged we are. You consign these individuals to a life of underachievement but you condemn the people of the City to decades of economic and cultural sclerosis which will be just as real and devastating.

It is clear that since the death of heavy industry on Tyneside that the City has survived by rethinking itself. By promoting its cultural legacy it has found a pride and prosperity that seemed obscure and unthinkable only a few years ago. The rumoured cuts in the Library Service and the Arts budget seem to be stabbing yourself in the heart. The effects of Art and Culture in the City have very real and demonstrably positive economic effects but what remains unaccounted is the sense of pride, raised spirits, a culture of innovation, forward thinking, cohesion and fortitude which when removed will prove enormously costly both economically and spiritually.

Culture is not an add on, culture is not for the privileged. It is who we are collectively, it is our conscience and it is the air we breathe, it has always been seen by those on the Left, and certainly in the Labour Party, as fundamentally important as Health and Education. Indeed it is an index of how healthy we are and the guarantor of how healthy we will become. I believe you are making a catastrophic personal and political decision. If you close the door on this legacy it will never reopen.

I hope that the recent announcement is merely a political posture to shame the Coalition into facing the consequences of their ill thought through fiscal policy. You must not go through with this. Your job is to protect and provide for local people - you must find other ways to resist and protest. The irony that Amazon evades the very taxes which could support core services like libraries would appear to presage an age when culture and learning are a privatised pursuit of the few. We must not let that happen.

These are extremely difficult times and they demand much more imaginative and radical responses than acting as the Coalition's henchmen. Working men and women in the North East have fought, generation after generation, for the right to read and grow intellectually, culturally and socially. For the right to be as 'civilised' as anyone else. It is a heritage that took decades and decades to come to fruition but will be wiped out in a moment. You are not only about to make philistines of yourselves, but philistines of us all.

Yours sincerely

Lee Hall


:applause:

North East Arts Venues prepare for 100% City Council cuts
by David Whetstone, The Journal, November 16th 2012

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/nov2012/4/9/featured-arts-theatre-royal-seven-stories-northern-stage-797574097.jpg
The Theatre Royal, Two children at the National Centre for Childrens Books, and Erica Whyman from Northern Stage

MAJOR ARTS VENUES in Newcastle, including the Theatre Royal, Northern Stage, Tyneside Cinema and The National Centre for Childrens Books at Seven Stories, have been warned to brace themselves for a 100% cut in funding from the city council. This would mean the Theatre Royal, the council’s principal beneficiary, losing more than £500,000 annually. Acclaimed producing theatres such as Northern Stage and Live Theatre would be hit along with Seven Stories, days after it was granted national status, and Dance City.

The revelation follows news that libraries, swimming pools and playschemes may close as the authority finds £90m of Government-ordered cuts. Tony Durcan, Newcastle City Council’s director of culture, libraries and lifelong learning, said he had briefed the bosses of 10 cultural organisations which between them receive about £1.5m from the authority.

“We are looking at up to 100% reductions in revenue support to parts of the cultural sector,” he said. “These are the big players such as three theatres, Seven Stories, Dance City, the Tyneside Cinema. There are also some smaller organisations such as Globe Gallery and Isis Arts. Rather like I said in the case of the libraries, we’ve got to make these terrific reductions across the whole council over three years, losing a third of our budget.”

He explained there was no statutory obligation to subsidise the arts but added: “That isn’t to say we don’t think they’re important. We could lose a lot from this, for only a little actual saving, but we have to make every saving we can so that we can protect the vulnerable and deliver our statutory requirements.”


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/11/16/north-east-arts-venues-prepare-for-100-cuts-61634-32243147/#ixzz2COMMDM6x

Weekly bin collections in Newcastle set to be axed
by Adrian Pearson, Evening Chronicle, November 16th 2012

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nechronical/nov2012/2/1/newcastle-city-council-says-the-moves-are-needed-as-it-must-reduce-its-spending-by-90m-363042313.jpg
Newcastle City Council says the moves are needed as it must reduce its spending by £90m

WEEKLY BIN COLLECTIONS in Newcastle are to be axed as the City Council continues its bid to save £90m. Local authority leaders have confirmed they are to move from weekly to fortnightly household waste collections. A budget set to be unveiled next week will pave the way for radical spending reductions.

Newcastle has set out its plans in advance of the Chancellor’s upcoming Autumn Statement, as well as waste collection services, the council also has bad news for street cleaning teams, park rangers and grass cutting and landscaping staff. Almost all of the city’s floral displays will be affected, with the council unlikely to be able to pay for flowers and shrubs on an annual basis. So far the council has not been able to say how many jobs are at risk, but with £11m to be taken out of the neighbourhood services budget there is little hope of avoiding some redundancies.

Nigel Hails, director of neighbourhood services, said "Fortnightly bin collections would bring the city into line with Gateshead, Northumberland and Durham. This is now common practice across 200 authorities in the country. Experience from these councils shows that this helps to improve recycling rates and customer satisfaction surveys tell us local people do not feel disadvantaged and adapt quickly.”


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/11/16/weekly-bin-collections-in-newcastle-set-to-be-axed-72703-32246178/#ixzz2COReEwVG

from this year's budget:
"The council has just received proposals from government to
support weekly collection. These will be assessed and a bid will be submitted if the council can satisfy the terms of the funding for support towards the £1m cost of maintaining this. If funding is secured then the council would like to involve local residents in further discussion on how to maintain and improve this service during the coming months. "

emphasis mine. what exactly are these terms?


and also, this year they're making £30m in cuts. Of that, £21.7m is internal stuff. You have to ask why they didn't do this a long time ago. They've already cut internal spending by around £30m in the past two years.

Newcastle City Council hope for
volunteers to look after parks
by Adrian Pearson, Evening Chronicle, November 17th 2012


VOLUNTEERS will be asked to take over parks throughout the City, as part of £90m of council cuts. Council leaders in Newcastle are hoping an army of volunteers and community groups can start looking out for the likes of Jesmond Dene over the next three years. Multi-million pound spending cuts set to be announced next week will see £11m taken from the money behind neighbourhood services, potentially paving the way for hundreds of council redundancies.

With park wardens among those under threat, Newcastle City Council bosses are turning to charities and community groups to ensure parks are maintained. It is just one in a series of cuts set to transform council services as city leaders face up to Government grant reductions and rising costs. Nigel Hails, the city’s director of neighbourhood services, said: “The level of maintenance of our public parks, grass cutting and landscaping activities will be reduced in frequency and some labour-intensive areas replaced. Street cleaning will be significantly reduced and the council will no longer be able to provide its floral programme every year.

“Our parks are our treasures. We have invested a lot in recent years and won several awards. But what matters most is that they are open, safe and used well. We will reduce maintenance in some; but still work with community groups and we will keep a number of high quality parks across the city. Volunteers already play a big role in Newcastle, but over the next three years the number of staff paid to keep parks and open spaces in top condition is likely to be reduced."


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/11/17/newcastle-council-hope-for-volunteers-to-look-after-parks-72703-32252466/#ixzz2CUFLCN5w

^^^^

We are just getting a drip, drip feed of reductions in services through the media.

Should all this not be delivered to the full council?

Anyway, I do help out at my local countryside park but not sure about volunteers could purely do this work?

So that's parks, pools and library's the council are looking at the community to run. Of course once they do that they will never go back to employing people to do it!

What's next? I think the community would probably do a better job running the council itself. :)

This from BBC news 20/11/12

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/49153000/jpg/_49153752_citylibrary.jpg
Newcastle's "super library" opened in June 2009


More than 1,300 jobs are to be axed by a North East council struggling to trim £90m from its budget.

Newcastle City Council - which employs 10,500 staff - will also shut 10 libraries, although it said its new £24m city centre library was safe.

A spokesman blamed rising costs and a greater demand for services for the cuts.

Leader of the Labour-run council, Nick Forbes, said it was "one of the darkest days for public service in Newcastle".

Full story on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-20415505

KEN

Newcastle Museums hit hard by slash in budgets
by Dan Warburton, The Journal, November 21st 2012

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/nov2012/5/0/an-exhibit-at-the-great-north-museum-556403648.jpg
Exhibit at the Great North Museum

THE SLASHING of City Council budgets will impact on services provided by museums and galleries across the City, it was announced last night. Currently the Great North Museum, for example, is operated on a free basis, but yesterday museum bosses said they will look at a range of their services. Iain Watson, director of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, said: “The Great North Museum and the Hatton Gallery receive around 12% of their funding from Newcastle City Council and this will be removed, while Discovery Museum, Tyne & Wear Archives and the Laing Art Gallery will have their funding from Newcastle City Council cut by 50% over the next three years.

“Obviously this will have an impact on the services we can deliver to people in the region – our learning programmes for schools and families, the exhibitions we stage and the work we do with community groups in the North East will all be looked at as we work to deal with reductions in funding. I understand that this is not a decision which Newcastle City Council wished to make but has had forced on it by the local government funding position."

“I sincerely believe in the positive impact that museums and galleries – and wider arts and culture – have on the local and regional economy and the lives of people who live in the North East. More than one million people enjoy and learn from museums and galleries in Newcastle every year.”


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/11/21/newcastle-museums-hit-hard-by-slash-in-budgets-61634-32273277/#ixzz2CqcSyWhF

I wonder if the cuts will affect many of the senior management non jobs in Newcastle CC. It would make more sense to dramatically cut the amount of managers than close libraries, but we know this won't happen. Also has Newcastle put off the cuts for too long and now had to make these drastic cuts now?

Citizens Advice Bureaus forced to turn away those in need
by Adrian Pearson, Evening Chronicle, November 29th 2012


A CRISIS-HIT support service is turning away the desperate as the money runs out. Across Tyneside, Citizens Advice Bureaus are telling hard hit families they will have to fend for themselves as government cuts continue. In Newcastle and Gateshead alone, more than half a million pounds will be taken from the help centres, meaning an end to new benefits cases.

Already the centres face a six week backlog and are either turning down new cases or having a one-off lesson with customers in the unlikely hope they can go on to successfully defend themselves in complex cases. With specialists advisers being made redundant and a ban on new cases, the Newcastle branch has warned of a Tyneside-wide crisis for those falling on hard times.

Despite this, the Government has insisted there is no problem, saying the money does not run out until April.


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/11/29/citizens-advice-bureaus-forced-to-turn-away-those-in-need-72703-32330361/#ixzz2DcSC4Yev

Families in Newcastle protest against council cuts
Evening Chronicle, November 29th 2012


PLANS to close two respite centres for the disabled will plunge Newcastle families into crisis, protestors demonstrating against city council cuts claim. More than 50 parents whose children attend respite centres Cheviot View, at Longbenton, and Castledene, at Gosforth, took part in a mass protest outside Newcastle’s Civic Centre as council leaders debated the £90m budget cuts that they propose to implement.

Campaign leader Nicola Vose branded council plans “disgraceful” as they would leave her struggling to cope with the care of her two disabled children. Nicola, 40, from Kenton Bar, said: “The stress levels carers face without support is detrimental to their health, and we have all read about the terrible cases of how, when carers can’t cope, they have taken their own lives and their children’s too."

“I know only a small proportion of Newcastle’s population use the centres, and libraries and swimming pools are being hit too in, but these disgraceful cuts to respite truly are a matter of life or death.”


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/11/29/families-in-newcastle-protest-against-council-cuts-72703-32330350/#ixzz2DcSzELSX

In Copeland the Beacon Centre and the Civic Hall are to close by 2014. Unfortunately the council wasted £ 1.5 million on a sports stadium that was cancelled at the last minute and would probably never be full, and now due to this, two important tourist attractions are to close in Whitehaven.

Culture cuts report reveals devastation for Newcastle
by Ruth Lognonne, The Journal, December 5th 2012

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/dec2012/3/4/featured-live-theatre-ceo-jim-beirne-608176452.jpg
Live Theatre CEO Jim Beirne

DEVASTATING cuts to Newcastle’s artistic sector will harm the economy, as well as wrecking the city’s cultural life, a new report claims. Figures released in an attempt to force a Newcastle Council climbdown on 100% cuts to a number of cultural bodies show £4.06 was put back into the region’s economy for every pound of subsidy received during 2011/12.

The findings made by Culture Matters – 10 of the North East’s top cultural venues – show £77.6m was pumped into the region’s economy across the cultural organisations during 2011/12. The venues supported more than 2,000 jobs, procured goods and services worth more than £19m from regional suppliers and generated around £8.6m in additional visitor spend.

Last night Jim Beirne, chief executive of Newcastle’s Live Theatre, told The Journal that Newcastle will likely lose some of its leading cultural venues if the proposed budget cuts are carried out. He said: “Now we have proper evidence that underlines the economic value of culture and arts in Newcastle. These are proposed cuts at the moment from the City Council and we’re simply making the argument from an economic point of view. To completely remove investment in culture will have devastating effects on the city’s economy in the long term.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/12/05/culture-cuts-report-reveals-devastation-for-newcastle-61634-32363876/#ixzz2EAa4Wrg5

What we really need to know is what the council has kept-spinal awareness coordinators? 5 a day project leaders? Diversity officers? These cuts can only be gauged in the light of this information. Our city will be a cultural desert in exchange for what?

This from GMBC Website:-

Date: 07/01/2013

Gateshead Council is looking for volunteers to run five of its libraries.

Gateshead Council has agreed to a proposal which would result in a core network of 12 libraries across Gateshead with the remaining 5 libraries, located at Sunderland Road, Low Fell, Winlaton, Lobley Hill and Ryton being run by volunteers.

These community-run libraries would continue to receive financial support from the Council to meet their running costs.

The Council is also looking for volunteers to assist with its Readers at Home service, which delivers books to housebound residents.

Full story on http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Council%20and%20Democracy/news/News%20Articles/Library-Service-Seeks-Volunteers.aspx


Cameron's "Big Society" to happen ??

KEN

Just seen this thread and thought it was a more appropriate place for this:

http://savenewcastlelibraries.org/wh...wouldnt-print/

I posted it in the politics thread hoping to get some thoughts from people but there seemed to be a bit of a domestic going on in there...

It appears this scheme is now in jeopardy as Newcastle Council has pulled out of the Library part of the scheme. :ohno:

This is when NHS funding had been secured to take the scheme forward.

More news when I get it.

The following message puts its view across quite clearly:

A Fair Cut?

Newcastle City Council is currently running a public consultation on proposals to make more than £100m of savings by 2016.

This includes a proposal to remove 100% of funding from many of Newcastle's best known cultural venues and organisations. We know the City Council must make cuts and we fully expect to carry our fair share, but for every £1 of funding collectively received £4 is put back into the economy. We are therefore concerned that 100% cuts will seriously threaten the future of this city, famed worldwide for regeneration through investment in culture.


If you agree please send the City Council an email now to ask that they reconsider 100% and work with the cultural partners and other important stakeholders, like Arts Council England, to find a way for culture and Newcastle to flourish in the future. You have until February 1st to make your voice heard.


Your opinion matters. Please take part - you can make a difference.

http://www.northernstage.co.uk/news-and-views/news/not-100

Newcastle’s Library buildings to be sold off
by Kim Swan, Evening Chronicle, January 16th 2013


HISTORIC library buildings could be sold off or demolished under sweeping budget cuts. Newcastle City Council is proposing to close seven libraries and relocate a further two this summer before axing another three facilities in 2015. It says it wants community groups or businesses to take on the running of the services. But the buildings, some of major historical importance, could be sold or even demolished if volunteers do not come forward.

Tony Durcan OBE, director of culture, libraries and lifelong learning at Newcastle City Council, said: “Our first priority would be to make sure any empty library buildings are handed over to local people for either use as libraries or as community buildings. We will do whatever we can to avoid demolition.”


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2013/01/16/newcastle-s-old-library-buildings-to-be-sold-off-72703-32611273/#ixzz2I9fUtoTE

Further to . . .

Newcastle’s Library buildings to be sold off
by Kim Swan, Evening Chronicle, January 16th 2013

HISTORIC LIBRARY BUILDINGS could be sold off or demolished under sweeping budget cuts. Newcastle City Council is proposing to close seven libraries and relocate a further two this summer before axing another three facilities in 2015. It says it wants community groups or businesses to take on the running of the services. But the buildings, some of major historical importance, could be sold or even demolished if volunteers do not come forward.

Tony Durcan OBE, director of culture, libraries and lifelong learning at Newcastle City Council, said: “Our first priority would be to make sure any empty library buildings are handed over to local people for either use as libraries or as community buildings. We will do whatever we can to avoid demolition.”

Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2013/01/16/newcastle-s-old-library-buildings-to-be-sold-off-72703-32611273/#ixzz2I9fUtoTE


. . . Here are some details of some of the Newcastle City Libraries, in question.


http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv345/manorpark_photos/Newcastle%204/17January2013_0002.jpg


http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv345/manorpark_photos/Newcastle%204/17January2013_0001.jpg


http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv345/manorpark_photos/Newcastle%204/17January2013_0001a.jpg


http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv345/manorpark_photos/Newcastle%204/17January2013_0003.jpg

.

It appears this scheme is now in jeopardy as Newcastle Council has pulled out of the Library part of the scheme. :ohno:

This is when NHS funding had been secured to take the scheme forward.

More news when I get it.

The latest news is that the scheme is not going to go ahead in its intended form.
(There was a Planning Application a few months ago)
The current Newburn Library will have some money spent on it to try and make it accessible - it has very steep stairs to the entrance.

The fate of a potentially reduced size Surgery and Pharmacy is unknown at the present time.

So because NCC have pulled out of the tripartite development we are back to square one.
A doctors surgery and library which are both not fit for purpose. :ohno:

This scanned copy of Newcastle Evening Chronicle article of 21/01/13

Talk of further £30 million cuts over next 2 years on top of £66 million cuts made to date, including;-

Loss of more jobs to the 1,125 lost in last 3 years - including possible compulsory redundancies

Possible grant cuts of £184,000 to the Sage and Baltic

Cutting back flooding repairs and street cleaning

Above inflation increases to car park charges, cemeteries and crematoria costs, pest control, bulky waste collections etc

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa358/KenOHeed/Ken%20OHeed%20album%202%20For%20use%20on%20Skyscrapercity%20com/Ken%20O%20Heed%20Album%203%20for%20SSC/scan0074_zpsee6b9272.jpg


On same image (hosted on Photobucket) talk of another £23 million Northumberland Council cuts in 2013/14

KEN

Times are hard, in Copeland, there are plans to lose the museum, the Civic Hall( used for concerts and election results) and cut branch libraries. Unfortunately the same council wasted £ 2 million trying to get a super stadium built for a rugby league club that struggles to get 1000 fans and then pulled the plug. I would rather they'd have spent the money on saving their cultural activities, which also attract tourists all year round.

This scanned copy of Newcastle Evening Chronicle article of 22/01/13

Talk of further £12 million cuts at North Tyneside Council over 2013/14 financial year on top of £32 million cuts made to date over last 3 years, with possible maximum 250 job losses

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa358/KenOHeed/Ken%20OHeed%20album%202%20For%20use%20on%20Skyscrapercity%20com/Ken%20O%20Heed%20Album%203%20for%20SSC/scan0077_zps6a3a7dc4.jpg

KEN

Reference to post above, this is part of the text of the article concerning proposed cuts for 2013/14 and 2014/15

Full article on http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Council%...two-years.aspx

Date: 20/01/2013

Cabinet members will be asked to agree to a consultation with local people on the council budget, at a meeting in Gateshead this week.

Residents will be asked to consider a range of spending proposals for the next financial year that will protect essential services and manage spending pressures.

Faced with unprecedented challenges from massive and rapid reductions in Government funding, the Council must now find savings for 2013 to 2015 to cover a funding gap of approximately £30m over and above savings that had already been identified. Gateshead Council will now have at least £233 less to spend, per person per year than it did in 2010.

Extensive consultations have already been undertaken on local priorities for 2012 to 2014 and in the last three years the Council has made significant savings of £66m. This has meant that 1,125 fewer people are now working for the Council and there have been significant changes to services.

As posted by JKKNE in post 884 of 23/01/13 on Gateshead Developments thread:-


"Gateshead Council have released their spending proposals for 2013/14. I've included the link below

http://online.gateshead.gov.uk/docus...+Proposals.doc

Some things which caught my eye reading through

Closure of Birtley Crematorium

Removal of patrols from Saltwell Park with duties transferred to Friends of Saltwell Park

Closure of Bill Quay Community Farm or handing over of the facility to outside organisation

No council sponsored Christmas Lights/Decorations/Trees

No more countryside wardens

Reduction in grants to Beamish, T&W Archives, BALTIC and Sage

All car parks to include charges and increase charges in all car parks.

End of support for Heritage Open Days

Withdrawal of school crossing patrols

No more blue plaques

Connexions to close (young employment service)

Removal of outside teaching and learning consultants to all education facilities

Ending the provision of bedding and flowers on council land and parks

Streetlights to go off between 12am and 5am in certain areas.

Old Town Hall sold to Sage Gateshead

Road and Pavement Maintenance to become reactive as opposed to proactive

Gateshead is aiming to save around £66m"

KEN

This scanned copy of Newcastle Evening Chronicle article of 23/01/13 concerning possible funding cuts that could affect the city's green spaces

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa358/KenOHeed/Ken%20OHeed%20album%202%20For%20use%20on%20Skyscrapercity%20com/Ken%20O%20Heed%20Album%203%20for%20SSC/scan0078_zps175837c6.jpg

KEN

This from SKY News Tyne & Wear 7:51PM, Mon Feb 25, 2013:-

Newcastle City Council Cabinet Approves £100m Programme Of Cuts

By Ruth Holliday Location: Newcastle

Councillors have approved cuts of £100m from Newcastle City Council's budget over the next three years, after being inundated with a record 50,000 responses to the plans.

The public were consulted on a wide-ranging package of cuts including the closure of 10 community libraries, the City Pool and City Hall, and a 100 percent reduction in the council's arts budget.

But at a meeting on Monday February 25, the council's cabinet approved amendments to the budget, which will save Castle Dene and Cheviot View respite centres, protect some libraries and safeguard the City Hall.

The budget will now be passed to the full council for approval on March 6, along with proposals for a freeze in council tax.

Full story on http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/arti...gramme-of-cuts

AND THIS from Tyne Tees http://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/st...get-statement/

Statement from Newcastle City Council about budget proposals

Newcastle City Council have released a statement about the agreement of budget proposals, including amending some previous proposals, to save the city council 100 million pounds.

To read more about the proposed council cuts, and the previous opposition that that have faced, click here.

The scale and unfair nature of the Government cuts that the council is facing is eye watering. That is why we have set out to be open and honest about what the Government’s austerity programme means in practice, and why we are looking three years ahead at the impact of the cuts we will have to implement.

“This has attracted a lot of comment - quite understandably - but I believe it is important to be frank about what the city faces so we can work together in good time to try to find alternatives.

– COUNCILLOR NICK FORBES, LEADER OF NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL


“I am proud of the spirited response from our communities which will enable some facilities and services to continue whilst we set about trying to minimise the 1,300 job losses in the council - but no one should be mistaken about the scale of the challenge public services face.

“Our proposals focus on protecting the most vulnerable such as older people with dementia and children at risk of violent or sexual abuse; set a balanced budget as we must do by law, and invest £450m through our capital programme to show investors that we are serious about making Newcastle a working city."

– COUNCILLOR NICK FORBES, LEADER OF NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL


“Getting people into work is one of the best ways we will deal with the challenges of the future.”

– COUNCILLOR NICK FORBES, LEADER OF NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL

KEN

For those interested in the "nitty gritty" these links for NCC documents associated with Budget Meeting held on 06/03/13

http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/your-cou...proposals-2016

And

http://democracy.newcastle.gov.uk/mg...08#mgDocuments

KEN

More budget cuts would be ‘a disaster’
by Joanne Butcher, The Journal, June 8th 2013


MORE COUNCIL BUDGET CUTS would have “disastrous consequences for local communities” Newcastle’s leader has warned. Nick Forbes welcomed an independent inquiry by MPs which said the poorest and most vulnerable communities have been unfairly hit by Government spending cuts, but he warned that services, particularly for older people in Newcastle, would need to be scaled back dramatically unless central government thought again, he said.

The report, published by the Commons Committee of Public Accounts, will provide fresh ammunition for Newcastle, which is working with the core cities group representing the eight largest English cities outside London to try to win a fairer deal for major urban areas. Earlier this year the council published research showing that the poorest and most deprived parts of the country are the worst affected by Government cuts.

Newcastle is to lose £218 per person in funding from central government between 2010 and 2015, according to a study produced by the authority, while wealthy Richmond loses just £39. But the city also has a relatively high poverty rate, with 29% of children living in poverty. In Richmond, the figure is 11%. MP Margaret Hodge, chair of the committee, said: “The more grant dependent local authorities are suffering the highest reductions in spending power. But these are the very councils which serve poorer and more vulnerable communities whose need for services is the greatest. This raises the spectre of the worst-affected councils being unable to meet their statutory obligations. In some cases local authorities may cease to be viable.”


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2013/06/08/more-budget-cuts-would-be-a-disaster-61634-33443806/#ixzz2VcAI5qDS