WEETSLADE WARD LABOUR PARTY SELECT A NEW CANDIDATE FOR NEXT YEAR’s COUNCIL ELECTION Weetslade Labour Party has selected Joanne Cassidy

WEETSLADE WARD LABOUR PARTY SELECT A NEW CANDIDATE FOR NEXT YEAR’s COUNCIL ELECTION Weetslade Labour Party has selected Joanne Cassidy as their candidate for the local Council Elections in May next year, to replace Councillor Alex Cowie who is retiring through ill health. Alex said ' I am disappointed not to be standing for election again, but Joanne was born and raised in the ward and as a young mum who works part time she knows how important Council services like Education and childcare are to families. North Tyneside Council needs a wide range of people to represent their communities. Joanne is in touch with today's generation and will bring first hand skills and up to date experience to benefit local people, I will be helping her in the campaigning ahead and know she will do Weetslade proud'.

** NOTES FOR EDITORS North Tyneside Labour Party are selecting their candidates for the twenty electoral wards in the Borough for next year’s elections. The work is nearing completion and more information will be sent out on the other successful candidates. The Selection procedures in the Party are democratic and individual members of the respective wards decide who they want as their candidate. Photo attached of Joanne Cassidy

There are a couple of points to add – did councillor Wallace explain that the previous Conservative Administration actually authorised seeking Legal Advice on this matter and it cost around £5,000. (this can be substantiated and proved)

Cllr Judith Wallace has accused the Labour group of 'political grandstanding' and wasting tax payers' cash for trying to push for a judicial review over the schools merger. Cash in that money was spent on legal advice. There are a couple of points to add – did councillor Wallace explain that the previous Conservative Administration actually authorised seeking Legal Advice on this matter and it cost around £5,000. (this can be substantiated and proved) The previous Conservative Executive agreed the current course of action back in the Autumn of last year, in agreement with all three Political groups and it was done so on the understanding that the matter was one of Education in North Tyneside and the impact of the academy on the current education provision. Cllr Wallace was part of that agreement in her role as Deputy Mayor and as Leader of the Tory Group of Councillors. The fact that there has been a change of political administration has not changed the position adopted by all three groups. The politics of the situation has now been invoked by the Tory Opposition and others, not by the Labour and Liberal Groups. The matter is a one of educational significance and impact on existing schools immediately the school term starts in September. This is a matter that Cllr Wallace will have to face in Wards along the Coast as residents learn that the sustainability of education in its current form will have to be addressed as a direct consequence of the imposition of the Academy. The fact that the impact is immediate and has meant that the council have no other options but to act straight away to implement a review of school provision as soon as possible. If the academy proposals had been undertaken over a longer period of time, then any reviews would have gone through a more sensible process and mitigation plans would have been considered on merit. The fact is the Academy and the DFE have avoided to engage in a meaningful way with the Local Authority and have dismissed the impacts on other schools. In fact even Northumberland County Council have schools that objected to the proposals because of a similar impact. If Cllr Wallace actually considered her position before making weak political points, she would have realised a fundamental political mistake in the reaction of parents of pupils in the other schools who will no doubt not appreciate the stance taken by the Conservative Group *** Please note - that 900 new places are actually nearly 3% of the school community and that is equivalent to 30 classes of 30 pupils in each class, so would it be better to use numbers rather than percentages to demonstrate the immediate change in the surplus places?

The only thing Linda Arkley hasn’t left is a note telling the Mayor ‘there is no money left. I’m shocked at what has happened during the past four years and we need to act quickly to stop the situation worsening’.

LABOUR’S DISMAY OVER NORTH TYNESIDE FINANCE LEGACY

‘The only thing missing was a note from the Tories saying ‘there is no money left’ – Jim Allan

Incoming Labour administration headed up by Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn have uncovered a series of costly decisions taken by former Tory Mayor Linda Arkley as they seek to unpick the Tory legacy of excessive debt, missed opportunities and botched decisions.

Labour are pointing to a huge jump in the council borrowing from £233.901m when Linda Arkley took over from Labour in 2009 to £524.246m when she left office in May.

During the election Labour had warned residents over the excessive borrowing under the Tories and it’s now clear that this was the tip of a very large financial iceberg.

For example, this year budget which was controversially set by Arkley in April against the wishes of the majority Labour group and the Liberal Democrats, contains £21m deficit including £12m in the Tory ‘Change, Efficiency and Improvement’ programme and a further £9m in capital financing.

They have also identified a dramatic fall in the council’s strategic reserve and balances fund from £29.604m (when Labour left office in 2009) to £13.749m as it presently stands.

Labour group leader Jim Allan said

‘The council’s finances are in a perilous state and the Tories have turned a golden economic legacy left to them in 2009 into a set of figures which show the true extent of the council’s problems. Borrowing has doubled, council reserves have shrunk by over 55% and we’ve inherited a ‘Change’ programme which doesn’t reflect reality never mind prudent economics. The only thing Linda Arkley hasn’t left is a note telling the Mayor ‘there is no money left. I’m shocked at what has happened during the past four years and we need to act quickly to stop the situation worsening’.

End

Special Council Meeting on Wednesday 17th July - Re Merger of Kings School and Priory Primary School

Special Council Meeting on Wednesday 17th July - Re Merger of Kings School and Priory Primary School The Cabinet of North Tyneside Council have decided to seek the views of the full council on the proposals to merge Priory Primary School and the Independent Fee Paying Kings School in advance of making a decision on whether to seek a Judicial Review on the Secretary of State’s decision to approve the merger. This is an opportunity to allow all councillors to ask questions and express their views. The Leader of the Labour Group Councillor Jim Allan said :- The Labour Group of Councillors are seriously concerned that the proposal to merge Kings and Priory schools may have an unintended impact on the other schools across the Borough. Of course, parents and governors at the two schools in question are in favour of the merger but the Council's role on Wednesday is to protect the interests of the many thousands of children across North Tyneside who won't be going to the proposed school. Their voice hasn't been heard in this debate so far and it's high time the 'silent majority' who will have to live with the consequences had their voices heard. The Labour group is committed to representing that 'silent voice'. For example, we need to question the Secretary of State over the impact on other schools in the Borough when he uses £5m from the tax payers purse to wipe out Kings school debt. As it stands, there are no assurances that this money will not be recouped by central government by reducing the amount of funding per head in other schools across the borough. We feel Michael Gove has many questions to answer and that's why I will be writing to him prior to next week’s meeting to seek answers'.

North Tyneside Clean Up Teams

On Wednesday 10 July Our North Tyneside Clean Up Teams will be in Bowman Drive, Fern Drive (up to March Road) Owen Brannigan Drive, Love Avenue, Patrick Terrace, Ozanan Drive and Burt Crescent making sure the neighbourhood is clean, tidy and safe.

On the day they will be tackling any specific ‘hot-spot’ areas and will carry out street cleaning.  They will also be removing any fly-tipping and graffiti, putting up ‘no dog fouling’ signs and issuing fixed penalty notices to anyone seen failing to pick up after their dog or dropping litter.  They will also remove bulky rubbish from resident’s property and if any residents wish to take advantage of this service they should contact the Estte Caretaking Service Team on 0191 643 - 7514/7515/7516 to advise which items they want removed

Sky Tyne and Wear News

Cancellation of Mayoral Debate at TyneMet College

Posted by Lisa Dawson on Tuesday 16 April 2013 Other, Tyne and Wear

The Debate scheduled to take place between the Mayoral candidates Linda Arkley (Conservative), Norma Redfearn (Labour) and John Appleby (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday 18th April at TyneMet Coast Road Campus, has been cancelled.

The decision to cancel the event has been made because of the withdrawal from the Debate by Elected Mayor Linda Arkley due to circumstances beyond her control.

Jon Vincent, Principal and Chief Executive, TyneMet College, said:

“As hosts for this event we felt it was essential that all of the Mayoral Candidates would have the opportunity to fully participate in the Debate.

It is therefore with regret that we issue this notice of cancellation.”

http://tyneandwear.sky.com/noticeboard/post/63811/cancellation-of-mayoral-debate-at-tynemet-college

Elected Mayor from the Mayoral Debate on Thursday 18th April 2013 we have decided to cancel the event. I have asked Linda’s agent (Andrew Elliott) for her reason for non-attendance and alternative dates but thus far I have not received a response.

Subject: Fwd: Mayoral Debate - Cancelation

Dear Labour Team, we have been informed that the hustings meeting scheduled for this Thursday at the tynemet college, has been cancelled. The simple reason is that the Currrent Mayor cannot make it despite it being arranged quite a while ago.

I have attempted to find out what the circumstances are for her being unable to participate, without success. I did not want to be too critical in case there are genuine grounds, but as even a vague explanation has not been provided, then speculation will continue. It is really disappointing as there were a large number of North Tyneside Residents planning to attend to hear from the three candidates.

Could you please pass this on to others you maybe unaware of the cancellation.

If I find any information on her absence I will let you know, remember, the Tory Group did not attend the last council meeting and were vague of why none of them could be in attendance?

Best Wishes

Jim Allan

07909234752

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Subject: Mayoral Debate - Cancelation

Dear All,

It is with great regret that I wish to inform you that following the withdrawal of the Elected Mayor from the Mayoral Debate on Thursday 18^th April 2013 we have decided to cancel the event.  I have asked Linda’s agent (Andrew Elliott) for her reason for non-attendance and alternative dates but thus far I have not received a response. 

This afternoon I will be issuing a press release announcing the cancelation and making clear that our decision is based solely on the withdrawal of the Elected Mayor and our need to remain politically neutral.

I hope you will appreciate the very difficult position that Linda’s withdrawal has put us in and respect our decision.

Best wishes,

Jon Vincent

Principal and Chief Executive

T 0191 2295000 Ext: 5213 | E Jon.Vincent@tynemet.ac.uk