𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒞𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝑀𝒶𝒾𝓁

The end of first hour free parking in the two centres, replaced with a £1.50 charge for three hours in February, was debated at a Stockton Council cabinet meeting on Thursday (July 17). It is being reviewed after just a few months following a petition and council motion calling on leaders to reverse the policy,…

There are still places available for the Ask Me Anything question time, but in case you are unable to make it, The Northern Echo is inviting its readers to submit questions as well. The event, the first of its kind, is to be chaired by the Echo’s Chris Lloyd, and although it is really about…

Happy memories of Sunday lunches there as a kid growing up in Aycliffe in the 1980s and 1990s, when the pub was in full swing. But also anger and frustration – that this set of buildings, which made up the world’s first railway station, had found themselves in such a sorry state. It was clear…

This is a major issue. The decision to transfer that funding to Adult and Children Social Care is a tactic I am suspicious of. It portrays Reform as the guardians of care. I recall reading not so long ago a Reform councillor questioning a child’s suitability for care. The councillor might not have been from…

The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington reportedly doubled down on comments about racism she had previously apologised for. Ms Abbott has lost the whip a day after Rachael Maskell, Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff and Neil Duncan-Jordan. A Labour Party spokesperson said Ms Abbott has been suspended “pending an investigation”. “We cannot comment further while…

Council leader Carl Les defended his decision to remove 30-year-old councillor Keane Duncan from his role as executive member for highways and transportation after the decision was brought up at a full council meeting yesterday (Wednesday). Cllr Duncan, who represents Norton, was replaced in a recent reshuffle of the Conservative-run council’s executive by Councillor Malcolm…

Ms Maskell said she had been suspended for “standing up for my constituents” over welfare reforms. The MP lead a rebellion against the Labour government’s welfare reforms earlier this month which caused it to soften some of its proposals. Ms Maskell said: “The reason why I voted the way I did was because I believe in fighting…

Councillors are voting on a Reform UK request to rescind Durham County Council’s climate emergency pledge.

Both “emergencies” are real and both require a county council to take serious steps to address them as well as all the other major issues that confront it. The Reform councillors are right that the social care crisis is one of the biggest issues facing the NHS and that neither Conservative nor Labour has had…

Opposition councillors in County Durham said they will continually scrutinise decisions made by Reform leaders in charge of Durham County Council and expose any failures.  A motion by Durham County Council’s deputy leader Darren Grimes to rescind the 2019 declaration was approved by Reform councillors on Wednesday.  The Reform councillor said the local authority was…