Why Tory decisions in favour of ADVANCE Northumberland will damage the County?

The recent well reported decision from Northumberland Conservatives to bail out the private company which replaced the former Labour regeneration platform ARCH which auditors could find nothing malicious to report on and the police found not to be involved in any criminal activity to transfer £8M of pubic money from the Adult Care reserve fund to bail out the company and its Chairperson Richard Wearmouth.

This obvious to most normal people gross misuse of public funds, covered up by the use of word ‘reserves’ by the Tories is not only damaging to the Council’s finances as a whole but it will hit many wards and eventually families and individuals across Northumberland very hard indeed as the County is home to an ageing population and the changes to integrated care being rolled out from September 2021 will require the use of those reserves to keep a basic service to elderly people running smoothly.

We caught up with Councillor Lynne Grimshaw who represents Bothal ward in Ashington South East Northumberland at the very edge of the rural coalfield, she told us.: “I was shocked when the news of this transfer of funds was announced by Councillor Oliver of Corbidge following Labour challenge against the use of Covid funds to cover ADVANCE’s failings.” 

“Bothal ward has a very high number of people of the third age and there is even an estate of social bungalows centred in the patch”.

“Funds for future elderly care will be needed very soon after the pandemic ends as local people in Bothal ward and across the County will require extra help to get themselves back into normal routines and the County Council adult care system which relies on day care and luncheon clubs requires those now spent reserves to bolster the reopening of premises and kitchens which may have stood idle for over a year”.

“in my view this move by the Tories is very short term thinking indeed and their methods of changing their minds when tackled by the Labour Leadership will bring enormous problems for the future.”