Blyth, Wensleydale Councillor, Challenges ‘changes for the worst’

Councillor Eileen Cartie of Wensleydale Ward in the town of Blyth was in attendance at the April Northumberland County Council’s Communities and Place overview and scrutiny committee.

The chairperson of the scrutiny committee said it was his wish that things change and the committee will no longer pre-scrutinise the decisions of the Councils conservative party Cabinet and possibly they may get the chance to look at the effects of policy change on Northumberland’s Communities after six months.

Councillor Cartie spoke out at the meeting against the changes asking that her opposition to the changes were noted in the minutes of the meeting. She was joined in opposition to what she sees as “scrutiny being downgraded to overview only” by a number of other Councillors.

Councillor Cartie told us that “being run at present by a Cabinet and Leader model a maximum of 10 Conservative Councillors decide on every change that affects people, every penny spent, every job to be made redundant and every pet project they wish to commit to.” “Without the maintenance of pre-decision scrutiny the changes made by Cabinet and the policies introduced will be kept secret from opposition Councillors and the public unless they require a full Council decision to become active”.

“I can predict now that the only policies that we will ever see at Committee will be the few that show some level of success and all of those designed to cheapen and lessen service delivery to the public will never see the light of day”.

Blyth Labour Newsletter April 2023