| Boris Johnson was heading North this morning as he continued his bid to move on from the ignominy of Partygate and focus attention back on his domestic policies. On a visit to the North East today he was expected to be quizzed on his Chancellor's latest emergency cost-of-living package, a £21 billion giveaway to households partly paid for by a £5 billion levy on the profits of oil and gas companies. And not far away in Consett, County Durham, ChronicleLive reports on the case of a woman whose concerns illustrate precisely why Rishi Sunak was forced to act with a package which includes a £400 discount on energy bills for every household in the country. Josie - who lives near the town centre - panicked when she realised that her monthly payment was increasing five times what she was paying before the energy crisis hit at the end of last year. And she said that the massive hike had tipped her family from being financially secure to not knowing if they would make ends meet at the end of every month.  Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a visit to CityFibre Training Academy in Stockton-on-Tees. Pic: PA
The 35-year-old, who asked reporter Catherine Furze not to use her surname, told of her horror when she learned that her energy bill - which was £98 per month last October, had risen to a massive £523 a month, leaving her and her husband Dave, 40, wondering how others less fortunate than they are will cope. "It's so dispiriting to cut back and cut back, yet our wages are still disappearing faster every month. What use are three-minute showers and value groceries when you get hit with bills like this? "We are cutting back and cutting back until I don't think there's much left to cut back on and eating into our savings, which I realise we are lucky to have. What use is a £400 one-off rebate against a monthly bill of £523? We both work full-time - we shouldn't have to consider whether we can afford it if one of us fancies a hot bath." In Newcastle last night, Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner told a crowd the £400 energy bill discount and a windfall tax on oil and gas firms were unveiled only to cover up "horrendous partying" in Downing Street. Speaking at a Trade Union Congress rally at Newcastle Civic Centre, the Ashton-under-Lyne MP slammed the "Bullingdon Club they have put into No 10 to get p****d up while everyone else is losing relatives and are living on the bread line". 
Elsewhere, another Northern Conservative has warned that rising costs could lead to "desperation" and some types of crime increasing. Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner Jonathan Evison spoke on the potential impact of the cost of living crisis as his office announced a £1million cash injection into the region for the next three years. It's hoped the funding will help prevent crimes like anti-social behaviour from blighting communities. He told HullLive's Susie Beever that people being thrust into poverty was a trigger for crime and that we must "be prepared" to see a rise. His comments follow his colleague, West Midlands PCC Simon Foster, who claimed earlier this month that crime might become "an attractive and viable" option for the poor and vulnerable as bills and taxes rise.
Nandy: Window is closing to reverse decades of neglect for North's towns  Wigan MP Lisa Nandy speaks at Halifax's Piece Hall
Halifax's Piece Hall, a magnificent 18th century cloth hall now reinvented as one of Yorkshire's premier venues, "should be one of Europe's most famous buildings" and a potent symbol of the importance of levelling up. Those were the words of Nicholas Boys Smith, one of the organisers of the Restitch conference organised by the think-tank Onward to explore how to breathe new life into British communities. The fact the Piece Hall is so little known outside Yorkshire, he said, "tells us something very, very profound about the cultural geography of our own present." And in a speech at the Piece Hall this morning, Wigan MP Lisa Nandy spelled out her vision for how Labour would back the ambition of towns like hers which have been long neglected. The Shadow Levelling Up Secretary told the audience the Conservatives were "abandoning Levelling Up" and "abandoning the communities to whom they promised so much". But as Tory peer Lord James O'Shaughnessy pointed out to her, successive governments including New Labour in the 1990s had tried to reverse decades of decline in Northern towns. What was different this time? Ms Nandy said she believed that for the country to thrive "we need to invest in all our parts". She added: "So I think that's the opportunity because there are people in all political parties who haven't come to that conclusion. There's certainly people in the current government and the Cabinet who haven't, but there are also people in every political party now who've come to see this. "We've come a long way. But there is a moment now a small moment and that window is closing, where there is the potential for political consensus that will start to draw on the talents and the strength of every part of this country again, and that's why I say you've got to seize it."  The Piece Hall is described as Yorkshire's most important secular building
You can hear more from Lisa Nandy - including the future of Northern towns, Hunger Games-style bidding and Leigh potentially splitting from Wigan - in this week's episode of The Northern Agenda podcast.
Meanwhile a senior MP says it is "difficult, if not impossible" to assess the impact cash devoted to 'levelling up' is having on communities due to the complex nature of how funds are awarded.
Sheffield MP Clive Betts, who chairs the Commons levelling up select committee, has written to Ministers seeking more detail on how funds are awarded and how success is measured, writes Westminster Editor Dan O'Donoghue.
In the letter, Labour's Mr Betts has specifically asked the Levelling Up Department (DLUHC) for information on ten funds - which cover everything from high streets and coastal towns to EU replacement cash. Those funds are (deep breath): The UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Community Ownership Fund, Levelling Up Fund, UK Community Renewal Fund, Getting Building Fund, Towns Fund, Transforming Cities Fund, Local Growth Fund, Coastal Communities Fund/Coastal Revival Fund and Future High Streets Fund.
He said: "Levelling-up is a crucial part of the Government's agenda but the complex array of grants and funding pots allocated by the DLUHC and other Government departments makes it difficult, if not impossible, to assess what precisely is going on to improve communities up and down the country." Responding, DLUHC said: "The process for distributing Levelling Up funding has been published online for everyone to see - we will soon set out a plan for simplifying the way funds are delivered, enabling communities to invest in the priorities that matter to them."
'We spend too much on universities and not enough on apprentices'  Miriam Cates and Lisa Nandy are guests on this week's Northern Agenda podcast
Over in South Yorkshire, Conservative 'red wall' MP Miriam Cates wants a manufacturing revival to help restore the fortunes of towns like hers in the Penistone and Stocksbridge constituency whose industries have declined in recent decades. And alongside business rates and energy prices, she believes a major barrier for firms in her patch is the number of people leaving home for academic degrees at university rather than getting skilled jobs locally. The local mother-of-three, who also spoke at the Restitch conference this week, told our podcast that a re-think of post-16 education was needed as "we spend too much money on higher education and not enough money on training apprenticeships". She added: "So at the moment, we spend over £11 billion a year of taxpayer cash on higher education. So that's money we don't get back because 75% of graduates never fully repay their student loan. "And if you think about it, that money only helps half the population. So can you imagine saying only half the population could have free schooling, it's quite an odd concept really, that £11 billion is not spread equally across the population, only those who could go to university get access to that taxpayer cash. "So I just think we need to make it more fair, and open up that money to be available as a training budget for all young people, whatever route you choose to make."
What can under-fire Bradford learn from Manchester children's services?  Manchester council's children's services have been rated 'Good' – making the city one of the best performing in the North West.
The fall-out from the damning review of the actions of local child protection services leading up to the death of 16-month-old Keighley girl Star Hobson continued today as a Tory MP called for Bradford council's leader and chief executive to quit. Keighley MP Robbie Moore said Labour leader Susan Hinchcliffe and chief executive Kersten England "must give way and resign their positions for more capable individuals so we can truly move forward and protect vulnerable children in our area". Can Bradford's crisis-hit children's services department learn from its counterpart in Manchester? As Local Democracy Reporter Joseph Timan writes, for years hundreds of vulnerable children were being left at risk of sexual abuse, physical harm and neglect as Manchester council staff struggled to deal with the volume of young people and their families in crisis. But now, for the first time ever, Manchester's children's services have been rated 'Good' – making the city one of the best performing in the North West. The council credits this success to its 'back to basics' approach which bases social workers in the areas they serve to create 'grassroots' connections.
The department has also put emphasis on prevention by helping children, young people and their families before their problems reach crisis point.
Cancer patient's hospital appointment cancelled as IT failures hit NHS  Fairfield Hospital is one of those in Greater Manchester hit by the IT failure
In Greater Manchester, NHS staff are still grappling with a major IT failure affecting four hospitals which has delayed care for thousands of patients. The IT issues have caused chaos with electronic prescribing, viewing patients' medical records, finding test results - as well forcing appointments and surgeries to be cancelled. As Helena Vesty reports for the Manchester Evening News, one cancer patient who waited five months for an appointment arrived at Bury's Fairfield General Hospital to find it was cancelled. Duncan Berry said he was told 'it would not be safe for the consultant to see him' as staff couldn't access his medical records. The dad-of-two, whose mum died of cancer last June, has now been left with no idea how long it could be before he is seen again. There are IT problems in Cheshire as well, where ten thousand pounds was taken from a school's budget to pay staff it doesn't employ and teachers' pensions haven't been paid because of failures in the council's new finance system. Headteacher Carl Leech told of the shambles and lack of support his school has faced since the Best4Business HR and finance IT system was introduced by Cheshire East Council. And he believes the system is open to abuse, as Local Democracy Reporter Belinda Ryan reports.
 Wes Streeting and Simon Lightwood at Wakefield's Pinderfields Hospital
Labour's Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting was at Wakefield's Pinderfields Hospital yesterday to highlight the fact that more than 1,500 people walked out of A&Es run by the Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust before receiving any treatment in March alone. Labour, whose candidate in the upcoming by-election is NHS worker Simon Lightwood, says local hospitals are struggling with a shortage of staff and there are close to 14,000 NHS vacancies across the North East and Yorkshire. Meanwhile as campaigning hots up ahead of the by-election on June 23, Tory chairman Oliver Dowden joined North East MPs Richard Holden and Paul Howell in knocking doors on behalf of their man Nadeem Ahmed. And as YorkshireLive reports, a former Conservative councillor now standing against the party in the by-election said he 'laughed out loud' when his old party sent him an email inviting him to campaign with them - despite now standing for a rival party. David Herdson was once a member of the Conservative Party and ran two Conservative associations. He has since joined the Yorkshire Party and is running against his old party, even if they are still asking him to support them. 
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Northern Stories  North Tyneside mayor Norma Redfearn with council staff next to the clock
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Whitley Bay's famous Grant's clock has finally returned to its rightful place on the town's promenade following a stay in Derby for repairs after last year's Storm Arwen. Mayor of North Tyneside, Norma Redfern, who unveiled the restored timepiece yesterday at 3:30pm, said: "It was heart-breaking to see the state of it once the storm had blown over. We know how much the clock means to local people and we were determined to get it back on public display. The experts have done a remarkable job of restoring it and the column has been repainted 'Whitley Bay blue' to ensure it looks its very best." -
A veteran member of South Ribble Borough Council has apologised for suggesting that the chief executive of the authority was "in the pockets" of the ruling Labour group. Barrie Yates, who has been a councillor in the district for 31 years, made the comment during a testy debate about the future of the area's leisure centres.
The Conservative politician proffered an apology to Gary Hall – the council's most senior officer – within moments of delivering the jibe at a recent meeting of the authority. But Mr Hall declined to accept it. -
Newcastle's new deputy lord mayor has apologised for a "crass and insensitive" joke about gun violence the day after a school shooting in Texas. Veronica Dunn's new post also grants her the honorary title of Sheriff of Newcastle. The long-serving Byker councillor remarked during her acceptance speech that she had already been presented with a Stetson hat and fake gun to celebrate her new position, while jokes were made by her and new lord mayor Karen Robinson about whether she would have access to a gun cupboard. Cllr Dunn told a Newcastle council meeting: "It is probably not a good idea for me to have one because I would not be responsible for what I might do with it." -
Tributes have been paid to a former councillor and Liberal Democrat activist who helped make Sheffield the UK's first City of Sanctuary. Mike Reynolds died peacefully at St Luke's Hospice with his wife, two daughters and sister beside him on May 19, at the age of 79. Mike was elected as councillor for Ecclesall ward in 2006 and councillor Shaffaq Mohammed said he "worked tirelessly on behalf of local people" during his time in the role. -
Oldham's first openly gay council leader has been formally appointed by councillors. Amanda Chadderton takes on the top role at the local authority after former leader Arooj Shah – the first Muslim woman in the North to head up a council – lost her seat in the May 5 elections. Cllr Chadderton becomes Oldham's third Labour leader in as many years, after Sean Fielding was also defeated at the ballot box in 2021. -
Gateshead council has been told by Sage Gateshead officials the music venue should have a new name by September 2022. Abigail Pogson, managing director of Sage Gateshead, told the council work is underway to find "the right name for now and for the future." The venue has to change its name after it was announced earlier this year that the £300m NewcastleGateshead Quays development will be named The Sage.
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