Eyes & Ears 10.01.25

It's what you've been missing

Where should the buck stop?

North East Bylines took a look at the Gateshead flyover fiasco and determined that the buck should stop with someone. But who?

“This is a shambles of the first order. It can’t just be shrugged off. If ever there was a case in local government for which someone, somewhere, should be held accountable, this is it,” the article said.

North East Bylines, in common with their sister titles in the Bylines Network, is written by unpaid ‘citizen journalists’. In this case, however, the author was the experienced journalist Peter Morris.

Peter accepted that responsibility for the now permanent closure of the crumbling structure, which was used by 40,000 vehicles a day, was complicated and could be split between many local and national politicians over many years.

But, as he pointed out: “Gateshead Council and the Department for Transport have clearly been aware of the looming flyover problem for years. Yet when the worst happened they were apparently caught without a contingency plan. No one seems to have anticipated the knock-on effect on the Metro.”

So, who did he leave the buck with? With Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon, who is politically responsible for not just the flyover but the Metro, as deputy mayor and cabinet member for transport at the North East Combined Authority.

“In view of his close involvement with North East transport over the past nine years, and even though he has clearly been hampered by lack of government funding, it has to be with Councillor Gannon. How does he plan to show that he accepts this? Rough justice on him it may be, but justice none the less.”

Fair?

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Nicholas

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Nothing in moderation

Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to get rid of Meta’s 40,000 moderators sparked something of a busy spell for North East journalist Chris Stokel-Walker.

Chris, who also lectures at Newcastle University, wrote an analytical piece for New Scientist on what Meta’s massive move away from content moderation means for all of us. For Fast Company, he dug into the motivations behind the move, and asked: is Mark Zuckerberg trying to emulate (and head off) Elon Musk, just days from Donald Trump taking power?

In replacing moderators with an Elon Musk (Twitter)-style community notes format, Zuckerberg lays himself wide open to accusations that it is nothing more than a cynical ploy to ingratiate himself with the incoming president - it was only four years ago that Meta banned Trump from its platforms for inciting the violence on the Capitol.

The Guardian asked Chris to write an opinion column on the move by Meta - which has 3.3 billion daily users across Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Threads.

He said: “All businesspeople make shrewd moves to accommodate the political weather. And there are few less violent storms than Hurricane Trump approaching the US. But few people’s decisions matter more than Mark Zuckerberg’s. Where Meta goes, the world – online and offline – follows. And Meta has just decided to take a drastic, dramatic handbrake turn right.

Chris Morris, chief exec of Full Fact, who featured in Eyes & Ears last week, said: “Meta’s decision to end its partnership with fact checkers in the US is a backwards step that risks a chilling effect around the world. From safeguarding elections to protecting public health to dissipating potential unrest on the streets, fact checkers are first responders in the information environment.”

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Soaring cost of caring

Hartlepool Borough Council is set to overspend on its children’s social care budget by £6 million due largely to the increasing costs of placing youngsters in private homes.

There are currently 42 children in external placement care, costing an average of £6,000 per week. That’s an annual cost of £312,000 per child.

A council spokesperson said the increased costs were, in part, caused by "elements of the provider market making what many consider excessive profits at councils' expense".

The local authority welcomed Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson's plans to force large providers to disclose their finances, limit their profits and strengthen Ofsted's powers to investigate and fine them.

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Globe-trotting home

If New Writing North's Screenwriting Weekender at Live! Theatre in Newcastle was not already sold out then it would have been after the Golden Globe awards.

Gateshead’s Peter Straughan, who won best screenplay at the Globes for Conclave, is one of the speakers at the three-day event which begins on January 31 - which is very apt since New Writing North supported his early career and he was a writer-in-residence at Live!

Alison Gwynne, chief executive of North East Screen, said: "I think it's really, really important for the world to see that there is world-class talent in the North East. Peter is an absolute rockstar and we're really excited about where he's got to in his journey."

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Sales top £2 billion

Greggs yesterday announced that their total sales for 2024 surpassed £2 billion, marking an 11.3% increase on the previous year. However, they also reported a sales growth of only 2.5% for the fourth quarter - a slowdown attributed to lower consumer confidence and reduced footfall on the high street.

Despite these challenges, Greggs opened a record 226 new shops in 2024 and plans to open 150 outlets this year, including petrol forecourts, retail parks and transport sites.

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Cancelled - but costly

A plan to upgrade a 13-mile stretch of the AI between Morpeth and Ellingham, which was cancelled by the new government in October, has already cost £68.4 million. A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the BBC revealed expenditure to date includes: £4m on the purchase of three properties; £15.8m on the preliminary design; £31.6m construction preparation; £7.2m on surveys and professional fees.

Transport Minister Heidi Alexander told the Commons yesterday that their post-election assessment was that the project represented poor value for money.

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The direction of travel

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham took to social media to herald the news that the authority had finally taken control of the region’s public bus services. It’s fair to assume from this exchange that the North East is heading in the same direction.

Meanwhile, North East mayor Kim McGuinness said she will team up with her mayoral colleagues to explore the possibility of taking over Northern Trains, under Government plans to give local leaders more powers.

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Crafty piece of work

Dragons Den star Sara Davies is back as CEO of Newton Aycliffe-based Crafter's Companion, the company she founded while still a student. The business had been struggling post-pandemic and Sara decided to purchase the business from the administrator and organise a financial restructuring. This move has saved the majority of the 100 or so jobs and allowed the company to continue trading.

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Teesworks value questioned

The Teesworks regeneration project should be investigated by the National Audit Office for not meeting public value-for-money standards, according to an internal Whitehall recommendation to Angela Rayner. The FT said a recommendation for parliament’s spending watchdog to step in was made to the deputy prime minister before Christmas.

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Grant aid for Common Room

The Common Room in Newcastle has been given a £130,000 grant by the North East mayor’s office after warning last year that the former home of the North of England Mining Institute was in danger of closing.

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Matfen’s millions

Work is about to begin on the next stage of a massive repositioning investment in the five-star Matfen Hall in Northumberland. The country hotel was acquired by True Potential founder Sir David Harrison’s company Walwick Estate Group in 2022 after being part of the Blackett family for close on 200 years.

Commercial director James O'Donnell said: “Sir David is aiming to create a luxury destination for the whole country, and in doing so the investment is unmatched in recent times anywhere outside of London. The development of a new spa will see overall investment go north of £40 million.”

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Leighton moving up

North East software development company Leighton has had another year of sustained growth. It reached a significant milestone when staffing numbers hit 100 and now they are to move their Newcastle HQ to the top two floors of the 14-storey Bank House in Pilgrim Street. The company reported a 31% increase in revenue during its 2024 financial year and expects another year of record performance in 2025.

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Law firm’s record results

Newcastle-based law firm Ward Hadaway has announced record financial results, with income up 7% to £48.1m for the year ended April 2024. The company, which also has offices in Leeds and Manchester, said it is on course to increase turnover by 50% over the next five years and hit a £100 million target by 2034.

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THE WIDER VIEW

NEW: QT columnist Bob Hudson writes for Eyes & Ears on the question of social care reform - and gives you a starter for 10

Here we go again, back to the future in adult social care. Take your pick of any prime minister over the last 30 years and the pledges run deep.

In 1997, Tony Blair proclaimed: “I don’t want our children brought up in a country where the only way pensioners can get long-term care is by selling their home.” Nothing happened.

In 2019, Boris Johnson boasted: “We will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared to give every older person the dignity and security they deserve.” There was no such plan. Nothing happened.

Now it’s the turn of Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting, who has assured us that: “This government is determined to grip the crisis in social care, which is historic and has been decades in the making.”

To show he means business, the Department of Health & Social Care has issued this press release laying out its intentions to ‘transform social care’

The release contains some worthy minutiae that has received little public attention: an £86 million boost to the Disabled Facilities Grant; training care workers to take blood pressure checks; developing a shared digital platform between the NHS and care staff (something much easier said than done); and ‘harnessing the power of care technology’ (ditto).

Nor should it be forgotten that the Government is passing legislation on fair pay agreements for care workers and raising the carers allowance threshold.

However, it is the proposal to set up an independent commission led by Baroness Louise Casey that has attracted most attention, not all of it favourable. This is not a

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Welcome to 1984

It’s been near impossible to get away from Elon Musk this week - the man who could spend $50 million every day for the next 20 years and still have a few billion left over.

Even if you avoid his social media platform, our mainstream media hang on his every word: Tommy Robinson shouldn’t be in jail; the Reform party needs to replace Nigel Farage as leader; Keir Starmer should resign for being complicit in the grooming gang scandal; and what he said about Jess Phillips does not warrant repeating.

If you care about the truth, it’s not that difficult to separate fact from his fiction, but Musk has unprecedented access to millions of people - and not all of them are critical thinkers.

Investigative reporter Peter Geoghegan says in his Democracy For Sale Substack: “Musk is using his wealth to become the biggest spreader of untruths and falsehoods in human history.”

Former Labour MP Alan Johnson was a beacon of common sense on Sunday’s Laura Kuenssberg show on BBC 1 when asked about Musk’s attack on Starmer over a refusal to have another inquiry into the grooming scandal.

“It’s Orwellian,” said Johnson. “In 1984, slavery is freedom, ignorance is strength. We’ve had a public inquiry into grooming. It took seven years. It cost £200 million. Why is the leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch, calling for a public inquiry when she was in cabinet when they made recommendations, none of which have been acted on.

“What Elon Musk is proving is having lots of money doesn’t make you intelligent about world affairs.”

The point Johnson was making about the public inquiry into grooming was reiterated in this social media post above by media law specialist David Banks, as he drew attention to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse which published 19 reports on 15 investigations covering a wide range of institutions in October 2022.

In the middle is another quote from Johnson on the Kuenssberg show which stands on its own. And on the right is a post from David Yelland, a former Editor of The Sun. Enough said, really.

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Stats all

And finally, given the reluctance of the media - and the Labour Party - to even mention the B word, will this striking front page from the Independent on Sunday signal the beginning of sensible, grown-up discourse?