Leader on the front foot

Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon says he has no plans to step down as a result of the Gateshead flyover fiasco and has defended the council’s actions before and after the sudden closure of the busy thoroughfare on December 13.

More than 300 people have signed a petition calling for his resignation, and two weeks ago (Eyes & Ears 10.01.25) senior journalist Peter Morris said the situation was a “shambles of the highest order” and that Councillor Gannon should be held responsible.

But, the council leader, who is also deputy North East mayor with cabinet responsibility for transport in the region, said he will not step down while he has the confidence of the members of Gateshead Council.

Councillor Gannon gave a lengthy interview to the Local Democracy Reporting Service and said the flyover was being inspected on a weekly, if not daily, basis. “It was properly maintained, it was expertly inspected regularly, and as a result of that diligence, catastrophic consequences were avoided.”

Also in the interview he:

insisted there was a contingency plan and that it kicked in at 4pm on December 13;
blamed lack of government support for the council’s 15-year-old redevelopment plan still being on the drawing board;
said the council had made provision for the £20m demolition of the flyover but would be seeking government support;
indicated that the demolition might only take one year rather than two.

Words, music and glass

It’s been a week of highs for the region’s cultural sector. Last Friday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy announced a £60 million package to support the creative industries at a major economic growth summit at the Glasshouse in Gateshead.

This included £5m for a new Centre for Writing, to be based at Bolbec Hall on Westgate Road in Newcastle, next to the Lit & Phil, and an identical sum to Glassworks, a planned new world-class facility for glass making in Sunderland.

Lisa Nandy speaking at the Creative Industries Growth Summit at The Glasshouse. Image: DCMS

Ms Nandy, a former Newcastle University student, said the creative industries have grown 50% faster than the rest of the economy, accounted for one in seven UK jobs, contributed £124bn annually, and out-performed aerospace, life sciences and the automotive industry.

For more information on this I would encourage you to read this piece by QT writer David Whetstone which was published in the Cultured. North East newsletter.

There was more good news for Sunderland a few days later when it was recognised as a Music City by the Music Cities Network, making it only the second city in the UK to receive this prestigious title, after Manchester.

The announcement coincided with the launch of the Sunderland Music Strategy, a five-year plan to drive investment, nurture emerging artists, and inspire the next generation of music talent in Sunderland.

More university cuts

Newcastle University has announced further budget cuts amounting to £30 million from its 2025-26 budget. This includes reducing the salary budget by £20 million - the equivalent of around 300 jobs or 5% of the payroll - and cutting ‘non-pay’ budgets by £10 million.

The university has reopened a voluntary severance scheme for all staff and cannot rule out the possibility of compulsory redundancies. These measures are part of a two-year plan to balance the books and ensure financial sustainability.

The announcement came after a shortfall against projected international student enrolment left Newcastle with a £35 million hole in its budget.

The University and College Union is balloting for industrial action in response to a range of already-announced cuts, which include a freeze on promotions, restrictions on recruitment, and reductions to travel budgets.

A university spokesperson said: “We are not immune to the challenges currently affecting the UK higher education sector and, like many universities, we have implemented a range of cost-saving measures, to ensure we remain in a sound financial position.”

Reform, be bold and get your message across

Just after the election, The QT published an article ‘Why the first 100 days will be critical for Starmer’. The author, Professor Matthew Johnson of Northumbria University, Chair of the Common Sense Policy Group, has now written for Eyes & Ears and gives his verdict on the Prime Minister’s first six months in Downing Street.

He says early setbacks are no reason for the Labour government to return to the austerity years. Read his op-ed here.

Click to read article

Profit from care

Two weeks ago I reported that Hartlepool Borough Council is set to overspend on its children’s social care budget by £6 million (Eyes & Ears 10.01.25) due largely to the increasing costs of placing youngsters in private homes - with the council saying excessive profits were being made at the council’s expense.

A report in the Mail on Sunday this week highlighted the national scale of those multi-million pound profits and said the average cost of placing a child in care was £281,000 a year - five times that of keeping an adult in prison.

Only 17% of the country’s children’s homes are in the public sector. Of the 2,748 privately-run homes 18 per cent are run by the top five operators and some of those are in the hands of private equity firms.

Meanwhile, Sunderland City Council said increased spending on social care has led to a predicted £2m overspend for the year. Its care services had continued to experience high demand and challenges around complex cases. This includes adult services and the home-to-school transport provided by children's services.

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Bridge cash doubt

Uncertainty surrounds the final £6 million of government funding for the Tyne Bridge restoration.

Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had promised the extra millions after the Department for Transport (DfT) initially agreed to provide £35.2 million, which allowed the restoration project to begin last April.

The final payment is now in doubt with PM Keir Starmer saying: "Ministers in the DfT are looking at infrastructure projects as part of the Spending Review, and that includes the Tyne Bridge and other projects in the North East."

A £22bn black hole was mentioned.

Hospice cuts

St Cuthbert's Hospice in Durham is having to make 18 staff redundant and reduce patient care services. "This has been a painful experience with a horrible impact on services and staff,” said chief executive Paul Marriott.

The hospice needs to raise £3.8m a year, with 42% coming from the government and the rest through fundraising, donations and gifts in wills. Last year, it said it was facing "unsustainable rising costs" and had a £1.3m deficit.

Deal or no deal?

Husband and wife team Zara Paul and Aaron Morris, founders of AI-powered video editing platform Choppity, made a successful appearance on Dragons’ Den, securing an offer of £100,000 for a 15% stake from Peter Jones.

Except the offer wasn’t that secure and, once the cameras had stopped rolling, it was mutually agreed that it be withdrawn. QT columnist Jamie Hardesty says in his latest Tech Digest newsletter that this is far from unusual.

“I used to keep a tracker of North East firms to appear on Dragons’ Den and you’d be surprised how often it happens where ‘deals’ are made, only to be scuppered post-filming.”

Peter Grant 1960-2025

Popular broadcaster and commentator Peter Grant has passed away. Former Radio Newcastle broadcaster Alfie Joey said Peter was “relentlessly positive” and added: “Even when he was given his cancer diagnosis last year he said he wasn’t going to dwell on the negatives.”

Matt Boyle, who became friends with Peter after his company Sevcon sponsored Gateshead FC, said on LinkedIn: “He fought hard over the last year and we celebrated with his family and friends at he and Sarah Jane’s beautiful wedding in September. Peter never lost his enthusiasm or love for life. That will be his greatest communication achievement.”

Tax burden for charities

Stephen Bell being interviewed by Richard Moss. Image: Changing Lives

The upcoming changes to National Insurance contributions will be an added £600,000 annual cost to North East-based charity Changing Lives which they say will threaten the essential support services they provide to vulnerable people.

Chief Executive Stephen Bell will be on Politics North on BBC 1 on Sunday morning discussing the issue with Richard Moss, saying policymakers and local authorities need to recognise the pressures charities are under.

Top honour for Terry

Restaurateur and chef Terry Laybourne is to be given the Freedom of Newcastle. He was the first to bring a Michelin star to Newcastle, something he achieved within three years of opening 21 Queen Street in 1988.

Unbelievably good

Former Look North presenter Jeff Brown is hosting an eight-part podcast series on BBC Sounds called Sporting Greats. Guests include Alan Shearer, Sir Brendan Foster, Steve Harmison and Gary Bennett.

Jeff is something of a sporting great himself and it seems appropriate for the fantastic interview that Simon Rushworth conducted with him the day before his final appearance on Look North to be this week’s selection from The QT Vaults.

It’s a fantastic read - a perfect example of what happens when a brilliant writer meets a great talker. But, be warned, it is what they call these days a ‘long read’. And it’s at the longer end of that spectrum, so maybe it’s something to enjoy over the weekend with a cuppa to hand.

Read: Unbelievable Jeff

Fowl play (apologies!)

Non-league football team West Allotment Celtic have been attracting international attention after their home match at Forest Hall in North Tyneside had to be postponed because of a flock of geese who had been using their pitch as a toilet.

The club have not been slow in capitalising on the unusual situation. A video of one of its members chasing the geese away went viral on social media, a raffle, with a bottle of goose-branded vodka as its top prize, sold tickets in Japan, Slovakia, Germany and Australia, and you can now buy T shirts saying ‘I saved a non-league club from geese’.

Club Chair David Dodds, who thinks a new housing development has caused the geese to relocate, said: “We've got the Magpies and the Black Cats locally, maybe our nickname should be The Geese.”

High street initiative

North East mayor Kim McGuinness is to set up a commission aimed at revitalising high streets across the region. The initiative, which was a pledge in her manifesto, seeks to breathe new life into town centres by integrating retail, culture, housing, jobs, and public transport.

The commission will receive an initial investment of £850,000 and will work with local councils to identify areas to prioritise.

Sir Paul Nicholson 1938-2025

Former Lord Lieutenant of County Durham, Sir Paul Nicholson has died aged 86. He was the long-serving Chair of Sunderland brewery Vaux and was the only Chair of the Tyne and Wear Development Corporation throughout its 11-year history from 1987.

He was knighted in 1993 for services to industry and the North East public, and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO), in 2011.

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Business bites

British Airways owners IAG has announced an investment into a Norwegian company which is planning to convert used tyres into sustainable aviation fuel. The funding will enable Wastefront AS to construct a factory at Port of Sunderland. The latest figures from North East games developer Ubisoft Reflections show that revenue was up 12% on the year and that overall profit increased from £16.5m to £22.2m. Sunderland-based commercial contract cleaning and facilities management business Maxim FM has been acquired by global rival OCS for an undisclosed sum.

Community Foundation Chair Phil Moorhouse (front, second left) and Newcastle Building Society chief executive Andrew Haigh (third right) with colleagues at the donation ceremony

Newcastle Building Society has announced a £1 million donation to support communities across Cumbria, the North East, and North Yorkshire. The donation into the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund, brings the total value of the investment to more than £3.5 million. The fund, held by the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, is expected to provide £150,000 each year to charities addressing issues such as food poverty, debt management, homelessness, and sustainability.

THE WIDER VIEW

Money and politics

Investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan takes a look at the state of politics on both sides of the Atlantic is his latest Substack newsletter Democracy For Sale and he found himself wondering why British politicians have done so little to protect democracy from autocrats and oligarchs.

He writes: “It’s not like nobody has ever asked these questions before. In 2006, Tony Blair, under fire over the ‘cash for honours’ scandal, tasked Hayden Philips with writing a review of political finance in Britain. The former senior civil servant’s report, which landed the following year, was astute and far-sighted.

“Philips recommended that donations to political parties should be capped at £50,000; limits should be placed on election spending; political parties should be given state funding.

“What happened next was grimly predictable. Philips’s recommendations were widely praised and then swiftly kicked into the long grass, where they have remained ever since.”

Nicholas

Money and ‘tech titans’

On the one hand there’s the ‘robber barons’ of the 19th and early 20th century, a label applied to industrialists and oil magnates like John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Andrew Carnegie to criticise their perceived ruthlessness.

On the other, today’s ‘tech titans’, including Jeff Bozos, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, who was noted wearing a $900,000 watch at his press conference to announce changes to the way Meta’s fact-checking would change.

This fascinating article in The Conversation looks at the lessons today’s tech billionaires could learn from, in particular, steel magnate Carnegie’s 1889 essay The Gospel of Wealth.

The author says they may share some robber baron characteristics around ruthless capitalism, but display fewer of their potentially redeeming features around using their wealth for the wider public good.

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Eyes & Ears 24.01.25