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By ROB PARSONS - July 27 2022
Here's one to ponder over your lunch: rock formations under the sea off the coast of Merseyside, Teesside, the Humber region and Scotland can hold up to 78 billion tonnes of Carbon Dioxide. That's the equivalent of two centuries’ worth of the UK’s CO2 emissions today.
And in these Northern regions there's huge excitement about the potential of carbon capture and storage (CCS), where the CO2 emitted by industry is captured by liquifier and separated rather than released into the atmosphere with harmful effects. It's then transported via ships or pipelines to be permanently stored deep underground in geological formations.
Last year the UK government selected the first carbon capture cluster projects to be fast-tracked for deployment. These are the Hynet cluster in the North West and North Wales, and the East Coast cluster, made up of Zerocarbon Humber and Net Zero Teesside.
The UK’s CCS industry is predicted to be worth up to £100bn a year by 2050 and thousands of jobs could be created. But a report today warns the Government must act fast to secure the "first-mover advantage" ahead of rival nations.
Developing such technologies was a key element in the 2021 North Sea Transition Deal, under which the offshore energy industry committed to work with the UK government to achieve net zero by 2050.
But despite the country being well-placed to become a world leader in the technology, with the UK having large industrial clusters, extensive gas transport infrastructure and good scientific understanding, the Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) report said Britain’s supply chain was fragile.
The paper warned because of this the UK was at risk of losing the industry to more attractive opportunities abroad, and government needed to act fast to secure its future.
Katy Heidenreich, OEUK’s supply chain and operations director, said carbon capture was “a key tool in our fight against climate change” and offered the opportunity for the “offshore energy supply chain to help energy intensive industries cut emissions”.
“If we get this right, it could unlock £100 billion of work for UK manufacturing employers by 2050. This will support UK jobs, cut emissions, boost the economy and develop skills which can be exported globally,” she said.
“Lots of progress has been made, but without urgent action the UK will miss out on the opportunity to secure a leadership position in this exciting new sector.”
Elsewhere in the North East, political and business leaders have been telling the Financial Times' Jennifer Williams how they've been developing their own plans for economic renewal, many of them built around clean energy.
In areas like South Shields , some believe green projects like the world's biggest offshore wind farm 130km out to sea could replace the jobs lost through the decline of shipbuilding.
But even before the departure of Boris Johnson cast doubt over the levelling up agenda, local officials say they have not received the sort of support from the government in London that they had hoped for. Read the full piece here .
MPs: 'Rail plan for the North lets down those who need it most'
Remember the Trainspotting-inspired Northern front pages led by this newsletter last November calling for Boris Johnson to keep the rail promises he made to our region?
Sadly most Northern leaders now say the Government's Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) did see the Prime Minister break his word. And today an influential Commons committee comes to the same conclusion, arguing the rail plan for the North does not deliver on the "promises made" to the region at the 2019 election or the "stated aims" of the levelling up agenda.
The Transport Select Committee said the plan, unveiled last year by Grant Shapps, should be “reconsidered” to avoid a “missed opportunity”, as Westminster Editor Dan O'Donoghue reports .
The Transport Secretary previously said the £96 billion IRP would slash journey times across the North with 110 miles of new high-speed line. But closer inspection revealed the requested investment by Northern leaders had roughly been cut in half and instead of the new lines promised, much of the cash would go towards upgrades of existing routes.
The report states: "The Government’s levelling up agenda commits it to ending geographical inequality in the UK. However, by underserving the rail needs of the North of England it is letting down those who require change the most.
"Upgrading lines will undoubtedly bring modest benefits to rail services in the North and Midlands, but not to the transformative extent necessary to end regional imbalances."
Rail passengers across the North were suffering fresh travel chaos this morning after thousands of workers walked out on strike, crippling services nationwide.
Disputes in the bitter row over jobs, pay, pensions and conditions are worsening, with more strikes due in the coming days. Today only around one in five trains are running on around half the network, with some areas having no trains all day.
Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne joined workers on the picket line outside Liverpool Lime Street . He said picketers were in good spirits and were “up for the fight”.
Mr Byrne acknowledged industrial action was making it “extremely difficult” for people to get around Liverpool, where Arriva bus workers have been striking since last Wednesday , but added: “People’s anger has got to be directed at the employers.”
Meanwhile Swedish football fans Rebecka Ronnegard, 26, and Felix Nystrom, 27, were delayed at Sheffield Station after watching the Euro 2022 semi-final at Bramall Lane last night.
Fire engineer Felix said: “I definitely support the right to strike to reach a fair agreement. We’re just unlucky to get caught in the middle of it.”
It's going in the wrong direction: Fears for NHS as winter looms
I n the pre-pandemic years, summer typically made way for recovery time for the NHS , with fewer patients needing emergency and urgent care.
But for the last two years, medics in Greater Manchester and further afield have sounded alarm bells that summers have provided no respite.
Now as Helena Vesty reports for the Manchester Evening News , the region’s major hospitals are already bracing for winter chaos. Greater Manchester’s NHS could see ‘the highest number of patients in A&E ever’, according to one hospital trust chief.
Over the past few months, the system has been mired by a dire combination of ever-increasing demand from a rising number of sick people, short-staffing, and an absence of free beds on wards.
The NHS in Greater Manchester is concerned about the continued rise of patients waiting 12 hours in emergency departments, one NHS trust board meeting heard this week. "We are collecting data about harms patients are coming to after 12-hour waits and it’s going in the wrong direction", said the trust's staff.
Questions remain as council-backed lender makes first profit
Since its inception in 2017, Warrington -based Redwood Bank has loaned more than £140m to people and properties in the borough and the wider North West, representing approximately 28% of its total lending.
And the bank, which is 33% owned by Labour-run Warrington council, now says it has reaped the rewards of continuing to lend to British businesses throughout the pandemic by reporting its first profit.
After the news was announced by CEO Gary Wilkinson the council's deputy leader Cathy Mitchell said: “The Covid-19 pandemic presented a lot of challenges to many lenders who ultimately decided to pause, but Redwood Bank continued to invest in local companies as it looked to help support Warrington and the wider region."
But nonetheless questions remain about the decision by the council - which has attracted controversy for the way it's invested its money in recent years - to spend £30m buying a 33% stake in Redwood in 2017.
Local Tories asked at a meeting if the decision signed by the executive board in 2017 meant the council could have bought the share in Redwood for just £10m and ‘without any contractual duty’ to make any further investments.
Ken Critchley, local Tory finance spokesman, said: “The more questions that are asked and facts uncovered regarding this highly unusual financial transaction the better."
Row building as Lancashire borough massively exceeds housing target
With the 2019 Conservative manifesto giving the country a target of building "300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s", town halls across the North are wrestling with how best to tackle the longstanding housing crisis.
But in Lancashire a fierce political row has broken out over a council’s plans to build more than 3,000 new homes in a borough – four times the government’s local target.
Conservative councillor Paul Marrow branded the over-provision proposed for Blackburn with Darwen ‘eye-watering’. But Labour leader Phil Riley said it was vital to replace pre-1919 terraces with better properties to ‘give residents the chance to improve living conditions for themselves and their children’.
The dispute has broken out after new figures in a monitoring report revealed that the government requires a minimum of 803 new homes in the next five years but the council is set to approve 3,355.
Cllr Marrow said the borough now has a 21 year supply of deliverable housing land when the government target is five, writes Local Democracy Reporter Bill Jacobs.
He said: “I feel sorry for existing residents who are going to see much-loved greenfield land near their homes swallowed up by new development that is not necessary or justified."
Outcries spark change of heart by North East councils
The Northumberland council which sparked fury with its plans to spend thousands of pounds on civic regalia for the deputy mayor and their partner looks set to overturn the controversial decision .
Blyth Town Council agreed at a meeting last week to spend £15,000 on chains of office for the council’s second in command – a move which drew significant criticism from opposition councillors and the local MP.
Now the mayor of Blyth, Warren Taylor, says the council will look at the proposals again, writes Local Democracy Reporter James Robinson. Cllr Taylor added: “We are a proud Town steeped in history and tradition and our decision was made in good faith. However, we have listened to public opinion and concerns and I feel that as Mayor of Blyth Town Council that the whole situation should now be re-examined.”
Elsewhere in the North East, a Newcastle church left furious after council bosses called off a long-standing deal to cut its grass will now be offered free upkeep for the rest of the year.
The vicar of St Matthew’s Church, in Dinnington, warned on Monday of the “considerable burden” being placed on his parish after Newcastle City Council ended a gentlemen’s agreement that had seen the local authority mow the churchyard free of charge.
The council has now backtracked slightly and said it will continue to provide the free grass cutting until the end of the year, but that fees must be charged from next April.
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Northern Stories
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Marcus Rashford has urged children to “find their voices” in a special edition of the Beano he has guest-edited . The England and Manchester United footballer has teamed up with the children’s comic following the publication of his new book, You Can Do It: How To Find Your Team And Make A Difference, written with Carl Anka. The campaigner also makes several appearances throughout the special edition, drawn alongside popular characters including the Bash Street Kids, Billy Whizz and Bananaman.
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The Northern Culture All-Party Parliamentary Group is today calling for written evidence as part of its inquiry into the role sporting activity plays across the North. The cross-party group of MPs wants to hear from all those with a stake in rebalancing and levelling up the North’s cultural value through sport in the region’s cities, towns and communities. To find out more click here .
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The go-ahead has been given for a new masterplan to map out long-term regeneration options for Hull 's western docklands. This week's formal approval by Hull City Council's cabinet now sets the wheels in motion for what promises to be a lengthy and unpredictable journey with estimates of it taking anything between five to ten years for ideas on paper becoming concrete reality on the ground. It also officially signalled a switch in the council's focus in its search for a potential cruise ship terminal site from Sammy's Point next to The Deep to Albert Dock, writes Angus Young for HullLive .
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Greater Manchester 's Chief Constable has trumpeted major improvements in his force's performance as part of a huge effort to lift it out of special measures . Stephen Watson spoke to the media more than a year after he was installed as chief, replacing predecessor Ian Hopkins who was forced out in December 2020 after a damning policing inspectorate report. He has replaced almost all of his senior leadership team and now has ten new chief superintendents in charge of each district across the force.
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An MP has raised concerns about support for vulnerable children after it was revealed Halton Council loses two social workers for every one it recruits . Weaver Vale Labour MP Mike Amesbury told Parliament the children’s social care system was in ‘crisis’ across the country due to what he said was ‘underfunding and an unstable workforce’. Mr Amesbury said both councils in his constituency – Halton and Cheshire West and Chester – had ‘brilliant’ social workers but the scale of deprivation within parts of Halton, in particular, meant ‘very high and complex caseloads’, were making it harder to recruit and retain staff.
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Councillors have narrowly voted against a draft West Lancashire Borough Council annual report after claims the document was a glossy public relations exercise which failed to reflect the challenges the authority faces. At the latest full council meeting , opposition Conservative and Our West Lancashire councillors said a new draft Council Plan Annual Report ignored problems such as staff losses and shortages, auditing and planning delays. Councillors had been asked to approve the draft report for 2020/21 and authorise a council corporate director.
