Big Pay Rises For Top Bosses
Council Election Results 2002
Council Tax Bill up by a Staggering 8.1%
Councillors Allowances
Councillors Immediately Give Themselves a Pay Rise
Ex MP Does Well
Middle Docks Close
Public Library
Report on the Future of the Riverside (May 2002)
Seven Care Homes Could be Closed Down
South Tyneside is the Dole Capital of the Region
When Did You Last See Your Councillor?
£7.5 Million Needed to Bring Hospital up to "Scratch"

Big Pay Rises For Top Bosses
Senior officers are in line for huge pay rises under plans to restructure the Authority (Gazette November 29) the new chief executive will get £100,000 to £110,000, with others getting £75,000 to £88,000 per year.

They propose that jobs of five the Directors of the Council should go, with seven new posts being created, although the existing officers may apply for the new jobs. What will this cost us the Council Taxpayers in redundancies and increased salaries.

If senior officers are to go should not some of the councillors go also - we can of course sack some of them at the Local Elections in May.

Council Election Results 2002

* Sitting councillor's re-elected

Council Tax Bill up by a Staggering 8.1%
There has been another inflation busting 8.1% increase in our Council Tax Bill this year (2002). This is on top the 4.6% increase in 2001 and the 5.1% increase in 2000. The South Tyneside Council seems quite unable to control the finances of our borough.

Councillor Marshall Grainger said: "Council Tax will go up by eight per cent, council rents are on their way up, council housing is under threat, homes for the elderly are facing closure and we have had wholesale failure of many council departments". "A number of chief officers are going - whether they jumped or were pushed is up to others to decide - and we are using capital receipts to fund their retirement payments". "All of this has been overseen by the same Labour council and Labour cabinet members. It is their direction that has created such an abysmal failure. I would like to think the people of South Tyneside take on board what this Labour council has done to South Tyneside."

People in Band D properties in the borough will receive an annual bill of £1,049 for the coming year, but in inner London, the figure for a similar rated property is just £794. Borough council bosses say the rise is necessary to pay for £10m worth of improvements to the education and social services departments. Councillor Paul Waggott has pledged that this year's big hike will be a one-off, with Council Tax increases being pegged back to a maximum 4.5% next year.

Council leader Paul Waggott said that if the tax rise was not introduced, they would be left with a £2m shortfall in the budget. But as opposition leader Jim Selby points out, £2.7m has been put aside to pay for the early retirement of all the chief officers who want to leave the sinking ship with their pockets full.

Councillors Allowances
For the year ending 31 March 2002, Councillors expenses are expected to be over half-a-million pounds for the year. Each of the 60 Councillors are entitled to a basic allowance of £3,993.00, thirty three of them also get extra payments of between £527.00 and £6,303.00 per year. Councillors Mr & Mrs Brady, who are both councillors for Whiteleas, collected over £12,000.00 (£230.00 per week) between them last year. Councillors Mr & Mrs Waggott (both with full time jobs) collected almost £17,000.00.

In addition to these allowances Councillors get paid for being on committees like the Fire Brigade Joint Committee, Tyne Wear Transport Authority, the Airport Committee and the Police Committee.

It has been suggested that Councillors Allowances be increased by up to 50%. Although the Labour Council have deferred the rise, Councillor Jim Capstick, a Progressive councillor has suggested that these rises might be introduced after the local elections in May 2002. There have also been suggestions that the Government will introduce a scheme so that councillors might receive pensions for their work as councillors as well as allowances as at present.

Councillors Immediately Give Themselves a Pay Rise
If you asked a South Tyneside councillors why they stood for office, it's a fair bet that none would mention money,
but you can't get away from the fact that being a councillor is not a bad little earner.
Immediately after the May 2002 elections, councillor's raised their basic allowance from £4,000 to £5,000, an increase of 25% on last year (this at a time they are trying to convince council employee's that they can only afford to give them a 3% pay increase). In addition, the 'special responsibility payments range' will start at £1,600 for committee vice chairmen, such as councillor Henry Williams, to £15,000 for councillor Paul Waggott, the leader of the council.

The allowance rates agreed for South Tyneside will cost the borough's Council Tax payers £461,000.

Ex MP Does Well
Our former MP David Clark had an interesting year in 2001. At the very last minute just before the General Election he decided he did not wish to seek re-election. This enabled his friend David Milliband, the then head of the policy unit for the Prime Minister, to succeed him. A few days later he was appointed to the House of Lords. Now we are told (Gazette, December 19) he has got another part time well paid job as Chairman of the Forestry Commission.

What with his new job, his pension from being an NP, his daily allowance the when he attends the House of Lords, his other part-time job as an non-executive director of Thales plc, a defence electronics company, he has had a very good year.

Middle Docks Close
After almost 200 years as a ship repair yard the Middle Docks has closed. Our Town Council, our Labour MPs and Labour Government must share some of the blame for this disaster. Although the Jarrow MP did his best to keep the Hebburn yard open where 800 people lost their jobs, very little seems to have been done to help the Shields yard.

Both yards were owned by Cammell Laird who went bust, while new ship orders went to Germany. The two yards were then taken over by A & P Dry Docks Ltd who will not allow the South Shields yard to be used for ship building or repairs.

Public Library
Best Value report (Gazette 23 July) "found weaknesses in the provision and gave the service a low rating of only ONE Star". It claims the Library service needs to buy more up-to-date books and improve its access to computers in order to attract more people. Only 27 per cent of the population use the service so they must attract more people to the library.

Report on the Future of the Riverside (May 2002)
A report on the future prospects of South Tyneside's riverside was recently commissioned. The two troubleshooter compiling this report are Professor David Pinder, an international authority on marine industry and sustainable transport based at Plymouth University and Professor Peter Roberts, an expert on urban regeneration based at Dundee University.

Where Labour leader, Councilor Paul Waggott, insists all future development of the riverside will be planned with jobs in mind, the experts believe a happy mix of industry, housing, leisure and environmental projects can live side by side on the banks of the Tyne.

"It is important to recognise we are talking about revolutionising the image of South Tyneside," said Professor David Pinder. "In r eturning life to the riverside, we have to be imaginative. To make the waterfront as attractive and productive as possible, you need to maximise the economic impact over the long term. You need to take the long-term view of how we identify the mix of activities which will strengthen this. You also need to concentrate on quality. If you are going to be successful in improving the image, people have got to have the feeling that what is being developed is a quality experience. People have to live with what's being done on the waterfront for the next 200 years. It will be influential and affect people's lives for a long time."

In the industrial sector, Professor Pinder insists the way forward is to encourage a cluster of businesses centered around advanced marine technology. "Things are happening within the borough and Tyneside which are encouraging for the future. Employers in the sector are starting to operate in different ways, through cooperation and collaboration. People are becoming acutely aware of what is needed in the market and are well tuned into what is happening globally. People have got to be able to develop technology, and if you are really going to be successful in the future, you have got to have the right labour force, and in an industry like this you are going to need a great deal of people to cope with the concepts of advanced technologies. There are real concerns about whether this surplus human capital is going to be there, and we would suggest a harder look needs to be taken about supplying these skills."

In conclusion Professor Pinder said "South Tyneside should look no further than its already world-renowned college, and develop a prestigious waterfront campus. South Tyneside College has real world class expertise with respect to people going out to sea. If you have a world class base like that, why not build on it to develop the labour force?"

Professor Roberts, argues that whatever action is taken on the riverside, it must be fundamental and far-reaching. "We are talking about transforming, not tarting up in the short term with under funded projects which fail. It has to be a realistic and sustainable change". This is why he is advocating an immediate far-reaching development study, looking at exactly what is available on the riverside, before any firm policy decisions are taken. "Such a study is the essential first step for both the borough and the region. There is no reason why different activities cannot co-exist, but what is needed as part of the study is the identification of suitable buffers between various uses. Buffers could be leisure facilities or you could put ecological centres between commercial and housing zones. This will allow new and imaginative uses on the waterfront". Professor Roberts also believes the council should grasp the bull by the horns. "You need to know what you have got. It is really important to get on with that. The clock starts today. You need some quick victories. You need to have done something within 100 days and if you are serious about transforming South Tyneside, 100 days is generous, otherwise you are raising aspirations, but only failing to deliver."

Seven Care Homes Could be Closed Down
Jim Wilson, South Tyneside Council's head of community care services commissioned an external consultancy firm to prepare a report on the elderly care provisions in South Tyneside, Under the proposals of this external document, Flagg Court residential home in South Shields and Campbell Park House in Hebburn would close within two years.
And the future of five further homes is under threat.

Mr Wilson defended the decision to use consultants to prepare a document into the future of the homes, rather than prepare an in-house council report. He revealed the cost of the consultancy document to South Tyneside taxpayers was £35,000.

Nationaly 50,000 care places have been lost over the last 5 years!

South Tyneside is the Dole Capital of the Region
South Tyneside has retained its unwanted status as the dole capital of the North East, new figures revealed in the Shields Gazette on 13 January that South Shields shows jobless rate stands at 10.2 per cent. The total unemployed is 5,847 with many more hidden in the system.

When Did You Last See Your Councillor?
Our Councillors have been told they need to get close to the communities they represent. Elected members representing South Tyneside public were told they need to "acquire and develop the skills necessary to be more in touch with the people they serve" says the Director of Corporate Services, Peter Haigh in a report to the councils scrutiny committee.

Do you think your councillors do a good job, or do you think they just take you for granted?

£7.5 Million Needed to Bring Hospital up to "Scratch"
The Department of Health said Gateshead and South Tyneside Health Authority had to fork out £7.5 million to improve wards, operating theatres, surgeries and pharmacies. Ministers said the money should be spent improving buildings so they are "physically sound and operationally safe".

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Dr Evan Harris said it showed a "massive backlog" in hospital maintenance work in South Tyneside, including South Shields and Jarrow. Dr Harris went on the say "The shocking state of some hospital buildings is horrendous. Patients need to be reassured that they are being treated in health centres fit for the 21st century."