| Addressing his top team at a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Boris Johnson urged Ministers to be "thinking the whole time about cutting the costs of government" as the nation struggles with soaring prices. And the Prime Minister may want to start the process by looking at how his government, in the words of a new report out today, squandered billions of pounds of taxpayers' money on ill-thought-out "levelling up" plans and through the unfair allocation of funding. The cross-party Public Affairs Committee - which includes Burnley Tory MP Antony Higginbotham - described the way in which Michael Gove's Levelling Up Department has been allocating large sums of money as "unsatisfactory". And the MPs highlighted how the first round of the £1.7 billion Levelling Up Fund - one of the many funds designed to restore the fortunes of left-behind areas in the North and Midlands - was only awarded after the department knew the identities of shortlisted bidders.  What the Public Accounts Committee report said and how politicians reacted. Graphic by Lisa Walsh
The fund – which will later total £4.8 billion – is being awarded to projects aiming to "improve everyday life across the UK" including by "regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport and investing in cultural and heritage assets", according to the Government. The PAC's report said some bidders for the first round may only have been successful on the basis of unrealistic claims about their projects, at the expense of other more practical claims. Chair Meg Hillier said: "Without clear parameters, plans or measures of success it's hard to avoid the appearance that government is just gambling taxpayers' money on policies and programmes that are little more than a slogan, retrofitting the criteria for success and not even bothering to evaluate if it worked. "The nation is being squeezed harder than it has for decades, there is no more to throw away like this. The Government must learn again to account to taxpayers for its use of their money." A spokesperson for the department said its assessment process was "transparent, robust and fair, and the criteria included the need for projects to be deliverable and to fuel regeneration and growth to level up areas most in need". 
The report will be of particular interest to political leaders in areas like Durham and Lancashire, both of which are finalising their bids for the second round of Levelling Up Fund cash. But there are growing calls for local leaders to get more control over where money is spent. In Manchester yesterday, Andy Burnham and his fellow Labour metro mayors issued a statement asking for greater powers and funding to lead the country to net zero carbon in a way that's fair for everyone. At the city's Science and Industry Museum, the statement said the local leaders had each developed detailed plans for their regions to accelerate the drive to net zero carbon – in most areas by at least a decade ahead of the Government's 2050 national target.
'Every Minister is a levelling up Minister and I'm a levelling up MP'  Boris Johnson and Jacob Young enjoy a Pacittos lemon top in Redcar last month (Image: Lee Mac)
This afternoon MPs will debate the Government's flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, a day after loyal Tory Nick Fletcher warned that without Boris Johnson his flagship domestic agenda would disappear. The Don Valley MP's comment raised eyebrows and questions over the Government's wider commitment to the project - which has promised so much to the North. But speaking to the Northern Agenda podcast in an episode which goes out on Friday, Redcar MP Jacob Young attempted to offer some reassurance. "Levelling up is more than a one man mission", he told Westminster Editor Dan O'Donoghue. "There's a saying in the party, that all of the Government's Ministers are levelling up Ministers and I consider myself a levelling up MP, because it's all of our mission to ensure that prosperity is spread evenly across the United Kingdom." Mr Young, a parliamentary private secretary at the Levelling Up Department, rejected claims the project was more about Tory PR than actual help for our underfunded towns and cities. For an alternative view, check out Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell's article for The Northern Agenda arguing that levelling up efforts will fail unless policy-makers address child poverty. Scroll down to the bottom of the email to read the full piece.
If all this sounds too abstract and full of jargon, this thread on Twitter by Darren Hankey, the principal of Hartlepool College, spells out why levelling up as a concept is sorely needed. Mr Hankey writes about an unnamed student whose prospects are blighted by poor bus services where she lives. The bus that was supposed to take her to her GCSE maths exam didn't turn up and her work and family ambitions are limited by a lack of public transport. And he writes: "I really don't know what impact #LevellingUp will have. For me it's about making this student's life - & the millions of others - easier & better. They need a fighting chance &, at the minute, they're not getting despite the best efforts of colleges across the country."
PM urged to try 'proper Tory policies' to unite his party Boris Johnson faces Parliament for the first time this afternoon since surviving a confidence vote, with pressure mounting to spell out how he plans to cut taxes to win back support from the 41% of Tory MPs who did not back him. Mr Johnson's allies can be expected to stage a public show of support when he steps up for his weekly Prime Minister's Questions session - follow the latest with our Westminster Editor Dan O'Donoghue on Twitter. And you can check out what your local Tory MP has said - in public at least - about the PM in The Northern Agenda's graphic here and below.  Our graphic shows what Northern Tory MPs have said publicly about Boris Johnson
Philip Davies, MP for Shipley in West Yorkshire, says he has urged Mr Johnson to deliver "some proper Conservative policies" to reunite the party after the confidence vote, in which Mr Davies voted against him. He has also urged those who also voted no confidence in the PM to accept the result. In Wakefield, where a by-election defeat for the Tories is now expected later this month, many residents seemed to be holding steady in their views despite recent Partygate revelations when they spoke to the YorkshireLive website yesterday. One resident, John, told reporter Jasmine Norden: "I don't think there should have been a no confidence vote in the first place. How many people do you think had parties that we don't know about? Millions, I would bet, and it didn't make a difference."
Biggest rail strikes in a generation 'will hit the poorest the hardest'  The public are being warned that strikes will cause significant disruption (Image: Getty Images)
Anyone planning to watch England play New Zealand in the Test cricket at Leeds or the British Athletics Championships in Manchester later this month may want to consider alternatives to rail travel after the biggest outbreak of strike action in the industry in a generation was announced. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and 13 train operators will walk out on June 21, 23 and 25, in the biggest outbreak of industrial action in the industry in a generation. The disputes are over pay, jobs and pensions, with the union complaining that railway staff who worked through the pandemic are facing job cuts, a pay freeze and attacks on employment conditions. Talks between Network Rail and the union are expected to be held in the next few days, sources told the PA news agency. At a meeting of Transport for the North's Rail North Committee last week, a senior Lancashire politician said rail strikes should be a last resort because they hit the poorest in society hardest. Tory Charlie Edwards, Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for highways and transport, questioned why fellow committee members – representing local authorities across the North – had not condemned "the actions of the trade unions". "For a lot of people, getting the train is the only option – in places like Lancashire – to get to work or…school. It is the disadvantaged [who] are most likely to suffer when the train doesn't turn up. They don't have a car [or] an alternative option."
'It keeps happening': Fly-tipping tsunami sweeps the North in lockdown  Steve Beasant says the fly-tipping in his area of North East Lincolnshire is 'horrific' some weekends
A tsunami of fly-tipping has been sweeping the North, with a spike in cases during the pandemic accelerating a trend that has been creeping up for years. The latest figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs reveal nearly 310,000 incidents of fly-tipping were recorded by councils across the North in 2020/21 - the equivalent of 35 every hour. That's up 15% from fewer than 270,000 reports of illegally-dumped rubbish in 2019/20, with the increase linked to lockdown. With not much else to keep us occupied, many people spent their time working on their gardens, decluttering their homes, and doing DIY. At the same time, council services were very stretched, affecting tips and bulky waste collections, and charity shops were closed. Eddy Edwards has been shocked at the amount of rubbish being dumped in his alleyway since moving into his house in Moss Side, Manchester in 2019. Speaking to Annie Gouk on the latest episode of Reach's The North in Numbers podcast, he said: "It was unbelievable the amount of trash that was there - anything and everything that could be chucked out the house was piling up, and it would just keep on happening." Steve Beasant, Councillor for the East Marsh ward in North East Lincolnshire, said: "It started with the pandemic - people not going out so much, so they're just dumping it at the closest possible point. It's horrific some weekends."
Council leader 'dismayed and embarrassed' by financial report  Glen Sanderson, Leader of Northumberland County Council (Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
The leader of Northumberland County Council has apologised to council staff and the county's residents after details of "unlawful" expenditure going back six years were revealed in a damning report. Speaking at yesterday's meeting of the council's cabinet, Glen Sanderson said he was "embarrassed" at the contents of a section 114 notice issued by the authority's director of finance, Jan Willis. The report uncovered potential unlawful expenditure by the council relating to its international health consultancy business, which began on an informal basis under the previous Labour administration. Cllr Sanderson also pledged that action would be taken following an independent investigation. He said: "I am hugely dismayed and embarrassed. Nevertheless I am very grateful that (the director of finance) has perceived to get to the bottom of what, to be honest, members have been trying to get to the bottom of for a very long time." The report will be presented to all members at the extraordinary meeting of the full council at 2pm today. Follow Local Democracy Reporter James Robinson for the updates as they happen.
Meanwhile in Greater Manchester, Tameside council's long-standing chief executive has suddenly resigned after more than three decades working at the authority. Steven Pleasant, who has held the role since 2009 after joining the town hall in 1988, told councillors he is stepping down with 'immediate effect', writes Local Democracy Reporter Charlotte Green. His sudden resignation precedes an extraordinary meeting of the full council, due to be held next week, where a vote was due to take place on his 'conduct'. He used his official chief executive Twitter account to respond to comments made by a Conservative voter on BBC's Question Time, where a clip from the TV programme showed an audience member who voted for the Tories telling minister Damian Hinds his government was a 'disappointment'. Mr Pleasant replied to the video saying: "She was good. Tory voter with compassion and empathy for others. Who knew !!" 
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Northern Stories  Matt Vickers and Ralph Wiggum from The Simpsons
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A Conservative MP has urged Ministers to "choo-choo-choose" his constituency to host the headquarters of Great British Railways. Matt Vickers insisted Teesside is "on the up" and pressed the case for Stockton South as it prepares to mark the 200th anniversary of a major rail milestone. The plea had echoes of Ralph Wiggum's Valentine's Day experiences in The Simpsons episode called I Love Lisa. This saw Lisa Simpson notice a tearful Ralph receiving no cards and, out of sympathy, sending him one with a train on the front and the caption: "I choo-choo-choose you." -
Health Secretary Sajid Javid says he is "considering" launching an independent review about allegations of a cover-up at an ambulance trust. North East Ambulance Service has been accused of covering up evidence about deaths linked to mistakes made by paramedics. The Sunday Times reported that concerns were raised about more than 90 cases. A petition backed by an affected family calling for a public inquiry now has more than 1,000 signatures. -
'Mission critical' IT systems are 'back up and running' at four major Greater Manchester hospitals after weeks of technology chaos saw 'severe delays to patient care', staff have said. But the root cause of the IT crisis has yet to be revealed by hospital bosses as IT teams continue analysis work, reports Helena Vesty of the Manchester Evening News. The IT glitches continued for weeks after starting on May 18, forcing vital appointments and surgeries to be cancelled, as well as causing A&E delays, according to multiple NHS staff. -
Thousands of Newcastle residents desperate to claim a £150 energy rebate are being left hanging on a council phone line for more than an hour. Civic centre bosses have apologised after staff were overwhelmed by a huge volume of calls from people seeking help in obtaining the payments offered to ease the pressure of the cost of living crisis. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced earlier this year that taxpayers in band A to D homes would get the one-off £150 boost to help them cope with escalating energy bills. -
Darwen Town Hall reception in Lancashire is closed after a Jubilee weekend flood, raising fears about the state of the building. The council said engineers attended the site to investigate the cause and "we are awaiting further guidance", but added: "The closure could remain in place for a few days." Darwen East's borough and town councillor Paul Browne said: "This needs sorting urgently." -
Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram is in line for a pay rise to reflect his "high profile and impactful role". LCR's Combined Authority will sign off on proposals to give Mr Rotheram an uplift in pay to cover the next two years in line with the National Joint Council agreement for local government workers. Mayor Rotheram's current salary stands at £81,000, up from £77,500 five years ago. 
Opinion by Catherine McKinnell We'll never level up the North if we don't tackle child poverty  Catherine McKinnell says the Government acts as though the link between child poverty and attainment doesn't exist.
In the classic BBC drama series Our Friends in the North, Christopher Ecclestone's character Nicky Hutchinson, as an impatient young firebrand, argues 'Tomorrow is too late'.
With over a third of children in the North East living in poverty in 2022 - the impact of which we know will hold back many of them throughout their lives, damaging their health, wellbeing, education, and career prospects - he has a point.
Yet the Government currently has no strategy for tackling child poverty, and the progress of the late 90s and early 2000s had already moved into reverse in our region well before the pandemic hit. Whenever this issue is debated in Parliament, there is endless confusion over which department will even respond for the Government as nobody wants to take ownership. The Labour era of Treasury-led, cross-departmental strategies for ending child poverty, sadly feel like a lifetime ago.
What is most striking is that the Government's 'levelling up' agenda - its stated strategy to rebalance our economy and reduce regional inequalities - also completely ignores the issue of child poverty, despite it being one of the very things holding huge swathes of the country back.
The variations in wages we see across the UK are in large part reflective of local differences in skills levels. Without boosting skills, therefore, any efforts to 'level up' the country are destined to fail. Some may suggest the answer therefore lies within our schools. Yet schools in areas that need 'levelling up' are, overall, no better or worse than any others. By and large the reason for any difference in their results is that their intakes include higher proportions of pupils living in long-term poverty.
Pupil-level data shows that, on average, children, and young people from similar backgrounds with similar prior attainment do about as well as each other - whether they happen to go to school in Newcastle or in Woking. However, the sad fact is that the longer a pupil has lived in poverty, the lower their results are likely to be, all else being equal. Where we have lower skills levels in some areas of the country, like the North East of England, is where we also have bigger pockets of long-term deprivation than others. Of course, there are always examples of individuals who have thrived, against all the odds, but the overall pattern is clear. The Government does understand that disadvantage matters in education. Yet it has consistently acted as though this basic link between child poverty and attainment doesn't exist.  Our Friends in the North starred Christopher Eccleston, Gina McKee, Mark Strong and Daniel Craig (Image: ncjMedia)
Ministers seem to expect schools to compensate for entrenched economic disadvantage, but education isn't a quick fix for major social problems.
Admittedly, even if we put a serious dent in child poverty and boosted skill levels, it wouldn't be enough to rebalance the economy on its own. Without simultaneously bringing good jobs to areas outside London, those that can will simply move away to access those jobs.
Yet at the same time, addressing the crushing pressure that poverty places on families and children, in disproportionate numbers in areas that need 'levelling up', has benefits well beyond just the issue of declining living standards. Child poverty impacts our children's lives directly - when parents and carers don't have enough money to meet their children's needs. It impacts on them indirectly, by creating stress, insecurity, and conflict at home. These experiences inevitably influence a child's development and well-being, creating a vicious cycle that damages their education, limits what schools can achieve, and holds our areas back.
We urgently need a cross-government strategy for tackling child poverty, something Labour and groups such as the North East Child Poverty Commission and the Child Poverty Action Group have consistently called for. It should include a strong welfare system that prevents and reduces poverty,
giving all families a dignified safety net when they're going through tough times and recognises the additional costs of raising children. It should tackle unemployment, barriers to the labour market and low paid, insecure work – the kind of work that means most children living in poverty are now in working families.
If the Government is serious about rebalancing our economy and ensuring it is more than an election slogan, it must urgently commit to prioritising this issue. Without it, not only will child poverty continue to wreck the life chances and opportunities of millions of children, but it will also condemn the 'levelling up' agenda to certain, disappointing, failure. Catherine McKinnell is Labour MP for Newcastle North and chairs the Commons Petitions Committee 
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