| Ian Byrne - recently named MP of the Year - woke up this morning with his status as Labour's candidate for his own Liverpool West Derby seat still intact. But it was a close-run thing, with the incumbent MP having to face off against rivals within his own party after being triggered by local branches earlier this year. He retained the Labour nomination with a narrow 210-198 win last night over challenger Anthony Lavelle after a controversial and dramatic contest. There were demonstrations from supporters of both sides and huge queues outside the selection vote at De La Salle Academy in Croxteth before the result was confirmed, as Liam Thorp reports for the Liverpool Echo. Earlier in the day supporters of both sides gathered and held placards outside the meeting, with large numbers queuing to get in. Some reported denied access to the crucial vote, while others held up signs saying they had been silenced. Relations between the Byrne and Lavelle camps have not been good during the campaign and the situation reached a crescendo last weekend amid accusations of bullying and intimidation during campaign events. Mr Byrne's close friend and fellow Liverpool MP Dan Carden said it was "a fantastic result for the people of West Derby who retain one of the most hard-working, effective campaigners in Parliament". He added: "I look forward to continuing to work together for the benefit of our communities." 
The MPs lobbying over the future of North's children It was nearly a year ago when a major report emerged which painted a stark picture of inequality for children growing up in the North post-pandemic compared to those in the rest of the country. The massive costs to society and the UK's economy of rising inequality - such as the £24.6 billion in lost wages over lifetime earnings as a result of lost learning during the pandemic in the North - were outlined in The Child of the North: Building a fairer future after Covid-19 report.  Emma Lewell-Buck is one of the MPs on the Child of the North All-Party Parliamentary Group
Since then it's emerged that the North East is the country's child poverty hotspot, with rates at 38% and rising despite fewer children being below the poverty line nationally. And February's Levelling Up White Paper attempted to set out how the country's entrenched inequalities can be tackled. But according to Emma Lewell-Buck, Labour MP for South Shields, Northern politicians can't wait for the Government to do something and need to act now. She's helped set up the Child of the North All-Party Parliamentary Group to help push Ministers into action, with its first report due next month. Ms Lewell-Buck and Mary Robinson, Tory MP for Cheadle in Greater Manchester, are co-chairs and other members include Liverpool Riverside's Kim Johnson, York Central's Rachel Maskell and Barrow and Furness's Simon Fell. She told The Northern Agenda podcast: "We all owe it to the children in our area and the children in the communities we live in to do something about this. We have a unique voice that they don't have, their families don't have a voice in Parliament, we do."
Housing association boss sacked over Awaab Ishak scandal  The Awaab Ishak vigil which took place outside Rochdale Council offices this weekend
In the days after the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak from exposure to mould in a Rochdale flat made national headlines last week, directors at the local housing association stood by their embattled chief executive. But something at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) clearly changed as this weekend its under-fire chief executive Gareth Swarbrick was sacked "with immediate effect" as calls grew for the £170,000 officer to quit. The social landlord's statement read: "Our original instincts were for Gareth to stay on to see the organisation through this difficult period and to make the necessary changes, but we all recognise that this is no longer tenable." The announcement came at the same time as a vigil in Rochdale, during which the Greater Manchester Tenants Union called for Mr Swarbrick to go. And Awaab's family said the fact it was a sacking rather than a resignation "speaks volumes". But RBH, which failed to deal properly with mould complaints from Awaab's family for months before he died, remains in the sights of government. Housing Secretary Michael Gove this weekend wrote to every English council leader and social housing provider as he warned that deaths like that of two-year-old Awaab Ishak must "never be allowed to happen again". Calling for the country to "raise the bar dramatically" on the quality of social housing, he said housing providers should carry out assessments of damp and mould in their properties, as well as any action that may need to be taken to tackle the issue.
Reflecting on the tragedy, former children's commissioner Anne Longfield said this weekend that prejudice is a factor in how complaints from social housing tenants are treated. And in the Manchester Evening News today, reporter Stephen Topping writes of the "nasty stench of racism pervades the tragedy of little Awaab Ishak". Read more here.
Meanwhile, the chairman of a Greater Manchester NHS trust is stepping down after "examples of unacceptable care" at a mental health unit. Police are investigating allegations staff mistreated patients at the Edenfield Centre, in Prestwich, Manchester, following undercover filming by the BBC's Panorama programme, which aired in September. On Friday, Rupert Nichols, chairman of Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust which operates the centre, announced he would be stepping down from the role at the end of December. He said his term of office had been due to end in July but he believed the trust would benefit from a chairman with "new ideas and energy".
Mayor: I wouldn't be here today without The Stone Roses  Andy Burnham, Mani and Peter Reid at Mani and Imelda's fundraising event in Manchester (Image: Paul Husband)
They're credited with changing the UK's musical landscape, but revered Manchester band The Stone Roses also had a massive influence on a young Andy Burnham back in the late 1980s. The Greater Manchester mayor made an emotional speech paying tribute to the pioneering Madchester band this weekend as he attended a huge fundraiser organised by its legendary bass player Mani and wife Imelda, as Dianne Bourne reports for the Manchester Evening News. The event was organised to raise money for The Christie hospital and Stockport NHS Charity after Imelda's diagnosis with bowel cancer two years ago. And Labour mayor Mr Burnham credited attending the Stone Roses gig at the Empress Ballroom in 1989 as "changing everything" for him. He told guests: "For me, I was working in the city in the summer and it was just a few months after [the Hillsborough disaster], which knocked the stuffing out of me. I was kind of thinking 'are we are 2nd class citizens in the north west' and you know what I then got a ticket to The Empress Ballroom, Blackpool in August '89. "I'd like to say to you, Mani and to Ian, to Reni and to John - and to everyone who was a part of it all then - a massive 'thank you' because you said that we could be better than we were, and that the North of England shouldn't always be expecting the worst and we could be proud and that we were going somewhere. "I don't think I'd be standing here today if it wasn't for the hope that you gave us back then so I want to thank you for what you did for us - you gave the North of England a bit of pride and something for us to believe in when we needed it, and that was down to you."
Council merger 'could be the only solution to financial woes'  Independent councillor Stefan Walker and Middlesbrough Town Hall
The financial situation at Middlesbrough council - where street lights, road repairs, libraries, council jobs and school dinners are all in the firing line if £5.4m cuts go ahead to services - looks bleak. But could a merger with other nearby authorities to form a 'Teesside combined council' be the answer? According to Stefan Walker, the executive member for finance and governance, hard-up councils and the services they deliver could be merged in order to deliver economies of scale. Cllr Walker was quizzed last week on its precarious financial position and in relation to the pressure on children's services warned of an "unsustainable future", writes Local Democracy Reporter Stuart Arnold. He said: "The only real solution I can see is to have some form of amalgamation. I don't want to see councils to merge necessarily, I think that would be bad for democracy. "I do think that we could amalgamate some services regionally to benefit from economies of scale. Because of the sheer demand on those services it would make sense to have them amalgamated."
 Manchester council leader Bev Craig (Image: Anthony Moss | Manchester Evening News)
Council tax was only mentioned once by Jeremy Hunt in his almost hour-long autumn statement. But as Local Democracy Reporter Joseph Timan writes, buried in a document published later was a line that many local leaders had been dreading. Local authorities will be allowed to raise council tax by 5% from April in a move the Chancellor says will help put another £7.5bn into social care over the next two years. But as Manchester council leader Bev Craig points out, it's a lot harder for Northern town halls like hers to use extra council tax to fill budget black holes than their Southern counterparts due to the disparity in property values. For example, every 1% increase raises around £2m in Manchester, while Surrey – where Mr Hunt is an MP – would raise £8.3m, Cllr Craig explains, citing analysis from the Labour Group of the Local Government Association. This is because council tax is calculated according to property values set in the 1990s with households which were the least valuable paying the lowest rate. In Greater Manchester, nearly two thirds of households are classed in the lowest two bands of council tax which means that less money is collected. "This isn't just a Manchester problem," Cllr Craig said. "This is a problem that poorer areas - predominantly in the North of England, predominantly Labour councils - are less able to collect as much money through council tax." 
Sign up to The Northern Agenda Has a friend forwarded you this edition of The Northern Agenda? You can sign up to receive the latest email newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by clicking on this link.
Northern Stories  Borough Road footbridge in North Shields (Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
- A public inquiry will decide the future of a bridge that has been a key feature of the North Shields skyline for decades. Council chiefs have been trying for years to tear down the Borough Road footbridge, claiming it is poorly used and too costly to repair. But campaigners bidding to save it are now hoping a government inspector will side with them. A public inquiry has now been set for January 17 next year, where an inspector will decide whether to allow the council to abolish the Public Right of Way on the bridge – effectively determining its future.
- More people came into Leeds city centre last Saturday than on any Saturday since the Covid pandemic, council data suggest. The start of Christmas shopping season is thought to have helped drive weekend footfall to a three-year high on November 12. As Local Democracy Reporter David Spereall writes, it's a marked contrast from a year ago, when Covid rates across the country were high, even though lockdown restrictions had come to an end.
- Cheshire East Council has backed calls to ask the government for the plug to be pulled on Crewe's Lyceum Powerhouse project. The proposal was for a state-of-the-art live music venue and creative skills centre and was part of the Towns Fund programme – but soaring costs have resulted in Crewe Town Board calling for it to be scrapped. If the government agrees to the request from the council and the town board to remove the scheme from the Towns Fund programme, the £5m funding will be re-allocated across the remaining projects in the programme.
- Labour chalked up a narrow victory in the Greenlands by-election in Blackpool to regain the seat from the Conservatives by a margin of just 32 votes. Labour candidate Peter Wright was elected with 550 votes, ahead of Conservative Jane Warne with 518 votes, on a 23% turnout. The council remains under no overall control. The by-election was called following the death of former Conservative councillor John Wing in August, aged 68, after a long illness.
- An East Riding councillor has been censured for tweeting a doctored picture of Jeremy Corbyn at the scene of a terror attack which prompted a lawsuit. East Riding Council's Standards Hearing Committee found Cllr Paul Nickerson partly breached its Code of Conduct over the tweet sent in November 2021 which sparked around 500 complaints. Committee chair Cllr Tim Norman said the tweet depicting the former Labour leader holding a wreath at the scene of last year's Liverpool taxi bombing was totally unacceptable. Cllr Nickerson said he accepted the committee's findings and apologised.
- Bus passengers should be compensated if they have to taxi to work because their service is cancelled or late, a West Yorkshire councillor has suggested. Conservative Martyn Bolt, who sits on Kirklees Council, said the idea would make the system fairer for passengers, amid the current chaos on the region's bus network. Operators however, claim many of the reasons for bus lateness are outside of its control, with roadworks highlighted as one example.
Thank you for reading - If you have been forwarded this email and would like to sign up, you can do that right here. Contact us: You can get in touch via email - rob.parsons@reachplc.com - or via our Twitter page. | 
