| Remember back in February 2022 when then-Transport Secretary Grant Shapps launched a contest for towns and cities to host the new Great British Railways? Dozens of local areas bid before a shortlist of six was announced last summer. Birmingham, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Newcastle and York put together bids and lobbied hard for the right to host the new HQ, despite uncertainty over whether GBR would actually come into being after all. Yesterday it turned out the efforts of the Northern leaders were wasted as the Guardian reported that Derby will be confirmed as the home of the new public sector body. The selection was confirmed today by the Department for Transport. Among the selection criteria were alignment to levelling-up, transport connections, railway heritage and value for money. Derby is already home to the UK's largest train factory – owned by Alstom – where around 2,000 people are employed. City of York leader Keith Aspden said: "The way the contest has been run is an absolute shambles, just like the Government's ongoing approach to levelling up." But Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: "It's full steam ahead for the reform of our railways and today's announcement is not only a huge win for the brilliant city of Derby, but a key milestone for the entire rail industry across the country." 
Meanwhile, claims that Avanti West Coast has done enough to merit a rail contract extension were met with cross-party scepticism in the Commons yesterday. Transport Secretary Mark Harper has offered a further six-month contract extension to the operator, following the imposition of an improvement plan that he insists is working to improve the service. But his remarks in the Commons of "significant improvement" were met by some MPs with tales of poor services and, in the case of one Labour MP, Lancaster and Fleetwood's Cat Smith, claims of being served mouldy food. Ms Smith spoke of her own cancelled and delayed journey to London, adding: "Today's announcement of the contract extension has been met with anger by my constituents, but I've got to say that Avanti really did take the biscuit today when they managed to even serve mouldy food from their on board shop." Ms Smith said on Twitter she had bought a chocolate brownie which had "mould growing on it", adding "I only noticed after the first bite tasted off".
Final report into hospital deaths 'most shocking of all'  Teenagers Christie Harnett (17), Emily Moore (18) and Nadia Sharif (17) all died after being patients at West Lane
West Lane Hospital in Middlesbrough was closed in 2019 after a "deteriorating spiral of poor care" - but not before two teenagers had taken their own lives at the disgraced facility. Christie Harnett, 17, of Newton Aycliffe, had complex mental health needs as well as autism and had been receiving treatment at West Lane at the time of her death on June 27, 2019. Nadia Sharif, 17, from Middlesbrough, had a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder and died on August 9, also at West Lane. Emily Moore, 18, also died a few months after being treated there. And at midday today a damning report details Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust's campaign of alleged bullying and failure to protect patients before the tragic death of the teenagers. Poppy Kennedy of TeessideLive has the full details here. The tragedies prompted three independent investigations which were published in November. Now, a fourth and final report - an overarching system-wide independent investigation into the safety and quality of provision at West Lane Hospital - has been described as the "most damning and shocking of them all". The probe described the staff response to self-harm as "negative and punitive", while some patients were dragged along the floor in an "excessive and inappropriate" form of restraint. Local MP Andy McDonald called for a judge-led review and said: "This final report reveals just how the entire system, that was supposed to be there to support and protect them, catastrophically and fundamentally failed."
More bobbies on the beat but support roles axed  Chief Constable Stephen Watson lays out GMP's plan (Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Described as "an important part of the policing family", Police Community Support Officers offer a visible presence and help tackle local issues such as anti-social behaviour but do not have the same powers as a police officer, such as the power to arrest. And now two Northern police forces, Greater Manchester and Northumbria, are slashing the number of PCSOs they employ so they can put more warranted officers on the street. Greater Manchester Police, the biggest force in the North, announced yesterday that it would post 264 police officers to neighbourhood teams as part of what mayor Andy Burnham called the biggest change to policing in a generation. But as Manchester Evening News chief reporter Neal Keeling discovered, it means the number of PCSOs will be cut from 518 to 215. There will be one named PCSO per council ward. Force bosses such as Chief Constable Stephen Watson insist the changes are necessary to make communities safer. They say there has been 'inappropriate' tasking of PCSOs to attend incidents and investigate crimes they are not equipped to deal with, which has taken them away from neighbourhood issues. Meanwhile Northumbria Police is slashing the majority of its "highly valued" PCSO posts as part of £12m budget cuts, though some staff will be redeployed to fill other vacant roles. Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness, said the organisation could not afford to both keep all of its PCSOs and push ahead with plans to put an extra 134 police officers on the frontline.
We're making county's first legal whisky in 200 years  Ben Murphy, director of distilling, checks the apparatus at the new £16m whisky distillery
The area around Wooler in Northumberland is full of history thanks to Ad Gefrin, an ancient Anglo-Saxon royal power base which was rediscovered in the middle of the last century, a few miles away in the hamlet of Yeavering. And now the co-founder of a new £16 million whisky distillery and Anglo-Saxon museum in the town hopes the new attractions will bring another reason to come. The distillery will produce Northumberland's first legal whisky for 200 years, reports Tom Wilkinson of Press Association. Ad Gefrin will be the latest of England's 40 whisky distilleries and will bring tourists to Wooler, Northumberland, to see the spirit-making process, enjoy tours and tastings, and to learn about the area's deep history. The British Museum has loaned the site treasures from the time when the nearby fort would attract important visitors from across Europe, and even North Africa, 1,300 years ago. Eileen and husband Alan Ferguson have invested millions in the project, backed by tourism development funding, which will revitalise Wooler, creating more than 50 full-time jobs for local people. Mrs Ferguson, whose father and grandfather ran a successful haulage business from the site, said: "I have deep family roots here, so I feel privileged to have been able to put something significant and lasting back into the community that has given us so much. We want to create a long-term legacy and I hope Ad Gefrin will add a new reason for people to be proud of their town and optimistic for the future."
Labour: £20m for town is 'pre-election bribe'  Graphic by Carly Holds
The small print in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Budget last week revealed that 13 Northern council bids turned down for cash from the Levelling Up fund in January would get their money after all. But in places like Eston on Teesside, which is getting £20m towards a new pool and a town centre revamp, there's cynicism that the 'rabbit from the hat' is just a vote-winning ploy ahead of May's local elections. Former Redcar and Cleveland Council leader Sue Jeffrey questioned why the long-awaited investment in the area hadn't been made earlier and said the Tories were "playing games with residents' lives", as Local Democracy Reporter Stuart Arnold writes. The Labour councillor said: "It is obvious the Tories think they can capitalise on this announcement and the public's despair at the disgraceful leadership of this council to win seats in Greater Eston at the local elections. If they had genuinely wanted to support the area, this project would have been funded as part of the round one levelling up fund process two years ago." But responding, Tory Redcar MP Jacob Young said: "Of course Sue Jeffrey and the Labour Party are seeking to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory – that's all they've got left – bitterness and spite. Labour were in power for decades and delivered nothing. "If Labour had their way we would never have seen this cash for Eston, Teesside Airport would be a housing estate by now and instead of the thousands of jobs we're bringing to Teesworks we'd have Christmas lights hanging off a knackered old blast furnace attracting nobody to the area except the Guardian art correspondent."
Meanwhile YorkshireLive reporter Gregory Ford questions the timing of the £12m handed to rejuvenate the high street of his home town of Dinnington, South Yorkshire, in the same Budget announcement. Gregory writes that Dinnington "is the archetypal South Yorkshire town, exploding into life with the opening of the local pit in 1905 and becoming a commuter hub into the 20th century. Like so many other towns and villages here, it was hit hard by the decline of the steel industry and the closure of the mines". He said: "When Dinnington Colliery closed in 1992, the damage wrought on the area was irreversible. Times have been tough for many in Dinnington and the surrounding villages ever since." And he adds: "The funding for Dinnington, while much needed, feels too little too late considering [local Tory MP Alex Stafford's] party have been in power across the country for 13 years. Why is it only now that they have decided to turn their attention to our corner of the world?" 
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Northern Stories  The Princess Royal meets with cast members during her visit to the set of Coronation Street
- The Princess Royal has visited the set of Coronation Street in Manchester to learn about the soap's upcoming acid attack storyline. Future episodes of the ITV programme will see Daisy Midgeley, played by Charlotte Jordan, become the victim of an acid attack at the hands of her stalker. Anne visited ITV Studios on Monday and met members of the cast and production team involved with the storyline. They have worked with The Katie Piper Foundation and Acid Survivors Trust International – of which Anne is a patron – to ensure the episodes are accurate and authentic.
- A far-right politician planning to burn a copy of the Koran during a visit to Wakefield will "not be allowed access" into the UK, the security minister has said. Tom Tugendhat said Danish-Swedish Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the Stram Kurs party founded in 2017, has been added to the "warnings index" and will be barred from entering the country. Mr Paludan has held several protests in which the Koran was burned, some of which have led to violent counter-protests. In a Twitter video on Sunday, he said that he plans to burn a copy of the Islamic sacred book in a public square in Wakefield, where a local boy was recently sent death threats after he caused minor damage to a copy of the Koran.
- The boss of the Tyne Tunnel has left his job. Philip Smith has quit as chief executive of tunnel operator TT2 to "pursue new opportunities", writes Local Democracy Reporter Dan Holland. The company said it was "business as usual" following his departure. Mr Smith was in charge of the tunnel's controversial shift to its new cashless payment system during his tenure, removing the crossing's traditional toll booths in favour of the new 'free flow' model. He joined TT2 in 2018, following a previous spell in charge of the Severn River Crossing.
- A Leeds creative agency is seeking homegrown Yorkshire talent to join its ranks, offering them the chance to experience the industry first hand. Full-service content creation and automation studio Make & Do has launched its first ever internship scheme, open to all creatives aged 18 and above interested in areas like photography, videography, social content creation and art direction. Make & Do plans to nurture and grow the skill sets of three creatives at the start of their career, offering them the chance to experience the industry first hand. This will be repeated over the next school and college break.
- A Preston city councillor has been suspended from the Labour Party for sharing a tweet which a member of the local Jewish community claims sought to justify the murder of worshippers at a synagogue in Jerusalem. Cllr Ismail Bax, who represents the Deepdale ward, is currently the subject of an investigation by the party at a national level, writes Local Democracy Reporter Paul Faulkner. The probe was launched last month after the long-serving member retweeted a post penned by a religious advisor to a mosque in Blackburn in the wake of an attack which saw seven Jews shot dead by a Palestinian gunman as they left their place of worship on January 27.
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