Mayors to score wins in the budget after PM intervenes – but fears remain over councils facing bankruptcy
Mayors are set to be one of the big winners in the budget after Sir Keir Starmer personally intervened to ensure they have more freedom to spend cash and boost growth, Sky News understands.
England’s dozen metro mayors have been working together to push the prime minister, Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner for more powers and cash after years of frustration at the way the Treasury allocates money for projects and salaries.
But there is deep concern that Ms Reeves, the chancellor, may only allocate money to some key areas but not others.
There is agreement among all the mayors who spoke to Sky News that the squeeze on local government budgets – which metro mayors work alongside – will cause further councils to go bankrupt and hamper their ability to regenerate their local regions.
In the budget on Wednesday mayors believe they will get:
- A so-called “single pot” of money allowing them much greater freedom to allocate funds where they deem most necessary;
- Greater flexibility to raise local taxes. In Liverpool City Region, metro mayor Steve Rotherham is pushing a “tourist tax” of £1 per night on the city’s hotels to fund local tourist projects. There are hopes among some mayors they will get more flexibility in the way they can spend locally raised taxes, known as precepts;
- Multi-year budget settlements to allow for longer-term planning.
- The mayors are pushing for more powers in a range of areas from transport, where they are hopeful of some success, to skills, where they see the Department for Education reluctant to release their grip.
Sky News understands that Sir Keir has repeatedly said in meetings that he believes metro mayors, who have planning powers and work with clusters of local authorities, must be put at the heart of the push for growth across England.
‘Massively frustrating’ Treasury
Mayor of Teesside Ben Houchen. Pic: PA
Liverpool City Mayor Mr Rotherham told Sky News that he has been told that mayors “can become the delivery arm of national government” across a whole range of projects, including retrofitting homes, improving transport and productivity and skills.
However, several mayors who spoke to Sky News sounded a warning that they need to break free from the Treasury’s way of deciding what should get funded if growth is as big a priority as the government says.
Liverpool City Mayor Steve Rotherham. Pic: PA
Mr Rotherham said the Treasury has been “massively frustrating to date” and “we are pushing to see changes.”
He called for urgent reform to the Treasury manual for evaluating the value for money of big projects – known as the Treasury Green Book.
He claimed that this way of measuring value is biased against more long-term projects, making true reform impossible.
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Sam Coates looks ahead to Westminster’s oddest budget tradition
Councils ‘on the brink of bankruptcy’
Meanwhile, Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of Teesside, said: “The Treasury is a very difficult department to deal with.
“The officials, I think, have a very narrow view – they know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.”
He warned the chancellor that if, as expected, she announces lots of big infrastructure and growth projects on Wednesday but also squeezes on the day-to-day running costs of government, then the initiatives unveiled next week may never happen.
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“If you allocate money for big projects like train stations or roads, or whatever it might be, big infrastructure – that’s one thing,” he said.
“But to deliver that, you’ve got to have the day-to-day spending to employ people, get through planning – all of that stuff in the background that takes money, revenue, day-to-day spending.
“So allocating a big cheque is one thing. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to see those projects come into fruition if the money isn’t there to develop those projects in the first place.”
Earlier this month Sir Keir Starmer met Tees Valley Mayor Mr Houchen (second right) and other regional leaders during the inaugural Council of the Nations and Regions in Edinburgh. Pic: PA
Mr Houchen said local councils in the Tees Valley were in a bad financial situation.
“You’ve got local councils, which is what most people interact with on a daily basis, in a very difficult situation.
“The quality and experience of the staff aren’t there. Money is extremely tight.
“Things like adult and children social services in Tees Valley for instance usually accounts for about 80% of a council’s entire budget, just on adult and children’s social services. So it’s in a very difficult state. I’m acutely aware, not just across the Tees Valley but across the country, there are lots of councils on the brink of bankruptcy.
“You’ve seen a couple of those already under the previous government. Without more revenue funding and funding for the types of departments like local government, that’s not going to change that outcome, and we could still see loads of capital spending, but we could still see governments going bust, services not improving and actually continuing to deteriorate.”
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If councils fail, communities ‘fall over’
Richard Parker, the new Labour mayor of the West Midlands, also agreed funding was squeezed for councils.
“Birmingham has lost £1bn worth of funding over the last 10 years… that’s been taken out of some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities, and it’s made those communities even more vulnerable.
“And I can’t afford our councils to fail because if our councils fail, the communities they support fall over.
“So I understand the criticality of the situation.
“I’m hoping the government will start, as they’ve been saying, to make longer plans for funding for local government, so they get an opportunity to plan ahead and plan for the future rather than working to short-term budgetary cycles of a year.”
Sir Keir also met regional mayors, including West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker (left), in July. Pic: PA
Mr Parker made clear that getting more powers over skills – which some other mayors think unlikely at the moment – will be a key driver for growth.
Read more:
Analysis: Growing storm over rumoured budget tax rises
Analysis: Labour’s muddle with messaging
Are Starmer and Reeves on the same page with budget?
‘Too many people in low-paid jobs’
“I actually then need some revenue support, some more powers over particularly post-16 education,” he said.
“We’ve got around a quarter of the workforce in the West Midlands with low skills in those skills, which means that too many people in work are in low-paid jobs.
“And I’ve got twice as many young people out of work than the national average.
“So I’ve got to help these people get access to the skills they need to build careers here and get access to better-paid jobs and indeed the jobs that investors need to fill who are coming into this region.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, deputy leader of Reform UK Richard Tice, former governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King, and director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies Paul Johnson will be on the Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips show on Sky News from 8.30am this morning.
UK
British tourist who fell ill from methanol poisoning dies after ‘free shots’ giveaway in Laos resort
A British tourist being treated after a suspected mass methanol poisoning in Laos has died, according to UK officials.
Simone White, 28, from Orpington, Kent, fell ill after reportedly drinking “free shots” from a local bar in Vang Vieng – a resort popular with backpackers.
Four people had already died following the suspected poisonings – an Australian named Bianca Jones, 19, from Melbourne, as well as two Danish women in their 20s and a 56-year-old US citizen.
They are believed to have consumed drinks tainted with methanol, which is sometimes added to mixed drinks as a cheaper alternative to alcohol, but can cause severe poisoning or death.
“We are supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Laos, and we are in contact with the local authorities,” the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement.
The FCDO said it was also providing consular assistance to other British nationals hospitalised in the incident, as well as their families.
Bianca Jones, a 19-year-old from Australia, also died
Explained:
What is methanol, how does it end up in alcoholic drinks, and how can you avoid it?
Ms White was an associate lawyer specialising in intellectual property and technology and worked at the London office of the American law firm Squire Patton Boggs.
Her work involved general commercial matters, and contentious and non-contentious intellectual property law issues, according to the firm’s website.
Bethany Clarke, a friend of Ms White and a healthcare worker, also from Orpington, said a group of six people had been taken to hospital after drinking from the same bar.
She posted on a Laos Backpacking Facebook group to warn other travellers after the group fell ill.
“Urgent – please avoid all local spirits. Our group stayed in Vang Vieng and we drank free shots offered by one of the bars,” she wrote.
“Just avoid them as so not worth it. Six of us who drank from the same place are in hospital currently with methanol poisoning.”
‘Every parent’s very worst fear’
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed to his country’s parliament that 19-year-old Bianca Jones had died after being evacuated to a Thai hospital from Vang Vieng.
Thai authorities confirmed that Jones had died of “brain swelling due to high levels of methanol found in her system”.
Her friend Holly Bowles, also 19, remains in hospital in neighbouring Thailand, Mr Albanese said.
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Laos methanol poisonings – what we know
Australian officials said “several foreign nationals” had also been victims of methanol poisoning
“This is every parent’s very worst fear and a nightmare that no one should have to endure,” Mr Albanese said.
“We also take this moment to say that we’re thinking of Bianca’s friend Holly Bowles who is fighting for her life.”
‘Her incredible spirit touched so many lives’
In a statement to the Melbourne Herald Sun newspaper, Ms Jones’ family paid tribute to her.
“She was surrounded by love, and we are comforted by the knowledge that her incredible spirit touched so many lives during her time with us,” the family wrote.
“We want to express our deepest gratitude for the overwhelming support, love, and prayers we’ve received from across Australia.”
The US State Department confirmed that an American had also died in Vang Vieng, and Denmark’s Foreign Ministry said two of its citizens had also died in “the incident in Laos”.
Neither would comment directly on a link to methanol poisoning.
The second named storm of the season will bring snow, rain and strong winds to parts of the UK this weekend, according to the Met Office.
Hundreds of schools are closed as the storm, named Bert, sweeps in, bringing freezing temperatures and snow over the weekend.
Wind gusts of up to 70mph are expected in some areas as well as the potential of flooding and travel disruption.
Heavy snowfall could bring further disruption to parts of the country while heavy rain is also likely over the weekend, the Met Office added.
Snowy conditions, in the village of Goathland, North York Moors National Park.
Pic: PA
Parts of southwest England including Plymouth and Exeter are under a yellow warning for snow until 3pm today, with 5-10cm predicted in higher parts of Dartmoor.
Wintry showers will continue in different parts of the UK throughout Thursday and Friday, amid warnings of snow and ice for much of Scotland, northern England and parts of western and eastern England and Wales between midday today and 10am tomorrow.
How Storm Bert is set to impact the UK this weekend. Pic: Met Office
Met Office chief meteorologist Matthew Lehnert said: “A northerly airflow will continue to feed snow showers into Scotland over the next few days, with this reaching lower levels at times and bringing the potential for some travel disruption.
“Overnight temperatures will drop below zero fairly widely over the next few days, which has resulted in some ice warnings, with further warnings likely through this week.”
More than 114 schools are shut in the Highland Council area today due to snow, including Inverness Royal Academy where pupils were told their prelim exams planned for the day would be rescheduled.
Almost 40 schools in Aberdeenshire are also shut while many others had delayed openings, and in Moray around 12 were closed and others opened late.
It comes after more than 100 schools or nurseries were closed in Scotland yesterday because of the weather.
Commuters dressed in warm clothes walk over Westminster Bridge.
Pic: Reuters
South of the border, 89 schools were shut in Devon today, 18 in Dorset and 60 in Cornwall, while in Wales around 10 were closed in Conwy, 18 in Denbighshire and two in Wrexham.
As Storm Bert hits the UK, areas where warnings are in place in the south and west are likely to be impacted by heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday.
Between 50-75 mm of rainfall is expected there on the weekend, while Wales and southwest England could see more than 100mm.
There is already a yellow warning for heavy snow on Saturday followed by a “rapid thaw” and rain on Saturday night in northeast and northwest England, the West Midlands, Yorkshire, and much of Scotland.
Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Dan Holley, said: “Storm Bert marks a shift to much milder air and wintry hazards will gradually diminish through the weekend, but heavy snowfall is expected across parts of northern England and Scotland for a time on Saturday, especially over higher ground, and warnings are in place.”
A man has been found guilty of murdering his “best friend” on Christmas Eve.
A jury of 10 men and two women heard Dylan Thomas, 24, killed William Bush, 23, in a “frenzied attack” in the Llandaff area of Cardiff last year.
Thomas had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility but denied Mr Bush’s murder.
A trial at Cardiff Crown Court heard Thomas attacked Mr Bush “from behind” in his bedroom after he entered through the kitchen at the property they shared, owned by the defendant’s grandparents.
During the “sustained attack” Mr Bush “fled for his life” down two flights of stairs and onto the patio, the trial heard.
William Bush. Pic: South Wales Police
Mr Bush sustained 37 stab wounds in total, including 21 to the neck.
His cause of death was given as “multiple stab wounds to the neck and trunk”.
The defendant, who was wearing a blue t-shirt, attended the hearing via video link from a secure hospital.
The jury returned a unanimous verdict on Thursday afternoon after just over three hours of deliberation.
Thomas, who was suffering from schizophrenia, had initially claimed he was acting in self-defence.
‘Clear thinking’
The court heard how Mr Bush was Thomas’s “only known real friend”.
During the trial, it was also heard how Thomas had been arrested “for trying to climb into Buckingham Palace” some weeks previously.
He also wrote to Elon Musk telling him he believed he had the ability to harness gravity.
The defendant was staying with his grandmother in Rhoose, the Vale of Glamorgan, on the night before the attack.
In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the jury heard Thomas had carried out an online search for the “anatomy of the neck”.
Thomas, who could not drive, enquired about getting an Uber to Tŷ Matthew in Llandaff at 3.31am.
Later that morning, his grandmother agreed to take him to the house after he told her he “wanted to walk the dog” and they left her home in Rhoose at 10.41am.
He had sent several messages to Mr Bush in the hours before the attack in which he said he needed to see him before Mr Bush went home to Brecon to spend Christmas with his family.
The prosecution argued there was “clear thinking on the part of Dylan Thomas”.
“This was a frenzied attack where Mr Thomas could only have had one intention and that was to kill Mr Bush,” said Gregory Bull KC, prosecuting.
Read more from Sky News:
Storm Bert to bring 70mph winds to UK
Banana duct-taped to a wall sells for $6.2m
But the defence argued Mr Bush’s schizophrenia lay “at the centre” of the case.
“He didn’t understand, because he was deluded. He believed, for whatever reason, that his best friend was threatening his life,” said defence barrister Orlando Pownall KC.
Thomas will be sentenced on Monday 16 December.
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