Awareness of the campaign to make the Goole Town Deal Better is growing, so do please keep sharing and discussing. Thank you to everyone who has signed so far.

One of the drivers behind some of the Town Deal plans is very likely to be income generation for the local authorities - the VPG plan particularly springs to mind. The objective of increasing income to the two councils is completely understandable. The concerns are that the VPG is not a suitable site for the proposed developments, and that the profit forecasts are not realistic, bringing a serious risk that there will be an increased financial burden for the councils in the form of a white elephant.

The picture today is of the Council Offices on Church St. There are rumours that the former offices are going to be converted into appartments, presumably to help with East Riding’s funding issues about which see: https://www.thisisthecoast.co.uk/news/local-news/east-yorkshire-council-dips-into-savings/#:~:text=The%20East%20Riding%20of%20Yorkshire,it's%202023%2F24%20financial%20year

and

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/warning-severe-financial-situation-east-8745266

There was an interesting debate in the Levelling Up Committee of the Westminster Parliament on Wednesday - which included discussion about local authorities setting out on joint business ventures with the best of intentions but getting themselves into deep trouble. Devolving responsibilities to local government without proportionate increases in funding is apparently a significant contributing factor - it has resulted apparently in social care and children’s services taking two thirds of local authorities’ budgets according to the debate. The pressure would be taken off local govt finances if they received adequate funding for the responsibilities placed on them, of those aspects were funded by central govt. As it is, local authorities are struggling to find money, and many residents feel they are paying council tax and not getting much in the way of services.

A little background anyway on the wider issues around what we are experiencing - there is a text of the discussions here: https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/13763/default/

Keep signing, keep sharing, keep discussing and wishing you a great rest of your weekend.