Newcastle under Lyme Council

Plans which could see drivers in part of Staffordshire being charged for using high polluting vehicles are being opposed by councillors.

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The government's told both Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council to draw up improvement plans by October, to cut dangerous levels of nitrogen dioxide.

Hotspots include the A53 at Basford Bank, Hanley, Cobridge and Burslem and a chargeable clean air zone's being pushed by ministers as the default option.

But Newcastle under Lyme councillors don't like the idea of daily charges ranging from £8 to £100 and are going to ask their local MP to raise their concerns with the government.

They argue that such a charge could hit town centre businesses and the taxi trade.

Almost a quarter of households in Newcastle-under-Lyme have signed up to a new garden bin collection scheme which charges them £36 a year.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council

The borough council introduced the price for the service for the first time this year as part of its budget.

It introduced it after Staffordshire County Council said it was withdrawing the money paid to local authorities for garden waste.

The new Newcastle-under-Lyme scheme runs fortnightly through the year without a winter break and the borough council says 10,000 residents have signed up.

Bin collectors calling in sick have cost taxpayers nearly £155,000 in part of Staffordshire.

Newcastle-Under-Lyme Council

Latest figures show Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council's refuse collectors took 1,275 days off between April and the middle of November 2018.

The statistics were revealed at the authority’s economy, environment and place scrutiny committee.

Nearly 1,000 of the absences were down to long-term sickness, with more than £113,000 spent on the cost of cover.

Councillors were told the authority is looking at preventative measures like training around cleanliness and potentially flu jabs for staff.

A council is planning to save an extra £250,000 in the next financial year, over and above its actual budget "gap", in a bid to build up reserves for potential future projects.

Newcastle-Under-Lyme Council

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has published its budget proposals for 2019-20 and says it needs to save just over £2m.

Among its proposals are to put up council tax by 2.99%, leave jobs that aren't currently filled empty and restructure the management team.

If all its plans are approved, the council says they would result in an extra £248,000 which could be invested in "key priorities" in the future.

Taxi drivers have criticised plans to get more of them using electric vehicles, saying it will "badly affected the taxi trade".

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Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council is currently consulting on a new licensing policy for 2019-21 which includes encouraging the switch to electric vehicles, to try to cut air pollution.

The policy would allow them to be licensed for up to 10 years, compared with a seven-year maximum for petrol and diesel cabs, which the authority says would help with purchase costs.

But the Newcastle Hackney Carriage Association says electric cars are too expensive at the moment and there aren't enough charging points in the borough.

The authority says going electric is just a proposal and it's allowing drivers and firms to keep using petrol and diesel engines.

A council's agreed to pay £363,000 towards getting a leisure centre back in use - but only if that happens within a year.

Kidsgrove Leisure Centre shut in June last year, despite protests from people who used it,because it was said it would cost millions to repair.

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The building was owned by Staffordshire County Council but it has now agreed to hand it over to Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council for a nominal fee.

With that, the authority says it's also giving the £363,000 - the amount it says it would cost to demolish - to the borough council, on condition it is brought back into use for leisure within a year.

A volunteer group, Kidsgrove Community Interest Organisation, is currently working with the borough council on bringing some of the centre back into use.

It's been revealed that two council officers who were suspended after a general election voting blunder have both now left the authority.

The pair were suspended by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council in November, five months after 1,500 people were unable to cast ballots in a seat won by just 30 votes.

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John Sellgren, who was the chief executive of the authority, left his post in August with the council saying he received no additional payments, adding that it is in the process of replacing him.

Now, it's been confirmed that Elizabeth Dodd, the council's head of audit and elections at the time, has also left the authority, although the council won't confirm any more details.

Labour's Paul Farrelly polled 21,124 votes to win the Newcastle-under-Lyme seat - 30 votes ahead of Conservative Owen Meredith.

Mr Farrelly described the problems as a "shambles".

Electric taxis and ways to cut bus emissions are two ideas being considered to reduce air pollution in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent.

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The government's told councils in both areas to improve levels, especially along the A53 which runs between the town and city.

The authorities are now drawing up a study into the route with ministers saying sufficient funding will be in place for their plans.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council's also asking residents for their views on their action plan.

We're currently discussing funding with Stoke-on-Trent City Council to apply for a government grant to look at investing in electric taxis and that'll be a scheme that will identify if there's a business case for the local taxi operators to move towards electric taxis."

The government wants detailed plans drawn up to deal with air pollution in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent.

It says the A53 running through them is particularly bad and has asked Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council to produce a study about the road.

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The government has called for action from eight local authorities, including these two, and says funding will be available.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council says it's working with the government and colleagues in Newcastle to reduce congestion and pollution.

New taxi drivers in Newcastle-under-Lyme face having to prove they can speak English in a council crackdown on cabbies’ language skills.

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The borough council says it wants applicants to provide an English language certificate to show they can communicate effectively with customers.

It's part of the authority's plans to create an in-house knowledge test to prove drivers know the rules of the road - the proposal is now going out to consultation.