Issues

Local NHS boards scrapped ahead of schedule, by-passing disputed new laws

The boards running Staffordshire’s three NHS primary care trusts have been abolished 18 months early, pre-empting Parliament and provoking fresh controversy over the Government’s top-down health reforms.

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MP warns of threat to NHS as waiting lists soar

Waiting lists for hospital treatment in North Staffordshire rose sharply during the first year of the coalition government, prompting accusations by Newcastle’s Labour MP Paul Farrelly that “the NHS is at serious risk under the Tories.”

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North Staffordshire misses out on Enterprise Zone status

The Government’s decision to overlook North Staffordshire’s bid to become an Enterprise Zone has dealt a serious blow to hopes of generating new jobs and kick-starting economic recovery in the area, Newcastle MP Paul Farrelly said today.

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MP condemns plans to close Newcastle police station

Newcastle’s Labour MP Paul Farrelly has attacked coalition government cuts to Staffordshire police, and plans to close the town’s police station, as outdoing even Margaret Thatcher.

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Newcastle’s MP slams Council over secret business rate write-offs – for the fifth year in a row…

Newcastle’s Labour MP has criticised the Borough Council and its outgoing leader Simon Tagg over secretly writing off business rates, yet again, of pub owners whose companies serially collapse year after year, leaving creditors in the lurch.

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Newcastle’s MP challenges Council ‘concealment’ over green spaces sell-off

Newcastle’s Labour MP Farrelly has issued a formal complaint to the Borough Council over its insistence on withholding key details of the scope of its controversial plans to sell off green spaces and playing fields.

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Council climb-down prompts fresh demand for sale of open spaces to be scrapped

Council leaders in Newcastle have withdrawn two controversial planning applications for housing development on public open spaces amid growing opposition from residents and fierce criticism by the town’s MP Paul Farrelly.

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Council urged to ditch ‘shameful’ sell-off of public open spaces

Newcastle’s Labour MP Paul Farrelly has demanded that the Borough council withdraw the first two planning applications for housing on public ‘green spaces’, pending proper public examination of secret Council decision-making.

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Brick-maker responds to quarry concerns, and now consults on new plans

Brick-maker Ibstock has submitted radically changed plans for the development of its Knutton quarry in Newcastle-under-Lyme, ditching proposals to leave a vast lake afterwards in response to local concerns about safety and flooding.

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Council Cabinet urged to suspend proposed sell off of public open spaces

Newcastle MP Paul Farrelly has urged members of Newcastle’s controlling Cabinet to suspend the proposed sell-off of public open spaces amid mounting criticism from residents across the Borough.

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