On Wednesday, I went to the City Council meeting. Karen Kilgour, City Council Leader, presented the annual Leader’s Report. Councillors can put themselves forward to ask questions about the report but the Lord Mayor, who chairs the meeting, only allowed one question per councillor during the meeting. I asked:

“On page 3 of your report you state that: “we spend in the region of £1.2 billion each year. Around £140 million is ring-fenced for tenants living in council-owned homes and £130 million for schools. Everything else is used to deliver our wide range of services and meet the needs of our residents and the city”. How can residents know whether that is true when some of it is spend in secret? On May 5 I asked why councillors were not allowed to tell residents about a substantial payment to a private sector organisation. I have not had a response. Will you share that information with residents?”

Councillor Kilgour said she did not know what payment I meant, which was odd. I emailed her with further details and the two additional questions I was not allowed to ask in the meeting:

“On page 6 you give some incredible figures for the Christmas Market. Can you please provide the data source and methodology used to determine these figures?

“On page 17, you discuss International Women’s Day and your commitment to dismantling the barriers faced by women in Newcastle. It’s International Women’s Day because the struggle is, and always has been, an international struggle. So will you also commit to doing what you can to dismantle the barriers faced by women globally and publicly support those women jailed for campaigning for women’s rights – women like Manahel Al Otaibi, jailed in Saudi Arabia because of her choice of clothing and demand for women’s rights https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/action/release-manahel-al-otaibi/“

I will post the responses here when I receive them.

I also spoke in the debate on the response to the petition from Save Newcastle Wildlife to hold a referendum on any proposal to build a new stadium on Leazes Park. I was concerned that when Coun Greenhough responded to the petition he only referred to a potential planning application. NUFC does not own Leazes Park so any plan would also require a transfer of ownership. (I understand that the park is owned by the council but I don’t know whether it’s a council or city asset; whether there is any legal distinction between the two; and what, if any, restrictions there are on the use of the land. I asked for clarification from the Council’s legal team on March 16 and will post the response when I receive it.)

I voted with other opposition councillors against the proposed Council Plan. I disagreed with it because it had no targets. How can you decide whether a plan has been successful if there are no targets to measure it against?

I was contacted by residents with concerns about:

• Possible illegal activity in a flat – I alerted the council’s City Safe team and contact the managing agents for the block
• Abandoned bins and rubbish on the Quayside – I asked the refuse team to clean this up and remove any surplus bins
• A bar offering a 90 minute unlimited drinks deal. The council’s licensing policy prohibits ‘irresponsible drink promotions’ which encourage people to drink too much or too quickly. But I have seen an increasing use of “Bottomless Brunch Deals” which seem to be an attempt to circumvent this rule. I have asked the licensing team to explain the legal position re bottomless brunches