Major row breaks out over new Northumberland council

In a letter sent to district leaders, he suggested they were responsible for a £10m funding gap facing the unitary authority because of excessive spending in recent years.

And in an interview with The Journal, Mr Healey highlighted "difficulties" with Berwick, Wansbeck and Blyth Valley district councils who angrily hit back at the minister's "offensive" claims.

He will now travel to Northumberland next week to tell council leaders there will be no turning back with the new authority going ahead on April 1.

It is an unprecedented step, Mr Healey said: "There are indications that some in local government in Northumberland have not yet fully focussed on the future and appear to be impeding the creation of the new unitary council."

He also claimed the new countywide council was facing a £10m funding gap between spending and resources inherited from the district councils.

Mr Healey, who expects the council to be able to manage the situation, said: "It is hard to understand how a shortfall to this extent - 20% of the district budgets - could have arisen if, over recent years, every district council had adopted prudent and responsible budgets."

He insisted council chiefs must now work together, including on providing information on contracts as well as reassuring staff and the public at this "difficult" transition time.

But Mr Healey's intervention was rejected by district council chiefs, with Wansbeck's chief executive Bob Stephenson firing back an immediate response to him.

Mr Stephenson said Mr Healey should "look closer to home" over the problems as the minister who approved the unitary move, which he claimed was financially flawed and opposed by most residents.

In an email seen by The Journal, he said: "I therefore find it rather galling that you choose this time to attempt to deflect the blame for this decision now that it appears that the cat appears to be getting out of the bag in relation to the details of the flawed bid."

Mr Stephenson hit back at suggestions that district councils were responsible for the county's financial problems, saying Wansbeck had set balanced and prudent budgets for the past decade, with £3.6m of reserves when the move to unitary status was first announced.

He said: "On the 1st of April this year we expect to hand over balances of £4.4m to the new council. This is an increase of 22% in only 20 months following your decision."

The council chief urged Mr Healey to launch an independent inquiry into the management of former county council resources, where the "answer" might lie.

He said Wansbeck had co-operated fully over the move to unitary status, with senior officials seconded to work on the switch.

Mr Stephenson accepted Mr Healey's letter included the words that "some in local government" appeared to be impeding the new council, but suggested it would have been better for Mr Healey to send his letter to the authorities in question.

PROPOSAL

Council tax will be "equalised" for all districts and set at £1,335.33 with an overall rise of 3.8%.

This will result in increases, by district, as follows:

Alnwick +4.39%

Berwick +2.60%

Blyth Valley +4.85%

Castle Morpeth +2.87%

Tynedale +4.10%

Wansbeck +3.31%

Continue to page 2 for views from MPs and council leaders over the row