Following attempts to contact the leader of the council directly, Coun. Grant Davey issued the following statement via a spokesman: “A decision to try and save money against the backdrop of severe central Government cuts seems to have been hijacked by people intent on turning this into a party political issue. It isn’t.
“We’ve got to balance the books in Northumberland and we’re looking at many ways to save money across the council.”
This week we asked:
l If the decision not to place public notices in the Hexham Courant relates to the council making cost savings then why was a best practice approach not adopted and the contract put out to tender?
l How long is the trial of placing public notices relating to west Northumberland exclusively in the Northumberland Gazette?
l What are the prominent public locations, where copies of the Northumberland Gazette are now available free of charge in west Northumberland?
l Have they been available in these locations since December? If not, why not?
l How many copies are being made available, and who is footing the bill for these papers, which have a cover price of £1.25 each?
l What other newspapers, apart from the Northumberland Gazette , are the council currently using for the publication of these notices?
l Why has the council halted the sale of copies of the Hexham Courant at Prudhoe Waterworld and Hexham’s Wentworth Leisure Centre – a source of income to the council?
The official response from a council spokesman was: “We have nothing further to add to the chief executive’s previous correspondence.”
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