Latest news with #MickBarton
BBC News
24-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Nottinghamshire Council to stay at historic base, Reform confirms
Nottinghamshire County Council is set to remain at its historic headquarters, the authority's new leader has council has been based at County Hall in West Bridgford for decades but was in the process of relocating to new offices near Hucknall, and a first full council meeting was held there under the Conservatives in taking over at the local elections in May, however, Reform UK has held most meetings at the old base, and council leader Mick Barton has now told the BBC that County Hall can be considered the council's head office again."It's a wonderful building," he said. "Yes, it is my headquarters and we're having meetings here, why wouldn't we use it?" The new building - called Oak House - was originally built to house services such as the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub, which had been based in rented Conservatives later decided to also use it as the council's headquarters after a review found County Hall required "significant ongoing maintenance".The council said in 2023 that the building would need more than £30m in essential repairs over 12 years and a further £28m of investment to bring it up to modern environmental group leader and former council leader Sam Smith said Reform would now have to explain where it would find the money to renovate County Hall."What libraries are they closing, what roads and pavements aren't they repairing, what recycling centres are they closing, what youth centres are being shut, what schools aren't going to be built?" he this month, Labour called for the council to move back to County Hall and suggested Oak House be sold. According to the council's online calendar, all meetings currently scheduled for June are due to be held at County Hall, along with all but two meetings in July.A full council meeting on 10 July and a cabinet meeting on 17 July are both due to be held at Oak why those two meetings would not be held at County Hall, Barton said: "We can utilise both buildings."We've got lots of buildings throughout Nottinghamshire, so we could have it somewhere else if we wanted to."It has previously been suggested the two buildings could be used as the headquarters of separate newly-established authorities.
BBC News
13-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Reform UK to carry out Nottinghamshire County Council 'efficiency review'
Nottinghamshire County Council is to conduct an 'efficiency review' in an attempt to find savings, the authority has has been commissioned by Reform UK which has controlled the council since the local elections last leader Mick Barton said it is separate to the Elon Musk-style Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) team which Reform has said it will send into councils it runs, but added the two will work together. "We're a new administration and we want to see where we are financially, so we think it's a good idea to have a full financial review," he said. He added he could not yet say what sort of savings the review may identify but he does not expect any council staff to lose their jobs."It's got nothing to do with staff and I've already made that very clear to staff, they've got nothing to worry about at all," he said.A report published on Friday stated the review will be carried out by elected councillors and a "multi-skilled team of officers" but will draw on "external expertise as appropriate".Barton said he is "more than happy" for the Doge team to be a part of the review but insisted councillors will make any final decisions."If they find anything, it's going to come to me as leader and my team and we're going to look at it," he Doge team is being led by Zia Yusuf, who resigned as Reform UK Chairman last week before returning in the new role two days is currently no timetable for it to arrive in Nottinghamshire.A party spokesperson said: "We have now assembled a team of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors who will visit and analyse every Reform UK-controlled council, including Nottinghamshire County Council."The taskforce will identify wasteful spending, increasing transparency and ensuring taxpayer money is spent solely on activity that benefits local people." Conservative group leader Sam Smith said work to improve efficiency was already taking place when he was the council's leader and he would not endorse a Doge-style audit."They're not local to where they're investigating and they're unelected. I'm not in favour of that," he said."It sounds like Reform in Nottinghamshire have maybe disagreed with their central office and said we'll do it from a councillor perspective."Barton, however, denied there was any rift with the national party."We're not at odds or anything, I work very closely with my party and I've got a very good relationship, hence why we're doing it our way in Nottinghamshire," he group leader Penny Gowland, meanwhile, said the plan was a waste of staff time."Everyone wants to save money, but there is no magic pot waiting to be cut. In fact, after more than a decade of Tory chaos in Downing Street, councils are crying out for more funding," she said."The problem is not that councils are wasting money but that they don't have enough money to do things properly."The report states the review will take place over the summer and will inform the budget setting process for next year and future is due to be discussed at a meeting of the council's cabinet on 23 June.
The Independent
06-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Reform UK councils in ‘shambles' as newly elected councillors fail to show up
Reform UK gained control of nine councils and minority control in three more in May's local elections, but opposition councillors claim the party's organisation and productivity have been a "shambles" since. Across the 12 Reform -controlled councils, 33 meetings have been cancelled or postponed in the first nine weeks since the election, and at least 21 Reform councillors have missed their first meetings. In Kent, nine out of 22 scheduled meetings have been cancelled since the election, including legally required meetings like the governance and audit committee. An opposition councillor in Kent, Rich Lehmann, said the cancellations were "shocking" and questioned Reform 's ability to lead the council, while Sam Smith, leader of the Conservatives in Nottinghamshire, called the start "shambolic." Reform UK councillors have reportedly cancelled meetings to reschedule them when more prepared, while Nottinghamshire Council's new Reform leader Mick Barton dismissed the criticisms as "political rhetoric from the opposition."
The Independent
06-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Reform-led councils in ‘shambles' since local elections, opponents claim
Reform UK gained control of nine councils and minority control in three more in May's local elections, but opposition councillors claim the party's organisation and productivity have been a "shambles" since. Across the 12 Reform-controlled councils, 33 meetings have been cancelled or postponed in the first nine weeks since the election, and at least 21 Reform councillors have missed their first meetings. In Kent, nine out of 22 scheduled meetings have been cancelled since the election, including legally required meetings like the governance and audit committee. Kent County Council said some meetings, such as planning committees, were scheduled on an 'if required' basis, and were cancelled because there were no applications requiring an immediate decision. Nottinghamshire Council's new Reform leader Mick Barton dismissed the criticisms as "political rhetoric from the opposition."
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Calls for Nottinghamshire County Council to move back to old HQ
Labour has called for Nottinghamshire County Council to move back to its former council officially relocated to Oak House near Hucknall in March under the Conservatives, who argued County Hall was too costly to UK has since taken charge of the authority at the local elections, and the new council leader has expressed an interest in holding meetings at the old base in West Bridgford.A motion due to be discussed at the first full meeting of the new administration next week says County Hall is "recognisable to residents across the county and is easily visited by hundreds of members of the public each month, thanks to its location and excellent transport links". "In comparison, Oak House is a costly and unsuitable replacement as the civic centre of Nottinghamshire, located remotely and without sufficient transport links," it says. The motion, tabled by Labour group leader Penny Gowland, would commit the council to exploring how County Hall could be maintained as the passed, the authority would also look at options to dispose of Oak House or lease some of the space, "the proceeds of which can be used to fund other areas of council business".Speaking earlier this week, incoming council leader Mick Barton said he had asked if next week's meeting could be held "at this magnificent council chamber" [County Hall], but was told the microphone system had already been moved to Oak House."I shall be looking at the whole raft moving forward of where we feel we need to be based," he group leader and former council leader Sam Smith said it would cost about £50m to keep County Hall functional."When proposing the motion next week, Labour will have to set out what libraries they propose to close, which waste recycling centres they'll close, what roads and pavements they will not resurface and what schools they will not build in order to fund the £50m renovation," he for the future of County Hall have never been confirmed, but it has previously been suggested it could be turned into housing, restaurants and 22 May meeting, due to be held at Oak House, will also see Barton formally confirmed as the authority's new leader.
