Since starting with the Scunthorpe Telegraph, I have been given the chance to pursue one of my passions in journalism, covering and scrutinising politics. Here, that mostly means North Lincolnshire Council.
Two major projects are edging closer to reality in North Lincolnshire – the ambitious Lincolnshire Lakes scheme and a massive waste processing contract. I’ve gone behind the scenes on both projects to write backgrounders – and found two exclusive splashes.
Recently, I’ve covered the 2010/11 budget for North Lincolnshire Council, uncovered an interesting story about proposals to negotiate with travel firms to cut school truancy and reported on potential problems with a major infrastructure project in the region.
Freedom of Information requests over the Christmas period led to two interesting stories on North Lincolnshire Council about pay equality and school arsons.
Freezing winter weather led to any number of weather stories – but North Lincolnshire Council running dangerously low on grit as exams loomed took a day of challenging interviews to get answers for the readers.
As the 2010 budget approached, the Baths Hall is quickly rising back up the council agenda. Procurement processes are continuing and a nostalgia story helped move the paper on ahead of the political battles over finance to come.
A series of other issues have also emerged at the council over recent months.
In the second half of 2009, I covered political disputes about how prepared the council is for any potential budget cuts over the next five years.
A major story since I’ve started has been the re-development of Scunthorpe venue the Baths Hall. It’s sparked fierce political argument throughout my time here – both good natured and bad.
At the budget meeting in February it was announced the controversial project was being put on the back burner for a year in the face of capital budget shortfalls. Covering the budget is also a good opportunity to really take council stories out to the people: everyone wants to know what is happening to their council tax bills.
And with the focus on MPs expenses for most of 2009, council politicians have also faced closer scrutiny by local people.
Working politics gives plenty of great stories, from the Icelandic banking crisis writ large locally, funerals over a web-cam and exclusives about the senior management of children’s services.
