Re-branding Berwick: A bridge too far?

DOUGLAS SHEPHERD who was born and raised in Berwick-on-Tweed takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the £50,000 project to find a new 'brand' for his historic home town

Some lucky marketing company will soon be handed £50,000 by Berwick Town Council along with a set of instructions aimed at turning the old town into "a visitor destination". The successful bidder will certainly have a rich tapestry on which to demonstrate their skills, no doubt all couched in obscure branding jargon.

Pardon my ignorance but I could have sworn this former Scottish royal burgh was already a magnet for tourists who flock to Berwick each year and sample a menu of delights from magnificent sea views to Elizabethan defences: from sandy beaches to a magnificent Georgian town hall complete with museum and cell block: with three iconic bridges spanning a magnificent salmon river.

This was the place where L S Lowry, one of the finest British artists of the Twentieth Century chose to spend his annual holidays back in the 1950s and 1960s. A series of paintings depicting Berwick views which he knocked off during his vacations is testimony to his love of the place.

But apparently the wonderful natural appeal of the town which passed from Scottish to English ownership and back again some 14 times is no longer enough to pull in the tourists in satisfactory numbers. So a detailed brief has been drawn up for the forthcoming branding exercise.

A notice inviting potential bidders to submit their blueprints for success declares: "The project is a package of mutually supportive measures which will, collectively, help to redefine the town’s visitor offer, promote new visitor product developments, enhance the town’s current events programme and refresh visitor hospitality enabling Berwick to deliver a high quality visitor experience".

And: "The project will add to and develop the current events and activities programme in Berwick by creating a range of opportunities, events and products, developed by businesses and the local community, in celebration of Berwick's distinctive heritage, culture and environment. This will be achieved by working with and developing the tourism and associated business sectors. The project will promote training, skills development and attainment in the tourism and hospitality sectors and invest in visitor information provision."

The comprehensive "Berwick Welcomes Visitor" package outlined in the contract notice published on the Scottish Government website continues:

Fresh Perceptions – The project will establish a Berwick destination management function and launch a new destination marketing approach with refreshed visitor information services, targeted advertising and campaigns to drive visitor numbers, footfall and spend to the town within the context of the wider strategic approach to Tourism marketing in Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.

"A refreshed events programme – The project will develop an extended visitor season through centrally co-ordinated product development / trails celebrating the town’s character, distinctiveness and location. Business development initiative – The project will deliver local training and skills attainment to support business and community enterprises to fully engage with and realise the economic benefits of the refreshed visitor economy.

"Wayfinding and Signage – The project will contribute to the delivery of a refreshed and enhanced visitor wayfinding scheme which will re-orientate and improve the way visitors experience the town upon arrival, connecting key tourism sites and the retail heart of the town to public transport hubs including the Railway Station. Branding Development - Recommendations should produce a simple and clear lead message which identifies and promotes the town’s distinctive character. The development of a series of marketing and promotional guidelines, with recommendations for imagery, text stylisation, template copy, straplines etc, and a suite of refreshed marketing approaches should be developed utilising the promotional media identified."

Apparently the branding exercise is intended to lead to a renewed visitor information service, a refreshed marketing campaign and a refresh of existing tourism focused marketing materials.

Across the town local partners and businesses use a variety of marketing materials and promotional media. It is anticipated that the findings and recommendations of the ‘branding’ exercise will specifically address each area with proposals for further development/optimisation. In shaping the Berwick ‘brand’ local partners will look to the appointed consultancy to understand and reflect the geographical position of the town at the English/Scottish border; surrounding regional attractions and markets across Northumberland and the Scottish Borders; and the town’s history, heritage and cultural distinctiveness.

There's plenty more where that came from. As the contract notice says: "Recommendations should identify and reflect competition for visitors and identify opportunities for joint working approaches with organisations/attractions which would result in a net gain for the Berwick visitor economy. Recommendations from the ‘branding’ exercise should produce a simple and clear lead message which identifies and promotes the town’s distinctive character."

I wonder what L S Lowry would have made of it all? And I wonder whether the town of my birth really needs a £50,000 makeover or a new 'image' at it's time of life! 

Hundreds opposed to merger - but beware!

by EWAN LAMB

Hundreds of Borderers have already signed an online petition which seeks to quash plans to merge the region's local government and health services into a single public authority.

Meanwhile it is reported a poll organised by Jedburgh Community Council has shown 84% of townspeople against the proposed amalgamation of Scottish Borders Council and NHS Borders.

The recently launched petition on the Change.org website was launched by Robbie Pennington, from Kelso, who worked as a charge nurse and ward manager for NHS Borders. It had attracted 397 signatories by today (Friday).

Mr Pennington's petition, headed  Preserve the independence of NHS Borders warns against the plan dreamed up by SBC by stating:

"The culture and values of NHS Borders are very different from those of a local authority. It is those values that put patients first and that are vital to providing responsive, timely and appropriate care. These values would be destroyed by a merger with Scottish Borders Council. The proposed merger of SBC and NHS Borders could literally cost you your health."

A number of local people are already convinced the "madcap and stupid" idea will never take root. Some of the comments posted on the petition's web page ridicule the council, alleging for example "they couldn't run a bath".

But others warn against complacency and are urging many more opponents of the merger to get involved in the campaign to stop it. None of the local politicians appear to have made up their minds after the Tory group on the council unanimously backed the move.

The strength of support for the petition within the last few days has been remarkable compared to some similar protests in other parts of the country when amalgamation of authorities was on the cards.

A Conservative MP for a rural constituency in Somerset - he was raised in the Scottish Borders - has experienced local opposition to the merger of two councils on his patch and even backed the protesters. But the coupling of Taunton Deane and West Somerset Councils is proceeding after receiving the go-ahead from his own Tory UK Government.

Ian Liddell-Grainger, who reprsents Bridgwater & West Somerset in the Commons, is the son of an aristocratic family from Berwickshire. He managed a 250-acre farm in the Scottish Borders from 1980 to 1985 before moving to pastures new.

The west country petition he backed was entitled 'Halt Taunton Deane District Council taking over West Somerset District Council.'

it argued the obliteration of West Somerset Council would reduce electoral  representation, centralise services in the more prosperous and more urbanised Taunton Deane and distance people in West Somerset from the delivery of services by making those delivering the services less accountable.

It added: "The proposed merger was based on a deficit accumulated by West Somerset. The deficit, that is forecast to drop dramatically, is not surprising given West Somerset's relative deprivation and the unfair distribution of the rural grant that pays a city like Bristol more per head in than the deeply rural and under populated West Somerset."

Mr Liddell-Grainger, usually forthright in his views, wrote in his blog: "If you agree that this [the merger] is an unnecessary step which will undermine local democracy then please sign the petition." But only 236 signatures were collected mainly due to local apathy, it was claimed.

Then in May 2018 the straight speaking MP outlined a scenario which even trumped the shortcomings of Scottish Borders local government.

This time he told his constituents: " Local government in Somerset is in a period of extraordinary upheaval. Taunton Deane and West Somerset may become one new council if the Government pass the necessary regulations in time. Somerset County Council could vanish altogether to be replaced by a giant Unitary authority which could easily absorb both Taunton and West Somerset. I have serious doubts about all these scenarios. Taunton Deane is badly strapped for cash. Somerset County Council is frankly flat broke.

"The County’s Chief Financial Officer, Kevin Nacey, has already resigned and will abandon the sinking ship shortly. He’s off to a new job. The sort of job for which life at Somerset County has made him uniquely qualified. Mr Nacey will soon be based not in Taunton but down in Devon, sunny Sidmouth. He is to serve his last few professional years as the new Finance Director of….wait for it…..The Donkey Sanctuary! You couldn’t make it up!!"

A clearly exasperated Mr Liddell-Grainger was at it again in August following confirmation of the council merger.

"I am delighted to learn that the new West Somerset and Taunton Council will be “Championing People, Place and Prosperity” – whatever on earth that means. I am equally thrilled to discover that employees of this “World Changing” council will soon be offering services “delivered by empowered and flourishing individuals….creating exceptional customer experiences….through brilliant performance and intuitive ways of working.”

Those passages outlining Somerset's brave new world of local government could have been lifted from many a Scottish Borders Council policy document.

According to Mr Liddell-Grainger: "Writing drivel of this kind is clearly a specialist occupation. Some highly placed bod in the Shadow Executive has spent tens of thousands of pounds of public money buying a load of verbal detritus. I wish no disrespect to those who are able to hold on to their jobs. Well over a quarter will cease to have employment when the merger takes place. Many have already applied for redundancy.

"Those who remain will be expected to work like slaves in order to provide barely adequate services. They are extremely unlikely to have the time to create “exceptional customer experiences”. Most customers will have to deal with their new council by clicking on a computer. As Winston might have put it: “Rarely in the field of Council conflab has so much bullshit been written about so few.”

Perhaps the Somerset experience provides lessons for the campaigners now determined to keep SBC away from hospital services, primary care and other health specialities. One thing is certain...there is no room for complacency.

Petition launched against Borders merger

by DOUGLAS SHEPHERD

The virtually 100 per cent hostile reaction to proposals which would see the formation of a single public authority for the Scottish Borders has been followed by the launch of a petition seeking to preserve the independence of NHS Borders.

As reported previously, Conservative and Independent members of Scottish Borders Council last week voted in favour of the merger of the region's local government and health services partly because of alleged financial difficulties.

But the vote provoked anger among the Borders public with many of them taking to social media to denounce and roundly criticise the idea. It was claimed SBC was incapable of doing its own job without trying to run hospitals, primary care and other sections of the NHS locally.

The recently launched petition can be found on the Change.org website. It has been set up by Robbie Pennington, from Kelso, who worked as a charge nurse and ward manager in NHS Borders.

The petition, headed  Preserve the independence of NHS Borders goes on to state:

"The culture and values of NHS Borders are very different from those of a local authority. It is those values that put patients first and that are vital to providing responsive, timely and appropriate care. These values would be destroyed by a merger with Scottish Borders Council. The proposed merger of SBC and NHS Borders could literally cost you your health."

According to a council source almost all of the 34 elected members were unaware the possible merger was under consideration until 24 hours before last week's meeting of SBC. The motion to take the idea forward was passed by 18 votes to 10 with SNP councillors and a small number of Independents voting against.

It has emerged since that many senior staff members at NHS Borders were also "in the dark" and had not heard of the controversial plans until they appeared in local newspapers and on radio. The board of NHS Borders has yet to say whether it will back the council's blueprint.

Supporters of the merger say it is the only way to preserve the identity of the Scottish Borders and keep it out of the clutches of Edinburgh. A successful campaign was waged more than 20 years ago after the then Scottish Office - controlled by Westminster - proposed a reorganisation of local government with a single council covering Fife, the Lothians, the Borders and the capital city.

The proposal was eventually ditched in the face of strong opposition, particularly from the Borders. Instead Scottish Borders Council was formed in 1996.

But the Scottish Borders is now part of the Edinburgh city deal, a joint initiative by the UK Government and Holyrood to kick start the regional economy. Critics of that deal maintain Edinburgh will get the lion's share of the financial investment while the Scottish Borders will have to content itself with crumbs.

Marking 10th anniversary of Icelandic banking debacle at SBC

EXCLUSIVE by DOUG COLLIE

Scottish Borders Council's disastrous involvement with the insolvent Icelandic banking sector in the lead up to the world financial crash is under scrutiny once more, ten years after the event.

A total of £10 million was "trapped" in the collapsed Landsbanki and Heritable banks in October 2008 at the end of an investment spree in which SBC made 94 short term deposits totalling £172 million of taxpayers' money in four separate Icelandic financial institutions between January 2006 and August 2008. The average deposited each time worked out at £1.829 million.

The Borders local authority was just one of dozens of UK councils and other public bodies who had their fingers burned in Iceland in 2008. It took two court actions and six years to conclude a fiasco which resulted in SBC auctioning off the £2.4 million debt which could not be recovered as a result of its recklessness for a reported £2.08 million - a net loss of £320,000.

SBC also found it necessary to borrow £1.021 million over five years from the Public Works Loans Board (PWLB) to cover its Icelandic deficits. It is unclear what other costs were incurred, including any contribution made towards the fees of lawyers who acted jointly for the UK councils in the Icelandic courts, and staff time and effort in a bid to recover the lost millions.

Now an investigative journalist has lodged a series of searching questions with SBC in a Freedom of Information request seeking detailed facts and figures about the catastrophic Icelandic misadventure.

Joel Benjamin's request reads as follows:

Please provide the following information in relation to Icelandic bank investments. Provide an MS Excel spreadsheet with the following information in separate columns: (1) Icelandic Bank deposits 2004 - 2008 broken down by a) date of investment, b) amount of investment, c) term of investment, d) rate of interest/ or total interest received, e) institution. 

(2) The institution(s) that advised the council on its Icelandic investment strategy; (3) The ledger/ payment codes which detail the transfer of the funds from council's various account(s), to the Icelandic banks, (often via a money broker such as ICAP).

(4) Confirm/ deny whether any of the money invested in Iceland was obtained via LOBO loan borrowing: (5) Confirm/ deny whether any of the money invested in Iceland was obtained via PWLB borrowing.

Not Just Sheep & Rugby can tell Mr Benjamin how FOI responses in 2011 revealed that the sums involved in SBC's Icelandic deposits ranged from £1 million to £4 million. In addition to Landsbanki and Heritable the council also did business with Singer and Glitnir banks.

All went well until October 2008 when the entire Icelandic banking system went into meltdown. Ultimately a number of top bank officials went to jail for their part in the scandal. But not a single UK councillor or local authority official has been held to account for losses estimated at £1 billion pounds.

Senior finance officers at SBC lodged £3 million with Landsbanki in May 2008 and a further £2 million in July of that year even though credit agency Moody's had downgraded Landsbanki's credit worthiness in the previous February. The £5 million in SBC's Landsbanki account was due to be withdrawn with interest in November 2008 and January 2009.

The other £5 million marooned after the banks imploded was made up of separate deposits of £1 million and £4 million with Heritable in July and August 2008 respectively. These sums were due to be redeemed in January 2009 and December 2008.

Treasury Management documents obtained via a different FOI request contained names of financial institutions where money could be "suitably deposited". There was no mention of the four Icelandic banks which meant that elected Borders councillors were unaware of the whereabouts of £172 million of SBC's assets over a two year period. Huge sums of money could be gambled with under delegated powers given to officials.

Yet another FOI was lodged asking for information about other bank deposits [non-Icelandic] made by the council at that time. The response can only be described as 'staggering'.

The council produced details of 807 separate “deals” – some involving millions of pounds being deposited and withdrawn in the space of 24 hours – with a total monetary value of £1,880,280,000 (one billion, eight hundred and eighty million, two hundred and eighty thousand pounds). 

Despite the magnitude of the monetary wheeling and dealing Audit Scotland, the country's spending watchdog, refused to intervene and rejected repeated calls for an investigation.

They responded to one request for an inquiry by stating: "We have decided that the additional information does not suggest any scope for further investigation of the investment in Icelandic banks. We do not consider that the scale of investment is unusual.  All councils have large cash balances from time to time because of the timing of cash flows and from borrowings for capital programmes,  

"In these circumstances councils routinely invest any surplus cash to gain additional revenue by way of interest rather than leave the money in current accounts for no benefit.  The amount of money placed on deposit is a matter for the council officers to decide in terms of each council’s treasury management policy.  Thus the amount of money invested and the length of the investment will vary between councils and between years.

"Although councils are not required to publish details of all the investments they make, the balance of funds held on short term deposit at 31st March each year is disclosed in the annual accounts. There is no evidence to suggest that any of the investments made by Scottish Borders Council were not properly approved.  The council has clear treasury management policies which are reviewed annually and approved by council members.   External audit work includes regular consideration of council investments. Where and when councils choose to invest funds are decisions for them to make.

"The auditor’s role is to check whether councils follow the appropriate professional guidance and procedures. We also flag up any problems we identify in their systems for financial management.  The external auditor made enquiries about the investment in Icelandic banks and was satisfied that the investments had been made in accordance with the treasury management policies operating at the time and were approved in line with the council’s scheme of delegated authority."

Under FOI regulations the council has 20 working days to respond to Mr Benjamin's request which was submitted on September 27th.