| Time is running out for Doncaster Sheffield Airport, which owners Peel plan to close in just a few weeks with the loss of hundreds of jobs after claiming the site was not commercially viable. And this morning, the mayors of Doncaster and South Yorkshire ratcheted up the pressure on the company by publicly urging them "to seriously consider offers for the purchase of the site which could safeguard its future". Labour's Ros Jones and Oliver Coppard said they had given Peel the details of potential investors, which range "from an overseas conglomerate of businesses and investors, a large global asset investment business to a regional airport owner/operator". They have offered public money to keep the airport going while a buyer is found. But they warned that if no agreement could be reached due to Peel's "unreasonable closure timescale", Doncaster council would start the process of a Compulsory Purchase Order of the airport and consider going to the courts for a Judicial Review of Peel's decision to close. The matter came up in the Commons too, with Labour MPs pressing Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan for a meeting and urging her to consider using her powers under the Civil Contingencies Act to keep the airport going. But the Minister replied: "The issue that she raises around the Civil Contingencies Act to prevent closure I have looked at in some detail, and whilst all things around the Civil Contingencies Act are owned and determined by the Cabinet Office ministers, I am not persuaded that the closure of DSA would be able to be undertaken under that act." 
Workers from Doncaster Sheffield Airport were today due to hand in a petition signed by more than 100,000 people to the Department for Transport in a desperate bid to save the site from closure. The petition says Doncaster, "which has just become a city in the last couple of months" will go backwards if the airport shuts down. Prime Minister Liz Truss has previously pledged to save the airport but in recent interviews Anne-Marie Trevelyan has insisted that saving the airport is "down to the council".
Liverpool's gymnastics spectacular rejects Russian money  European silver medallist Alice Kinsella is raring to go at this month's World Gymnastics Championships
It's gearing up for the Eurovision Song Contest next year but in the shorter term Liverpool is hosting another spectacular global gathering in the form of the World Gymnastics Championships. The eight-day championships - featuring the likes of European silver medallist Alice Kinsella as well as more than 400 gymnasts from 74 countries - gets underway at the M&S Bank Arena on October 29. And as Local Democracy Reporter David Humphreys writes, potential income from Russian sources are to be rejected during the event. A key sponsor of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique – the sport's governing body – will have its projected income rejected in view of the current situation in Ukraine. International sanctions against Russia and its national organisations mean any possible cash to come from VTB Bank will be turned away. A Liverpool council report said any shortfalls as a result of the sanctions are anticipated to be covered from contingency funding via UK Sport. Expenditure for the championships remains within budget and in line with forecast. In the event of an income surplus this will be split pro rata between the funding partners including Liverpool Council, UK Sport and British Gymnastics.
Minister: Mental health unit abuse claims could merit a public inquiry  Labour MP Christian Wakeford (Bury South) asked about the Edenfield Centre in the Commons today
A government Minister today apologised to patients who suffered mistreatment at a mental health unit in Greater Manchester and said the allegations of abuse could be subject to a public inquiry. The calls for an inquiry come with fears that alleged abuse of patients at the Edenfield Centre, in the grounds of the former Prestwich Hospital in Bury, is happening at other Greater Manchester's mental health treatment units. Staff, including support workers, and registered nurses, were secretly filmed by an undercover Panorama reporter embedded in the unit from March to June of this year. The footage appeared to show patients being bullied, humiliated, swore at and taunted. Responding to a question from Labour MP Christian Wakeford (Bury South) on the Edenfield Centre, health minister Will Quince said: "He asks whether I will apologise to the patients and their families, of course I will unequivocally do so. "It should not have happened and it is our role as Ministers, and in fact all those who work within the NHS, to do all we possibly can to prevent it from happening again. He asks for an independent inquiry, I believe it does meet the threshold to do so." Mr Wakeford told MPs that relatives are still being blocked from seeing family members at the Edenfield Centre and claimed there was a "culture of bullying" and a "failure of leadership" at the centre.
'Staggering' budget pressures force town halls to make fresh cuts  Town halls across the North are wrestling with inflation and rising social care costs
With Liz Truss and her government struggling to wrestle back control of the economy after last month's disastrous mini-Budget, it's easy to forget that at local level many town halls are in dire financial straits. A glance at reports from councils around the North reveals local leaders contemplating dramatic cuts to services due to high inflation, rising fuel, energy, transport, wage and social care costs. To take some one of the more worrying examples, Durham County Council faces a £52.8m hole in its finances over the next four years – with more than 70% of the impact "frontloaded" into the next financial year, writes Local Democracy Reporter Gareth Lightfoot. Richard Bell, deputy council leader and cabinet member for finance, said the authority would face a "staggering £75m in additional cost pressures" next year and that balancing the budget in the next four years was a "significant and escalating financial challenge". Elsewhere, Leeds City Council faces a deficit of more than £20m and has already scrapped its Bonfire Night displays, frozen almost all recruitment and stopped paid overtime, as it tightens the purse strings. In Salford, plans for the long-awaited leisure centre have been shelved because of anticipated cuts to the city council's budget. And Newcastle City Council has blamed a £6m overspend on a "better-than-expected" pay award for council staff as well as the higher level of inflation on "third party spend".
'Why can dogs swim for free at lido but children can't?'  Ilkley Lido, where dogs can swim for free at a session this weekend. Pic by Megan Banner
In Bradford, the council's ruling Labour administration blamed government austerity measures as it rejected calls to offer free swimming for children in the district at a meeting this week. A Liberal Democrat motion for the authority to offer free swimming to under 16s to help families during the cost-of-living crisis was defeated and instead a Labour amendment highlighting work the council does to keep swimming costs "competitive" was voted through. But the local Lib Dems have accused the council of getting its priorities wrong after it emerged it was planning to host a session in Ilkley Lido where dogs can swim for free. The Doggy Day will be held on Sunday, just before the outdoor pool shuts for the winter, as Local Democracy Reporter Chris Young writes. Dogs will be able to swim in the lido for no charge – although each paddling pooch must be accompanied by an adult, who will have to pay £5. Lib Dem councillor Jeanette Sunderland putting dogs in "a chlorinated, freezing pool" was a bad idea and added: "This is about that message the Council is giving. Allowing dogs to swim for free when you're not allowing children to swim for free shows the priorities of the council." Sarah Ferriby, the council's Executive for Healthy people and places, said: "We'd love to be able to give free swimming sessions, but we are limited due to Government austerity."
Over in North Yorkshire, acrimony has erupted after a district council which is set to be dissolved in just over five months' time announced it would press ahead with plans to spend £3m of property developers' community contributions despite being warned to do so could be "unlawful and challengeable". North Yorkshire County Council and leading Conservative politicians have been accused of using "scare tactics" by issuing the warning to Ryedale District Council over spending the £3m Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) pot it has accumulated from numerous developments before the district authority is abolished on March 31, writes Local Democracy Reporter Stuart Minting. An extraordinary meeting of the district council heard claims the funds would be needed by the new unitary authority for key long-term projects, but a majority of elected members voted to change the way it uses developers' contributions and invite local organisations to apply for a share of the funds. CIL funds have previously been used for to boost infrastructure, such as schools and roads, an officer's report to the meeting shows the CIL funds may now be spent on projects, such as £350,000 towards an anaerobic digester plant at Eden Business Park, Malton, and £200,000 towards the development of a livestock market."
 A graph showing the breakdown of economic inactivity (as a percentage of all 16-64s) around Greater Manchester. Image by Carly Holds
Technical demons in yesterday's newsletter meant our graph showing levels of economic inactivity around Greater Manchester didn't appear (sorry about that). There are several areas of the region where in late 2021 nearly a third of the 16-64 population were neither in work nor looking for work, with rates having risen significantly since 2019, according to a new report. Nationwide the number of people neither working nor seeking work for a range of reasons has risen to more than nine million people or one-in-five working age adults since the pandemic. And in a speech today, Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith was expected to implore businesses to make the labour market more accessible and inclusive in exchange for the Government assisting companies in filling vacancies. 
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Northern Stories  A new image of how a pedestrianised Blackett Street could look. Photo: Newcastle City Council
- Plans to ban all traffic from one of Newcastle city centre's busiest streets have been shelved. It has been confirmed that a huge transformation of Blackett Street, which would have seen the bus route pedestrianised, has been put on ice. The proposals have been in the works for years and were a key aim of Newcastle City Council under its previous Nick Forbes-led administration, but have now been kicked into the long grass after a power shift within the city's Labour Party earlier this year that saw Nick Kemp take over at the civic centre.
- A 67-year-old man has been arrested after Sunderland council received a "credible threat" which led to a large-scale police operation and buildings being evacuated. Police responded to a report of malicious communications made yesterday, with the city hall in Plater Way, where the council operates, quickly evacuated and cordoned off. A cross-service emergency response began dealing with the situation after the initial report at 8.25am - with specialist teams and dog units joining in the early afternoon.
- Concrete that was poured under a Victorian railway bridge in Cumbria is to be removed. The bridge at Great Musgrave, near Kirkby Stephen, was infilled in July 2021 amid fears it might collapse. Hundreds of tonnes of concrete were poured in by National Highways and then grassed over at a cost of £124,000. But the work led to uproar over 'cultural vandalism', with more than 800 people objecting.
- The owners of the Port of Liverpool, where workers are involved in a dispute over pay, have urged their union to give members a vote on the company's "final" offer. Peel Ports has written to Unite saying the offer was worth 10.2%, increasing average annual take-home pay for container terminal staff to £43,000. But Unite says 10.2% is the maximum someone could get and "the reality is that the company has offered our members around 8.3%".
- Two historic herdsman's cottages are to be sold by City of York Council - but the Grade II-listed buildings will not be allowed to become holiday lets after concerns were raised by residents. To ensure the properties would not end up on websites such as Airbnb, the council is to sell the properties on 250 year leases with a clause restricting the use to private residences. The clause is not expected to have any effect on the amount the council can sell the properties for, according to officers.
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