What's also in the papers, and was agreed on yesterday, is that they've formally agreed to proceed with a franchising scheme for the region. It had unanimous backing, including the Northumberland Tories (who previously had some reservations), and Durham R*form (who had previously spat their dummies out). Record of decisions is here: https://northeast-ca.moderngov.co.uk/doc...et.pdf?T=2

TLDR; It'll now go to the independent auditor, which is a statutory requirement. If that comes back positive, it'll go out to a 12-week public consultation by late Summer 2026 (which is again a statutory requirement).

The draft scheme has been withheld as confidential at this point, presumably because it includes costings, but there is this included in the reports pack: https://northeast-ca.moderngov.co.uk/doc...sition.pdf