Tom Bryant told a cabinet meeting that individuals may be “put off” by the notice placed on the mayoral authority last year, which requires it to make improvements focusing on governance and value for money.
Mr Bryant said interim finance director Jo Moore had agreed to stay on for a further six months, but beyond that a solution in terms of a permanent replacement had yet to be found.
The authority, headed by Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, is also attempting to recruit a successor to interim monitoring and chief legal officer Jeanette McGarry, who is in the same category.
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Mr Bryant said: “Having the best value notice does put some people off.”
He said “lots of different networks” were being utilised to find the right candidate and make informal approaches, but it was a challenge.
Mr Bryant said: “We need to try and find permanent appointments as soon as we can, but having the confidence that we have Jo and Jeanette through to September gives us time to continue the search.
“I am working really hard to continue to find the right candidates.
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“I will keep the cabinet updated regularly, there are a few live opportunities I am pursuing right now.”
Redcar and Cleveland Council leader Alec Brown, a member of the cabinet, asked how “hands on” Ms Moore was and how long her personal circumstances would allow her to continue on an interim basis.
Mr Bryant said Ms Moore was “absolutely committed” to supporting the organisation through to September.
He said: “Obviously she does live down in London, and it is challenging in terms of her commute, but she does come into the office.
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“Jo and myself have an excellent working relationship and she is a huge asset to the organisation, but we still need to work out a permanent solution beyond September 2026.”
Approval was sought from the cabinet, and granted, in order to keep the two officers on board until the end of September.
A cabinet agenda item said that, despite an external recruitment campaign and interviews for the posts – described as “very rigorous” – being held earlier this year no suitable candidates had been found.
It said: “It is clearly imperative that the permanent appointments for both roles have the required experience and expertise to ensure that the combined authority continues to embed the necessary improvements.
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“It was concluded that none of the candidates satisfied these requirements.”
Brian Archer, the chief executive of Redcar and Cleveland Council, asked if changes might be made to the remuneration levels offered.
Mr Bryant said: “I think the salaries are still right, we have spoken long and hard about making sure we are competitive in the market.
“The best value notice does make it more difficult, the market for statutory officers is difficult anyway.”
Emergency services were called to the scene on Sapling Road, off Morris Green Way, Morris Green at around 11pm on the evening of Wednesday April 29.
A car appeared to have driven into a wall at the top of the street, and police say they are now investigating a suspected arson in connection with the incident.
Speaking on Thursday, A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: “We are investigating a suspected offence of arson on Sapling Road, Bolton yesterday, April 29.
“There is believed to be no wider threat to the public and enquiries remain ongoing.”
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A house fire was reported (Image: Phil Taylor)
No casualties were reported because of the incident but clear damage to the wall and house were visible from outside.
Three fire engines were also called the scene that night to help tackle the house fire and remained there for around two and a half hours.
Crews from Bolton Central, Farnworth and Atherton Fire Stations were all involved in tackling the blaze before the scene was handed over to police for their investigations.
A car appeared to have hit the wall (Image: Phil Taylor)
A Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “At around 11pm on Wednesday April 29, three fire engines from Bolton Central, Farnworth and Atherton were called to a house fire on Sapling Road, Bolton after a car has crashed into a wall.
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“Crews arrived quickly and worked with partners from Greater Manchester Police to make the area safe. No casualties were reported.
“Crews were in attendance for around two and a half hours.”
Officers remained at the scene through the night and into Thursday morning as their investigation were carried out.
Members of the public reported a large police presence still visible around the house early on Thursday morning.
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By later that same morning traffic was able to pass freely across Sapling Road and the surrounding area.
Just before 11.50am on Thursday morning, plainclothes police officers appeared to be leaving the scene on Sapling Road.
Anyone with any further information or concerns can call police on 101 or 999 in the event of an emergency.
Nicole Kidman is *the* woman of the moment (Picture: Getty Images)
Nicole Kidman turned heads at the Chanel Cruise 2026/27 show on Wednesday.
The luxurious event took place in the sun-soaked south of France — the perfect spot for a collection of ‘relaxed silhouettes with silk satin scarves, ensembles with a nautical spirit,’ and knit looks composed for a ‘sophisticated holiday wardrobe.’
Nicole clearly understood the fashion assignment, looking unreal in a backless ensemble as she posed for photos on a beachfront balcony.
Her entire look consisted of a black fitted maxi dress with a high, straight neck, long sleeves with a slight flare, and a tight slimline skirt that accentuated her tall physique.
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But the star of the show was the back of the dress. Alongside the sophisticated scoop, the piece featured a statement feathered arrangement at the centre of her back. It was held in position by four gold chains, which added extra elegance to the fit.
The dress was also complete with a subtle slit at the bottom of the skirt, which gave more attention to her sling-back black heels.
The Oscar winner kept things classy (Picture: Getty Images)
In terms of hair, makeup and accessories, Nicole wore her signature blonde locks in a tousled low bun with curtain bangs. She kept her skincare simple, with a touch of blush and glossy nude lips, and added a pair of sleek shades to finish the chic aesthetic.
Nicole has been eating and leaving no crumbs with her other fashion statements, too.
Two weeks ago, the 58-year-old rocked up to the Las Vegas CinemaCon red carpet with her Practical Magic co-star, Sandra Bullock, in a sheer black dress.
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Nicole’s take on the LBD featured a (modest) plunging V-neckline, ruffles around the bust and hips, short sleeves, and a sheer skirt with more ruffles at the hem, which showed off her athletic pins.
She wore her locks down this time and in messy waves, with wispy curtain bangs that framed her face.
The back of the dress was the star of the show (Picture: Getty Images)
Nicole has been in the public eye plenty recently, thanks to multiple acting roles and her high-profile split from her husband of 18 years, Keith Urban.
In terms of the latter, the pair announced their separation in September 2025, citing ‘irreconcilable differences.’ However, it was later revealed that Nicole ‘didn’t want’ the divorce and was ‘fighting to save the marriage.’
Nicole and Keith, who met in 2005 at the G’Day USA gala in Los Angeles, an event honouring Australians in Hollywood, share two daughters, Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 15.
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Sunday Rose is currently taking a leaf out of her mother’s style book, while also following in the footsteps of Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid, establishing herself as a successful model.
But in a recent cover interview with Elle Australia, where she talked all things modelling, she inadvertently snubbed her father, Keith. Instead, she gushed about her mother, Nicole, and how she’s her ‘biggest inspiration.’
The feature reportedly left Keith feeling ‘numb,’ and ‘like he doesn’t exist.’
The owner hopes to introduce some new items to the Cambridge Oven’s menu
A Cambridge bakery that is popular with the city’s residents has announced it will be opening a second site in a Cambridgeshire town. The Cambridge Oven, which can be found on Hills Road in Cambridge, will be launching a new bakery in St Ives.
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Jolita Durrant, the owner of the Cambridge Oven, said it feels like “the right time to expand” after the first bakery opened nearly eight years ago. She said: “We found this really lovely spot in St Ives by the river and we thought that could really work. We went around a few different places around Cambridge because we will be baking at our bakery on Hills Road and transporting everything to our second shop so it needed to be within driving distance.”
Mrs Durrant was able to find a “really pretty place” close to the riverside in St Ives and decided it would be a good place to open her second store. She continued: “It feels quite exciting to be honest. It’s exciting to expand our team, get more bakers, get more staff, get maybe some new recipes going as well, and produce some great stuff for more customers.”
At the new Cambridge Oven, you will be able to find all of your favourite products you can buy at the Hills Road location. There will be sourdough breads, pastries, buns as well as cakes and hopefully, a “wider range of products”.
But out of all of the products available, Mrs Durrant would recommend first-time customers try the cinnamon and cardamom buns, as that is her favourite product. When asked about her hopes for the future of the new site, Mrs Durrant said she wants people to “appreciate” the products.
She added: “I hope that people will really like us. I hope that we get a lot of customers that will really appreciate the products that we make because we put a lot of love into them. We use a lot of organic ingredients. We use our sourdough starter and local meal flour for our sourdoughs. They are delicious. I hope people appreciate that and they will enjoy eating them.”
Mrs Durrant said she has already received a really “positive response” on social media about the shop’s opening. The Cambridge Oven in St Ives is hoping to be open by the middle of June.
During Friday night’s I’m A Celebrity: South Africa finale, the entire cast gathered to talk about their time on the show, which was filmed last year but aired on ITV over the course of this month.
On Wednesday, the pair released a teaser for the new instalment of their podcast Hanging Out, with Declan Donnelly conceding that it was “quite the night”.
“It was a weird night of TV,” Ant McPartlin agreed, before the pair went on to address reports that David and Jimmy were eventually ejected from the studio before the recording of the spin-off I’m A Celebrity podcast Unpacked.
The Bafta-winning presenters also took the opportunity to address rumours in the tabloid press about them “coming face-to-face” with the ejected pair once filming was over in what The Sun described as an “awkward run-in”.
Ant revealed that after the taping, he saw “two people in the car park”, quickly realising it was the two campmates.
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“I thought, ‘oh god, how’s your luck?’,” he admitted. “So anyway, I went over to David Haye, and he was like, ‘how brilliant was that? Wasn’t that great!’. And I was like, ‘well it was certainly talk-about TV’. I wouldn’t call it great.
“But anyway, we had a laugh and we were cool. And then I walked off and [saw] Jimmy Bullard. And I just shook his hand. And I was like, ‘look after yourself’, and he was like, ‘yeah, cheers’.
“So, there was no confrontation. He wasn’t shouting at me, I wasn’t shouting at him. I wasn’t flanked by two security guards, as it said in the paper. I think one of them was carrying my bag to the car, in a Beyoncé style.”
A show source previously told HuffPost UK: “Some campmates were uncomfortable being on stage with David and Jimmy, so we sent them home during Unpacked.”
“While some improvements in access and aid delivery have been observed in recent weeks, unpredictable access, limited operational crossings, and restrictions on critical humanitarian items termed as ‘dual use’ by Israel continue to constrain UN response,” UN Assistant Secretary General Khaled Khiari told the Security Council.
The not-so-coveted title is given to beaches rated “poor” by the Environment Agency due to high levels of bacteria, including e-coli, which may come from sewage, animal waste, and surface water runoff.
Sampling takes place between May 15 and September 30 each year.
The award is part of the Brown Flag Awards, created by Holiday Park Guru using Environment Agency data, and highlights the beaches with the lowest water quality ratings.
A Holiday Park Guru spokesperson said: “Swimming in the sea is a high priority for us on holiday – but I want to be the only thing floating.
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“And so, in an effort to highlight England’s beaches that you might want to avoid… we are proud to present the third ever Holiday Park Guru Brown Flag Awards.
“It’s the Oscars of the sewage world.
“We’ve spent hours analysing official Environment Agency water quality data to select the ‘winners.’
We have even offered to send tasteful brown flags to the worst beaches, so they can warn swimmers.”
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What is being done about it?
South Tyneside Council confirmed efforts were ongoing to improve water quality at the affected locations.
The Environment Agency bases its ratings on around 7,000 water samples from more than 400 designated bathing sites across England, collected over a four-year period.
The system uses a four-tier scale: three stars (excellent), two stars (good), one star (sufficient), and zero stars (poor).
Currently, 67 per cent of England’s bathing waters hold a three-star rating, while just five per cent score zero.
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Tests measure levels of faecal bacteria, including intestinal enterococci and e-coli, which can indicate contamination from sewage, agricultural runoff, wildlife, and road drainage.
The Brown Flag Awards aim to warn the public about beaches where water quality falls below acceptable standards.
A clarification issued to forces by the Home Office in April 2025 said that where someone has entered a retail premises, steals, then either uses or threatens violence against staff or other people, the offence should be recorded as robbery of business property, not shoplifting.
He was born in Somalia, but arrived in the UK as a child in the early 1990s.
He arrived legally before becoming an official British citizen.
Police have confirmed the suspect pinned to the floor by two officers had a history of ‘serious violence and mental health issues’, and was previously referred to Prevent.
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Golders Green suspect named as Essa Suleiman
A suspect holds a knife in Golders Green
He was referred to the government’s anti-extremism programme in 2020, but the case was closed.
It is understood Suleiman once worked as a school security guard and a Somali interpreter.
The moment officers arrest the suspected attacker(Picture: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire)
It came after mother of victim Shloime Rand today described how the ‘gentle soul’ was still in hospital recovering from a wound to the chest.
He described how Jewish friends had alerted her with a phone call ‘no parent ever wants to receive’.
She told Metro she had been at her son’s bedside and that he had been attacked while in Golders Green to attend a religious studies class.
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She said: ‘Some Jewish friends rang me, not the police.
‘My son was in the area for religious studies. He was attacked for no reason. He was stabbed in the chest and is still in hospital.’
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She added: ‘The Jewish community needs more protection for the danger we face.’
In London, counter-terrorism officers investigating the attack said they were also searching an address in the south east of the city after it was reported the suspect had been involved in a prior ‘altercation’ with another person
The best bread I’ve made in a long time. I first baked it during lockdown, when I needed something extra to turn chicken and salad into Saturday night dinner. The butter – please make it – is from my friend Nik Sharma. There’s a more complex version in his book Season.
Hot from the oven, this is very crumbly to slice, but it keeps well – if you want to eat it warm, toast slices of it when it’s a couple of days old.
Ahead of a preliminary hearing on Thursday, Hannah’s family and her partner Scott Strachan said they hope the probe will address their unanswered questions.
They said in a statement via law firm Digby Brown: “Hannah was a kind, clever, beautiful and contagiously happy young woman and her untimely loss continues to be felt by everyone who knew her.
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“We have always believed there were failings at NHS Grampian that directly contributed to her death and, to us, the mere existence of an FAI confirms there to be truth in this and it’s now simply an exercise in publicly disclosing what went wrong and why.
“It is therefore with much anticipation we now await the health board’s evidence because, to date, we feel like it has failed to fully answer all our questions that we believe would help us understand, grieve and move forwards.
“Our thanks go to those who have supported us since Hannah’s passing but for the duration of the FAI we request our privacy is respected so we can give it our full attention and process things in our own time.”
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Ectopic pregnancy affects one in 90 pregnancies in the UK, occurring when a foetus develops outside the womb.
It can be fatal if untreated.
The FAI is expected to look at the adequacy of healthcare provided by NHS Grampian and NHS 24.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said last month that Hannah’s death raises serious public concern and warrants an inquiry in the public interest.
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Following Hannah’s death, hundreds of tributes were posted to her online and fundraising events raised more than £35,000 in her memory.
She was described as an “intelligent, honest, beautiful and kind young woman” by her partner, who raised more than £12,000 for the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa in 2024.
Scott’s fundraiser said his life was “forever changed” when he lost Hannah, who had “so much to look forward to”.
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He said: “She had just embarked on her career as a teacher and was already making a positive impact at her school. Hannah was the star in many people’s lives, but especially in mine.
“In honour of Hannah’s memory, I am aiming to continue to raise awareness of ectopic pregnancy and to raise funds in support of The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust.”
Hannah’s devastated dad Mark had also paid tribute to his “wonderful wee girl”, saying she “warmed the hearts of all who knew her”.
He said: “She was a strong, intelligent, inspiring and dynamic individual who had embarked on her career as a high school teacher where reaching the top was only a matter of time.
“I will always love you.”
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Family and friends later organised a charity dinner dance in her hometown of Dundee in aid of The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust.
Announcing the FAI last month, Andy Shanks of the COPFS said: “The Lord Advocate considers that the death of Hannah McInally occurred in circumstances giving rise to serious public concern and as such a discretionary Fatal Accident Inquiry should be held.”
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