Five things you need to know in Yorkshire today
1. Ofsted chief says grammar schools are not the answer to North-South school divide
Head of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw is urging Theresa May to tackle the North-South gap in school standards instead of opening new grammar schools. Less than a week after the Prime Minister announced her flagship education policy, Sir Michael said there “growing divide” in performance of secondary schools in the North compared to areas in the South. Yorkshire was the second worst performing region in the country. Sir Michael said he believed the North “is being neglected” and called for “better leadership.”
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Hide Ad2. George Osborne launches think-tank for Northern Powerhouse
Former Chancellor George Osborne is launching a new think-tank today as chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, an independent group of politicians and business leaders pushing to delegate power and money from Whitehall to northern city regions to boost their economic performance. The former chancellor’s initiative that was first launched in 2014 has been criticised by Theresa May as she felt the strategy should have a national focus. Director of Institute of Public Policy Research North, Ed Cox, said Mr Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse has been too narrowly focused on big cities and metro mayors but “will not address the economic and social challenges” raised by Brexit.
3. Hot dogs fights fires in fashionable footwear
Two Yorkshire-based fireman, Mike Shooter and Jon Willingham have set up a non-profit company, K9 FI, which provides hydro dogs to the fire service as well as the police. The dogs are ‘hydrocarbon detection dogs’ who are trained to check inside buildings for flammable liquids while wearing colourful dog boots for protection. The two fireman work with Etta, a Labrador, Aston, a springer spaniel, and Sox a cocker spaniel puppy.
4. Morrisons sees sales and profits after lean years
Morrisons supermarket shares have leaped over 7 per cent as it announced its third consecutive quarter for like-for-like sales growth. The Bradford-based supermarket had its first half year profits increase in four years and transaction numbers rose 4.3 per cent in three months. Chief executive David Potts said the company is “in the foothills of recovery” and credits its success by improving customer satisfaction. Mr Potts had taken on a number of measures to improve the business and plans to make more improvements.
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Hide Ad5. Leeds unveils city centre parade route for Olympic heroes
Leeds City Council announced the Rio Olympics homecoming parade route in the City Centre, set to take place Wednesday, September 28. The route will begin on The Headrow outside Leeds Art Gallery, take a right onto Park Row before heading down to City Square where it will then take a left on to Boar Lane. Buses will take a left onto Briggate before making a final left onto The Headrow and return to Leeds Art Gallery. Yorkshire stars who’ve confirmed their attendance include Hannah Cockcroft and the Brownlee brothers.