Proposed shake-up set to slash North’s public sector

A RADICAL reorganisation of the way the North is governed will reduce the number of public bodies across local government, health and social services and education from 67 to 20.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain claimed yesterday the plans could result in annual savings of £200 million (€292m).

With a population of 1.7 million, he said the North was over-governed and over-administered, with public expenditure nearly one-third higher than Britain overall.