Face coverings ban not ruled out in Stoke

Labour leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council Jane Ashworth said she would consider introducing a ban on face coverings in the city.

The measure would follow similiar restrictions put in place in Stafford, Wolverhampton and Nottingham, in an effort to clamp down on anti-social behaviour in town centres.

Last month, the authority had to ban under-15s from travelling alone on buses in the evenings for free because, according to Ashworth, bus drivers were being 'harassed' by 'unpleasant and dangerous behaviour'.

Ashworth responded to number of questions about issues in the city during BBC Radio Stoke's Hot Seat 'Ask Ashworth' on Tuesday.

Like many areas, complaints about masked gangs, e-bikes, littering and drugs are among the issues the city council is being asked to deal with.

Ashworth described recent issues with anti-social behaviour on the city's bus network as a 'tiny minority' of young people 'ruining it for the rest'.

The leader also said a potential ban on face coverings, namely balaclavas, needed 'exploring', but that, in her view, it is not just young people wearing them but also "grown men" who were causing problems in communities.

Four years after a historic pub was devastated by fire, new plans have been revealed for flats and commercial space on the site.

Permission is being sought for a new rear extension at The Leopard in Burslem, as well as demolition of damaged sections of the existing building for safety reasons, after it was gutted by a blaze.

The new application proposes 15 apartments and two business units at the Grade II-listed 18th-Century pub, which was where Josiah Wedgwood and James Brindley met to discuss building the Trent and Mersey Canal in 1765.

Ashworth, who represents the council ward of Burslem, said the proposals, put forward by a private developer, may not be to everyones taste', as 'residents will want a pub at the front.'

Stoke-on-Trent is one of 14 financially struggling councils to get a cash boost, with £9.14m being awarded to help transform social care and reduce spending.

The money has been allocated from the government's transformation fund, a pot for modernising public services, which also includes new projects and AI pilots to cut admin costs.

When Ashworth took office in 2023, she pledged to reduce the number of children in care in the city.

Since then the authority has focused on early intervention and family support initiatives.

But, so far, Ashworth said she had reduced the number of looked after children, by 'about 100'.

She said the money will go someway to 'improve the offer' to foster carers (including salaries) to try and ease soaring demand on costly placements.

Earlier this month, plans to shake up local government were put on hold.

The 'pause and review' came two months on from the news that Staffordshire's councils would be scrapped and replaced with two new super authorities.

According to Staffordshire County Council leader Martin Murray, the work that went into preparing for the move has already cost his council 1.1 million in taxpayers' money.

In response, Ashworth said the government had put money in to cover the costs of getting this organised, and that she was "not entirely clear where they've drawn those figures from".

When Ashworth was asked how much it had cost Stoke-on-Trent city council up until the pause, she said: "The work isn't wasted, the project isn't over, the project is on pause.

"It's unfortunate, I wish it hadn't happened, but it's not a drama," she added.

While local government reorganisation plans are on hold, it does mean that local elections are back on for May 2027.

That will result in an all-out election in Stoke-on-Trent, which has been Labour-run, with a healthy majority, since 2023.

Asked about the council's precarious financial position with elections and paused council reorganisation, Ashworth explained the authority had to increasingly borrow from the government in order to deliver services.

The council has had to request more than £60m of bailout loans from the government over the past three years, mainly due to its high spending on children in care.