THE shake-up in local government was intended, among other things, to put a stop to the political point-scoring talking shops which many council meetings had become.

That has certainly been the case in Darlington where the business conducted by the council's most recent cabinet meeting shrank to an all-time low.

A total of eight items - including apologies, confirmation of the last minutes and membership changes - took all of 20 minutes.

The ratification committee, which rubber-stamps the cabinet's decisions, barely gave our reporter time to open a notebook and poise a pen. It lasted two minutes.

Spectator's a strong believer that for the most part party politics should have no place in local government, and to that extent the lack of political squabbling is welcome.

But do issues get a thorough airing under the new arrangements? Supporters of the new system argue that extensive consultation arrangements mean that everybody who has an interest in a council decision does have the opportunity to express their opinion.

But surely everything can't be running so smoothly that the key decision-making executive body can deal with council business in just 20 minutes?

Heads in sand

STICKS and handkerchiefs were waved, clogs were clattered and swords clashed as the Teesdale Thrash brought music and colour to Barnard Castle's streets at the weekend.

Visitors could be forgiven for their surprise, not so local people who expressed theirs at the spectacle. The D&S Times had carried the Thrash's full programme a week earlier, our sister paper The Northern Echo previewed it last Friday and the Teesdale Mercury had also given the event publicity. Anyone passing the Witham hall could have read the posters. In the organisers' terms, they must have been pleased with the high profile; Spectator wonders how many local heads spend a good deal of time in the sand.

Standing in Galgate watching the dance displays, additional amusement was provided by the passengers in passing cars, whose attitudes varied from studied indifference through astonishment to hastily poking cameras out of the car window.