| As energy bills soar, there's a warning today that the North has a home energy efficiency mountain to climb, with poorly insulated homes costing tenants at least £680 more this year than they would if properly insulated. That's the finding from The Northern Housing Consortium's (NHC) annual Northern Housing Monitor report, which reveals that 3.8m homes across the North fall beneath the key energy efficiency standard of EPC C. The NHC is calling on Jeremy Hunt to commit the balance of energy efficiency investment pledged in the Conservative Manifesto, investing a further £4bn to create a long-term programme of investment for homes across the North of England that are hit hardest by fuel poverty. According to the report, achieving energy efficiency now presents a critical Northern housing challenge, with one in six Northern households in fuel poverty before the latest energy price rises. NHC chief executive Tracy Harrison said: "It's very clear that energy efficiency is now as much a social challenge as a climate challenge. Whilst the introduction of the Energy Price Guarantee offers some relief and short-term support, it is also expensive for Government and will now be reduced in April. "A long-term solution is required, not a temporary sticking plaster – ramping up existing programmes will build on the North's emerging retrofit success stories, cutting energy use and waste for good." 
 Nearly 3,000 children in Cumbria were followed over a six-year period. Graphic by Marianna Longo
While dental problems in children have fallen significantly over the last 50 years, recent data revealed that one in four five-year-olds in 2019 have suffered some tooth decay. So is adding fluoride to water supplies the answer to reducing some of the £1.7 billion a year the NHS spends on the issue? Cumbria, where the west of the county saw water fluoridation reintroduced in 2013, is the perfect place to find out. Nearly 3,000 children in Cumbria were followed over a six-year period as part of the Catfish study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, reports Nilima Marshall of Press Association. But after studying the child population researchers found the benefits of fluoride in water appear to be smaller than previously seen – in studies from half a century ago, when fluoride toothpaste was less widely available in the UK. Among younger children, 17.4% of the children in fluoridated areas had decayed, filled or missing milk teeth, compared with 21.4% for children in the same age group in non-fluoridated areas – revealing a modest four-percentage point reduction in the incidence of caries. Dr Michaela Goodwin, from the University of Manchester and senior investigator on the project, said: "While water fluoridation is likely to be cost-effective and has demonstrated an improvement in oral health, it should be carefully considered along with other options, particularly as the disease becomes concentrated in particular groups."
Meanwhile, it's emerged that adults living in deprived areas of the North are far more likely to be obese than people from the South of England - as diabetes soars among the under-40s. NHS data shows that Knowsley in Merseyside has the highest proportion of obesity among adults in England, with a shocking two in five people over the age of 18 (40.3%) classed as obese, reports Richard Ault from Reach's Data Unit. And of the 10 areas with the highest levels of obesity in England, all but two are in the North. Stockton-on-Tees is next (40.2%) and then Blackpool (37.2%). At the other end of the scale Ribble Valley, the least deprived area in the North, also has the lowest obesity rates among adults in our region, with only 17.6% classed as obese. By region, the North East has the highest levels of adult obesity (32.3%), followed by Yorkshire and Humber (28.2%). Obesity is lower in the North West (27.5%), but all regions of the North - and the Midlands - are above the national average. It comes as analysis by Diabetes UK shows an "incredibly troubling" rise in the number of people aged under 40 diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which is outstripping the pace of diagnoses in the over 40s. Chris Askew, chief executive at Diabetes UK, said: "This trend of rapidly-increasing early-onset type 2 diabetes is incredibly troubling. It marks a shift from what we've seen historically and should be taken as a serious warning to policymakers and our NHS."
An exclusive for Northern Agenda readers 
There's a major transport conference in Liverpool in February, offering a high-profile opportunity for political and business leaders to unite on what the North needs to go further and faster, connect its people and places and kick-start the levelling up and net zero agendas. Leading figures like Transport for the North chair Lord Patrick McLoughlin, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Bradford council leader Susan Hinchcliffe will speak at the Northern Transport Summit on February 23. Tickets normally cost £25 but readers of The Northern Agenda can get in for free using this exclusive link.
Labour selection battle gets nasty after MP's intimidation claim  Ian Byrne MP (Image: Liverpool Echo)
He's facing a battle to be selected as Labour's candidate for the safe seat of Liverpool West Derby after being 'triggered' by local members, meaning he now faces an internal challenge from party opponents. And ahead of a selection vote next Sunday, sitting MP Ian Byrne said last night he was seeking guidance from police following alleged intimidation during a campaign event at the weekend, as Local Democracy Reporter David Humphreys writes. Cllr Anthony Lavelle – who was out on the campaign trail on Saturday – and Hyndburn Councillor Kimberley Whitehead are the two people going up against Mr Byrne for the Labour candidacy. Mr Byrne was also seen in the constituency at the weekend campaigning with party members as well as metro mayors Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham. He put out a statement on social media criticising "shameful" intimidation the group faced while out the previous day. But senior Liverpool councillor Harry Doyle – who is backing Cllr Lavelle for the role – called on the incumbent MP to apologise and retract his remarks. He said: "I had friendly interactions with members supporting Ian as they walked towards us, some of whom I have deep respect and admiration for as I have known them for years. There was no intimidation from any of Anthony's team."
I feel useless, says asylum seeker stuck in Yorkshire hotel for a year  File photo of a group of people thought to be migrants being brought in to Dover, Kent.
Rishi Sunak this morning hailed a historic deal with France as contributing to his efforts to "grip illegal migration", which he said has consumed much of his time in No 10 so far. The UK has negotiated a 40% boost in the number of officers patrolling beaches in northern France. British staff will also be embedded in French control rooms for the first time under the landmark plans to clamp down on dangerous small boat crossings, as the number of people making the perilous journey to the UK so far this year topped 40,000. It came as new figures today showed tens of thousands of migrants are waiting more than a year for a decision on their asylum claim. The number of people waiting for an initial decision on their asylum application to the UK almost quadrupled in the last five years. One asylum seeker – known by the pseudonym Abu to protect his identity – who has been in a hotel in Yorkshire for nearly a year said he feels like he is "useless" while awaiting a decision on his asylum claim. He fled Sudan in October 2021, leaving his family behind, after being arrested when he took part in demonstrations during the military coup to overthrow the government, the charity said. Abu said: "I started even questioning, if I am a useful person? When you… see how they are treating Ukrainian people, compare that, people say that it's because they are European, and we are not European, it makes you feel like we are not a priority…"
On Friday East Riding of Yorkshire Council lost its bid for a High Court injunction to prevent a local hotel from housing asylum seekers. The Tory-run authority asked the High Court to continue an interim injunction preventing migrants being accommodated at the Humber View Hotel in North Ferriby, which was granted after it was contacted by the Home Office with a proposal to use the site. Its lawyers - alongside those in a similar bid from Ipswich council - argued at a hearing in London that there had been an "unauthorised material change of use" under planning rules. They argued the interim court orders could be extended by four to six weeks ahead of a final hearing on the issues in the cases. But in a ruling on Friday afternoon, Mr Justice Holgate refused to extend the injunctions.
Ex-detective says central policing hub plan is 'naive'  County Durham and Darlington police and crime commissioner Joy Allen and an artist\'s impression of the new investigations hub at DurhamGate. Picture: Northern Echo
Northern police forces may not have recruited as many officers as those in the South (as we reported on Friday) but in Durham local stations are said to be "busting at the seams" with the local constabulary's workforce growing from 2,100 to 2,500 in the last two years. And the rise in numbers coincides with a restructure of where these officers will be based. Detectives and crime scene investigators will move to the new hub being built at DurhamGate near Spennymoor and will contain 140 desks for officers. A scrutiny meeting was told the facility will include 48 cells, interview rooms, crime scene investigation, forensic examination rooms, virtual courts, evidence stores, office space, a medical centre and CCTV. But not everyone is happy, and police chiefs defended the new hub against claims it could "rip the heart out of" police stations, writes Local Democracy Reporter Gareth Lightfoot. Police and crime commissioner Joy Allen told Durham County Council's police and crime panel: "It's no longer just police officers. Hopefully you want all those agencies to do problem-solving, to be together. I think it's a good way for us to modernise." Panel member and former detective Robbie Rodiss said: "I would argue you're being very naive. By effectively scooping up all your detectives and putting them in one police station…you're taking away the ownership from areas and you're putting it into one main police station which will have responsibility for the whole county, and there will be a problem." 
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Northern Stories  The frontage on Church Street, pictured prior to the fire in May 2022 (image: Google)
- The distinctive frontage of Preston's fire-ravaged Odeon Cinema building has been spared demolition after plans were approved to turn the rest of the ruined site into a temporary car park. A blaze tore through the Church Street premises in the city centre back in May, wrecking a block which also used to be home to the defunct Evoke and Tokyo Jo's nightclubs. The rear of the properties was largely flattened for safety reasons in the wake of the fire, but a proposal to completely clear the rest of the plot Рincluding the art deco fa̤ade of the former cinema Рhas been scrapped while it is decided how the site will be used in future.
- A new NHS referral call centre has opened in Hull, creating opportunities for 200 new jobs in the area. Healthshare's Referral Management Centre (RMC) was officially opened at the K3 business park on Clough Road, with Olympic gold medal boxer Luke Campbell in attendance as a special guest to cut the ribbon. The RMC is Healthshare's national call centre, handling 20,000 NHS referrals per month across clinical and diagnostic services. The call centre enables Healthshare to support the NHS through contracts across the UK, including the Hull musculoskeletal service.
- Investigations around fraud and corruption have been launched at Liverpool Council after a report into controversial matchday car parking company Beautiful Ideas company. In 2018, the city council launched an initial assessment into the company that ran car parks for supporters visiting Goodison Park and Anfield on match days, amid allegations of poor practice but the document was never released. That decision was criticised by the Information Commissioner's Office who said the council had incorrectly withheld the report. Following the release of internal audit documents, it has now been revealed that four probes have been raised by Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson.
- A Sheffield academic is among those being quizzed today by MPs about the funds available for levelling up and how effectively resources are directed to those areas most in need. The Commons Levelling Up Select Committee is holding its first evidence session in its inquiry into levelling up funding at 4.45pm, with experts including Adam Hawksbee of Onward, Paul Swinney of the Centre for Cities and Professor Steve Fothergill of Sheffield Hallam University.
- A date has been set to demolish an historic Teesside blast furnace. The bulk of the blast furnace in Redcar is to be brought down between 9am and 1pm on Wednesday if the weather allows. The explosive demolition by teams from Thompsons of Prudhoe has seen months of preparatory work to clean the site. Casting houses, the Dust Catcher, Charge Conveyors, and the Blast Furnace itself will be among structures to come down. The four enormous gas stoves which heated the furnace are set to be demolished separately in the following month.
- Cheshire MP Mike Amesbury is objecting to plans for hundreds of new homes in the town, raising fears over lack of infrastructure and loss of greenfield land. The Labour MP for Weaver Vale has been contacted by more than 1,600 constituents who have raised concerns over the proposals by government agency Homes England. An outline application was recently submitted to Halton Council for a 250-home extension to Sandymoor on a greenfield site to the north of the Chester-Warrington railway line. Proposals will soon follow for a further 600 houses on farmers' fields either side of nearby Red Brow Lane.
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