“It is unacceptable that publication of your WRMP24 [Water Resources Management Plan] has been delayed. As you are aware, producing an WRMP is a statutory process, and enforcement action could be taken where a company is not compliant with their legal duties.”

“Given the extent and persistence of issues identified for South West Water, we will require South West Water representatives to attend six-monthly progress meetings with Defra and both regulators in November-December and April-May.”

“This is the seventh consecutive year that South West Water has received a joint regulator letter. Where sufficient progress is not demonstrated, issues will be escalated to the Water Delivery Taskforce and the relevant regulators may consider further regulatory action, including investigation and, where appropriate, the use of statutory enforcement powers.”

Regulators – it’s time to take the gloves off. Slapping wrists is not enough – Owl

Text reads:

Pennon Group — South West Water, SES Water and Bristol Water WRMP Annual Reviews 2026

Thank you for your Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) Annual Review 2026 submission. This first delivery reporting year provides an important indication of progress in the statutory implementation of your WRMP and associated PR24 investment programme. We previously wrote to you to urge that this must proceed  without delay.

The delivery of your WRMP is essential to maintaining resilient water supplies, protecting and enhancing the environment, and supporting sustainable growth. Recent drought conditions have reinforced the importance of delivering planned actions and investments in a timely manner. On this basis, it is unacceptable that publication of your WRMP24 has been delayed. As you are aware, producing an WRMP is a statutory process, and enforcement action could be taken where a company is not compliant with their legal duties.

Defra, the Environment Agency and Ofwat have reviewed Pennon Group’s submission and identified significant risks to security of supply and the environment in South West Water in particular and requires prompt action. We also have concerns that related slow delivery may be driving poor performance in some areas for Bristol Water and SES Water.

The issues identified are set out in detail in Annex 1 and are summarised below:

South West Water

•          Your reported supply-demand balance (SDB) has deteriorated relative to both your WRMP24 forecast and the previous year. While the company-level position remains in surplus, deficits have been reported in individual water resource zones, and raises concerns regarding the resilience of supplies during periods of drought and the company’s ability to maintain planned levels of service. A primary driver of this is higher than forecast distribution input.

•          Leakage is 18.5% above the WRMP24 forecast, and has increased since the previous year. Given the ongoing drought conditions, these shortcomings are placing customers at a greater level of risk. This is not acceptable.

•          Per capita consumption (PCC) has reduced slightly compared with the previous year but is 5.7% above your WRMP24 forecast of 149.20 I/h/d.

•          Outage is 5.57 MI/d above your WRMP24 forecast of 9.68 MI/d, and has worsened since last year, reducing available supply and increasing risks to security of supply.

•          Non-household consumption has exceeded forecast, and is the third consecutive year it has increased. It has been reported at 4.2% higher than the WRMP24 forecast of 158.27 MI/d.

Bristol Water and SES Water

•          Repeating concerns seen for South West Water, leakage is above WRMP24 forecast by 7.1% and 22.4% for Bristol Water and SES Water respectively. This represents a notable improvement in 2025 for Bristol Water, but remains above forecast and has not been replicated across other Pennon companies.

•          Household metering penetration is 5.5% and 10.9% behind WRMP24 forecasts for Bristol Water and SES Water respectively.

•          Procurement processes have been cited as persistent reasons across the Pennon companies for delayed commencement of leakage reduction programmes, metering roll out and water efficiency programmes. Continued issues in these areas will rapidly result in impacts to your supply resilience.

You are required to address these issues and provide evidence of the actions taken by the deadlines specified in Annex 1. Actions should be supported by clear implementation plans, measurable milestones and demonstrable benefits.

We will continue to monitor progress through our established engagement arrangements, including meetings between your company and representatives from the Environment Agency and Ofwat. At these meetings, you will be expected to demonstrate credible and adequately resourced plans, together with tangible progress in reducing the risks identified in this letter.

Given the extent and persistence of issues identified for South West Water, we will require South West Water representatives to attend six-monthly progress meetings with Defra and both regulators in November-December and April-May. We will make arrangements for the first meeting with you in the near future. We will continue to monitor progress at Bristol Water and SES Water through existing engagement arrangements.

This is the seventh consecutive year that South West Water has received a joint regulator letter. Where sufficient progress is not demonstrated, issues will be escalated to the Water Delivery Taskforce and the relevant regulators may consider further regulatory action, including investigation and, where appropriate, the use of statutory enforcement powers.

Where appropriate, we will align this work with other ongoing regulatory engagement to ensure a coordinated and consistent approach.

Your WRMP is a critical plan for securing sustainable water supplies and protecting the environment. We expect you to take the necessary action to address the issues identified and deliver the commitments set out in your plan.

Rearranging the chairs on the Titanic. [Where we are the passengers]

Here’s what SWW have to say

“Recent rainfall is having a positive impact on our water resources…..we need sustained rainfall in the right places to replenish our rivers and reservoirs……We are repairing leaks, moving water around our network and taking every practical step to strengthen supplies and reduce water losses. As conditions improve, we will keep doing everything we can to protect supplies”

The company has to report to the government and regulators with an action plan to tackle its leaks within six weeks.

Having failed over seven years, what hope is there of that! – Owl

County leaders have criticised South West Water after an official letter revealed the monopoly supplier is still missing leakage targets and now putting customers at risk of losing supply despite being warned for seven straight years.

www.devon.gov.uk

The joint October 26 letter from industry regulator OFWAT, the Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) revealed by the Guardian (see below) says South West Water’s owner Pennon has been warned for seven successive years that its repeated failures to meet its own forecasts on reducing leakage are putting drought-hit customers and businesses in danger of supply restrictions.

It states: “Leakage is 18.5 per cent above forecast …..and increased since the previous year. Given the ongoing drought conditions, these shortcomings are placing customers at a greater level of risk. This is not acceptable.”

South West Water forecast its leakage would fall but in fact it increased by 5.78 million litres in 2025/26 to 113.54 million litres per day – around 45 Olympic swimming pools in volume. The company also lost 5.57 million litres daily to bursts and supply interruptions above its own forecasts and put an extra 35 million litres of water every day into its network every day to make up for losses and keep taps flowing.

Last week, customers in areas most affected by drought began receiving letters from South West Water urging them to save water. However, the joint OFWAT, Environment Agency and DEFRA letter says they have “reduced confidence” in the company to ensure supplies and avoid emergency abstractions from rivers that will cause environment damage.

It adds: “A trend of rising leakage……represents a risk to your customers’ security of supply. Achieving your planned leakage reductions is reputationally important as you are asking customers to reduce their water use.”

Devon County Council Leader Julian Brazil commented:

“Householders and businesses have been told to save water to avoid worse drought restrictions and that was all down to the dry weather.

“Now we learn South West Water has been continually warned for seven years it’s not doing its bit on leakage. Their record is somehow even worse and that failure puts our rivers and wildlife at risk of prolonged environmental damage and may leave customers and businesses facing supply restrictions.

“I would say it’s a surprise but it’s not because this crisis has been decades in the making. While we’ve been paying the highest bills in the nation since 1989, South West Water has been busy continually polluting our bathing waters, busy losing nearly one in every five litres of water on its network and most busy paying out billions in dividends to its shareholders.

“I’m pleased the Prime Minister and regulators are finally telling water companies it’s closing time in their last chance saloon but businesses and families in Devon may be left picking up the pieces left by South West Water’s appalling record of greed and failure.

“I’m sure Devonians, businesses and public bodies will do their best to save water. South West Water can help them by funding from its own deep pockets a huge, Devon-centred communications campaign, getting a grip on leakage and making sure it is working with every customer, business and council to avoid the most dire consequences yet of its own neglect.”

The Guardian article referred to above

South West Water’s failure to fix leaks ‘putting customer supplies at risk’

Sandra Laville www.theguardian.com

Repeated failures by South West Water to tackle leaks are putting customers at higher risks of losing water supplies as parts of the region remain in severe drought, regulators have said.

In a warning to the privatised company that serves 1.8 million people across the south-west of England, the regulators said it had been failing to meet targets to reduce leaks and repair burst pipes for seven years.

“Leakage is 18.5% above forecast … and increased since the previous year. Given the ongoing drought conditions, these shortcomings are placing customers at a greater level of risk. This is not acceptable,” said Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in a letter to the company.

The letter emerged as the National Drought Group prepared to meet on Thursday, with about 82% of England still in drought, and severe drought declared in parts of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex. The Met Office has said 120% of typical rainfall is needed over seven months to bring the country fully out of drought.

South West Water leaks 113.5m litres of water a day from its pipes and infrastructure, the equivalent of 45 Olympic swimming pools. Leakage is 5.7m litres a day higher than last year and poses a risk to customer’s security of supply, the regulators’ letter says.

The continued severe drought in many areas of the region affects about 325,000 people and thousands of businesses in Exeter and mid and east Devon. They are at risk of having their supplies regularly cut off over the coming weeks and months, which could lead to school closures and economic losses.

South West Water has written to households in those areas urging them to reduce their water usage to help secure supplies. The company does not acknowledge the contribution that the scale of its own leakage is making to the risk of outages.

In the joint letter to the company dated 26 October, the regulators and the government said: “Achieving your planned leakage reductions is reputationally important as you are asking customers to reduce their water use.”

After the driest April to September in more than a century, fuelled by the climate crisis, reservoir levels in some sites are critically low. Storage at Wimbleball, which supplies South West Water customers in east Devon, north Devon, Somerset and west Dorset, and Wessex Water customers in west Somerset, is at 16%. There are also concerns for several smaller South West Water reservoirs serving homes in Devon and Cornwall.

The joint letter says the failure to tackle leakage has reduced confidence in the company to ensure supplies and avoid emergency abstraction from rivers that will cause environmental damage.

“A trend of rising leakage … represents a risk to your customers’ security of supply,” it says.

…..The warning to South West water comes as the government announced that eight new regional water councils were being created to bring local leaders, customers and businesses together to set priorities for water companies and help shape billions of pounds of investment in water and flood infrastructure. Local leaders have been asked to submit proposals for running the new bodies by the end of the year.

The letter to South West Water says the company has to report to the government and regulators with an action plan to tackle its leaks within six weeks.

The company’s drought programme director, Richard Stanbrook, said: “Recent rainfall is having a positive impact on our water resources, with welcome improvements after months of exceptionally dry conditions. However, pressure on supplies remains significant, and we need sustained rainfall in the right places to replenish our rivers and reservoirs and secure a lasting recovery.

“We are repairing leaks, moving water around our network and taking every practical step to strengthen supplies and reduce water losses. As conditions improve, we will keep doing everything we can to protect supplies.”

Newspapers have reported this under headlines such as: “Chief Medical Officer issues warning to anyone moving to countryside” (DevonLive) and “A rural retirement could be bad for your health, warns Whitty” (The Times).

These miss the point. The challenges of providing care are: here, now, chronic and getting worse.

Prof Chris Whitty uses measured tones which, in Owl’s view belie the urgency. Will “Urban Labour” get the message?

The report provides more ammunition for our MPs who collectively seem to be on the same page following the suspension of maternity services at North Devon Hospital Trust, Barnstaple.

Here is a flavour of what he has to say.

The rural and small town population is not an urban population more widely dispersed, but systematically different in a number of ways important for health and healthcare provision….

The sparser population also means that healthcare is more spread out, with even primary care often distant, and secondary care a day’s round trip. There is also less capacity to sustain specialist services which are common in cities. The lack of regular public transport is one of the key challenges of providing health and social care in rural areas. Those who do not have a car or cannot drive due to illness may find accessing general practices difficult and secondary care (for example, outpatient clinics) even more so. Social care and health workers often rely on public transport. If people cannot drive safely, this can be much more isolating than in cities with dense public transport networks….

For those leading the NHS and public health we must avoid assuming that models of healthcare that work in cities can simply be translated to a rural or small town setting. Training and systems need to reflect the different realities of providing healthcare in these settings….

In full – Prof Chris Whitty: Forward to Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2026

Health in rural areas and small towns

While most people in England live in cities, the great majority of the country’s landmass is rural, populated with people living in small towns or scattered communities. The urban majority depend on rural England, often without giving it much thought except as a very beautiful place for leisure – which it is. Some critical sectors rely on rural areas including agriculture and forestry, much of the armed forces, and several industries which need to be sited away from cities or require large amounts of land. Families associated with several of these sectors have particular health challenges.

Many people move from cities to small commuter towns when they start families, or retire to rural areas, while young adults often leave rural areas for cities to study or work. Due to this internal migration the rural population is significantly older on average than in the cities. The rural and small town population is therefore not an urban population more widely dispersed, but systematically different in a number of ways important for health and healthcare provision.

Rural poverty is often unseen, poorly measured, averaged out with more affluent areas or not registered in national statistics. Work in some important rural sectors including farming and tourism can be seasonal and low paid. Limited or non-existent public transport makes access to a car and being able to drive often essential for work.

The sparser population also means that healthcare is more spread out, with even primary care often distant, and secondary care a day’s round trip. There is also less capacity to sustain specialist services which are common in cities. The lack of regular public transport is one of the key challenges of providing health and social care in rural areas. Those who do not have a car or cannot drive due to illness may find accessing general practices difficult and secondary care (for example, outpatient clinics) even more so. Social care and health workers often rely on public transport. If people cannot drive safely, this can be much more isolating than in cities with dense public transport networks.

Set against these challenges, rural areas also have some significant inbuilt advantages for health. Communities are often stable and very supportive. Air pollution is usually minimal. There is the potential to access beautiful spaces for physical activity, although getting to the jumping-off point frequently requires a car, as walking and cycling safely on winding roads with fast traffic and no pavements is hard even for the young and fit.

General practice is even more clearly the bedrock of healthcare provision in rural and small town settings than in cities. Attracting healthcare staff can in some areas be very difficult, especially if they have young families. Rural and remote practice can require a wider range of skills and ability to work with minimal back-up from secondary care hospitals compared to city-based colleagues. Many GPs, nurses and others working in rural areas love the professional breadth and community-based care this brings, but current training often does not prepare them for this kind of medicine.

We have the opportunity to improve health and provision of care in rural areas and small towns for now. We also have to plan for the future, when the rural and small town population will be getting significantly older, while the major cities retain their current, younger demographic structure.

In the immediate future we must explore the potential for new opportunities, including telemedicine, to make the provision of some aspects of healthcare more accessible to those with limited transport a long way from secondary care. We also need to ensure we are training enough primary care medical and nursing staff to be able and want to provide care in rural and small town settings.

For national policymakers we need to recognise the ageing of the rural population makes this a national, not just a local, issue to solve, and find better ways to address the health impact of rural poverty.

For those leading the NHS and public health we must avoid assuming that models of healthcare that work in cities can simply be translated to a rural or small town setting. Training and systems need to reflect the different realities of providing healthcare in these settings.

For those undertaking the nationally important role of working in rural health we need to work together to harness new technologies, as well as ensure the voice of rural health is heard in decision-making.

Improving rural health is entirely possible and should be seen as a national investment in the future as well as the here and now.

Finally, I would like to thank the many people across the country who helped in the preparation of this report, and in particular the editor Dr Alex Thompson.

Prof Chris Whitty

Chief Medical Officer for England

[Full Executive Summary worth the read, it includes a lot of interesting facts and figures – Owl]

“The greatest reductions in second homes have been in the lower council tax bands, where properties are more likely to be affordable to rent or buy,”

The charge earns the council nearly £400,000 even though the number of second homes has dropped.

Bradley Gerrard www.devonlive.com

Double council tax on second homes look set to remain in East Devon thanks to the extra income and the charge prompting some properties to become permanent homes.

A recommendation has been put forward for the 100 per cent council tax premium on second homes to be maintained in the area, partly due to the additional cash it adds to coffers.

East Devon District Council said it received nearly £400,000 from the double-charging on second homes.

But beyond the finances, the report states that part of the rationale for keeping the premium relates to its impact on freeing up homes for residents.

The council said its review of the charge indicates it was supporting key priorities “by encouraging second and empty homes back into permanent residential use and helping to improve the availability of homes for local people”.

“The greatest reductions in second homes have been in the lower council tax bands, where properties are more likely to be affordable to rent or buy,” the report prepared for East Devon’s cabinet (Wednesday 4 November) states.

“The premiums have also generated additional income, with no evidence of material adverse impacts on collection, communities, the local economy or equality.”

The number of second homes in East Devon has dropped by nearly 600 from October 2023 to August 2026, with most of that dropping post the implementation of the double-charge in April 2025.

That means the number of second homes in East Devon has fallen more than a fifth (22 per cent) since October 2023, from 2,760 three years ago to 2,165 now.

Officers said the move from council tax into business rates – which would denote a second home becoming a holiday let – was minimal.

But it cheered the movement of properties becoming homes to permanent residents.

“A former council owned property had remained in the same family for many years and was subsequently being used as a second home,” the report stated.

“Following the council introducing the premium the owner made the decision to sell the property.

“The property was purchased by a young local couple as their first home. This is an example of how the council’s policy of introducing the second home premiums has resulted in a property suitable for first time buyers being brought into permanent residential use enabling young residents to own their first property in their local town.”

While this example is highlighted as positive, officers noted that less than 3 per cent of the district’s total households were second homes.

“Due to the low percentages, it is therefore unlikely that charging the premiums or the reduction in the number of second homes has had a negative impact on our local population, our communities or our local economy as statistically this is not a material change,” the report added.

East Devon’s cabinet is being asked to back the officer view that no changes are needed and that the 100 per cent premium for second homes should remain.

From the horses mouth – Owl

Local Government Reorganisation moves forward in five counties

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government www.gov.uk

Five areas have moved closer to streamlined local government in their area as the government announced the next steps in its review of Local Government Reorganisation.

Following the announcement of a review last month, Ministers have confirmed that the programme is continuing and remains aligned with the wider plans to shift power out of Westminster and back to local communities, including those announced at this week’s Budget.

The government is now minded-to go ahead with reorganisation in five areas. There will be a period of three weeks minimum for further representations before final decisions are taken.

The five areas where the government is minded to proceed are:

• In East Sussex and Brighton and Hove, the two unitary proposal including boundary changes requested by Brighton and Hove City Council, except for the parish of Falmer.
• The one unitary proposal in Gloucestershire;
• The three unitary proposal in Oxfordshire, including boundary changes.
• The two unitary proposal in Warwickshire;
• The two unitary proposal in Worcestershire;

The Government remains committed to the reorganisation programme. Ministers will consider the best way forward for all remaining areas in the programme – 15 in total, including the nine areas which had reorganisation paused in September and which now have their decisions withdrawn.

Withdrawing these decisions does not mean reorganisation has been cancelled in these areas. All options and proposals remain under consideration in these areas and every area will have an outcome by early next year.

Local elections in these areas will go ahead in May 2027 on existing council boundaries, providing certainty for local leaders and communities.  New councils will be established for 2029, with elections to shadow councils in May 2028.

All areas with previous decisions will receive £450,000 per the number of previously announced new unitary authorities from the £63 million capacity fund, to cover costs incurred in implementing reorganisation. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and West Sussex will each receive £500,000 as decisions have yet to be made there.  This funding will be paid in the coming weeks. The remaining balance will be paid after final decisions.

Minister for Local Government, Devolution and Regional Growth Jim McMahon OBE told Parliament today:

Yesterday’s budget showed that we are committed to giving local leaders, local councils and local communities the tools to shape their own future.

No areas want to see a return to two-tiers once strong unitary councils are in place… The decisions that we take now will be the building blocks for how this country is governed for generations to come.

Reorganisation in Surrey will remain unaffected with two new unitary authorities – East and West Surrey – going live in April 2027.

The government has heard concerns from places about retaining their city status and has committed to making it a priority to protect them and will consider all available options – including bringing in new legislation if necessary.

For more information:

Areas where government is minded to proceed:

• East Sussex and Brighton and Hove: Two unitary proposal submitted by East Sussex County Council, Eastbourne Borough Council, Hastings Borough Council, Lewes District Council and Rother District Council – with the boundary change requested by Brighton and Hove City Council, with the exception of Falmer parish.
• Gloucestershire: One unitary proposal submitted by Cotswold District Council, Gloucestershire County Council, Stroud District Council, and Tewkesbury Borough Council.
• Oxfordshire: Three unitary proposal submitted by Oxford City Council, including the adjoining area of West Berkshire Council – with the boundary change Oxford City Council requested alongside the proposal.
• Warwickshire: Two unitary proposal submitted by North Warwickshire Borough Council, Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council, Stratford-on-Avon District Council and Warwick District Council.
• Worcestershire: Two unitary proposal submitted by Bromsgrove District Council, Malvern Hills District Council, Redditch Borough Council, Worcester City Council and Wychavon District Council.

15 areas remaining under review:

Nine areas where decisions are now withdrawn and will be reconsidered:

• Derbyshire and Derby
• Devon, Plymouth and Torbay
• Hertfordshire
• Kent and Medway
• Lancashire, Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool
• Leicestershire, Leicester, and Rutland
• Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire
• Nottinghamshire and Nottingham
• Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent

Four areas where decisions were withdrawn in September:

• Essex, Southend on Sea and Thurrock
• Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton
• Norfolk
• Suffolk

Two areas which are awaiting decisions:

• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
• West Sussex

Devon County Council’s leader has sharply criticised the Government’s latest decision on local government reorganisation, saying delay will mean “more chaos, cost and confusion” for councils and communities.

www.devon.gov.uk

Local Government Minister Jim McMahon told the House of Commons today that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was withdrawing plans announced in July to replace two-tier local government in Devon with four unitary councils.

The department will now review all the original options and proposals submitted by Devon’s councils, with a fresh decision expected in January 2027 and new unitary councils formed in 2029.

Devon County Council has launched a legal challenge against the four-unitary proposal, arguing that the estimated £100 million cost of implementing the changes would be better spent on frontline services. The council said that the Government had not properly applied its own criteria when reaching its decision.

Council leader Councillor Julian Brazil said:

“Here is a Government that cannot sort out issues that really matter to our communities, such as our maternity services and our failing water industry, yet seems hellbent on a reorganisation that risks disrupting the real progress councils are making to improve services.

“The Government talked today about bringing clarity to the situation, but this latest announcement simply brings more chaos, cost and confusion to local authorities which are already facing significant challenges.

“Council staff do an incredible job and are focused on our ambitions for young people. We need a Government that gives them a clear idea about what the future holds so they can get on with that work.”

Councils across Devon have already spent around £5 million preparing for changes which would represent the biggest shake-up of local government in the county for 50 years.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government had agreed to provide £900,000 towards implementation costs for each new authority. However, the Government said today that only half that amount would be made available and shared between councils until a final decision is reached.

Cllr Brazil added:

“Instead of getting a firm decision from Government, we have had more delay and indecision, and now a U-turn on how much it will contribute financially.

“This makes it incredibly difficult for councils to plan their budgets, workforce and future. Devon County Council has continued to improve key services and focus relentlessly on creating better opportunities for young people, despite the uncertainty surrounding reorganisation. We could do so much more without this Halloween horror show hanging over us.

“Devon residents want better roads and better services. They want young people to be able to build healthy, happy and productive lives here.

“This week’s announcement that Devon is to have a Mayor and devolved powers gives us an opportunity to help achieve those ambitions. Endless uncertainty over local government reorganisation does not.

“We will continue to explore our legal options.”

Devon will get an elected mayor in 2028, it has been announced in the Budget.

Miles Davis, Andrew Segal www.bbc.co.uk

The position will be a figurehead for the county, which is split into three administrative areas: Devon County Council, and the Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council unitary authorities.

Devon leaders previously said they were keen to work with Cornwall on a joint mayoral authority, but Cornwall resisted that approach, with its unitary authority saying it was now “by exception” a “single strategic authority”.

The government had been trying to manage a reorganisation of local government with the abolition of all councils in Devon to be replaced by unitary councils but that plan has been put on hold.

The leader of Devon County Council said it was “fantastic” news that would give Devon “a seat at the top table” to bid for millions of pounds of funding for departments such as transport and housing, and potentially raise income from areas such as a tourism tax.

Leader and Liberal Democrat Julian Brazil said it would make a huge difference for people in Devon to be able to decide where money would be spent instead of those decisions being made by central government.

He said: “We’re actually pulling a whole layer of central government down to Devon so that we’ll be deciding how best to take decisions that are going to affect the people down here.”

Dave Thomas, Conservative and leader of Torbay Council, said: “It’s fantastic news, to be honest, because the thing is the new mayor will bring new powers, new money to the area.

“These are powers that normally sit in London, and are decided at a London level, will actually be decided down here in Devon.”

Tudor Evans, leader of Labour-run Plymouth City Council, said he was “absolutely delighted”.

He said: “It means that we can start now the real preparatory work to get an agenda, to get a wish list of important things that we need to do to accelerate growth in the region.

“Having a mayor to advocate for the region in a room full of mayors is so important. It means that we won’t get left behind.”

Elections for the directly-elected mayor for Devon are due to be held in May 2028.

‘Cornwall-only footprint’

While Devon was listed among places to become Mayoral Strategic Authorities, Cornwall was included with Budget documents as the only area on a pathway to become a Foundation Strategic Authority.

Cornwall Council leader Leigh Frost, county MPs and peers welcomed the Chancellor’s announcement, saying the decision reflected “recognition of our unique cultural status”.

They added: “This secures further devolution for Cornwall on a Cornwall-only footprint and without the need to introduce a mayor, which the council, MPs and peers representing Cornwall have long campaigned for… Government has listened to Cornwall.”

Frost said it was a “significant moment for Cornwall”.

He said: “Cornwall has its own identity and ambitions, but we also have our own unique challenges to face.

“That’s why it’s so important that decisions about Cornwall are made here in Cornwall by people who understand the needs of our communities.”

Organisations from across Devon gathered together to focus on improving job opportunities and access to education for young people.

Chris Collman www.devonairradio.com

The Brighter Futures steering group has held its inaugural meeting to explore how it can build on its work, and strengthen local support to make sure it’s available to more young people.

Cllr. Denise Bickley, Chair of the Brighter Futures steering group

The County Council launched its Brighter Futures Strategy last year, with the aim of giving every young person in Devon the opportunity to succeed, regardless of the challenges they may face.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 981,000 young people aged 16 to 24 were not in employment, education or training (NEET) across the UK between April and June, prompting the Prime Minister to describe the situation as an “economic catastrophe and moral failure”.

Devon County Council Leader Julian Brazil says Prime Minister Andy Burnham is “singing from the same hymn sheet” as Devon on its commitment to help young people into education, training or work.

Councillor Brazil reiterated Devon’s commitment to young people, with the Council’s Brighter Futures Strategy setting out how it’s working with partners to improve opportunities for young people across the county.

Almost 4% of 16 to 18-year-olds in Devon were NEET in 2024, lower than the national average of 5.4%, but the Council is committed to reducing this further. And while Devon’s overall figures compare favourably to the national picture, some young people face much greater challenges.

In 2024, 13.4% of young people with special educational needs and disabilities or Education, Health and Care Plans were NEET, while almost half of care leavers aged 19 to 21 were not in education, employment or training.

For young people in Devon’s rural and coastal communities, transport and access to opportunities can also present significant barriers. Through Brighter Futures, the Council is working with partners to address these challenges.

Devonians have now only 3 days left to have their say on the county’s bid to become a Mayoralty.

Chris Collman www.devonairradio.com/

A six-week public consultation, launched on September 16, lasts until Wednesday October 28 giving residents, businesses and organisations the chance to share their views on the proposal and what it could mean for the region.

The consultation outlines plans for the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (DTCCA) to seek mayoral status from the Government, and expand to incorporate the area covered by Plymouth City Council.

If approved, and Plymouth joins, a directly elected mayor would represent the wider Devon, Torbay and Plymouth area and oversee an economy worth £33.1 billion per year.

A mayor would oversee policy in key areas such as transport and have spending powers devolved from central government.

However, a mayor would not run local councils and services such as bin collections, schools, social care, housing and planning would remain the responsibility of councils and elected councillors.

Councillor David Thomas, Chair of the DTCCA, which is preparing the mayoral bid, said: “This is a conversation for everyone across Devon, Torbay and Plymouth. Working together gives us a stronger voice with Government and a greater opportunity to secure investment for our communities.”

Councillor Julian Brazil, Vice-Chair of the DTCCA and Devon County Council Leader, added: “Having a mayor is about bringing more power, funding and decision-making closer to the people and places affected by it.

“This consultation is about shaping the future of our region and ensuring local people have a voice in the decisions that affect them.

“This is an opportunity that we must not miss. The benefits that come with mayoralty are benefits that will be felt in very real and practical ways by residents and businesses alike.”

The consultation asks whether people support Plymouth joining a mayoral strategic authority, their views on a directly elected mayor, and the priorities a mayor should focus on.

The proposal would not merge councils, change council boundaries, transfer services or affect council staff.

The consultation findings will be reported in November. Plymouth City Council and the DTCCA, alongside Devon County Council and Torbay Council, will then decide whether to proceed with a formal proposal to Government.

You can find the consultation at Have Your Say Today – Devolution In Devon – Commonplace

In Owl’s view the key section worth looking at is the one describing how the proposed mayoral authority would work and be scrutinised. This can be found here.

We still await a ministerial decision on the reorganisation review “paused” in the light of judicial challenge (in Devon’s case, also paused).

Request to ban non-essential water use for businesses in East Devon

Not content to pollute our bathing beaches with sewage, SWW now wants to ban filling or maintaining certain non-domestic swimming pools.

The Telegraph reports that Angela Eagle, the Environment Secretary, has fast-tracked the applications from SWW and South East Water because of concerns about reservoir levels in those areas, and will issue a ruling within days.

The Telegraph also says: If Ms Eagle agrees to the measures, businesses that regularly use water for non-essential purposes will effectively be forced to close, and could be liable for compensation from water companies.

Swimming pools in areas under the ban cannot be refilled or maintained, while companies cannot top up ponds, clean offices or run car washes.

A non-essential water ban was last used in 2006 in Surrey and before that in 1995 in Yorkshire.

According to Richard Foord MP, in an August report:

SWW’s leaky infrastructure led to the loss of more than 107 million litres daily between 2024 and 2025. [SWW currently plans to halve this leakage of treated water by 2050!]

Mr Foord acknowledged that dry ground can damage water mains, but said the problem has been worsened by long-term neglect of infrastructure and he criticised South West Water for awarding large bonuses “such as to its former Chief Executive.”

He is now calling for the Government to include stricter measures on reducing leaks in the upcoming Clean Water Bill, as promised in the recent King’s Speech.

Mr Foord said: “Infrastructure investment needs to be a priority for water companies.

“Leakage repairs have flat-lined since the late 1990s, so the regulator that replaces Ofwat will need to have teeth.

“South West Water and other water companies need to be held to account for their persistent failures.”

Here is how South West Water explain their actions:

South West Water has applied to ban non-essential water use for businesses in East Devon

www.southwestwater.co.uk Non-essential use ban application

We have applied for a ban on non essential water use for some businesses across Mid Devon and parts of East Devon and Dorset, after a lack of significant rainfall following a prolonged period of exceptionally dry weather continues to place significant pressure on local water resources.

The application has been sent to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for a drought order which would allow the water company to introduce restrictions on non-essential water use for affected businesses in the Exeter, Exmouth, Crediton, Sidmouth, Tiverton and surrounding areas across Mid and parts of East Devon, as well as a small part of Dorset including Lyme Regis.

The proposed non-essential use ban would include restrictions on:

• watering plants on commercial premises
• filling or maintaining certain non-domestic swimming pools and ponds
• vehicle washing
• cleaning non-domestic buildings and premises
• cleaning industrial plant
• dust suppression
• other specified non-essential uses of mains water.

A non-essential use ban (NEUB) would not apply to households customers, who remain under a hosepipe ban across the wider South West region. Find out more information about the hosepipe ban.

Sam Bottomley, South West Water’s Director for Drinking Water Services, said: “The South West is entering a critical phase of an exceptionally prolonged drought. While recent rainfall is helping, water resources remain under significant pressure and South West Water continues to rely heavily on water stored in reservoirs to maintain supplies.

Every day we continue to draw on our reservoirs to keep water flowing to homes, businesses and communities while river flows remain below the levels needed to support public water supply.

Many people understandably think a drought is over once it starts raining. In reality, recovery takes much longer. After such a prolonged dry period, rainfall first has to replenish dry soils and the wider environment before rivers return to seasonal levels. Only then can reservoirs begin to recover properly.

Some of those rivers still remain at their lowest levels and with no significant rain forecast for the coming weeks, the immediate challenge is reducing demand and preserving enough stored water to maintain supplies until river flows and reservoir levels recover.

Applying for a drought order is a responsible step to help protect the environment and preserve the water we have available. Taking action now gives us the best opportunity to protect supplies, reducing the risk of further restrictions and supply outages while water resources remain under pressure.

While household customers would not be impacted, we recognise these restrictions have an impact on businesses, and we will provide clear guidance and support if the application is approved.

In the meantime, the hosepipe ban remains in place for all of our customers, and need customers to continue to take steps to reduce their water use as we do everything we can to protect water supplies.”

We are continuing to closely monitor river flows, reservoir levels and other water resources as the region enters the autumn and winter period.

We are also investing in the resilience of the region’s water supplies, including fixing around 70 leaks a day, strengthening our network, improving reservoirs and treatment works, developing new water resources and supporting customers to use water more efficiently.

No word from our former MP,  Simon Jupp, now firmly part of “Team SWW” – Owl

South West drought blamed on water firm’s ‘neglect’

A council leader has accused South West Water of helping create the conditions behind a severe drought declaration affecting parts of Devon and the wider South West.

Jonathan Morris www.bbc.co.uk

Devon County Council leader Julian Brazil said the drought had been “decades in the making” and the firm’s “neglect” had “put us here”.

He said the company had “not built the reservoirs Devon’s people and businesses deserved”.

South West Water said: “We are doing everything we can to manage resources, strengthen our network and fix leaks, and we need customers and local businesses to help reduce water use wherever possible to protect supplies until rivers and reservoirs can recover.”

On Thursday, the Environment Agency declared severe drought in parts of southern England including east Devon and west Cornwall.

South West Water’s drought programme director Richard Stanbrook said the declaration showed the “critical phase the South West is entering of this exceptionally prolonged drought”.

“While some recent rainfall has helped, water resources remain under significant pressure. We continue to rely heavily on reservoir storage to maintain customer supplies while river flows remain extremely low, with no significant rain forecast in the coming weeks.”

Wimbleball Reservoir, which serves about 300,000 properties across east Devon, north Devon, Somerset, west Dorset and West Somerset, is at 14.9% capacity and Stithians in Cornwall is at 21.9%.

The Environment Agency said it expected reservoir storage to be about 75% at this time of the year.

After the severe drought announcement, the government said customer supplies would be uninterrupted and declaring severe drought “ensures proactive steps are taken to safeguard water before any disruption occurs”.

Water companies have been ordered to monitor reservoir and river levels daily and the Environment Agency is stepping up compliance checks on firms that withdraw water from natural sources.

Brazil called on South West Water to pay for a large-scale public information campaign to encourage water conservation, reduce leakage and bring forward plans for new reservoirs.

He said: “From its own deep pockets, South West Water must fund a huge communications campaign to conserve water, cut leakage, bring forward plans for new reservoirs and make sure it is keeping every customer, business and public body fully informed so we can to do what we can to help.”

Brazil also said the company should compensate customers and businesses if they suffered losses during the drought.

“They agreed to pay 10 times the paltry minimum compensation level after the Brixham water poisoning incident. If businesses and customers suffer loss during this drought they must do so again.”

He urged people across Devon to use water carefully to help avoid restrictions, warning that any further measures limiting supply could have a serious impact on both the economy and daily life.

“As a council we will be doing all we can to save water while still delivering vital public services but we cannot allow South West Water to fail again and will be holding them to account in the months to come,” said Brazil.

Farmers have already reported the impact of the dry conditions. Andrea Semmens, whose family runs the 1,500-acre Raftra Farm, near St Levan, in Cornwall, said potato yields had fallen sharply.

“We normally average about 15 to 16 tonnes per acre and just because of the growth and the lack of wate we’re looking around 10 to 11 tonnes,” she said.

Semmens added: “When you’re growing 310 acres, that’s quite a lot of tons of potatoes that we’ve missed out on.

“That’s going to have a knock-on effect on our profit and money going forward for our next year’s harvest.”

About 56,000 households are within the severe drought area in west Cornwall.

Richard Foord MP tells it as it is to the government minister [Karin Smyth MP, Bristol South] during a Westminster Hall debate on underperforming NHS Trusts, inspired by the Lib Dems 14 October.

Richard Foord Liberal Democrat, Honiton and Sidmouth 

It is an honour to serve with you in the chair, Mr Stuart. I am grateful to my  hon. Friend Marie Goldman for securing the debate.

When we discuss underperforming trusts, we must recognise that some NHS trusts are operating in circumstances that would challenge even the best management teams. The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS foundation trust serves a largely rural and coastal population, with an ageing demographic, workforce pressures and significant barriers to access. I do not want to blame the Royal Devon leadership team. This is certainly not about blaming hard-working staff, because they do a brilliant job in very trying circumstances. But let us face it: the geography and demographics are stacked against them.

The chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, has repeatedly highlighted the unique health challenges facing rural and coastal communities, including when he visited Devon in May this year. Sir Chris has warned of

“the health challenges of coastal towns”, and that of attracting staff in such areas is significantly harder, noting that transport links are often limited. In his 2023 report Sir Chris warned:

“People living in peripheral areas experience issues relating to accessing primary and secondary healthcare, domiciliary care, medicines, shopping and transport. The response times of health care professionals are often longer because of the distances involved, which is particularly important for emergency presentations”.

Steve Brown, the director for public health in Devon, said:

“In Devon, our records show that some people are dying up to 15 years earlier than they should because essential building blocks of health…like reliable transport…and services that people can reach…are missing.”

My constituent Hilary Robarts-Arnold, from Seaton, wrote to me to describe the lack of transport and the difficulty of getting services in east Devon. Her husband is increasingly frail and suffers from skin cancer. Until recently, he attended dermatology services at Axminster hospital, seven and a half miles away. Those local services have now gone, and patients are instead forced to trek to Exeter, if they can. For her and her husband, that would be 22 miles, which is simply not possible because it is just too challenging a distance. As a result, his cancer is not being dealt with. The RDUH told me that

“this is a workforce and capacity issue, not a reflection of the clinical priority we place on patient care”.

If Government oversight of NHS trusts is to be meaningful, they must recognise the realities of rural and coastal healthcare and weight funding accordingly.

Local government minister Jim McMahon said he has almost completed his review and pledged decisions would be made “with a straight bat”.

[The government is facing legal challenges over local government reorganisation in the vast majority of two tier areas, with just four out of 19 of its decisions not facing judicial review, LGC research has found.]

Implementation of these proposals would have cost around £100m which instead should be invested in frontline services. We’ve already been forced to spend nearly £2 million on responding to the original proposals. – Cllr Julian Brazil

Chris Collman www.devonairradio.com

County leaders are demanding answers from the Government on its stalled plans for local government reorganisation to allow funds to be freed up for frontline services.

Last month, national plans including proposals to replace the two-tier local government structure in Devon with four unitary authorities from April 2028 were suspended by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) following the threat of legal action from councils nationwide.

Since then, the County Council has been seeking clarity and also applied for a judicial review of the Devon proposals which will be triggered if they are resubmitted in their original form.

Approximately £2.1 million has been spent by the County Council in connection with the reorganisation and full implementation could cost an estimated £100 million.

County Council Leader Julian Brazil says he would prefer to work constructively with Whitehall to drive service improvement and growth instead of taking the matter to court.

Councillor Julian Brazil added:

“We welcome the fact that the Government has chosen to accelerate devolution and look again at Local Government Reorganisation. The government’s proposals for Devon would have introduced a model which was unworkable, unpopular, and threatened to derail enormous progress we’ve made in supporting young people.

“Implementation of these proposals would have cost around £100m which instead should be invested in frontline services. We’ve already been forced to spend nearly £2 million on responding to the original proposals.

“Local government delivers many of the day-to-day services that our residents rely on, especially the most vulnerable. Creating areas on maps and then trying to force services to fit those geographies is absolutely the wrong approach.

“I want us to work with Government and district councils, health bodies and the private sector to invest our energy and funds into rewiring Devon. If we can get these basics right first, then economic growth will follow. It doesn’t work the other way round.”

The Leader of East Devon District Council has written to the Prime Minister warning that councils are being put in an impossible position when planning for new homes.

Chris Collman www.devonairradio.com

Councillor Paul Arnott says local authorities are having to identify sites for housing growth without enough confidence that the infrastructure needed to support those homes will be delivered. 

He argues that local authorities should not be forced into decisions that may risk environmental damage because of uncertainty over investment plans from infrastructure providers.  

The letter follows years of concern about wastewater infrastructure in the region. In 2024, East Devon District Council passed a vote of no confidence in South West Water, because of fears about the impact of inadequate infrastructure on local communities and the company’s ability to support future development.  

Now, Councillor Arnott is calling the Prime Minister to strengthen coordination between councils, regulators, developers and infrastructure providers so that growth and infrastructure are planned together. 

Councillor Arnott said: 

“We’re committed to building the new homes our communities need and have developed a clear plan for where growth should happen in East Devon through years of evidence gathering and public consultation. 

“But we’re increasingly being asked to make difficult decisions about future development because, if the promised infrastructure investment fails to materialise, there are consequences for our communities and environment.” 

The issue is particularly relevant to Marlcombe, the proposed new community east of Exeter.  The development is expected to grow to around 25,000 residents over time, but there are concerns that the preferred wastewater solution may not be operational until 2032, despite the first homes being planned from 2030. 

Councillor Arnott says the situation highlights a growing national risk that decisions on where development takes place could be driven by infrastructure constraints rather than democratically approved Local Plans.  

He said: 

“The Prime Minister has rightly talked about giving more power to local communities and supporting good growth in every postcode. For that to work our Local Plans must shape future investment, not the other way around. 

“I’m concerned that infrastructure providers could end up having a greater influence over development than local communities, because councils are left with little choice but to prioritise sites based on where utility companies say there is capacity, rather than those identified through democratically agreed Local Plans.” 

“If government wants local authorities to deliver ambitious housing targets, they need to get everyone around the same table and make sure growth, infrastructure and environmental protection move forward together. 

“At the moment, councils are carrying the responsibility for growth without the certainty they need to act in the public interest and to make that growth sustainable. That must change.” 

A correspondent writes:

The closure of the Exmouth’s Post Office is causing great difficulties to many people. We need a solution to be sorted out very quickly although I think the suggestion by Post Office Ltd (POL) that it might take up to 6 months is disingenuous. I believe 22 TG Jones branches that had post offices have been closed during September alone. According to press reports, TG Jones had post offices in 180 branches and ‘as many as 60 could be closed’. Does POL have the resources to set up new arrangements for that many locations within 6 months? It seems unlikely.

There is then the question of the contract that WH Smith had with POL.

On 15 May of this year, the Guardian reported that Modella Capital, the private equity group that bought and renamed the loss-making WH Smith branches, had ‘written to creditors saying it will amend Post Office contracts so that outlets that lose their leases can be closed with just 56 days’ notice – less than a third of the current notice period of six months’.

It appears that this plan was implemented, given that we had only about 5 weeks’ notice that the Exmouth branch was to close.

How was Modella allowed to ‘amend Post Office contracts’? Presumably POL agreed to the amendment.

Why did POL not insist that the Post Office branches remain operational for the full 6 months’ notice period? This could be done in Exmouth: it seems highly unlikely that the landlord will find a new tenant for the shop, so surely Modella could be made to keep the Post Office open even if the rest of the shop is bare?

Given Modella’s reputation, it seems possible that POL was told that if it didn’t agree to the change in the contract, Modella would put TG Jones into administration. There is nothing to suggest that this is what they did, but it might explain why POL appears not to have enforced the contracts: if it was a question of sacrificing 60 Post Offices to save 120, perhaps the managers thought that accepting the change was the lesser of two evils.

POL is, in effect, owned by the Government. It has a legal responsibility to provide specific services within communities. Surely the responsible Minister should be explaining why the country is facing the loss of branches that provide these vital services to millions of people?

“Yet again, the response is essentially another slap on the wrist fine, which a company of this size can absorb as simply the cost of doing business. The hard-working South West Water technicians and other staff I meet are being completely let down by rotten executives.

“I strongly believe we urgently need much tougher penalties for repeat offenders, including prison sentences for those responsible for overseeing serious and illegal sewage dumping.” – Ben Maguire, LibDem MP for North Cornwall

[This comes after SWW was fined £1.8m over a parasite outbreak in July and fined more than £2.1 after admitting causing pollution in the region in 2023.]

Steven Morris www.theguardian.com/

A water company has been ordered to pay a record fine of almost £8m for hundreds of sewage spills at popular bathing spots and sensitive habitats in Cornwall and Devon.

On one occasion, untreated sewage gushed through a harbour wall on a bank holiday weekend but South West Water (SWW) engineers took 10 hours to attend.

Sewage was also discharged into the River Camel, which is home to otter and Atlantic salmon and is popular with birdwatchers and sailors.

Fining SWW £7,867,733 at Plymouth magistrates court – the largest fine for environmental offences in the region – District Judge Matson said incidents of pollution could not be tolerated.

The judge repeatedly found the company’s conduct amounted to reckless failures in management systems and response to known risks.

In August 2019, untreated sewage gushed through the harbour wall on a bank holiday weekend at Polperro harbour on the south coast of Cornwall.

Between January 2016 and July 2021, there were 231 illegal sewage discharges at Harlyn on the north coast of Cornwall, not far from the foodie hotspot of Padstow.

In another case, SWW failed to provide a permanent fix for a sewer that entered a creek in Plymouth, despite multiple formal warnings from the Environment Agency over several years.

The company pleaded guilty to 18 charges, 17 for illegal water discharge activities and one for failing to take reasonable remedial measures after a failure at a pumping station.

Matson described the offences as “horrendous, very significant incidents of pollution” and said they should never happen again.

Despite the company pleading guilty, the judge found that SWW had tried to minimise its role in the offending rather than being remorseful and accepting full responsibility.

Clarissa Newell, area environment manager at the Environment Agency, which led the prosecution, said: “Hundreds of pollution incidents occurred at some of the most scenic locations in Cornwall and Devon, including bathing waters, a designated special area of conservation and a priority habitat. We hope this record fine will influence a new approach for South West Water.”

The fine came as the prime minister, Andy Burnham, described water as a symbol of what had gone wrong with Britain and promised to reverse Margaret Thatcher’s “ideological ban” on the public ownership of water companies

Responding to the fine, the environment secretary, Angela Eagle, said: “For six years, South West Water repeatedly broke the law. That’s why we’re overhauling the water system to give the public control, with tougher regulation, stronger enforcement and greater accountability, so water companies deliver for customers and the environment.”

The Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, Ben Maguire, criticised the punishment. He said: “Yet again, the response is essentially another slap on the wrist fine, which a company of this size can absorb as simply the cost of doing business. The hard-working South West Water technicians and other staff I meet are being completely let down by rotten executives.

“I strongly believe we urgently need much tougher penalties for repeat offenders, including prison sentences for those responsible for overseeing serious and illegal sewage dumping.”

SWW described the offences as “historic” and said: “The majority of the charges concerned the use of overflows in storm conditions. We’re investing £760m to tackle storm overflows and have reduced spills by 17% in the last year alone, with spill duration down by 25%. Significant improvements have been made across the sites concerned. We apologise for what happened in the past, and we remain focused on the future as we deliver record levels of investment.”

The water company was ordered to pay £329,993 costs.

In response to Exmouth post office closure sparks fears for vulnerable residents she writes:

During my interview with the BBC reporter which was screened on 28th September about the closure of the Post Offices, I commented on the deplorable quality of the contracts which the Department of Business and Trade had drawn up with franchisees of the Post Office. How was it possible for a company to walk away from its responsibility to run a vital public service and give barely six weeks notice of the store closure? Additionally, It seems that there was no oversight of W H Smith’s quality of service when managers were instructed by Head Office to divert Post Office staff to work on the shop floor when there were staff shortages, leaving customers without post office services sometimes for several days at a time. Where were the penalty clauses for failure to deliver post office services five and half days a week? Furthermore,why was there no requirement to give at least a year’s notice that the store and therefore the post office would close, thus enabling alternative arrangements to be made to continue the post office service?

This failed privatisation of the post office has cast a long shadow over towns up and down the country. This is not a little local difficulty; over 170 W H Smith outlets took on the franchise for the post office and now many towns throughout the UK will lose their vital post office services.

I think the Labour Government needs to take control of this situation created by the previous administration and renationalise all the post offices which should never have been farmed out to a failing retails outlet in the first place.

Kate Wilcox

The fifth largest settlement in Devon loses its Post Office – which of the remaining four will be next: Torquay, Paignton, Exeter or Plymouth? – Owl

People in Exmouth have spoken of their dismay as the town’s post office prepares to close, with some warning vulnerable residents could be left struggling to access essential services.

Hattie McCann, Jonathan Morris www.bbc.co.uk

The branch, which operates inside the town’s TGJones store – formerly WHSmith, is shutting on Monday as part of a wider closure programme affecting about 150 stores across the UK.

The Post Office said it hoped to open a replacement branch as soon as possible, although the process could take about six months.

It said in the meantime customers would be directed to branches at Littleham Cross and Budleigh Salterton.

Kate Wilcox, who campaigned against moving the post office into WHSmith several years ago, said residents had long feared the arrangement would leave the town without a permanent service.

She said: “Exmouth has a population of 36,000 and rising and it’s an elderly demographic and quite honestly people need the post office services.”

Wilcox said the loss of banks and building societies in recent years had increased the importance of the post office, particularly for people who relied on face-to-face banking and government services.

She said: “The town has been hollowed out by the closure of banks and building societies, the closure of the post office.”

Wilcox also warned the closure would be particularly difficult for older and disabled residents who may struggle to travel to alternative branches.

She said: “These are the people that actually need a friendly face to say, all right my love, what can I do?”

Exmouth resident Debbie Frost said the closure would make everyday tasks more difficult because she would have to travel further to access post office services.

Frost, who is visually impaired, said increasing reliance on digital services and touchscreen technology created additional barriers.

Although she accepted that services were changing, Frost said many people still needed face-to-face support and often had little choice but to depend on others.

She said: “I have to rely on friends or family to help me.”

The Post Office said in a statement: “We know how important our products and services are to the local community.

“The vacancy has been advertised and we have heard from interested retailers and we are looking more closely at the expressions of interest.

“We want to open a replacement branch as soon as possible, but this can take around six months.”

For the last two years, my life has been dominated by a subject the public, understandably, showed no interest in at all. Local Government Reorganisation. Guaranteed to clear a pub or a tea room in minutes.

Paul Arnott www.midweekherald.co.uk

That is until a couple of months back when under Keir Starmer the result for Devon was announced. That’s when the pitchforks came out and people started to say, what the heck!

The context is this. In July 2024, we elected a new government, and my perspective was, let’s give them a chance. Sadly, in my area of interest, their manifesto aim of devolving power to the regions through Mayors mutated into a non-manifesto series of diktats to reorganise local government (LGR) at the same time. Chaos.

In December 2024 we were given eight weeks including the Christmas break to come up with ideas for different shapes for local government in Devon. We were told to obey criteria, three of which were that the new Unitaries should be five hundred thousand population at least, that whatever was submitted must work for the whole geography in Devon, and that it should be done along existing district council boundaries.

Sadly, as the grizzled Leader at East Devon, and portfolio holder for LGR at Devon County, I knew from the very start that Labour councils in Devon would try to stitch this up. It became known as their “I’m alright, Jack” approach.

Despite the clear instructions above to create something which worked for all 1.25 million people in Devon, the Labour leaderships in Plymouth and Exeter ignored that, with the tacit approval of pals in Westminster, and submitted ideas to scoop valuable parishes into their dream expanded authorities. Neither of their plans reached three hundred thousand,

Meanwhile, the Conservatives in Torbay fell in line with a nonsensical expansion into the South Hams and Teignbridge. It soon became a national story, quite rightly, that Totnes was to be divided such that next door neighbours would have their bins collected by different councils.

As to the rest of us, the Labour councils drew a map for us all – from Kingsbridge in the south, to Holsworthy to the west, Ifracombe in the north, and Axminster in the east – with zero conversations with the district councils involved, dooming about 550,000 Devonians to a comically unworkable horseshoe shaped authority.

They shoved West Hill – full of high council taxpayers and land for future development – into the expanded Exeter, and Ottery St Mary next door with greater need for services into the Devon horseshoe.

But as they arrogantly pressed on, at Devon County we were quietly watching how process after process was being breached, and for over a year slowly compiled an evidence base for a possible Judicial Review. The draft of that was submitted a couple of months ago.

It is that solid legal challenge, and our absolute resolve to follow through on this, that is the real reason LGR was paused, or ceased, or whatever form of face-saving words Angela Rayner had to use last week [note this article originally dated 16 September]. Not MPs, not letters of protest, but ice-cold evidence, especially around the reckless way the Labour plan would smash up Children’s Services in Devon.

Meanwhile, all my allied councils in Devon totally accept the need to combine services, to evolve and improve local government. We are already doing it. And we welcome the possibility of a Devon mayor to bring tens of millions of pounds of inward investment into the county.

We also applaud Andy Burnham for stepping in and calling LGR off. This took a rare national politician who genuinely understands what councils do and their eternal struggles.

But two questions remain. Who precisely drew those absurd maps, and why? And when will we be recompensed for the millions spent pursuing this fool’s errand?

Labour leaders have been let down by their own party twice this year. First, they were told they could cancel May 2026’s elections in Exeter and Plymouth. Then they were told they were not.

Next, they gave in their flawed plan as described above and it was announced that was what was going to happen. A few weeks later, they were told the deal was off. Still they pretend it might happen. It won’t.

The Strategic Mayoral Authority is the only game in town now for Andy Burnham. Leaders in Devon need to set differences over LGR to one side – and we will – and focus on that. A bit of contrition would go down well, but as I wrote above, I am grizzled enough not to expect it.

Arguments, in a local context, developed  from: Thank goodness Labour’s ‘shambolic’ plan to reorganise local councils has been paused. What was it thinking? – Poly Toynbee, Guardian

“From the start, I could see no political purpose in her [Angela Rayner] launching this fiendishly complicated restructuring that has now crashed.”

Reorganisation has never been a Government objective.

Local Government Reorganisation is not in Labour’s manifesto. Neither is it a bee in Angela Rayner’s bonnet. In Polly Toynbee’s words:  “Angela did not come into government to reorganise local councils,” her people say indignantly. Her focus and purpose are fixed on housing, as the motor to drive growth.

Reorganisation was forced on Rayner. 

To quote again from Toynbee: Those closest to events have told me that the Treasury threatened to refuse funds for councils or capital for her housing targets unless she agreed to its plan. It took down a dusty 2020 PriceWaterhouseCoopers report from its shelves that purported to show that abolishing district councils and creating huge unitary authorities of up to 500,000 citizens throughout England would save money. Not very local. 

Under Andy Burnham’s determination to devolve power from Whitehall to the regions with the creation of No 10 North etc. this unaccommodating “nanny knows best” threat has surely evaporated. – Owl

Is there strong evidence of savings to be made?

As Owl has pointed out many times, district councils spend around 7% of your council tax bills. None of the services they provide, from maintaining electoral rolls and running elections to refuse collection, can be abandoned. If you can’t cut services, savings can only be made by cutting overheads. Supposing there is scope for a 10% saving in management costs. This is less than 1% of your overall council tax and somewhat insignificant in comparison to annual increases.

Toynbee: Treasury orthodoxy always thinks bigger is better and cheaper. Hampshire, with its district councils, is no better or worse run than, say, Shropshire or Buckinghamshire unitaries, Prof Tony Travers of the London School of Economics tells me. The House of Commons library finds no evidence that unitary councils save money compared with the current two-tier system.

Another aspect of this thinking is that there should be substantial reductions in councillors, increasing the separation between decision makers and the public. This is a perverse argument to make when supposedly devolving power, see below.

If there is no profit, then look at the loss.

Toynbee: Dwindling interest in community activism has led to a decrease in volunteers, members of political parties, trade unions, churches and sports clubs, those who keep society alive. So let’s not lose platoons of district councillors who help hold the social fabric together: these are people who know their communities, and whom residents know they can turn to. Experts at the Localis thinktank believe that abolishing district councils means “unsustainable workloads on remaining councillors”. 

Note under the “paused” plan, in the rural rump, whimsically called  “Devon Coast and Countryside”, only one councillor was allocated to every 3,500 electors compared to one councillor for every 2,200 in “Exeter 2028”. Moreover, all wards in Exeter would have, as now, three councillors to share their workload. Not so in the rump.

For the rump, this roughly halves the number of councillors residents have access to compared to the two tiered system.

Toynbee: A 2024 poll showed that in England people were twice as likely to trust local politicians to improve their areas as they were national politicians. There is clear evidence that councillors shore up people’s confidence in democracy.

Devolving power rather than reorganisation is now the priority

Angela Rayner: The Prime Minister is really clear that the Government’s ambition is to ensure that every area in England has, or is in the process of establishing, a strategic authority by the end of 2027, with strategic authorities in place everywhere by the end of 2028. – Statement on Local Government Reorganisation 7 September Hansard

Toynbee; Andy Burnham’s devolution of powers to mayors (or strategic authorities) across every region will move much faster if these council reorganisation plans are permanently shelved. Yes, it means that some places will have three layers of government – district, county and mayoral. But surely that is preferable to sweeping away local representation. There are worse things than having more local people getting involved as councillors, helping to run and shape their communities.

Remember Devon and Torbay have already created a non-mayoral strategic authority so the obvious next move is to progress to the next stage rather than reorganise.

Who pays for the fiasco?

Toynbee ends: Who should pay for this fiasco of a plan, and the chaos of its abrupt pause? The Treasury, who imposed it without due legal scrutiny. I trust the National Audit Office will record this classic case of Whitehall’s urge to create new organograms instead of solving practical problems on the ground. The former Tory MP Eric Pickles, who as local government secretary wielded an axe over council funding, had only one good thought: “I intend to keep a loaded pearl-handled revolver in my drawer, and the first civil servant who suggests local government reorganisation will be shot.”

Owl’s message to Devon County Council – keep the legal challenge simmering on the back burner.