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Daily Archives: 12 May 2016
“Decentralisation: Issues, Principles and Practice
University of Newcastle
“… The ad hoc, piecemeal and rapid process of decentralisation in England is generating a new institutional landscape.
Since 2010, institutions have been abolished as the regional tier was dismantled, new institutions have emerged, existing institutions reformed and new areas of public policy been brought together creating new arrangements involving Combined Authorities and LEPs with metro mayors to come as well as connections between new policy areas, for example health and social care (Figure 6). Echoing historical experience in England, this further episode of institutional churn, disruption and hiatus has reproduced many longstanding issues including loss of leadership, capacity and momentum as well as instability and uncertainty with negative impacts on growth and development.
The new institutional landscape is raising serious questions of accountability, transparency and scrutiny – the ‘achilles heel’ of decentralisation. Decisions are being made by a narrow of cadre of actors behind closed doors, involving a mix of elected politicians, appointed officials and external advisors.
Deals and deal-making are being conducted, negotiated and agreed in private by a small number of selected participants in closed and opaque circumstances and in a technocratic way. Decisions involving large sums of public money and long-term financial commitments are being taken without appropriate levels of accountability, transparency and scrutiny.
Although uneven in different places, many institutions and interests in the wider public, private and civic realms feel left out and marginalised. These include business and their representative associations (alongside the uneven involvement of LEPs), environmental organisations, further and higher education, trade unions, and the voluntary and community sector.
Equalities and representation concerns are evident in relation to gender and diversity. The wider public knows little about decentralisation of the governance system and is becoming increasingly disengaged and lacking faith in the ability of politics, public policy and institutions to make their lives better. Those better informed and engaged worry that power and control has simply shifted a little from elites in central national government to those at the local level.
Concerns that the decentralisation efforts in England failed in the early 2000s due to the limited nature of decentralisation on offer and lack of public engagement and support are mixed with fears that the current process risks repeating this mistake.
Accountabilities are lacking, weak and under-developed. Wider discussion, scrutiny and challenge by the public and/or relevant institutions have been largely absent. Anxieties are being articulated that the exclusive, opaque and technocratic way decentralisation is being conducted is reinforcing such concerns.
More inclusive, transparent and accountable ways of doing decentralisation need to be found, developed and adapted to local circumstances. Means need to be explored to allow and enable a wider set of voices to be heard and more interests and opinions considered in order to make decentralisation accountable and transparent and more sustainable.
International evidence illustrates that inclusive deliberation and dialogue supports better and more robust decision-making for public policy and more effective and lasting outcomes27. Decentralisation must not be seen as an end in itself but as a means to better economic, social and environmental outcomes for people and places across England and the UK. …”
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/curds/publications/documents/DECENTRALISATIONIssuesPrinciplesandPractice.pdf
Readers’ letters on devolution
“Your editorial (Local parties should grab the chance to reshape politics, 4 April) misses a very important trend in local government. Ordinary voters have been effectively disenfranchised by the cabinet system operated by local authorities, to the extent that dissent, even within members of majority parties, has been crushed. Residents are now looking to independent parties to represent their views in an open, non-partisan approach as illustrated by the “Flatpack Democracy” movement.
Creating even larger local government bodies, with elite “super-cabinets”, means that our rulers will be even more remote and less accountable. Promoting local government leaders to the “premier league” will have only one result: they will stop listening.
Richard Gilyead
Saffron Walden, Essex
• Imposing mayors on English cities, and the highly politicised “northern powerhouse”, are typical politicians’ solutions to their own economic failure. In sundry policy papers since the mid-80s, I sought to show that the problem with regional development is a voracious central government, as capital, income and the educated have been taxed and fiscally seduced to the south-east. The last thing we in the northern regions need is more political interventions.
Osborne is responsible for the most pernicious attack on the poorest regions, as the business rate revaluation was postponed for two years, massively subsidising London and taxing the poorest regions. Taxes continue to be applied less to profits and more to mere activity (rates, VAT, duties, unindexed capital gains), thus attacking further the poorest and subsidising the richest areas.
Rodney Atkinson
Stocksfield, Northumberland
• English devolution might transform local government leadership but it will have been diminished by the loss of its education services.
John Bailey”
Accountability: the problem
” … When a public body focuses upwards to the paymasters and policymakers, rather than downwards to the people it serves, it’s obvious who will suffer, however much the policymakers believe they have the best interests of the people at heart.
One answer is to sort out the architecture of accountability so that priorities are transparent and unchallengeable. That may matter just as much, perhaps more, than holding people to account for failings after the event. It may stop disasters happening.”
Nine police forces investigating Conservative election expenses
West Mercia is to investigate the Devon and Cornwall PCC case to keep a “cordon sanitaire” around Ms Hernandez’s conflict of interest with her own chief Constable.
“Lincolnshire becomes latest force to launch inquiry into allegations that Conservatives incorrectly categorised 2015 election costs
Nine police forces have launched inquiries into whether the Conservative party breached spending rules during the 2015 general election campaign.
Lincolnshire police became the latest force to confirm on Thursday that they were investigating the claims as the Tories handed over evidence regarding the controversy to the Electoral Commission.
The allegations regarding breaches of spending rules centre on claims that the party listed the costs of bussing activists into key marginal seats under national spending accounts, rather than as local spending.
Lincolnshire appears to be the ninth police force examining the allegations, which were first broadcast by Channel 4 News. The others are Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and West Mercia, and Devon and Cornwall.
Any candidate found guilty of an election offence could face up to one year in prison and being barred from office for three years.
A statement from Lincolnshire police said: “We are aware of recent media reporting regarding allegations of irregularities in the election expenses of the Conservative party and some of their candidates in the general election 2015, and three byelections in 2014.
“We can confirm that we are carrying out general enquiries, but we will not be commenting further until they are complete.”
The Electoral Commission went to the high court on Thursday for an information disclosure order to seek the documents.
Within hours, the commission said it had received the documents from the Conservatives and was reviewing them.
Senior Tories insisted that the legal action was not necessary as they had always intended to hand the details over.
“We advised the Electoral Commission on 29 April that we would comply with their notices by 1pm today, and have done so. There was no need for them to make this application to the high court,” a spokeswoman said.
The party acknowledged that due to an “administrative error”, some accommodation costs for the activists were not properly registered, but insisted that the bus tour was part of the national campaign organised by Conservative campaign headquarters and as such, it did not have to fall within individual constituency spending limits.”
http://nr.news-republic.com/Web/ArticleWeb.aspx?regionid=4&articleid=64278297
Moulding new Chairman of Devon County Council
How ever will he find the time to regenerate Axminster?
And remember Stuart Hughes was sacked from an EDDC committee because he was deemed “too busy” with his EDDC and DCC jobs!
Still, he has got Cloakham Lawn sorted to his satisfaction.
Hernandez interview on Spotlight tonight as Police and Crime Committee gets special meetin
Hernandez interview announced this afternoon for this evening on the 6.30 pm edition on BBC 1. In the meantime, in spite of its Chair (Councillor Croad, Con) saying on television that he sees no reason for it, there WILL be an emergency meeting of the Police and Crime Panel, the local watchdog to which Hernandez is responsible (and which, presumably could suspend her?) within the next couple of weeks.
Members of the panel according to its website is below:
Yvonne Atkinson (Co-Optee (voting)
Councillor Stuart Barker (Committee Member)
Councillor Chris Batters (Vice-Chair)
Councillor Betty Boundy (Committee Member)
Councillor Geoff Brown (Committee Member)
Councillor Roger Croad (Chair)
Councillor Philippa Davey
Councillor Robert Excell (Committee Member)
Phil Martin (Committee Member)
Councillor John Mathews (Committee Member)
Councillor E W Moulson (Committee Member)
Councillor Vivien Pengelly
Councillor Mike Saltern (Committee Member)
Councillor Philip Sanders (Committee Member)
Mrs Margaret Squires (Committee Member)
Councillor Rachel Sutton (Committee Member)
Councillor A Toms (Committee Member)
Sarah Wafker (Co-Optee (voting))
Derris Watson (Committee Member)
Councillor Tom Wright (Committee Member)
http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/dcpcpmembership
Time to lobby?
Here is its remit:
The Police and Crime Panel supports and challenges the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC). The panel has the power to request reports and call the PCC to attend its meetings.
Panels will not replace police authorities and will not have a role in scrutinising the performance of the police force (that is the role of the PCC).
The panel will:
review the police and crime plan and annual report
scrutinize (and potentially veto) the PCC’s proposed council tax precept* for policing
hold confirmation hearings for the PCC’s proposed appointment of a Chief Constable and senior support staff (the panel may veto the Chief Constable appointment)
scrutinise the actions and decisions of the Commissioner (but not the performance of the police force)
consider complaints against the PCC of a non-criminal nature
*the money collected from council tax for policing
Meetings are held in the Council House, Plymouth City Council, Armada Way, Plymouth.
DEFINITELY time to lobby!
“EDF says Hinkley Point cost could rise £3 billion, timing slips”
“French utility EDF (EDF.PA) warned on Thursday that the cost of building two nuclear reactors in Britain could reach nearly 21 billion pounds, about three billion more than it said in October.
The equity commitment on the Hinkley Point project includes a contingency margin which could reach 13.8 billion pounds for EDF and 6.9 billion for Chinese partner CGN, for a total of 20.7 billion pounds, EDF said in a statement ahead of its annual shareholders’ meeting.
In October, EDF put the equity financing at 12 billion and 6 billion, respectively, or 18 billion pounds.
EDF also said it would commit to provide “limited” financial guarantees to CGN, particularly in the case of cost overruns related to delays, or in the event that European authorities challenge EDF’s “Contract for Difference” negotiated with the UK government.
It did not specify the size of these guarantees.
Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy said that without Hinkley Point, EDF would have no credibility in trying to win other nuclear export markets.
“This project is essential for the credibility of the entire French nuclear industry,” he told shareholders.
EDF said in its statement that since signing its agreement with CGN in October, talks with CGN had continued and that it had now finalised stable contract documents.
EDF, which is 85 percent state-owned, confirmed that the projected rate of return (IRR) on Hinkley Point is estimated at around 9 percent over the life of the project.
It said every six months of delay would reduce the IRR by about 20 basis points.
“We will do everything we can to make sure there is no delay,” Levy told shareholders.
EDF also said it expects it to take 115 months (9.5 years) between a final investment decision until commissioning of the first reactor.
The final investment decision has been delayed several times. Last month, French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said he expected a decision by September.
This means that if the decision is taken in September, Hinkley Point would start up at the earliest in spring 2026.
In October, EDF said the first operation of Hinkley Point C was scheduled for 2025, which was already a two-year delay from its 2013 estimate for a 2023 start.
Levy also said that a planned 4 billion euro capital increase would be launched by year-end or at the start of 2017 if market conditions are favourable.”
The solution for devisive politics: more independents, says EDA
“Last week, elections for Police and Crime Commissioners (P&CC) were held across the country, including ours in Devon and Cornwall.
We would be grateful if you would allow us to propose that two key lessons must be learned.
The first, sadly, is negative. After the 2012 P&CC when the turnout here was 15 per cent, the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) said: “From the start, the P&CC elections were marred by controversy, with the government shirking its responsibility to provide voters with even the most basic information that the elections were taking place.” One of the ERS’s three key recommendations was: “Never leave voters in the dark about who or what they are voting for – ensure information on candidates is provided in mailings to voters.”
Cut forward to last week, and in Devon and Cornwall the 2016 turnout was still a lowly 22.8 per cent, artificially boosted by elections held on the same day in the major settlements of Exeter and Plymouth. We consider it has greatly damaged the reputation of the Cabinet Office (that little understood organ of control at Downing Street’s right hand) that they simply refused in the four years since 2012 to implement the ERA’s urgent suggestion for even a single mailshot, and hundreds of thousands of West Country voters remained in the dark in May 2016. Why?
However, on a more hopeful theme, there is in our view an immense positive to be found.
The Conservatives polled roughly 69,000 and Labour roughly 66,000.
But the aggregate vote of the two Independent candidates (Devon’s Bob Spencer taking about 41,000 and Cornwall’s William Morris about 22,000) shows us that even at an election when the party machines were cranking hard, a similar share could be gained by two Independent individuals working entirely from their own initiative, with slim resources, and having to operate across an immense area.
The country knows that we are stuck now with an increasingly divisive party political context until the general election fixed for May 2020. However, the more extreme parts of the Conservative agenda – from academies to planning, junior doctors to refugees – are being repeatedly confronted now by collective independent voices uniting outside the parliamentary system.
Last week, in our part of the country, the South West showed that even on a low turnout, the Independent cause is more than about just protest – we too can score in substantial numbers at the ballot box.
The question we now ask the region is this: how, for the sake of the next generation do we harness all this Independent goodwill and spirit to convert sentiment into candidates and candidates up to office at county elections in 2017 and for Parliament in 2020?
It seems to us that without an organised coming together of all independent-minded reformers as soon as possible, the Conservatives will ‘get the vote out’ in 2017 and 2020 too. Surely if ever there was a time for the Independent-minded to take up the challenge, it is now.
Paul Arnott, Chairman
Ben Ingham, Leader
East Devon Alliance”
Electoral Commission takes Conservative Party to court over election expenses
“It’s awkward timing for David Cameron, who launches his anti-corruption summit today in London:
he Electoral Commission is taking the Conservative Party to the High Court over the election spending scandal.
The Mirror [ but at the instigation of Channel 4 News] revealed two months ago that at least 24 Tory MPs had help from notorious battle buses ferrying hundreds of volunteers to marginal constituencies during the 2015 general election but didn’t declare any of the spending as required by law.
Breaching spending limits is a criminal offence and could lead to calls for by-elections.
It comes at an awkward time for David Cameron, who today kicks off an anti-corruption summit in London.
The slowly-unfolding scandal has led to several MPs and one Police and Crime Commissioner coming under criminal investigation by police.
The Electoral Commission are taking the Tories to the High Court to force them to reveal documents detailing the spending on Battle Buses ahead of the 2015 general election.
The Commission have already asked the Tories twice for the documents, but they have only provided “limited” disclosure.
Political parties have a legal obligation to provide full spending disclosures to the Commission on request.
Bob Posner, Director of Party and Election Finance and Legal Counsel at the Electoral Commission said: “If parties under investigation do not comply with our requirements for the disclosure of relevant material in reasonable time and after sufficient opportunity to do so, the Commission can seek recourse through the courts.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/electoral-commission-takes-tories-high-7952712
Hugo Swire pictured in Cameron’s anti-corruption squad – may have to start with his own family firms
Four of the Swire family holding companies feature in the Panama Papers and Swire is in record as saying that he thinks full tax disclosures for MPs should not be required.
Our LEP need an “Interim Head of Strategy” – just three days to apply!
“Interim Head of Strategy and Operations
Competitive remuneration [nowhere does it mention what the actual salary is]
The Heart of the South West LEP is a strong and dynamic partnership between the private sector, local authorities, universities and further education across Somerset, Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.
We have established an impressive track record leading and influencing economic growth, job creation and prosperity across the Heart of the South West.
This is an exciting time to be joining a Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) – work is underway with our partners developing a devolution deal with Government and at the same time rolling out our pipeline of £500m of investments. Reporting to the Chief Executive, this role leads a small core team in the LEP and working collaboratively with a wide range of other staff in our partners.
As a key member of the LEP’s senior management team, the role also directs LEP strategy (and development of our LEP wide devolution productivity plan), investment programme management and ramping up our engagement and communications with stakeholders to ensure we maximise our impact whilst developing the partnerships needed to build the global distinctiveness of our economy.
The ideal candidate will have senior level experience of working collaboratively with public and private sector partners on economic development or strategic economic plans / programmes in a fast paced, high profile environment. Experience of facilitating cluster development in a similar organisation would also be an advantage.
Also sought is the ability to commence work quickly to support development work on our devolution deal; an initial contract (or secondment opportunity) for a year is on offer.
Please provide your CV and details of remuneration or daily rate sought, by email to janet.powell@heartofswlep.co.uk.
Closing date: 15 May 2016
The LEP follows Somerset County Council Equalities Policies”
Just one domino has to fall …
It is being said by developers that Brexit would lead to a shortage of construction staff which, in turn, would lead to a shortage of homes being built. There is now also a recession in the British manufacturing sector.
What developers don’t go on to say is that both these situations would lead to higher house prices due to short supply and so Local Plans would be in tatters.
We banged on about Local Plans assuming that there would never be a recession, never be a shortage of workers (indeed there would be a constant increase) and no shortage of materials. Just this one change would mean Local Plans would be worthless.
What happens then?
East Devon Watch 