Daily Archives: 10 Aug 2016

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10 Aug 2016

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Accountability, Devolution, Hinkley C, Local Enterprise Partnership, Transparency

Hinkley C: conflicts of interest on both sides of the channel

An eerily similar situation to our own, where several members of the Board of our Local Enterprise Partnership will gain for their own companies or establishments from the Hinkley C project. But no abstentions on our side either!

“French firms Bouygues and Vallourec denied that members of their boards who are also on the board of EDF had a conflict of interest when they voted in favour of the French utility’s Hinkley Point nuclear project in Britain.

EDF’s board narrowly approved the controversial 18 billion pound project in a 10-7 vote on July 28. EDF unions argue the project should be delayed because of its financial risk and said on Monday that conflicts of interest in EDF’s board might have impacted the vote.

They say three EDF (EDF.PA) board members are also on the boards of other firms that are EDF customers, which could benefit from Hinkley Point, and should therefore have abstained.

Hours after the EDF board’s decision, the Britgish government announced a surprise decision to review the project, delaying its verdict until early autumn.

EDF board member Colette Lewiner is also on the board of construction firm Bouygues, (BOUY.PA) set to be one of the main contractors for Hinkley Point.

“There was no conflict of interest with regard to Mme. Lewiner,” a Bouygues spokesman said on Wednesday.

He said Lewiner is an independent Bouygues board member with whom management cannot interfere. He added that Bouygues decisions about Hinkley Point are not taken at board level.

Lewiner did not return a request for comment.

In October 2013, a joint venture of Bouygues unit Bouygues Travaux Publics (TP) and British firm Laing O’Rourke said it had been confirmed as preferred delivery partner for the main Hinkley Point civil engineering and construction contract, valued at over 2 billion pounds.

EDF board member Philippe Crouzet is also chairman of the board of Vallourec (VLLP.PA), whose Valinox unit makes tubes for nuclear power plants.

A spokeswoman confirmed Vallourec sells steel tubes for steam generators to Areva (AREVA.PA), which will deliver the two Hinkley Point reactors. She would not reveal sales data for individual clients nor comment on Crouzet’s Hinkley Point vote.

She added that Vallourec’s nuclear activities represent only about three percent of the group’s worldwide turnover.

“It is definitely not core business,” she said.

Vallourec says on its website it has been a partner of France’s nuclear industry from the outset and will play a key role in renovating the country’s nuclear power plants.

Finally, EDF board member Christian Masset, secretary general of the French foreign affairs ministry, is also on Areva’s board. Masset did not respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this year, Areva board chairman Philippe Varin stepped down from his EDF board mandate after unions and the French press raised questions about a possible conflict of interest between the two positions.”

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-edf-britain-idUKKCN10L22N

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10 Aug 2016

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Devolution

Parliament Briefing Paper on devolution deals – more cracks

This was first published in April 2016 and then updated in July 2016 and shows the cracks appearing in the deals including this paragraph:

“The main subjects of speculation

George Osborne, as Chancellor, was closely associated personally with the agenda. It is not clear whether the new Chancellor, Philip Hammond, will maintain support for the agenda within Government. Lord (Jim) O’Neill of Gatley has indicated that he would leave the Government if he perceived that the agenda was no longer being treated seriously.

Conversely, Greg Clark, the previous Secretary of State for communities and local government, claimed that he had “argued successfully … for English local government to be part of the negotiations on the terms of our exit”.

A number of sector representatives, as well as Mr Clark, have argued for a “radically expanded role for local government” in the wake of leaving the EU.

European Union structural funds have formed a major element of many devolution deals. It is not yet clear if and when structural funds will cease to be paid to UK localities. A number of sector representatives have argued that, if the funds are withdrawn, Government should make good the deficit for the 2014-20 programming period.”

This is how the paper is described:

“This Commons Library briefing paper summarises the main developments regarding the process of devolution of powers to local government within England since 2014. It covers the devolution deals agreed between the Government and local areas up to July 2016, including the powers to be devolved, the procedures required for devolution to take place, and reactions to the policy from the local government and policy-making worlds.”

http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN07029#fullreport

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10 Aug 2016

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Misc

Cracks in the devolution agenda at national level? And Hampshire starts the discussion

Owl, with its superior hearing, noticed Martyn Oates on Spotlight tonight saying that he had heard that devolution deals were no longer in favour and simpler unitary authorities might now be on the cards again.

Hhhm – Mrs May really is turning the rocks over to see what is underneath.

Well, it was one of George’s more crazy ideas.

But so far, only a rumour.

Hampshire, though, has seen the light:

“HAMPSHIRE County Council is calling on the Government to take a rain check on any plans for devolution while it consults residents on what they think about the idea of combined authorities, elected mayors and unitary options.

Following last month’s EU referendum result and a period of potential economic disruption, county council leader Roy Perry has called on the Government to avoid causing unnecessary instability to Hampshire’s economy – and instead halt plans that he believes would split up Hampshire and erode the strength of vital services to residents across the county.

And despite the change in Government, this message is felt to remain valid.
In a letter to former Prime Minister David Cameron, Mr Perry said that now was not the time to press ahead with proposals to implement a Solent devolution deal, thought to be favoured by East Hampshire District Council, which would break up crucial transport services on which Hampshire’s economy depends, and risk damaging, among other things, significant public investment in essential transport schemes.

And he has called for the resetting of the agenda on devolution.
“The closure of the referendum campaign brings an ideal opportunity to reset the agenda on devolution and refocus on what we’re actually trying to deliver – strengthened local democracy, sustainable local growth and reformed public services.

“The positive energy from Government’s initial announcement to devolve more decision-making powers to local areas has sadly dissipated, as councils up and down the country have divided over two issues – Government’s insistence on having directly-elected mayors, and possible local government reorganisation as the alternative. This is certainly the case in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight where the collective, previously healthy, working relationships have been placed under massive strain by the very process that was supposed to bring us better together.

“We shouldn’t be spending time and resources on these disputes at a time of such uncertainty for the future of the economy and public services.”
Mr Perry said that with the county council needing to save a further £120m by 2019, and most other local authorities also facing similar financial pressures, “there is deep concern across Hampshire about the enormous additional risks of dismantling consistently high-performing services such as child protection, highway maintenance and adult social care, and transferring them to combined or unitary authorities that split the county into several pieces, and cut across the well-established boundaries for the police, fire service and health”.

“That is the inescapable conclusion of the current Solent plans,” he said.
He was heartened therefore when at the Local Government Association conference in Bournemouth, then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Greg Clark gave an assurance that the devolution process would not fragment historic boundaries.

In urging the Government to get devolution back on track, Mr Perry repeated his call for proper deals to be delivered in areas that have rejected the Government’s demand for elected mayors as a condition of devolution.
“The Government should also set out the process and timetable for how new unitary councils could be created for areas pursuing local government reorganisation,” he said.

http://www.farnhamherald.com/article.cfm?id=112501&headline=Call%20for%20halt%20to%20devolution%20talks&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2016

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10 Aug 2016

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Accountability, Democracy, Devolution, Local Enterprise Partnership

Devolution – not in Derbyshire’s back yard if they can help it!

THAT’S HOW YOU DO IT! And Derbyshire doesn’t even have a Local Enterprise Partnership to muddy the waters even further:

“Derbyshire County Council has decided to launch legal action against Sheffield City Region (SCR) Combined Authority over proposals to put some county council services in the hands of the city-region’s new mayor.

The county council’s leader, Cllr Anne Western, said the authority is seeking permission from the High Court for a judicial review of these proposals, outlined in a SCR public consultation exercise that Derbyshire has branded “misleading, flawed and insufficient” – and therefore unlawful.

Cllr Western acknowledged that the council might be criticised for the decision, but stressed it is important to “act now and send out a strong message to help put a stop to these proposals, or risk Chesterfield spending the next 30 years living in South Yorkshire’s shadow”.

SCR’s consultation, which closes on 12 August, could transfer responsibility over some of the county council’s services to the Sheffield mayor, including decisions over major roads, funding for maintenance and road safety on all roads in the borough, public transport and travel concessions, skills for employment and major planning and investment projects.

“If these proposals go ahead, it will affect the people of Chesterfield and Derbyshire for generations to come and yet the consultation doesn’t tell the full story or ask the right questions − so how can people give an informed view?” Cllr Western said.

“The county council has a responsibility to act in the best interests of all its residents and we could not sit idly by and watch South Yorkshire break up Derbyshire without a proper consultation.

“The fact is that if Chesterfield becomes a full member of SCR it will undoubtedly be at a huge financial cost to Derbyshire County Council − and therefore Derbyshire taxpayers − in making our services fit in with new arrangements for Chesterfield, not to mention around £1m in business rates from Markham Vale which would all be transferred to SCR.”

She stressed that if the plans – which the county council is asking to be legally quashed – go ahead, it would be a “big decision with no easy way back” should Chesterfield join the SCR Combined Authority. This would be despite the county council’s own online poll, which received 4,000 responses, showing that 92% of residents reject proposals to join the city-region’s authority.

As well as being a “leap in the dark” given no other council in the country has joined a combined authority outside their county border, which Derbyshire would be forced to do, plans are raising concerns of representation.

The county council said that because Chesterfield is better off than most of Sheffield and South Yorkshire, the new mayor could push its needs to the back of the queue. The mayor could also end up having “little regard” for residents in neighbouring Derbyshire districts, resulting in a potential change to transport services and therefore general borough connectivity.

It also criticised the fact that Derbyshire and Chesterfield councils would only have one vote each in joint decisions, while Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster – the members of SCR – would have two each.
The future of Chesterfield would also inevitably be tied to SCR’s 30-year devolution plan, despite only the first few years of investment in the borough having been outlined so far.

“We’ve got a moral duty to fight for our residents and protect them against things we believe will put them at a disadvantage,” Cllr Western continued.
“Chesterfield is Derbyshire’s biggest town, most people who live there also work in Derbyshire and they don’t want to become a suburb of Sheffield − which is effectively what will happen if these plans go ahead.”

According to SCR’S Twitter, the combined authority has received over 2,200 responses to the consultation so far.”

http://www.publicsectorexecutive.com/Public-Sector-News/sheffield-facing-legal-action-over-flawed-and-unlawful-devolution-consultation

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10 Aug 2016

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Accountability, Andrew Leadbetter, Exmouth, Freedom of Information and EIA, Moirai Exmouth project, Regeneration, Richard Cohen, Scrutiny, Transparency

Exmouth seafront tenders – time for review?

In response to a Freedom of Information request (below) on 15 February 2016, EDDC refused to divulge any information about the Moirai tender bid for Exmouth seafront.

Owl thinks that now this process has been abandoned, EDDC must divulge this information and that other bidders have no right to keep their bids secret.

Anyone fancy another request?

“Q 1. What information do you hold about any/all organisation that made enquiries in response to JLL’s marketing exercise in respect of the proposals ?
I refer you back to our previous response dated 16th February and quote from this below:

You also asked for the names of the organisations who submitted a bid for this work having been provided already with the number of organisations involved. In considering your request we have contacted the other organisations who submitted a bid and they have confirmed our view that this detail, at this point in time, is commercially confidential to them. We are therefore withholding this detail under Regulation 12(5)(e) of the Environmental Information Regulations.

I confirm that this response still stands and is directly relevant to this question and questions 2, 3, and 4 below.

Q 2. Who were the two applicants who were not chosen at the final interview ?
See above

Q 3.Did any of the two unsuccessful developers include ‘residential’ elements in their proposals? If so details please/
See above

Q 4. Please supply fullest details of the proposals that the two unsuccessful applicants offered.
See above

Q 5. Please provide details of all persons who comprised the selection panel that chose Moirai.
The selection panel was made up of Cllr John Humphreys, Cllr Tim Wood, Cllr Andrew Moulding, Richard Cohen and Alison Hayward

Q.6. Can you kindly confirm that the number of organisations, out of the 4,000 plus that were contacted by JLL, who chose to submit themselves to the final selection process was only three?

4 were initially interviewed and then, in March 2015, we considered 3.

Q 7. Taking into account EDDC’s promise to the public on the non-inclusion of ‘residential’ on the Queen’s Drive site, did any member, officer or advisor ever consider that EDDC’s ‘offer’ to developers had failed to attract a suitable candidate for preferred developer? If so full details please.
No information held”

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10 Aug 2016

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Coastal communities, Environment (local)

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South West Water – sewage discharge into sea in Devon and Cornwall worst for 2015

“Raw sewage is being pumped into the sea around Devon and Cornwall after heavy rain overwhelmed drainage systems, water bosses have admitted.
Water quality warnings have been issued on beaches in the county because of the problems, South West Water said.

It said intense rainfall leads to run-off from fields and towns combining and affect bathing water quality.

Andy Cummins, Surfers Against Sewage (Sas), said the drainage infrastructure needed to be upgraded. “We need a sewage infrastructure that can cope with the amount of rainfall we get year on year,” he said.

Raw sewage is being pumped into the sea around Devon and Cornwall after heavy rain overwhelmed drainage systems, water bosses have admitted.
Water quality warnings have been issued on beaches in the county because of the problems, South West Water said.

It said intense rainfall leads to run-off from fields and towns combining and affect bathing water quality.

Andy Cummins, Surfers Against Sewage (Sas), said the drainage infrastructure needed to be upgraded. “We need a sewage infrastructure that can cope with the amount of rainfall we get year on year,” he said. “Our infrastructure needs to be able to cope with everything we put down the loo.”

Sas has previously slammed South West Water’s systems after claiming there had been 40 incidents of raw sewage polluting beaches in one weekend last year.

Mr Cummins said many people were not even aware “raw untreated human sewage” was discharged into the sea when the problem arose.

Tourism groups in the area have complained about the sewage, saying it puts people off going into the sea.

Fatos Fida, on holiday from London, said: “I think it is disgusting. As a tourist I had no idea. It puts me off visiting the beach as it isn’t hygienic.”

A South West Water spokesman said they operate an information system telling people about storm water overflows and the risk of pollution affecting quality.

The firm was the only water and sewerage company of the nine operating mainly in England, to have performed “significantly below target” by the Environment Agency’s (EA) 2015 performance assessment. It had 171 category 1-3 pollution incidents per 10,000 km of sewer, 74 more than the next worst-offending firm, the EA reported.

An Environment Agency spokesman said being rated “poor performance” led to “more visits, scrutiny of incidents we attend and increases the number of audits we carry out”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-36956165

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10 Aug 2016

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Economy, EDDC, Seaton/ Colyford / Colyton, Stuart Hughes

That’s what friends are for …

The “council Chief” has not seen fit to intervene in the closure of any other banks in East Devon but no doubt chats with his high-profile Vice-Chairman Helen Parr (Colyton) at EDDC he has felt he must do what he can to help.

Other towns look forward to a similar intervention by the two of them on their behalf should their remaining banks be threatened with closure.

DCC Councillor Claire Wright recently wrote to Lloyds Chairman begging him not to close the branch in Ottery:

http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/lloyds_bank_chief_executive_urged_to_retain_otterys_branch_in_face_of_cuts

Councillor Hughes (also a DCC councillor with highways responsibility) does not appear to have offered his support there.

“Council chief joins fight to save Colyton bank

East Devon District Council chairman Stuart Hughes has thrown his weight behind Colyton’s fight to save its Lloyds Bank branch from 
closure.

Members of St Andrew’s Parish Church recently wrote to the company’s chairman, Lord Norman Blackwell, appealing to him to reverse his decision to pull out of the town.

In their letter, the rector, the Reverend Hilary Dawson and her two church wardens, Christine Sansom and David Fouracre, said: “It would appear in the world of big business, small is not beautiful. However, to a community like ours, such a facility is crucial.

“We have a predominately elderly population living in a rural location. Many are without private transport, and public transport is infrequent and impractical for those with mobility problems. Many of the elderly are not computer literate, so online banking is not an option for them.

“A large proportion of the Colyton population have banked with Lloyds for many years, primarily because we have a fully functioning bank within the community. Your planned closure of this branch reflects the continued marginalisation of a hitherto thriving rural community.”

Now, in a show of support, Cllr Hughes has echoed parishioners’ concerns in a further letter to Lord Blackwell. He wrote: “Small branches like the one in Colyton are vital for rural communities and I am asking that the Lloyds Banking Group gives serious reconsideration to closing it. Such facilities are absolutely key to the life of our communities and we need to keep them open.”

Colyton district councillor Helen Parr added: “Not only will the loss of Lloyds Bank be a blow to personal customers, it will also hit businesses and many organisations and societies. The loss of our only bank would be a serious threat to the economic prosperity of the town.”

http://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/council_chief_joins_fight_to_save_colyton_bank_1_4651305