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8 Oct 2016

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Accountability, Hugo Swire, Inequality, Transparency

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MPs who hire family must prove they are the best people for the job says watchdog

MP Hugo Swire has employed his wife Alexandra (Sasha) at a salary of between £30,000-£39,995 a year for many years.

Has anyone ever seen Mrs Swire or spoken to her in a parliamentary rather than political or personal capacity? If so, it would be great to know.

“MPs who hire their wives and children as staff will be made to prove they are the best candidate available, the new head of the expenses watchdog has indicated.

In her first interview in the job, Ruth Evans, chair of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority [IPSA], said the public now expects “equal opportunity employment” in MPs’ offices.

Around 150 MPs – close to one in four – have a family member working in their office, while a number of prominent politicians have faced complaints about their arrangements.

Currently MPs face few limits to hiring partners or children. They are limited to hiring just one at a time and must publicly declare the situation.

“We would want to see the best possible person for the job being recruited in order to provide public value for money.

But Ms Evans hinted that when a consultation ends later this month she will decided to tighten the rules so MPs in the future must prove other better candidates were not available.

“It is a controversial area. On the one hand, public expectations have shifted and there is an expectation for equal opportunity employment. On the other hand, you do have MPs who have specific requirements,” Ms Evans said.

“It all comes down to what the job is and could we define more clearly what the responsibilities and roles are.

“Because it may be that if you can more clearly define specific roles, the answer becomes apparent as to who can take on that role.

“We would want to see the best possible person for the job being recruited in order to provide public value for money. That’s the key.”

Earlier this summer, Ms Evans became only the second ever chair of the IPSA, a watchdog created after The Telegraph’s investigation into MPs’ expenses.

During her 35-year career she has helped regulate the police, lawyers, doctors and broadcasters as well as chair two independent inquiries into healthcare, before beating around 30 rivals to get her new role.

“This isn’t about regulation, this is about encouraging them to account for the work that they’re doing in order that their constituents can be reassured.

Ms Evans is urging MPs to publish a yearly explanation about how their expenses are spent so voters better understand what is being funded.

“The more that MPs can tell their constituents how they use the public’s money and what they do in their jobs, so much the better,” she said.

“It makes sense for MPs to provide as much information as they can. We don’t want to burden them with excessive regulation.

“This isn’t about regulation, this is about encouraging them to account for the work that they’re doing in order that their constituents can be reassured.”

The first ever “annual account of expenditure” by MPs will be published in November and is designed as a way of them to get on the front foot.

For example MPs could explain how many constituents’ cases were dealt with from the salaries paid to staff or explain that unusually high office costs came only because of a change of address.

“MPs should be paid a fair wage for a job and in return MPs, in Ipsa’s view, should be accountable for the work that they do,” she said.

Ms Evans also defended allowing MPs to claim for first class travel, saying: “There’s no issue here because they only take first class travel if they can get it at the same rate as second class travel by booking ahead.

“We do not pay for first class travel that costs more than standard.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/08/mps-who-hire-family-must-prove-they-are-the-best-candidates-says/

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8 Oct 2016

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Austerity cuts, Developers/ Development, Hugo Swire

Millionaire property developer hosts Cameron’s 50th birthday party

Wonder if Hugo Swire knighted by Cameron in the cronies honours list – is invited? Ah, apparently not, says the article.

“When plans were first being made for David Cameron’s 50th birthday party it was going to be a grand affair at Chequers, the stately home where Sir Winston Churchill made some of his wartime broadcasts.

But the EU referendum and Cameron’s tearful departure from Downing Street changed all of that.

The former prime minister will not exactly be slumming it, however, when he celebrates his half century tonight, the day before his actual birthday.

Cameron and his wife Samantha will be the star turn at a discreet dinner party in one of the most magnificent homes in private ownership in Britain. They will be entertained by property developer Tony Gallagher at Sarsden House, a listed 17th-century Oxfordshire mansion set in 459 acres.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3827953/Cameron-celebrates-50th-ultra-exclusive-party-Just-23-guests-invited-Dave-s-low-key-birthday-albeit-26million-country-pile-owned-favourite-Tory-donor.html

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8 Oct 2016

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Accountability, Democracy, Devolution, EDDC, Local Enterprise Partnership, Transparency

Councillors to be told about devolution ” myths” – though some of them seem to be reality!

According to this week’s EDDC Knowledge newsletter, all councillors have been invited to a meeting on Thursday 20 October at 5 pm to hear a presentation on a “Devolution – ‘myth busting’ briefing”.

This presentation has already been given to DCC councillors and here is one Councillor’s report (Robert Vint):

“On Monday Devon County Councillors were presented with a “Myth Busting” training session on Devolution. On Thursday there was a repeat session for South Hams District Councillors.

The “Myths” they were attempting to “bust” were that the Devolution process was led by the LEP, was undemocratic, would result in local government reorganisation / centralisation etc.

The explanations – or non-explanations – only strengthened my concerns. It was confirmed that there would be no public consultation on the economic development plan but only on the Combined Authority proposal and that the LEP had played a central role.

I asked why the plan did not start by identifying local needs such as rural unemployment and affordable housing then consult communities and small businesses on how to tackle these problems. They said not to worry as this was an outline economic plan – but later they confirmed that there would be no consultation on the economic plan or any opportunity to change it.

We have a Devolution Prospectus written by the few big businesses in the LEP to serve their own needs rather than those of the wider community of Devon and Somerset. This has then been rubberstamped by local authorities who did not have the staff, time or vision to rewrite it to meet our real needs and who failed to consult residents and small and family businesses. As a result we will be subjected, without any opportunity to comment, to a local economic development strategy that will serve the wealthy rather than the majority and that will fail to provide jobs where they’re needed or houses to the people who need them most.

In contrast the RSA – Royal Society of Arts – outlines how we should be delivering genuine, fair and inclusive devolution.

The UK’s economic status-quo has resulted in huge sections of our population being ‘left behind’. So the RSA are proposing a radical programme of devolution, inclusive industrial strategies and investment in human capital to create a more inclusive, equal society.”

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8 Oct 2016

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Accountability, Consultation, Democracy, Independent Councillors

EDDC afraid of democracy or afraid of independent councillors independence (and their skills)?

“Whilst I give my complete backing to Cllrs Dyson and Barratt for their upcoming work on the Port
Royal Scoping Study reference group (Herald, September 16), I would like to question the attitude of the regime that allows the controlling group at EDDC to pick one from three Town ward members.

Surely, if this process is to be truly open and accountable, this selection should have been the responsibility of the ward members themselves? After all, we were elected by residents to work on their behalf to uphold their wishes. It remains to be seen whether any of the important lessons from other EDDC projects (such as the relocation from Knowle and the beach management plan, let alone Seaton and Exmouth regeneration) have really been learnt.

Sidmouth Town Council may nominally be leading this project for now, but, in the long run, most of the land concerned is owned by EDDC and the final say on who buys it and for what use will be theirs. This includes the car parks and the swimming pool as well as the buildings on the seafront.”

Cllr Cathy Gardner
EDDC Sidmouth Town Ward
East Devon Alliance member

http://www.eastdevonalliance.org.uk/cathy-gardner/20161008/sidmouth-herald-i-question-attitude-regime/

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8 Oct 2016

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Accountability, EDDC, Exmouth, Philip Skinner, Regeneration

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Skinner defends loss of seafront business and boarding up derelict sites

” … A number of seafront businesses, including DJ’s Cafe, have been forced to close this year, but it’s now being argued these attractions could have stayed open.

District council officers evicted the Wright family from Jungle Fun, Arnold Palmer Putting Green and Crazy Golf to make way for the proposed seafront regeneration.

The site has been earmarked for demolition to make way for a £4million watersports centre as part of the development.

The Wright family was given a stay of execution on the fun park, which will remain open until the end of August next year.

Large metal grey fences have now gone up around Jungle Fun, Arnold Palmer Putting Green and Crazy Golf.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) has confirmed it would be open to having attractions back on the site next summer, provided all demolition work has been completed.

Phillip Skinner, chairman of the Exmouth Regeneration Board, said: “The site must remain boarded up for safety reasons, at least until surveys have concluded, and clearance and demolition have been completed.

“We will look to open up the site again for the summer, if we are able, and will consider leisure, entertainment, food and drink-type attractions if this is feasible.”

In response to the news, Louise McAllister, of the Save Exmouth Seafront, said: “It is shocking that EDDC is stating that it ‘may open up the site again for summer (2017)’.

“While we would love to see the site back in use, if it was to be reopened, surely the existing successful businesses should never have been forced to close in the first place.

“The actions of EDDC surrounding this closure are so far removed from the best interests of the town that they are beginning to seem like either acts of deliberate cruelty towards the seafront tenants, or an example of the most dreadful project management imaginable.”

http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/home/questions_raised_over_exmouth_seafront_plans_1_4708024?utm_medium=email&utm_source=eshot&utm_campaign=newsletterlink

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8 Oct 2016

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Rural communications, Rural communities

Promises about rural broadband examined

“Is broadband as bad as Theresa May’s party conference speech implied?

Nearly. Her complaint that “half of people living in rural areas, and so many small businesses, can’t get a decent broadband connection” is probably based on a report produced by the regulator Ofcom last year, which is now a little out of date. Ofcom found 1.5m rural premises – about half of the total – could not get the basic speed needed to watch video and support multiple devices such as tablets, phones and smart TVs. The regulator said it would be another three years before all these premises get the 10 megabits per second (Mbps) it considers a minimum for modern users.

Things have improved since then, thanks to the taxpayer-funded BDUK scheme to wire up the countryside. The total suffering from slow connections has fallen to 25% across all rural areas, though half of those living in hamlets are still below 10Mbps. Business parks have also complained of being left out.

Ofcom said last year that only 68% of small and medium-sized businesses have superfast, with some 400,000 still waiting. The problem is not confined to rural areas. BT’s superfast broadband roll-out, which has now reached 90% of all homes and businesses, is bypassing those living in tall buildings – from council tower blocks to highrise luxury flats.

How is the UK doing compared to other countries?

Not too badly – for now. The average customer can download at a rate of 15Mbps, which means the UK ranks 20th in the global speed league. But much smaller economies such as Bulgaria, Romania and Belgium are already faster. South Korea is at the top of the pile, with 27Mbps, and Norway is in second place with 20Mbps.

The concern is that, having finished the bulk of its superfast upgrade, BT does not have sufficiently ambitious plans for the future. Homes are still connected to street cabinets by copper wires. The company plans to extend fibre-optic cables closer to its customers’ doorsteps, using a technology called G.Fast, but copper will still be used for the final stretch. BT claims G.Fast will deliver speeds of up to 300Mbps, which is more than most users need for now. But experts say the only future-proof network is one that uses fiber cables only, all the way from the exchange to the premises.

Fiber to the premises, or FTTP in telecoms jargon, is at least three times as fast and would ensure no fall in speeds at peak times. BT and Virgin Media, the two biggest network operators, plan to connect a mere 3m premises between them using FTTP. To be fair, BT says it will fill the gaps in its superfast roll-out by focusing on tall buildings, business parks and high streets. But other countries, including China, France, Portugal and New Zealand, have much bigger plans.

What would improve broadband?

Rivals say BT needs to split off its infrastructure division, Openreach, into a separate company. More than 560 TV and broadband resellers, including Sky and TalkTalk, rent their lines from BT. And these resellers say they receive a poor service, with engineers taking too long to fix faults and install new lines.

In July, MPs concluded that BT was “significantly under-investing” in Openreach, to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds a year. Funds that should be going into broadband were instead being spent on football rights designed to boost the newly launched BT Sports channels. A top-class TV service is part of BT’s strategy to stop its customers defecting to other providers.

Since BT started competing with Sky for live football, the amount collected by clubs each season has rocketed from £594m to £1.7bn. BT counters that it spends less on football than on fiber – this year it will invest £1.4bn in its network, and last year it spent £544m on sports rights.

What are the practical hurdles?

BT chief executive Gavin Patterson has threatened 10 years of litigation and a halt on network investment if the government forces through structural separation.

The BT pension scheme is a big obstacle. The largest occupational scheme in the country, its deficit stands at almost £10bn. Splitting the commitment would be a complicated and expensive business. Ofcom is proposing a middle way: legal separation. Openreach would get a board of its own, with control over budget, ownership of the network and a directly employed workforce. If this still doesn’t work, Ofcom boss Sharon White says “we would return to the option of full separation”.

Is Theresa May serious about sorting rural broadband?

Time will tell. Ofcom’s proposals for legal separation were published at the end of July, just a couple of weeks after the new Conservative leader moved into 10 Downing Street. The prime minister has not had a chance to put her own stamp on the strategy, but her keynote gave no clue as to whether she will push for a stronger remedy.

Is infrastructure spending the answer and will it happen?

Labour thinks so. It has promised to raise £500bn for investment in infrastructure, including broadband. The chancellor, Philip Hammond, last week made a more cautious case, for “very carefully for targeted, high-value investment in our economic infrastructure”. Other governments are spending in this area. Singapore has already connected every home to fiber, although in a 720 sq km city state, this was a fairly straightforward task.

In Australia, the job of wiring vast expanses of outback required special measures. Structural separation was forced on the Telstra network in a negotiation that took five years. The government committed A$30bn to fitting FTTP to 93% of homes.

Initiated under a Labour administration, the project has since been scaled back. Estimates for the cost of a national all-fiber network in the UK vary from £25bn to more than £50bn. That kind of money could probably not come from the private sector alone.

Campaigners argue that splitting BT would not only allow government investment, but could unlock private-sector spending, too. An independent Openreach would be a FTSE 100 company in its own right, with £5bn a year in revenues and plenty of muscle with which to raise funds.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/08/is-theresa-may-serious-about-sorting-out-rural-broadband

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8 Oct 2016

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Environment (local), Post-Brexit Adjustments

The effect of Brexit on local farmers

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/08/walking-into-the-unknown-rural-england-weighs-up-the-reality-of-brexit?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

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8 Oct 2016

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Misc

Seaton Town Council organises meeting about proposed NHS hospital bed cuts

“As almost everyone in Seaton must now know, the NEW Devon (North, East and West Devon) Clinical Commissioning Group is currently consulting on which few beds should be retained in community hospitals. Although Seaton will keep 24 beds under Options A (the CCG’s preferred option) and C, under options B and D these beds will go to Sidmouth.

Indeed having removed the beds from Ottery St Mary and Axminster hospitals, the CCG now proposes to take all beds from Honiton and Okehampton, leaving only 32 beds in Tiverton, 24 in either Seaton or Sidmouth, and 16 in either Exmouth or Exeter (Whipton), to serve 900,000 people in most of Devon.

The Town Council has expressed its grave concern at the threat to Seaton Hospital and the wider removal of community beds. With Councillor Martin Pigott taking the lead, I and other councillors have met with representatives of the Hospital League of Friends and the GP practices (who have questionnaires available for you to express your views to the CCG).

We will be organising a public meeting, probably on Friday 4th November, with Neil Parish MP – the CCG will be invited to send a representative.

The community hospitals are an essential half-way house, much valued by patients, between the acute beds in the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital and care in the community. The whole point is to have them local. Taking their beds away will make only a small difference to the CCG’s ballooning deficit – the only thing that will really change it is for the Government to finally put in the extra funding which everyone knows the NHS needs. We need to link up with others in East Devon to make this a common battle.”

https://seatonmatters.org/2016/10/08/save-the-beds-in-seaton-hospital/

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7 Oct 2016

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Accountability, Andrew Moulding, Coastal erosion, Developers/ Development, EDDC, Exmouth, Moirai Exmouth project, Regeneration, Spin, Sustainability

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Transcript of Councillor Andrew Moulding’s attempt to explain development on Exmouth Seafront to Simon Bates on BBC radio

Owl’s summary of Moulding’s attempt to explain EDDC’s current “thinking”:

“We have been planning Exmouth Sea Front for 6 years and we know exactly what we are doing, even though our preferred bidder Moirai has only got initial ideas and we haven’t yet decided what Phase 3 will consist of or how much it will all cost. And it’s going to be completely built up yet very open – and sand drifts are exactly what everyone wants.”

The interview transcript:

“Simon Bates: In Exmouth a group of badgers are thought to be living near a former crazy golf course on the sea front, and they’re involved in a completely different type of dispute. At stake is the proposed multi-million pound development of the area, seen as crucial for Exmouth by East Devon District Council, but viewed by some locals as a terrible mistake for the town.

In the maelstrom, in the middle of it, trying to keep the peace is Adrian Campbell. Good morning Adrian. … What’s going on?

Adrian Campbell: Well, badgers and crazy golf – it does sound a bit peculiar I agree. On Queen’s Drive on the sea front in Exmouth the district council has plans for a quite a big development there. It’s close to the former crazy golf area. There’s also an amusement arcade nearby, and an old railway carriage cafe used to be there.

Now some of these have already gone, they’ve been fenced off, big changes are planned for an idea originally called Exmouth Splash. There’s been consultation about that before. They want to develop this area. Its close to another development that has already taken place known as Ocean, which is a big bowling area that has been built on the sea front just down from the Premier Inn.

However, on this site are badgers, and local people say that they believe that they were under the crazy golf course. That seems to have been confirmed – not so many of them, as there is a bigger sett further off the site.

We spoke to Louise McAllister from Save Exmouth Seafront…

Louise MacAllister: It was alerted to me by a local resident that there were badgers living in this site up until very recently. So I was a little bit concerned that they had already gone ahead with the demolition, because you have to apply for a license to interfere with a sett, and I am just a little bit worried that East Devon District Council have not had the time to do that.

Simon Bates: Can we talk about East Devon District Council because this sounds like a labyrinthine one, let alone about the sett. What did they tell you?

Adrian Campbell: Well they have confirmed that they have, first of all, found out using an expert, Dr. Julian Brown, that there are two small setts, part of a more significant complex badger sett off the site. However, this is important, they say that they have been working with Natural England and they’ve been given a license to relocated them to a larger sett. And they say, basically, that the work that has been done so far won’t have caused any problem and is perfectly OK. So that is what they are saying, but you have this larger issue, much larger issue, about what’s going to happen in the area and lots of controversy about that.

Simon Bates: Yes. That is a story I hadn’t thought of. Because where do you put badgers, because they don’t automatically go into other badger setts because that is a confrontation situation.

Adrian Campbell: Well they wouldn’t go far apparently. They would go just to the bigger sett nearby, but off the site. That’s what they said.

Simon Bates: But would that be OK with those badgers that already occupy the bigger sett.

Adrian Campbell: I don’t know. I’m not a badger expert.

Simon Bates: No, neither am I. But you know what dogs are like, and basically that’s what we are talking about.

Adrian Campbell: I was just going to say, presumably under the advice of Natural England, it should be OK. But then you’ve got this larger issue about this whole area and the big changes that are being proposed. And, some people have asked about modernising this area.

Effectively, there is a boating lake there with swans on it. It’s a very traditional seaside kind of scene at the moment, or it has been, and what is talked about here is a really big change. Now some people are quite keen on that – other people are slightly concerned about it. We spoke to one gentleman, Robin Rule, and is what he was saying.

Robin Rule: Our main priorities now are to try to preserve the boating lake and the fun park. Because the boating lake and the fun park is in fact the face, the face, of Exmouth Seafront. Millions of people love it, whether you live here, whether you are visiting it from holiday or around. That’s what we want to try to hold onto.

Simon Bates: Its the traditional against the future, isn’t it. The swans on the boating lake – I suppose you can call iconic. And then there are the other attractions that have been there for donkeys years vs. the new face of the seafront, the bowling centre you talked about, the Exmouth Ocean. Which vision do you think will win out?

Adrian Campbell: Well when you look at the plans, and I am looking at a plan that goes back to 2013, a big graphic showing what is proposed. Now the council has told me that it has changed quite a lot, but it’s a really large site. Some have told me locally it would be similar in size to the town centre of Exmouth, but right on the seafront. Now some people are a bit concerned about that, and you will hear from the council in a minute. We spoke to an independent councillor, Megan Armstrong, she’s quite worked up about it.

Cllr Megan Armstrong: What concerns people is that as soon as one building goes up it’s setting the scene for a whole more other buildings going up. And people just don’t want that. They like the openness, they like the facilities that are here because children love them, families love them, and they’re reasonably priced because a lot of people who come here don’t have a lot of money, and they’re families with children, at that’s why we get a lot of people coming here.

Simon Bates: Well, there’s the independent councillor Megan Armstrong. We’ve got, as you’ve hinted there Adrian, Cllr Andrew Moulding.

Good morning Cllr Moulding. Deputy Leader of East Devon District Council.

Adrian Campbell: Cllr, Good Morning. You’ve heard the reaction of some of the people there that we have spoken to. First of all, with the badgers, has the council got it right?

Cllr Andrew Moulding: Well, I heard your report, Adrian, on the situation with the badgers which is exactly as you stated. The council has a license from Natural England and during this sensitive process that is what we have to have. We have, and again you are quite right, we have a badger expert. He’s a leading consultant on badgers in the country, and that is Dr. Julian Brown. He’s identified that these two small setts are part of a more significant complex badger sett which is off the site, and in consultation with Dr Brown, the badgers who are living in these two small badger setts can quite amicably be relocated to the larger sett. And that’s what under the advice of Dr Brown and with the license from Natural England, that is what the council are carrying out.

Adrian Campbell: But what about the scale of this? Because people are saying in the area, people that we spoke to yesterday, and admittedly though a self-selecting group who turned up, but they are talking about the scale of this. I mean, how many millions is this going to cost, and how big is phase one, two and three?

Cllr Andrew Moulding: We don’t know the overall cost of this yet. What we do know is that we have put the project into three phases. The first phase is to relocate the road and the car park, so that the car park is further to the rear of the site and not inhibiting the views across the estuary. Similarly with the road. That will allow access to visitors and residents to the sea front. That will be stage one.

Stage two will be a very exciting water sports centre, built on the …

Adrian Campbell: It’s big isn’t it? It’s going to be very big?

Cllr Andrew Moulding: Oh yes, it’s pretty big, yes. It will, but it will encompass a water sports centre for people who are doing kite-surfing and so on, but also there will be an open-air performance space there, a number of small units that trade in water sports. So the attraction of water sports to Exmouth has always been well known. We already have national competitions at Exmouth and we obviously feel that this is something that will be well appreciated by visitors and locals alike.

Adrian Campbell: But just briefly, do you understand the concerns of local people who are saying that the scale of this dwarfs what has been there in the past traditionally. You’ve got the bowling centre down the road – they say that the council’s taken that on because it wasn’t making enough money, I don’t know whether that’s right or not. But they question whether or not there is the demand for all of this. And they also say this is a special area.

Cllr Andrew Moulding: Yes. There would almost be an anchor at each end. So you’ve got Ocean at one end, you’ll have the water sports centre at the other end, inbetween phase three is the development of what was the old fun park – or still is because we are allowing the tenant of the fun park to trade for another season while the details of that part of the site are being developed – so he will carry on and trade there until such time as we need the site to be vacated so that the phase three work can go ahead. That’s still to be determined …

Simon Bates: Actually, can I just jump in there Councillor Moulding because Adrian can’t ask you this, he’s is far too nice a man. It all sounds a bit woolly.

Cllr Andrew Moulding: No not woolly at all. I mean its a plan that’s been in the offing for about the last six years. Now at last it is coming to fruition. And obviously there are stages one needs to go through to arrange the necessary planning details, and so on. That is going through process at the moment. The first phase, as I say, is to relocate the road, move the car park, and then to get the water sports centre built, and then we can look in more detail at phase three which is the remainder of the site. We very much hope that the majority of the area will be open and free to people to use.

Simon Bates: It’s a very exposed site as well, isn’t it Councillor? You’ve got high seas and sand blowing in during the winter.

Cllr Andrew Moulding: That’s the beauty of the site. I mean, that’s what everybody likes about it. That it is …

Simon Bates: Yes, but your going to build up the whole place aren’t you?

Cllr Andrew Moulding: The water sports centre will have open spaces within it. But its a development which has been well planned, we are working with the …

Adrian Campbell: But you haven’t got drawings or architect’s plans yet, have you? And you haven;t got a developer as I understand, so people are saying that the area’s closed off, and they can’t get to it and use it.

Cllr Andrew Moulding: Well, we have the water sports centre, [sniggering heard in background] and we have a preferred developer in place, Moirai, who have come up with some initial proposals. We are looking closely at those to see if it is exactly what is required, we shall look carefully at that as phase three while the tenant is still on site so that the people of Exmouth can enjoy facilities on the site until we are ready to go forward with the next stage.

Simon Bates: Councillor, thank you very much indeed. Adrian, I think that’s all we are going to get, don’t you?

Adrian Campbell: I know. Thank you, Simon.

[Sounds of laughter from Simon Bates]
Simon Bates: Stay across it. Beaver or should I say badger away. Adrian Campbell, thank you very much indeed.”

http://www.eastdevonalliance.org.uk/megan-armstrong/20161007/simon-bates-cllrs-armstrong-moulding-interviewed-exmouth-seafront/

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7 Oct 2016

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Democracy, Fracking

“Campaigners to crowd fund legal challenge after Javid allows fracking”

“Campaigners are seeking to crowd fund a legal challenge to the decision by the Communities Secretary to overturn Lancashire County Council’s refusal of planning permission for fracking in the Fylde area.

Frack Free Fylde has so far raised more than £3,400 via the Crowd Justice website, with donations from 158 people. The group is hoping to raise £10,000.”

http://localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28577%3Acampaigners-to-crowd-fund-legal-challenge-after-javid-allows-fracking&catid=63&Itemid=31

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Posted on

6 Oct 2016

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Austerity cuts, DCC, Stuart Hughes, Transport (local)

Potholed Devon

The Daily Mail reported the story, pushed by Stuart Hughes, that volunteers are being trained to filll potholes in their local areas.

The most popular comment on the story (131 likes) on the Daily Mail’s website reads:

“Cash strapped, yet they have the funds to pay their senior officers over £145,000 a year.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3825272/Cash-strapped-council-recruiting-training-members-public-fix-potholes-afford-mend-itself.html

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6 Oct 2016

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Labour ( Devon), Progressive Alliance

Labour, progressive alliance and proportional representation

“… Building a progressive alliance is inextricably linked to campaigning for proportional representation. As traditional party allegiances fragment, and Labour looks increasingly less likely to win a majority, some on the left are keen to give voters a plural, “radical alternative” to vote for – without the hindrance of First Past the Post.

A lot of Corbyn supporters who I have spoken to since his first election – mainly young people who haven’t been party members before – see the Corbyn phenomenon as the required disruptive force to change the structure of British politics. Rather than a choice between a right-wing party, and what they see as a Labour party with diluted values, they want a left-wing force that doesn’t have to compromise.

This is backed up by polling. YouGov found that a majority of Corbyn voters within the Labour selectorate are in favour of Labour working with the Greens (91 per cent), the SNP (73 per cent) and Plaid Cymru (71 per cent) in government, and 46 per cent would be happy to go into coalition with the Lib Dems.

http://www.newstatesman.com/2016/10/dangerous-dream-how-progressive-alliance-could-split-labour-s-left

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East Devon Watch

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6 Oct 2016

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EU Referendum, Post-Brexit Adjustments, UKIP (local)

Nominative determinism and 22 MEPs who need to resign

How ironic (as Owl is sure many people will point out) that
the UKIP MEP who allegedly got into an altercation with another UKIP MEP (Stephen Woolfe tipped as yet another potential leader) is called Mike Hookem!

But also how shocking that these people – who have got what they want and despise the EU – should still be around the European Parliament, sponging off it.

On his website, Hookem says that he joined the party because he was committed to showing his constituents “what a corrupt and dictatorial system the European Union is and how many of the decisions taken by faceless, unelected bureaucrats, directly affect them”. As far as we know he has not complained about being paid by them.

Our UKIP MEP is William, Earl of Dartmouth, hardly short of a bob or two.

There are TWENTY TWO of them costing us millions of pounds a year which could better go to our NHS! AND their salaries have gone up 15% as they are paid in EUROS!

(Nominative determinism is the theory that a person’s name has some influence over what they do with their life).

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East Devon Watch

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6 Oct 2016

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Accountability, Democracy, Environment (local), Fracking

Local Government Association on Fracking

“… Responding to the decision, Judith Blake, the LGA’s environment spokesperson, said it should be for local communities to decide, through their locally democratic planning systems, whether to host fracking operations in their areas.

“Ensuring communities feel safe is important. Any company that applies for a fracking licence must assure residents through their council that environment and safety concerns can and will be adequately addressed before planning permission is considered,” she said.

“People living near fracking sites, who are most affected by them, have a right to be heard. Local planning procedure exists for a reason – to ensure a thorough and detailed consultation with those communities.”

Lancashire County Council highlighted this was one of the biggest planning applications ever put before any council, with tens of thousands of responses and substantial amounts of technical detail.

Council cabinet member for environment, planning and cultural services Marcus Johnstone said authority’s development control committee carefully considered many hours of evidence both for and against the proposal.

“A local council, made up of councillors democratically elected by local people, and charged with serving their interests, is exactly the right body to make decisions on local matters. It is clear that the government supports the development of a shale gas industry, but I would ask them to do more to address the concerns of local communities and the councillors who represent them by supporting the best environmental controls,” he stated.”

http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2016/10/lga-slams-fracking-approval-javid

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East Devon Watch

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6 Oct 2016

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Hugo Swire

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Our MP busy with his new Middle East job

CMEC SYRIA WORKING GROUP ROUNDTABLE

Syria: what does the future hold?

Monday, 17 October 2016
18:00 – 19:00

Chaired by:
The Rt Hon Sir Hugo Swire MP KCMG

Speakers:
The Rt Hon Alistair Burt MP
Sir Jeremy Greenstock KCMG
Michael Stephens, Research Fellow, RUSI

The event will provide an opportunity to discuss future scenarios in Syria following the breakdown of the Geneva agreement reached between Russia and the United States.

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East Devon Watch

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6 Oct 2016

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Hugo Swire

Swire’ Middle East Council looks forward to doing business in currently war-torn areas

Swire is Chairman of the Conservative Middle East Council. Here is what one of its members says about business opportunities in Yemen, Libya, Syria, Iraq – they represent “huge prosperity opportunities”:

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East Devon Watch

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6 Oct 2016

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Hugo Swire, NHS (local), Spin

When is a hospital not a hospital?

Can we nail the belief, shared by MP Hugo Swire, that “no hospitals are going to close” in the Lack-of-Success Regime’s plans for East Devon.

When you take away ALL the hospital beds from a hospital you are left with a so-called “health hub” which takes out-patient appointments and, if you are lucky, some minor procedures. It is NOT a hospital.

If, during one of those minor procedures, you suffer a serious problem and need to be an in-patient or need to receive emergency care, you will be transferred to a REAL hospital – if you can find one.

Maybe the next step is to designate residential homes as “low impact hospitals” and nursing homes as “satellite hospitals”. After all, polytechnics became universities overnight, so anything is possible.

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East Devon Watch

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6 Oct 2016

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Accountability, NHS (local)

What happens when you allow creeping privatisation in the NHS

“A widow is suing an ambulance trust after it dispatched a private ambulance whose crew failed to identify that her husband was having a heart attack.

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust uncovered a series of failures and has apologised to Kim Page for the death of her husband Gary.

It described the leader of the crew as “complacent” for not heeding the concerns of a more junior colleague.

A coroner last month found “serious failings” in Mr Page’s
care.

The episode has shone a spotlight on the greater use of private ambulances in attending emergency calls.
Mrs Page is taking civil action against East of England Ambulance Service and Private Ambulance Service Ltd for damages.

East of England Ambulance trust dispatched a team at the second highest level. Because they were busy, they sent a private ambulance team – a regular occurrence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The team from Private Ambulance Service Limited didn’t have a paramedic on board. The most senior member of the crew was an emergency technician called Lauren de la Haye. She received her qualification certificate a few days before, although she had practised as an emergency medic under supervision for several years.

Mrs Page remembers Ms de la Haye saying: “It is definitely not your heart, you are definitely not having a heart attack. “I wish all my patients were like you sitting here talking to me.”

…”Then she said, ‘We can take you to the hospital but you will have a 10-hour wait.’ “She said that three times, as if it were unnecessary for him to go.” Still in pain, and without his reading glasses, Mr Page signed a document that Ms de la Haye presented saying that he agreed not to go to hospital.

The crew left. Mrs Page says the medics did not advise them what to do if the symptoms continued.

… He died 10 hours after his symptoms started, and was just minutes away from a specialist heart unit at Basildon University Hospital.

An inquest heard the root cause of Gary Page’s death was Lauren de la Haye’s failure to identify an evolving heart attack, and her not contacting the clinical advice line for further support, even when prompted to do so by a more junior colleague. …”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37563871