Daily Archives: 15 Dec 2016

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15 Dec 2016

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Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local)

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Social care: Peter being robbed to pay Paul

“Sajid Javid has announced a £240m transfer from the New Homes Bonus to adult social care funding and confirmed that councils would also be able to raise the council tax precept for care by 3% in the next two years.

In his statement to MPs on the local government funding settlement, Javid announced the changes would provide an additional nearly £900m to fund the social care system in the next two years.

This would be made up of a £240m transfer from the New Homes Bonus, which would reflect changes to ensure that councils only received money from the scheme for homes built above a 0.4% national housing growth baseline.

Around £208m extra will be raised by increasing the social care precept from 2% to 3% in 2017-18 and £444m in 2018-19. However, Javid’s statement confirmed that the net increase of the social care precept would need to remain at 6% over the next three financial years, meaning if councils chose to levy 3% in both 2017-18 and in 2018-19, they would not be able to raise a precept in 2019-20. …”

http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2016/12/council-tax-precept-and-new-homes-bonus-deployed-stem-social-care-crisis

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15 Dec 2016

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Beer, Green Wedges, Rural communities, Seaton/ Colyford / Colyton, Villages BUAB

Green Wedges reinforced by planning decisions in eastern and western Seaton

EDDC’s refusal to allow ‘sprawling development in the countryside’, in refusing of the latest planning application for houses on the Seaton-Colyford Green Wedge, has been reinforced by an Inspector’s rejection of an appeal by a developer wanting to build on the western edge of Seaton.

In dismissing the appeal, over plans to build 3 houses in the garden of Pembroke House, Beer Road, the Inspector says:

‘The effect of the proposal would also be to consolidate built development along Beer Road and extend the sporadic line of dwellings into the countryside. The proposal would harmfully erode the positive contribution it currently makes to greening the settlement edge. Therefore … the development would result in harmful encroachment of urban sprawl from the settlement into the open countryside.’

The appeal decision is also good news for residents concerned to protect the field adjacent to the site from development. The inspector notes:

‘a large paddock between this property and the appeal site reveals views to the coast and surrounding landscape. This paddock represents a definite visual break, marking the point where the character of the lane changes from urban into open countryside.’

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15 Dec 2016

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Accountability, Audit (EDDC), Councillor Cathy Gardner EDA, Democracy, Economy, EDDC, Exmouth, Knowle/Honiton/Exmouth relocation, Planning System, Richard Cohen

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Officers of the council are neutral – aren’t they?

Update: it seems that Mr Cohen does not think that the word “stymied” indicated a lack of neutrality on his part. We leave that to readers to decide. Owl only adds that Mr Cohen was appointed to lead regeneration AND relocation – so it is hardly surprising that any interference with either of those roles is difficult for him to handle.

However, fortunately, help is at hand for him in the shape of EDDC’s own Constitution, where, on page 212, it states:

“39. Officers have a contractual and legal duty to be impartial. They must not allow their professional judgment and advice to be influenced by their own personal views”

Click to access constitution-july-2016-web-version.pdf

Owl – always happy to help and advise.

As expected last night’s EDDC Cabinet meeting unanimously rubber stamped the decision to raise another half million or so of taxpayers’ money to fund the refurbishment of Exmouth Town Hall as part of their Relocation Plan.

But, in an extraordinary outburst, Deputy CEO Richard Cohen, in charge of relocation, made a scathing attack on last week’s Development Management Committee’s decision to refuse planning permission for Pegasus Life’s application to develop 113 “assisted living” apartments on the Knowle.

He said the Council’s “commitment” to sell its HQ had been “stymied by a decision of the committee, (taken) purely about planning” (sic!) It hadn’t considered “the future of the Council, nor the independently proven savings” of relocation but made its decision “only because of heights (of buildings), a listed curiosity and arguments about care provision.”

So much for the myth that EDDC leaders, pursuing the relocation agenda, will allow the planning committee to serenely make its decisions on planning grounds alone, and won’t try to pressure it!

East Devon Alliance councillor Cathy Gardner was shocked, and said it was “inappropriate” for a council officer to criticise a planning committee in such a way.

But then Richard Cohen has form when it comes to arrogance and a cavalier attitude to convention. He handled the Council’s appeal in 2014 against the Information Commissioner’s call to publish documents about secret aspects of relocation. The Tribunal described the Council’s failure to cooperate properly and its economies with the truth as “discourteous and unhelpful”.