http://www.devonlive.com/devon-general-election-candidates-2017/story-30327104-detail/story.html
Two other independent candidates are registered as well as Claire Wright plus Labour, Liberal Democrats and UKIP to challenge Tory Hugo Swire.
Tiverton and Honiton’s Labour candidate, former Honiton Mayor Caroline Kolek has hit more trouble:
She is contesting Neil Parish’s Tory seat with Liberal Democrats and Greens.
“Police have confirmed that they are continuing to investigate a claim of fraud in relation to the possible illegal financial irregularities regarding the Honiton market finances. The investigation was revealed at the last finance meeting of the council on April 24 when then mayor Cllr Caroline Kolek made a statement confirming that a police investigation was being undertaken and that she had reported concerns that she had to the police.
After the meeting, Honiton Town Council had issued a statement and a spokesperson said: “Following information being presented to the mayor, who is chairman of the town council, Cllr Caroline Kolek consulted with the Monitoring Officer at East Devon District Council.
“Acting on the Monitoring Officer’s advice, Cllr Kolek reported the information to the police. The town council has no legal structure or policies in place to be able to investigate these matters. …
… A police spokesperson said: “Devon and Cornwall Police can confirm that we have received an allegation of a fraudulent claim being made linked to work undertaken for Honiton Council. At this time police are making enquiries to ascertain whether any offences have been committed. Enquiries are ongoing and no further information is available at this time.”
Honiton market is run by council employees and the takings from the market go to the council. There is no investigation into the Honiton Market management, it has been confirmed,
The ongoing police investigation is the latest controversy surrounding Honiton town council after four councillors, including the newly elected mayor, resigned this week.”
“A campaign group has gained permission to take a controversial planning decision in Canterbury to judicial review.
Sustainable Ways Integral to Canterbury’s Health (Switch) has objected to the 4,000 homes Mountfield Park development, which also includes 70,000 square metres of employment space, two schools and a reserve site for the Kent & Canterbury Hospital, together with a 1,000 spaces park and ride site.
Switch has argued that the application by developer Corinthian Land should on air pollution grounds have been rejected, or called in by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid.
Campaigners said they sought to raise £25,000 but would be represented by Robert McCracken QC for “a cut-rate price because he cares about Canterbury”.
Switch said Canterbury had been in breach of air quality laws since 2010 and that 100 people a year died in the city due to air pollution, which would be worsened by the development adding some 28,000 extra vehicular journeys daily.
A Canterbury City Council statement said: “It is disappointing that the judicial review application challenging the secretary of state’s decision not to call the Mountfield Park planning approval in has been allowed to proceed.
“Any involvement we now have in this process will mean spending taxpayers’ cash, which we would far rather spend on services for residents.”
It said Mountfield Park was “crucial to the delivery of our local plan and our vision for providing the homes and jobs for people who want to live and work here”, and had been the subject of extensive consultation.”
Facebook post from Nick Harvey, Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate in North Devon:
“LOCAL NHS PLUNGED INTO CRISIS –
HARVEY CALLS ON NHS ENGLAND TO COME CLEAN ON THEIR PLANS
News release
11 May 2017
Contact: 012710375317
North Devon Lib Dem candidate NICK HARVEY has written to Simon Stevens – head of NHS England – calling on him to make a statement about the future of NHS services in Devon.
The respected Health Service Journal is reporting a that in a shock move, NHS England is to take over Devon CCG as it goes bust. North East and West (NEW) Devon CCG must produce emergency savings in Devon’s health services by Friday (12 May) or face having it done to them.
The CCG is ending the year with a worse than expected £42 million deficit. The CCG’s cumulative deficit since 2013-14 now stands at £120m.
“What has been the point of the Sustainability & Transformation Plan and the ludicrously ill-named Success Regime if this is the end product?” asks Nick Harvey. “It is no surprise that NHS managers couldn’t identify further savings without having a severe impact on patient care.”
“Now we are warned Devon could become subject to a new ‘capped expenditure process’ which sounds extremely ominous.”
“We should be clear that the blame for this crisis lies squarely with the Government. They have not given the NHS the funds they promised in the 2015 election, and that has plunged us into this mess.
“Local MPs have been much too willing to wring their hands from the sidelines, instead of tackling their own ministers on the headline politics.
“If a modest tax rise for all of us is the price of rescuing the NHS, so be it. I’m prepared to pay and so are most people I talk to.
“There is no point clearing the deficit in a hurry if we wreck vital national services like the NHS in the process.
“Devon needs to elect MPs who will fight this battle. June 8th offers them that chance.”
In East Devon, this HAS to be Claire Wright.
“In the South West, one in 32 employees (3.2%) was on a zero hours contract during October to December 2016.
Across the UK, the number of people employed on “zero-hours” in their main job during October to December 2016 was 905,000, representing 2.8% of all people in employment.
This latest estimate is 101,000 higher than for October to December
The results from the November 2016 survey of businesses show there were 1.7 million employment contracts where work was carried out, that did not guarantee a minimum number of hours. This represented 6% of all employment contracts.
The equivalent figures for May 2016 were 1.7 million and 5%.”
http://www.devonlive.com/nearly-1m-people-on-zero-hours-contracts/story-30326292-detail/story.html
From today’s Devon Live website”. Can’t imagine it will go down well with his Police and Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez!
“The chief constable of Devon and Cornwall Police Shaun Sawyer says he still believes the procedures relating to electoral expenses and investigations into any future alleged electoral misconduct require a review.
He first made the comments during a media interview relating to the investigation into the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez.
They prompted a seven-month investigation by Gloucestershire Police, which has now cleared him of misconduct.
Mr Sawyer says his comments “specifically avoided reference to the police investigation into the Police and Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez”.
“My views expressed to the media on that day remain the same today.
“One of the purposes of the media is to ask legitimate questions in the public interest and one of the purposes of policing is to answer those questions honestly, without fear or favour.”
And not those organised by matrons in nursing homes recently visited by MPs or picked up in bulk by dodgy political parties!
From Facebook page of a young voter:
“like this idea….from a friend. pass it on – we need to organise to get votes OUT
…. Listen, people need to realise whats happening. The tories are only winning seats by small margins. The tories are mobilising every vote they can. People need to start organising better. You can have up to 3 votes, your own vote and 2 proxy votes. So if your friends are away travelling, or ill or just had a baby, or away working… you can vote proxy for them……. I’m sure everyone on my friends list has got 2 friends who can’t get to a polling station _____—- Ask them if they want to give you their vote by proxy for the general election so that every single vote gets cast. Also, postal voting is good but people don’t sort it out in time, But …. You can arrange a proxy vote up to 5pm on election date if you’re too ill or have to work….. Get on it…..Deadline for arranging for general election is 31st May………… If you want to share this post, please copy and paste and don’t tag me in it. Thanks xxx
So, if this is being read by any of my friends who can’t vote for any reason, let me know and I’ll sort out the proxy thing. xx”
Summary: done properly it’s too expensive – a private company wouldn’t buy it because there was no massive profit for them.
“Almost 60 jobs have been lost at a company which provided acute hospital-at-home care after a deal to secure the service collapsed, forcing it to appoint administrators.
ORLA Healthcare Ltd, in partnership with University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, operated a ‘virtual ward’ service providing in-home care for patients deemed to need admission to an acute bed.
The service was provided by an experienced team of consultants, middle-grade doctors, qualified nursing staff and healthcare assistants 24/7, 365 days a year.
The team used state-of-the-art technology offering the same level of care available in hospital and was also supported by pharmacists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
Partner Graham Randall and director Simon Campbell, of restructuring and insolvency specialists Quantuma, were appointed joint administrators of ORLA on 4 May 2017 following the last minute collapse in negotiations with a buyer.
The company’s 59 employees have been made redundant and Quantuma is assisting them with making their claims and taking all steps necessary to maximise recoveries for creditors.
Graham Randall said: “Patient feedback showed 100 per cent satisfaction with the service.
“Enabling patients to be treated at home rather than cared for in hospital improves their outcomes, releases hospital beds and reduces the risks of cross infection.
“The business works as an operating model and given time I am sure this will have translated into a successful financial performance.
“However, as a result of a last minute breakdown in negotiations with a buyer, the company was running out of cash so it had no alternative other than to wind down the business quickly and relocate patients.”
https://www.insidermedia.com/insider/southwest/60-jobs-go-at-hospital-at-home-service-provider
Special Q and A evening
Hosted by Claire Wright
Independent Parliamentary Candidate For East Devon
21 May 2017
7 pm – 9 pm
The Grapevine Brewhouse, 2 Victoria Road, Exmouth
Comment by current Deputy Mayor Henty Brown on the recent shock resignations from Honiton Town Council, reported in today’s Express and Echo website:
“... The town council is not in crisis as this mass exodus was planned – the fact that one resigned after the other meant it was all orchestrated in a way to get maximum effect.
“There is of course also the investigation into the finances of the town council and a police investigation into that. But the council is above this and we have to remain an open and transparent council, and if you don’t want that to be the case, then you should resign.”…
“CPS presses no charges over alleged 2015 Tory election over-spending, but one case outstanding
The Crown Prosecution Service has put out this statement. It’s from Nick Vamos, its head of special crime.
We have considered files of evidence from 14 police forces in respect of allegations relating to Conservative Party candidates’ expenditure during the 2015 General Election campaign.
We considered whether candidates and election agents working in constituencies that were visited by the Party’s ‘Battle Bus’ may have committed a criminal offence by not declaring related expenditure on their local returns. Instead, as the Electoral Commission found in its report, these costs were recorded as national expenditure by the Party.
We reviewed the files in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and have concluded the tests in the Code are not met and no criminal charges have been authorised.
Under the Representation of the People Act, every candidate and agent must sign a declaration on the expenses return that to the best of their knowledge and belief it is a complete and correct return as required by law. It is an offence to knowingly make a false declaration. In order to bring a charge, it must be proved that a suspect knew the return was inaccurate and acted dishonestly in signing the declaration. Although there is evidence to suggest the returns may have been inaccurate, there is insufficient evidence to prove to the criminal standard that any candidate or agent was dishonest.
The Act also makes it a technical offence for an election agent to fail to deliver a true return. By omitting any ‘Battle Bus’ costs, the returns may have been inaccurate. However, it is clear agents were told by Conservative Party headquarters that the costs were part of the national campaign and it would not be possible to prove any agent acted knowingly or dishonestly. Therefore we have concluded it is not in the public interest to charge anyone referred to us with this offence.
Our evaluation of the evidence is consistent with that of the Electoral Commission. While the role of the Commission is to regulate political finances and campaign spending, the role of the CPS is to consider whether any individual should face criminal charges, which is a different matter with different consideration and tests.
One file, from Kent Police, was only recently received by the CPS, and remains under consideration. No inference as to whether any criminal charge may or may not be authorised in relation to this file should be drawn from this fact and we will announce our decision as soon as possible once we have considered the evidence in this matter.”
via Guardian Live
“Children have been injured in shoddily built new homes, we can reveal.
The youngsters have suffered electric shocks and breathing problems, while one was even crushed by a radiator, after moving in to properties that had not been constructed properly.
The revelations are the latest uncovered by the Daily Mail as part of an investigation into the dire state of many of Britain’s new-build homes.
We have previously reported on leaks, water-logged gardens, missing windows, badly fitted doors, broken toilets and gaps in the guttering.
Many homebuyers have scrimped and saved for years to get on the property ladder.
Today we can reveal that poor workmanship by builders – some of whom are cutting corners in a rush to meet construction targets – is raising safety concerns.
Kate and Kevin Fever, from Tiverton, Devon, saved for years to buy a bigger home for their four children. When they moved to their new £265,000, four-bedroom property in December 2015, there were snagging issues with the downstairs flooring and drainage in the garden. These were fixed within a few weeks.
But, seven months later, a heavy double radiator fell off the wall as their eldest daughter Gemma, then aged ten, walked across the kitchen. Kate, 32, a student midwife, says: ‘When I rushed over and pulled off her sock, I expected just a graze, but it was a bloodbath. I grabbed a tea towel to wrap around her foot and we went straight to A&E.’ Gemma, now 11, needed stitches and a cast on her leg for a ruptured Achilles tendon. Kate and Kevin, 40, reported the incident to their builder Taylor Wimpey.
They claim the firm admitted wrong fixings were used on a number of radiators, which meant they weren’t secured properly to the walls.
The radiators were repaired and the firm contacted other customers they thought could be affected. Gemma also received toys, a £50 Toys R Us gift card and £150.
A spokeswoman for the builder says: ‘Taylor Wimpey has apologised to the Fever family for the distress caused. The health and safety of our customers and their families is our number one priority.’
Paul and Lisa Holland, from Leyland, Lancashire, also bought a four-bedroom property from Taylor Wimpey, which they have lived in since 2010. In November last year, Lisa, 43, and youngest son Kyle, 11, suffered electric shocks after touching a lightswitch.
Paul, 45, an HGV driver, says: ‘It happened when we changed the bulb to an energy saver. The bulb started flashing. My son went to the switch, but he jumped back crying. My wife then tried it and jumped back after also suffering a shock.’ When Paul’s brother tested the plastic switch with a volt meter he found live current leaking. The switch had to be replaced, along with the light. ‘My wife and son are very, very lucky they did not each suffer more serious shocks,’ says Paul.
A Taylor Wimpey spokesman says: ‘The vast majority of our customers tell us they are very satisfied with the quality of their home. ‘However, we recognise that we do sometimes get things wrong, and in those cases we are committed to putting them right as quickly as possible.’
Figures show a staggering 98 per cent of new-build buyers report problems to their builders, according to a new home survey by the National House Building Council and the Home Builders Federation.
After years of saving, Colin and Jessica Nickless bought their first home in September 2015. But since moving into the three-bedroom, terraced new-build in Rainham, near London, the couple and their two children have been plagued by damp and mould. Ellie, five, and Freddie, three, have both been in hospital with breathing difficulties and chest infections.
The couple particularly worry about Ellie as she suffers from cystic fibrosis, which makes her vulnerable to respiratory infections. Colin, 41, a full-time carer for Ellie, says: ‘Our new-build home is making us all ill.
‘We’ve had problems with leaking pipes, damp carpets, water dripping through electrical sockets and light fittings, waste pipes not being connected properly and pouring filthy water into my son’s bedroom.’
A spokeswoman for Circle Housing refused to comment on the case due to an ongoing legal claim.
Philip Waller, a retired construction manager who runs advice website brand-newhomes.co.uk, says: ‘When children are being injured by defective new homes, the Government simply cannot stand on the sidelines.'”
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-4489582/Our-new-build-homes-children-E.html
Save our Hospital Services East Devon Facebook page:
“EDDC council meeting 17th May, 6.30 pm – Knowle, Sidmouth.
We [Independent East Devon Alliance] have a motion going before the Council condemning the closure of our community beds.
Support from members of the public during public speaking would really help us and show your local ward member how you want them to vote.
If you can come along and support us we would be very grateful, this is a tough fight. The item is late (last?) in the agenda but you can ask to speak before that item rather than at the start of the meeting. Do contact me if you need more information. Here is our motion and the East Devon Alliance Councillors who are proposing it:
“Councillor Cathy Gardner, seconded by Councillor Marianne Rixson and supported by Councillors Val Ranger, Matt Coppell and Megan Armstrong:
“That this Council condemns the decision of the NEW Devon CCG to close community hospital beds in Seaton and Honiton and calls on our County Councillors and MPs to oppose further cuts to services in East Devon as part of the ongoing Sustainability and Transformation Plan.”
This comes hot on the heels of a damning report on our so-called “Success Regime” Clinical Commissioning Group, which has managed to get us into an even worse mess than the regime it replaced:
(also from same Facebook page):
“Largest CCG given updated legal directions as finances sink
Health Service Journal – 4 May, 2017 By Nick Carding
Fresh legal directions given to troubled NEW Devon CCG
Deadline for submission of 2017-18 operating plan is Friday
CCG’s cumulative deficit now stands at £120.5m
The largest clinical commissioning group in the country has been given fresh legal directions over its financial management, amid a worsening of its cumulative deficit.
NHS England has imposed several instructions on Northern, Eastern and Western Devon CCG, which has been in the region’s success regime since 2015, and is yet to agree its operating plan for 2017-18 with regulators.
The deadline for submitting the plan is Friday.
The updated directions, which took effect in late March, replace previous directions from August 2015.
They include:
The financial recovery plan and any amendments to it shall continue to be subject to NHS England approval.
NHS England may direct the CCG in any other matters relating to the financial recovery plan.
NHS England could dictate the process to be followed by the CCG in making appointments to its executive team or the “next tier of management”.
The CCG’s cumulative deficit since 2013-14 now stands at £120m, after it ended 2016-17 with a £42m deficit.
In 2016-17 it had forecast a cumulative deficit of £107m.
The region, which has been warned it could become subject to the new “capped expenditure process” devised by NHS England and NHS Improvement, has been ordered to come up with affordable operating plans by Friday.
The plans will be reviewed with national directors at NHS England and NHSI later this month.
The CCG and the NHS providers in the NEW Devon footprint had a joint financial plan for 2016-17.
Neither the CCG nor the providers could identify further savings without “having a severe impact on patient care”, CCG governing body papers said.
In February, the CCG confirmed plans to reduce the number of inpatient beds across four community hospitals in its eastern locality from 143 to 72.
For 2017-18, one of the main providers on the patch – Plymouth Hospitals Trust – has launched a £40m financial improvement programme, which includes workforce redesign.
HSJ asked the CCG what its financial forecast and savings target would be in 2017-18, but a spokeswoman said it would be inappropriate to respond to questions relating to 2017-18 because their plans have not yet been approved.
South Devon and Torbay CCG is also under legal directions.
Article updated at 3.33pm, May 5, after new information was provided by the CCG.
Source:
CCG board papers and information provided to HSJ”
From the blog of Peter Cleasby:
“Last week the Conservative Party – rebranded nationally as “Theresa May’s Team” – bought advertising space in a dozen local papers around the country to promote the Prime Minister’s general election campaign [1]. Nothing wrong in that in principle: it’s a long-standing habit of political parties to pay for advertising. The towns and cities in question appear to be Parliamentary seats which the Tories are targeting to win. So far, business much as usual.
The commentariat has tended to criticise the tactic as a way of getting around spending limits for constituency election campaigns. It’s a targeted national campaign which doesn’t mention the local candidates so it’s not local spending, and it’s all within Electoral Commission rules.
Frankly, that’s a second-order complaint. The Conservative Party is simply doing what any advertiser would do given the opportunity. If it’s an unintended loophole in the spending rules, it can be put right. Much more insidious, and an example of further erosion of any semblance of standards in corporate behaviour, is the way in which the newspapers allowed the ads to be designed and placed.
What the local papers did – or, probably more accurately, what they were told to do by their corporate owners – was to accept the advertisement in the form of a wrap-around, with each paper’s normal masthead integrated into the paid-for “front page”. In other words, a blatant attempt to mislead readers into thinking their local paper was supporting Mrs May’s election campaign.
Defenders of the scheme have argued that people would easily see that it was an advertisement. Really? Two points here. First, at least on the fake front page of the Exeter Express and Echo, the words “ADVERTISER’S ANNOUNCEMENT” are set in a white font on a pale grey background. This is invisible to anyone looking at the paper from a distance, on a newsstand for example.
Second, it’s not unheard of for national papers such as the Sun and the Daily Mail to trumpet their support for a political party as editorial matter on their front pages. If they can do it, why should people be surprised that the local papers are doing the same?
The advertising impact isn’t limited to people who buy the paper: indeed, they will soon discover the real front page inside and put Mrs May in the recycling. What the technique achieves is massive exposure of Mrs May’s slogans because the papers – typically weekly ones – are displayed on newsstands for a whole week. These stands are often to be found in prominent places in major retailers: in Exeter, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s have separate stands for the Echo in the entrance areas.
The edition of the Exeter paper that carried the fake front page also ran a leader article entitled “Delivering facts not fake news” [2]. The irony of this was lost on the paper’s editor. In response to my complaint to him about the fake front page, Mr Parker said:
“The material carried this week was part of a nationwide advertising initiative by the Conservative Party and the decision to publish it was made solely for business reasons as we are, after all, a business.
“It was made clear that this was an advertising arrangement with the Conservative party and is something we are at the moment exploring with other political parties.
“Again, any future decisions will be based on the commercial side of the business and will have absolutely no bearing on the way the Express and Echo covers editorially any news stories whether or not they are of a political nature.
“I cannot emphasise enough that we are a totally independent news operation and proud of that fact and will continue to be so.”
Taking advertisers’ money is one thing. Trying to mislead your readers – who may not be interested in the distinction between the commercial and editorial sides of the business – is quite another. And since the rules on political balance don’t apply to the press, we can assume that only those parties who can pay out hard cash for wrap-arounds will be included in the exploratory discussions Mr Parker refers to.
Up in Westmoreland, where the local paper also ran a fake front page, there is some community anger, threatening a boycott of the rag [3]. Something worth considering everywhere else, since even if local papers no longer care about their reputations, their owners do care about sales and profits.
Meanwhile Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and all other retailers giving prominence to local papers should move the newsstands carrying the fake front page to the nearest back room until normal service is resumed.”
NOTES
[1] For a list of papers and constituencies, see https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/how-the-conservatives-are-using-local-adverts-to-get-around
[2] A longer version of the article is in the online version at http://www.devonlive.com/8203-in-an-age-of-fake-stories-we-always-provide-trusted-news/story-30314208-detail/story.
The Express and Echo was also guilty of publishing this ad, which coincidentally covered over the REAL front page detailing a local planning scandal!
“Hundreds of people have signed a petition demanding a weekly newspaper apologises for running a front page wraparound promoting the Conservative Party as the row over the adverts rumbles on.
The Westmorland Gazette was one of many regional newspapers to run the wrap last week ahead of Thursday’s local elections, but has now come under fire from readers who have demanded a full front page apology and threatened to boycott the paper until it complies.
The petition’s Avaaz page reads: “As regular readers of the Westmorland Gazette we are dismayed to see OUR community paper being misused for party political purposes.
“Whilst we would welcome balanced representation of all LOCAL candidates within the paper, we feel strongly that a front page advert for a single national party is not acceptable (especially when published on a polling day (4/5/17)!).
“We request that you publish a full front page apology in your next issue. Please note that many of us will be boycotting the paper until this occurs.”
The adverts coincided with the local elections, as readers went to the polls for council and mayoral elections.”
THREE more resignations since yesterday’s shock resignation of the Mayor only minutes after she had been elected:
“Honiton Town Council has been dealt a double blow after two more councillors quit the authority.
Former mayor Peter Halse and Luke Harvey-Ingram tendered their resignation today, meaning one fifth of the council has quit in the last 48 hours.
Yesterday evening, the council was rocked after new mayor Ashley Delasalle attacked the authority before dramatically resigning on the spot and leaving the meeting.
Her exit was followed by David Perkins quitting as a member, the council-appointed director of Honiton Community Complex Ltd and temporary responsible financial officer.
His resigned after councillors voted to remove him from a committee investigating the finances around the Beehive build.”
http://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/two-more-honiton-town-councillors-resign-1-5009960
The Beehive community centre has been surrounded by controversy since its inception, when it was given a massive amount of money by EDDC (unlike most other similar centres in other towns) and got into much financial difficulty from the start, see here:
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2015/02/10/honiton-beehive-problems-started-long-ago/
and here:
and here:
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2014/06/17/matters-of-financial-high-risk/
and a previous resignation here:
East Devon Watch 