Monthly Archives: August 2017

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29 Aug 2017

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Accountability, DCC, Democracy, East Devon Tories, EDDC, Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local), Paul Diviani

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A chance to show Diviani exactly what you think of him for destroying our community hospital beds

Remember, anyone who votes AGAINST this motion, or ABSTAINS or is not at the meeting for spurious reasons, is guilty of destroying our local health service and killing off Axminster, Ottery, Seaton, Budleigh and Honiton community hospital beds – and cares not one jot what you may think.

“13 September 6pm, EDDC extraordinary meeting:

Motion – Vote of no confidence in the Leader

“On Tuesday 25th July 2017, Cllr Diviani chose not to represent the opinions of this Council or the people we represent at the DCC Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee meeting when he was clearly expected to do so. This Council no longer has confidence in Cllr Diviani’s commitment to represent our collective interests nor lead our East Devon communities as the figurehead for local government. We call for his resignation.’

Proposed by Councillor Ben Ingham, seconded by Councillor Val Ranger and supported by Councillors Cathy Gardner, Matt Coppell, Marianne Rixson, Rob Longhurst, Dawn Manley, Geoff Jung, Peter Faithfull, Susie Bond, Roger Giles, Matt Booth, Peter Burrows, Steve Gazzard, Megan Armstrong and Douglas Hull.”

Please attend to show how you feel and speak if you want to.”

Source: East Devon Alliance, Facebook

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29 Aug 2017

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Accountability, East Devon Tories, Inequality, Sleaze, Spin

Why do poor people vote Conservative – from the horse’s mouth

Nick Schon, Creative Director, Saachi and Saachi explains:

“I worked on the Conservative advertising for two general elections. This was a subject we gave a lot of thought to, and it’s actually simple: a lot of poor people don’t think they will always be poor. They have aspirations just like everyone. That’s a good thing, but it’s often taken to unrealistic levels. They think that “Ok, I’m not earning a lot now, but one day I’ll have a bloody great yacht”, so they vote for the party they think will help them most achieve that great leap to riches and the one they identify with in their imaginary alternative life.

It’s the principle behind shows like “Bake Off”, “X-Factor” and “The Voice” and a host of other contests where “ordinary” people suddenly strike it rich. It’s deeply rooted in human psyche, and the Tories know it.

The Conservatives are quite aware that they are pedlars of what is for most, false hope. They point out the Alan Sugars and Richard Bransons and say that you too can achieve this under their governance. Tories are really interested in maintaining the status quo and helping them and their core donors.

I’ve asked friends who aren’t well off but voted Tory why they did so. One is a teacher who is about to lose his job. The answers come straight out of the Daily Mail.

We have a poisonous right-wing press in this country, dominated by five billionaires who create a climate that persuades people to act against what is in their best interests. That monopoly has to change.”

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-poor-people-vote-for-the-Conservative-Party-in-the-UK/answer/Nick-Schon?share=e15b996e&srid=hdUGS

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29 Aug 2017

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Accountability, Democracy, East Devon Tories, Lobbying, Scrutiny, Sleaze, Tax avoidance, Voting

Tory donor and tax avoider – go together like a horse and carriage

“The Canary has provided a handy copy-and-keep list of the top Tory election donors, and it’s a real rogues’ gallery. Check out these creeps:

The Tories’ top donors included:

JCB Service – £1.5m. It’s owned by Anthony Bamford, who was not only named in the Panama Papers, but who operates JCB out of tax haven Bermuda.

John C Armitage – £1.1m. Armitage is the founder of Egerton Capital, a hedge fund that enables [xml] tax avoidance for investors.

John Griffin – £1.03m. Griffin and his private hire firm Addison Lee were caught up in a lobbying scandal in 2012.

Mark J. C. Bamford – £750,000. The younger brother of Anthony Bamford, owner of JBC Service, he was caught up in a row over a JCB subsidiary, JCB research, which, while only worth £27,000, was the biggest Tory donor in the run-up to the 2010 general election.

Andrew E Law – £525,000. Law is a hedge fund owner [paywall] whose firm Caxton Associates is registered in the US tax avoidance state of Delaware.
David J Rowland – £312,500. The Canary conducted a major investigation into Rowland in 2016, and described his offshore tax affairs as “mind blowing”.
Lord Michael Ashcroft – £500,000. Ashcroft has been involved in several tax avoidance scandals. He also co-authored the book at the centre of the David Cameron ‘Pig gate’ scandal.

Other Tory donors [pdf p3-5] during the election period included:

Sir Henry and Lady Keswick – £150,000. Keswick’s company Jardine Matheson was linked to tax avoidance via Luxembourg and has numerous subsidiaries in tax haven Bermuda.

Charles ‘Julian’ Cazalet – £10,000. Cazalet is a non-executive director of NHS private provider Deltex Medical Group.

Malcolm Healey – £100,000. Healey was fined by HMRC in 2015 for making £8.6m [pdf] by using a tax avoidance scheme.

Bruce Hardy McLain – £100,000. McLain’s private investment firm CVC Capital Partners is currently embroiled in a £5m bribery and tax avoidance scandal involving Formula One.

Ayman and Sawsan Asfari – £100,000. Ayman is currently under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. He also runs oil company Petrofac, which avoids tax via Jersey.

Rainy City Investments – £100,000. Owned by Peter and Fred Done, who were fined £800,000 by the Serious Fraud Office over money laundering allegations.

Investors in Private Capital Ltd – £150,000. Co-owned by James ‘Jamie’ Reuben, family friend of George Osborne, it paid no UK corporation tax in 2014 [pdf p13], despite a turnover [pdf p17] of £35m.

http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2017/08/27/top-tory-election-donors-appear-to-be-tax-avoiders-money-launderers-and-private-health-bosses/

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29 Aug 2017

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Accountability, Democracy, Scrutiny, Sleaze, Spin, Transparency

Transparency: can’t see it

“Claims that this government would be the most transparent in history have been exposed as a sham after it emerged that nearly half the papers it was supposed to release for public scrutiny have been held back.

Departments are expected to publish details of spending as well as information on the gifts, hospitality, meetings and travel of ministers and officials.

But research shows that 92 out of the 202 “transparency” publications that ministers pledged to release are either late or missing.

Only three departments have met a new requirement to publish the gender pay gap between male and female officials.

Nine out of 22 departments are late publishing lists of civil service staff moving to business appointments or have never published them. These rules are designed to prevent abuse of the “revolving door” between Whitehall and business.

Nineteen out of 22 are late to publish lists of civil servants who are in “off-payroll arrangements”, often used to reduce tax.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has never released details of its spending, even though Whitehall has been told to cut waste by publishing records of items costing £25,000 or more, or more than £500 if purchased on a government credit card.

Liam Fox’s international trade department has not published six out of the nine transparency publications it should have released since it was formed in July 2016.

Jon Trickett, the shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, said: “The Tories promised us ‘the most transparent government ever’, but Theresa May has broken that promise. The prime minister has failed to ensure proper scrutiny of government business. This risks breaching public trust.

“The government is doing all it can to hide their actions from the public. The question which people will naturally ask themselves is ‘What has Mrs May got to hide?’ ”

A government spokesman said: “We are releasing more information than ever before.The World Wide Web Foundation recently ranked the UK government first on its global Open Data Barometer, putting the UK at the forefront of open government.”

Source: Sunday Times (pay wall)

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29 Aug 2017

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Accountability, Affordable and Social Housing, Bovis, Cranbrook, Developers/ Development, Housing (local), Linden Homes, Planning System, Taylor Wimpey

Government and developers creating NIMBYs

“The biggest housebuilders are creating growing numbers of nimbys by trampling over communities and building ugly, unaffordable homes, the head of a homelessness charity has warned.

Polly Neate, the chief executive of Shelter, said that developers were putting profits before people and ignoring concerns about the quality and price of new homes.

She blamed the builders for “a huge loss of public faith in our housebuilding system” and called for reforms to planning laws to put people’s needs before corporate profits. “Even when communities create detailed plans for housing developments, these developers brush them aside and build unattractive, unaffordable homes,” she said. “This means many [people] choose to oppose new homes rather than go through a long planning process, only to be ignored in the end.”

The three biggest housebuilders, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments, completed more than 46,000 homes last year and shared revenues of more than £11 billion. They made profits of £2.2 billion.

“The government needs to bring in a new way of building homes which listens to local people to build the high quality and genuinely affordable homes they need, along with schools, parks and other amenities,” Ms Neate said. “We once had a proud tradition of housebuilding in this country, as seen in our popular postwar new towns and garden cities, and it is now critical this is revived for the 21st century.”

Her comments came after a survey of more than 3,500 people found that only 13 per cent felt that developers listened to them. Almost 60 per cent said that they would be more inclined to support the building of new homes if they were listened to more keenly. The southeast had the highest proportion of nimbys, at 38 per cent, while the West Midlands had the lowest at 23 per cent.

The Times revealed last month that a consortium of housebuilders behind a new garden town in Devon had watered down its strict design code. The Sherford development on the outskirts of Plymouth was designed by the Prince of Wales’s architects to prove that his model village of Poundbury in Dorset could work on a larger scale.

The Prince’s Foundation for Building Community said that the builders, Bovis Homes, Linden Homes and Taylor Wimpey, used arcane planning laws to renege on their commitments to quality. Ben Bolgar, the foundation’s director, said they were determined to build a “normal, rubbish housing estate” instead. The consortium said the quality of the homes would not be affected.

Stewart Baseley, chairman of the Home Builders Federation, an industry body, insisted that his members “work closely with councils and residents to ensure the homes being built are what communities need”.

“Housebuilders have dramatically increased output to provide desperately needed homes,” he added. “Constructive debate is needed to develop policies that allow more homes to be built as opposed to baseless claims.”

Source: The Times (pay wall)

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28 Aug 2017

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Accountability, Coastal communities, EDDC, Regeneration, Sidmouth/ Sidford/ Sidbury

Sidmouthians enjoy Ham picnic – more signatures for Port Royal “Retain, Re-use, Refurbish” petition

Sunday’s picnic in celebration of The Ham open space took place in bright Sidmouth sunshine, suiting the mood of the organisers, and catching the attention of a steady stream of passers-by.

Information sheets showing the Scoping Study single ‘Proposal’, as displayed at the public consultation, were the subject of much discussion and concern from locals and visitors alike. More signatures were eagerly added to the paper copies of the 3Rs petition, calling for Retain-Refurbish-Reuse, an alternative plan for Port Royal. ..with the numbers already far outweighing the signatures collected online.

To view the petition, search 38 degrees Sidmouth Retain.

It will be handed in to the joint Scoping Study partners, East Devon District Council, and to Sidmouth Town Council which next meets on Monday 4th September, 6.30pm at Woolcombe House, Woolcombe Lane. Public can attend the meeting.

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28 Aug 2017

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Accountability, EDDC, Greater Exeter, Transport (local)

This month’s EDDC Cabinet meeting

Highlights

Councillors will not be subjected to “Disclosure and Barring Service” (DBS) checks. This is a service to employers to make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). Councillors will receive safeguarding training instead.
page 77

The “Greater Exeter Strategic Plan” progresses so swiftly that Cabinet has had to ask for exemption from tendering procedures to appointment Footprint Ecology to undertake a Habitat Regulations Assessment of the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan.
page 118

Manor Pavilion Car Park will become a “Pay and Display” car park
On page 125 a number of exemptions to charges are offered – but Owl recalls that car parking income MUST only be used to improve traffic issues – so quite how the car park income can be used to aid the theatre is confusing.

Click to access 060917combinedcabinetagenda_opt.pdf

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28 Aug 2017

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Developers/ Development, Flooding

Flood standards – a familiar tale with shades of Grenfell Tower – what happens when business trumps safety

“Hurricane Harvey has caused huge damage in Texas as 30 inches of rain in less than 48 hours resulted in massive flooding.

The current US President, however, has abolished a number of flood standards in an attempt to get infrastructure projects approved more quickly. The Federal Flood Risk Management Standard is among those to have been rolled back.

In 2015, Mr Obama introduced measures that made it harder to build roads, bridges and other infrastructure in areas that were susceptible to flooding. Plans for such projects would legally have to take into account the impact of climate change and be built to withstand future changes.

While the new regulations had not yet come into effect, they have now been scrapped entirely after Mr Trump decided they were too likely to slow down plans for new infrastructure.

Announcing the decision earlier in August, the billionaire businessman said: “We’re going to get infrastructure built quickly, inexpensively, relatively speaking, and the permitting process will go very, very quickly.”

“It’s going to be a very streamlined process, and by the way, if it doesn’t meet environmental safeguards, we’re not going to approve it.”

However, some of those safeguards have now been removed. The order also introduces a two-year time limit for permission to be granted for major infrastructure projects, in which Mr Trump has pledged to invest $1 trillion.

The move was praised by business groups but strongly opposed by environmentalists.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-barack-obama-flood-protections-flooding-hurricane-harvey-houston-texas-a7916476.html

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28 Aug 2017

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Accountability, Consultation, DCC, EDDC, Feniton/ Talaton, Health and Social Care (local), Honiton/ Gittisham, Martin Shaw (Seaton), NHS (local), Paul Diviani, Sarah Randall Johnson, Scrutiny

Honiton Hospital beds closed – motion of “no confidence” in EDDC Leader 13 September 2017 6pm

Susie Bond, EDDC Independent Councillor, Feniton reports”

“This morning I attended a vigil outside Honiton Community Hospital. It was called to mark the end of inpatient care in the town. It was a sad day, as it now means that there are no inpatient beds in the hospitals in Seaton, Axminster, Honiton and Ottery St Mary.

I wasn’t sure what to expect … it’s a Bank Holiday and the weather was glorious … so I half expected to be there with just a handful of people.

I was wrong.

The event had been organised by Honiton Patients’ Action Group … a well-organised and furious bunch of people.

A group of about 50 turned up, armed to the teeth with placards, happy to vent their feelings to the local press about the parlous state of future community health provision.

Among those present this morning was Cllr Martin Shaw (county councillor for Seaton and Colyton) who spoke about his grave concerns for health provision. He had also addressed Devon County Council’s Scrutiny Committee meeting in July (https://seatonmatters.org/2017/07/26/the-health-scrutiny-committee-which-didnt-scrutinise/).

The decision to close the inpatient beds in Honiton had not been the subject of public consultation, so those present felt that this was sufficient cause for Devon County Council’s Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee to refer the decision to close the hospital beds to the Secretary of State, Jeremy Hunt. In turn, he would have had to refer the decision to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (which describes itself as ‘the independent expert on NHS service change’).

Had that decision been made at their July meeting (https://devoncc.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/293466), those present at the vigil today would probably have still been worried about their future health care, but at least they would have felt that every avenue open to them had been explored.

Instead they were denied this last opportunity by political shenanigans of epic proportion.

I watched the webcast of the July meeting of DCC Health Scrutiny Committee (http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/conduct-committee-members-investigated-devon-312213) and was frankly appalled at the charade being played out before my eyes.

Questions have been raised about how the meeting was conducted and the Standards Committee at DCC meets tomorrow to decide if the complaints are well founded.

Meanwhile, members of East Devon District Council have expressed dismay about the way an almost unanimous vote on a Motion expressing real concern about the conduct of the Clinical Commissioning Group was ignored and have called an Extra Ordinary Meeting of full Council to discuss a Motion of No Confidence in the leader, Cllr Paul Diviani, who sat on Devon County Council’s Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee as a representative of the leaders of all the district councils in Devon.

Cllr Diviani effectively voted against referring the decision to close inpatients beds in Honiton to the Secretary of State and later admitted under robust questioning that he had not canvassed the views of the other leaders.

The Extra Ordinary Council meeting will be held on

Wednesday 13 September
at EDDC’s headquarters at the
Knowle, Sidmouth,
starting at
6 p.m.“

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28 Aug 2017

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Health and Social Care (local), Honiton/ Gittisham, Hugo Swire, Neil Parish, NHS (local), Seaton/ Colyford / Colyton

Honiton hospital beds close today; Seaton hospital Friends express dismay

“Seaton and District Hospital League of Friends has expressed its dismay at the loss of all its inpatient beds.

Speaking after the closure plans began last week chairman Dr. Mark Welland told the Herald: “We would like to express our deep gratitude to the many dedicated staff who have provided such a high quality of care to patients over the past 29 years, and also our sincere thanks to the numerous volunteers who have worked on the wards to support the patients and nurses.

“The League remains steadfast in its belief that beds are a necessary resource in Seaton, and will continue to explore every avenue that might lead to the reopening of the inpatient service in Seaton Hospital.

“At the same time, we would like to emphasise the ongoing work that will be taking place in Seaton Hospital – whilst it is true that no inpatient beds will be open, there are many more activities carried out at our hospital.

“These include the out-patient clinics which will continue to run, including rheumatology, ear nose and throat, audiology, spinal assessment, and general medicine clinics.

“The ever busy Seaton Hospital physiotherapy department will be continuing at full speed.

“Alongside these the hospital will continue to function as a base for community teams, including the rehabilitation team, speech and language therapy, community nursing, school nurse and health visitor teams, and the complex care team.

“There is now an opportunity for those hospital resources left under utilised by the bed closures to be put to new uses, and the Seaton and District Hospital League of Friends is currently active in establishing which services might be added to the above list to best serve the local community.

“The League continues to support the Seaton Friends Hospiscare at Home service, which will now be more vital than ever, with no opportunity to use hospital beds for end of life care. The Seaton Friends Hospiscare@Home service is entirely funded by the league, and receives no funding from NHS sources, even as the NHS support for end of life care locally is pared back. The League is very thankful to everyone who continues to support us, and to allow our work to continue.”

http://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/dismay-over-seaton-hospital-bed-closures-1-5166084

And no thanks to our two MPs who simply turned up for photo opportunities and mouthed platitudes whilst voting in Parliament for these closures.

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27 Aug 2017

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Accountability, Developers/ Development, Police (local)

Closed police stations sold to developers at knock-down prices

Over 300 sold and converted to flats and offices at great profit … many sold cheaply … Woodbridge in Suffolk sold for £1.1m expected to be worth £3.8m after conversion. Many bought at auction.

Source: Daily Telegraph business section

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27 Aug 2017

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Affordable and Social Housing, Developers/ Development

More new homes – but still not enough and mostly the wrong kind

“New home starts in the past year have reached their highest level since the slump of 2009, according to housebuilding statistics issued by the Department for Communities & Local Government.

It said there were 164,960 homes started in the year to June 2017, an increase of 13% on the previous year.

More than 153,000 homes were completed during the same period, 11% ahead of the June 2016 figure.

But housing starts in England decreased by 3% to 41,180 in the latest quarter, compared to the previous quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis, though that was a 10% increase on the position a year earlier.

Seasonally adjusted completions were estimated at 40,310, which was 2% higher than the previous quarter and 15% higher than a year ago.

Private builders’ contributions to the totals were unchanged for both starts and completions against the previous quarter.

Housing association starts were 19% lower at 5,280 compared to the previous quarter, though completions were up by 17% to 7,200.

Local authorities starts were down by 3% at 320 but completions were up by 2% to 380.

DCLG said starts of all kinds were now 141% above the low point of March 2009 and only 16% below their March 2007 peak.

These figures, however, remain far adrift of the 225,000 to 275,000 new homes a year which the government said was needed to meet demand in its February housing white paper Fixing Our Broken Housing Market.

Completions remain though far behind the peak hit in 1968 of 352,540 homes.

Housing and planning minister Alok Sharma said: “Building more homes is an absolute priority for this government. Today’s figures are proof that we are getting Britain building again, with new housing starts reaching record levels since 2009.”

Housing charity Shelter’s director Polly Neate said: “While there has been a small increase in homes being built, sadly we’re nowhere near touching distance of the 250,000 homes a year we desperately need.

“It’s also extremely worrying to see housebuilders shifting down a gear and starting to build even fewer homes, when millions of families are struggling and in urgent need of an affordable home.”

http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2017/08/housebuilding-starts-reach-eight-year-high-says-dclg

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26 Aug 2017

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Austerity cuts, Education (local)

Now nurseries are following nursing homes and closing due to lack of government funding

“Tens of thousands of parents are still waiting to find out if they can take up a government offer of 30 hours’ free childcare days before the scheme is due to be launched.

According to the latest figures, revealed in a letter sent by the Department for Education to local authorities and seen by the Observer, 82,000 parents entitled to the extra childcare have not yet secured a place for their three and four-year-olds. The offer, which doubles the current government-funded allowance, was a flagship Tory election pledge and is due to be implemented on Friday. But the policy appears to be mired in confusion amid claims of a funding shortfall and technical hitches.

According to new research given to the Observer by the early years shadow minister Tracy Brabin, three-quarters of childcare providers expect the policy to have a negative impact on their business and fewer than 7% say it will be positive. The same research claims that the scheme is underfunded, and that as many as one in three nurseries have not yet decided to offer any free places.

“I’m deeply concerned that many children won’t have access to the quality childcare they deserve – and that parents were promised,” said Brabin, who received 660 responses after she set up an online survey of childcare providers over the summer.

The Pre-School Learning Alliance estimates there is a 20% shortfall between the amount the government is giving local authorities to fund the scheme and the actual cost to nurseries. It said that some nurseries will have to close as a result, and some have already gone under. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/aug/26/childcare-free-hours-hmrc

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26 Aug 2017

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Accountability, DCC, Ottery St Mary, Transport (local)

Straitgate Quarry – traffic light crossing for cows proposed on B3174

“An application to create a 100-acre quarry on the outskirts of Ottery has once again faced backlash from civic leaders.

Aggregate Industries’ (AI) proposals to extract up to 1.5million tonnes of raised sand and gravel at Straitgate Farm came before Ottery Town Council’s planning committee after the firm submitted further environmental information.

In the additional documents, the developer has suggested a traffic light-controlled cattle crossing on the B3174 to meet the farm’s grazing needs.

The quarry has been earmarked as an approved site, but has not received planning permission.

On Monday, the committee voted again not to support the application.

Councillor Roger Giles said the idea of a cattle crossing was ‘absolutely outrageous’ and ‘atrocious’. He added: “This is a planning application that is very detrimental to Ottery and the surrounding areas and here is an opportunity to express our views once again.

“There are going to be four movements of cattle a day across that road, just below Daisymount, with traffic lights.

“If we weren’t concerned enough about the hundreds of slow-moving vehicles going up and down and across that road, we are now facing the prospect of traffic being stopped for cattle coming across four times a day, 365 days a year.

“I think that is absolutely outrageous and atrocious and I can’t think of anything more damaging and dangerous.”

Cllr Giles reiterated his previous concerns from March, which included traffic, flooding, water supplies, wildlife and landscape issues.

He added: “The town council has very serious concerns about the proposals to have laden lorries exiting the site and turning right across a heavy flow of fast moving traffic and travelling slowly uphill along Exeter Road to Daisymount.

“And we have very serious concerns about the proposals for unladen lorries slowly executing a left turn from the B3174 towards the site with a heavy flow of fast moving traffic coming up behind, speeding downhill from Daisymount.”

Members supported the request to resubmit their previous concerns, as well as adding ‘very strong’ objections to the cattle crossing.

The fate of the application will be decided by Devon County Council.”

http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/outrageous-plans-to-proposed-cattle-crossing-at-staitgate-farm-ottery-1-5164587

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26 Aug 2017

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Golden Triangle LEP, Great South West LEP, Local Enterprise Partnership, Misc, Scrutiny, Transparency

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Forget Heart of the South West, hello Great South West!

Not much in the way of money passing through their hands these days, thanks to former heavy reliance on government handouts and EU money.

Now, forget the “Heart of th South West” LEP and the “Golden Triangle” LEP and look forward to … well leave you to make up your own minds by letting them explain themselves.

But they soldier on, making more invisible clothes for the emperor, bigging up projects that are grinding on, avoiding talk of those that are stuck or being downgraded.

Here’s highlights from their August newsletter where we find an interesting new development.

First of all, the LEPs are all struggling to achieve anything so they are trying to find safety in numbers:

“This message and strong business interest have been taken forward into the Great South West brand. The work is at an early stage and is yet to involve more partners in the region; it is meant to be a flexible concept which partners can use on a project by project basis when it adds real value. Importantly, it aims to give us added weight with Government and other key stakeholders when we need to communicate across a larger geography. The concept has been progressed by the South West Leaders’ Forum and will continue to be developed through partnership and consultation with local authorities, MPs, business and the education sector.”

And so, our LEP will now aim to be part of a conglomerate called – wait for it

THE GREAT SOUTH WEST

to rival the (currently rather dead in the water) “Northern Powerhouse”.

Here’s how they explain it:

“In order to compete with other UK and international regions, ‘Great South West’ aims to bring together a wide range of stakeholders from across the whole of the South West including Local Authorities, LEPs, MPs, Business and Education. It’s being created as a vehicle to promote all that is great about the region and to act as a common banner to communicate a clear focus on the opportunities to deliver prosperity.

With over £100bn of business opportunities, the South West has much to contribute; a dynamic and progressive South West economy can generate the critical success factors needed for a successful national economy.

As a region, the South West is diverse with different priorities covering different geographies. By working together, we will develop strategies and actions to secure enhanced funding and investment creating a prosperous region for all of us.”

AND it even has a brand new web page!

http://greatsouthwest.org.uk/pages/contact-us/94

But don’t worry, the current and former members of our LEP are not neglecting their nuclear interests:

“In response to the Government’s commitment to work on an ‘early sector deal’ with the nuclear industry in the Industrial Strategy, NSW (made up of HotSW, West of England, Dorset and GFirst LEPs together with the private and academic/skills sectors) and its equivalent partners in the North West, have set out an approach to the Nuclear Industry Council to making the UK a global lead for the nuclear industry. …

The approach is an early stage and we will refine this through continued dialogue with Government on an effective nuclear sector deal. NSW believes it’s a major step forward and a testament to its integrity and profile that the North West consortium supported this joint approach.”

Lots and lots of scope for wasting more and more money there!

And last, but very much not least our LEP finally seems to realise that Brexit is upon us! And it has ANOTHER new sub-group:

“The Brexit Resilience and Opportunities Group continues to draw together intelligence to understand the threats of Brexit in our area and maximise any opportunities.

Good information is crucial and the Group is still looking for more businesses to give their views on how their business will be affected by leaving the EU. The more people that respond, the better the results will be in building a meaningful response across all sectors.”

Summary: Heart of the South West LEP quietly morphing into …. drum roll… another iteration of the

South West Regional Development Agency

originally cut off in its bureaucratic prime by – the Conservative Government in 2012:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_development_agency

Newsletter:
http://mailchi.mp/heartofswlep/august-heart-of-the-south-west-lep-newsletter

And still as unaccountable and non-transparent as ever – just BIGGER!