EDDC must be feeling VERY positive about the outcome of the PegasusLife Planning appeal as the sale of Knowle land, at around £7.1 million, is meant to contribute to the £10,361,000 cost (at last years costing – who knows what it is this year).
And does it include the £1m plus cost of Exmouth town hall?
Next year’s council tax deliberations will be interesting!
How does Owl know?
Well, he DOESN’T represent East Devon District Council – they told him to vote to keep local community hospital beds and maternity services open. He went to a DCC scrutiny meeting and voted to close them.
He DOESN’T represent the eight district councils he is supposed to represent at DCC [as a co-optee NOT a full member of the committee – and he was only allowed to vote because the badly-worded DCC constitution does not make the voting power of a co-optee clear] because he admitted in public that he did not consult any of the other councils before voting.
He DOESN’T represent DCC because he has not stood for election to that council and been successful.
WHAT was his reason/excuse/pathetic flim flam for his vote then?
That other attempts to refer the closure to the Secretary of State had failed, so this one would also fail.
How did he know that? Does he have a direct line to Hunt’s office or what passes for Hunt’s brain? He must have one or the other because he KNEW in advance what would happen and chose to vote on what he says he KNEW.
But if he KNEW what would happen (and he says he did) then why not vote as EDDC told him to do? The letter would have failed and he could still say he had voted as instructed at EDDC (though not as other councils wanted as he had no idea about that.
BUT – as he again admitted – it would have slowed down the closure. It would have given councils, the staff and supporters of the hospitals, the patients and their carers, more time to put alternative plans into action. More home care staff, more suitable plans for hospital buildings, better care for patients at home.
He did none of these things. He and Sarah Randall-Johnson consigned community hospitals to the rubbish heap.
And all because, he says, he knew what Jeremy Hunt would do.
So, now we know, he has a direct line to Jeremy Hunt and does what Jeremy Hunt wants him to do.
But why? Owl can only guess that he wants a gong from this despicable government to add to his only other qualification – an innkeepers certificate.
And the only way to do that is do the bidding of those who hand them out.
And if that isn”t his rationale, Owl would welcome a comment from him which would be published on the blog in full.
And what of his “representation” of the other councils? Who voted for him to be their representative? Was there a vote at all?
Or conversations in dark corners of County Hall?
“Teachers and parents are increasingly propping up schools with donations and buying essential items such as lavatory paper, surveys show.
Direct debits of up to £1,000 a year are being set up by some school staff to help pay for classroom equipment.
A survey by the Times Educational Supplement (TES) and the National Education Union suggested that 94 per cent of teachers had spent their own money supporting their schools.
Basics such as teabags for the staffroom and paper towels were also being withdrawn by school leaders, the survey of 1,800 teachers claimed.
Stationery items, books, art materials, emulsion paint and storage equipment for classrooms were among the items bought by teachers.
A rising number of parents are being asked to contribute cash to schools. Of 1,500 parents surveyed by the PTA UK association, 29 per cent said that they had been asked to supply teaching equipment, such as stationery and books, the TES reported.
Forty two per cent of parents had been asked to donate to the school fund compared with 37 per cent last year. There had also been a rise in voluntary contributions in the category of £10 to £304 a month, with 26 per cent donating this year compared with 21 per cent last year.
Michelle Doyle Wildman, acting chief executive of PTA UK, said: “Parents are a silent army supporting our schools to give every child the best possible outcome in their education.
“We are concerned that teachers and parents are reporting that they are contributing more to provide the essentials which many expect to be provided by the state.”
A Department for Education spokesman said: “Our new fairer funding formula will replace the outdated funding system which saw our children have very different amounts invested in their education purely because of where they were growing up.”
Campaigners have challenged the fairness of this formula after a separate report indicated that 88 per cent of schools faced real-term cuts in funding between 2015 and 2020, despite the government’s pledge of an extra £1.3 billion.
Jo Yurky, of the parent-led campaign group Fair Funding for All Schools, said: “The national funding formula has become a joke already because there isn’t enough money in the system to go round. The vast majority of schools around the country continue to face a bleak financial situation.”
Source: Times, paywall
East Devon Watch 