“Keep calm and party on” is the Daily Mail’s headline for a 5-star party for MPs last night, with some photographs that are now etched on Owl’s eyeballs:
Monthly Archives: November 2017
“Councils embracing commercialisation, says survey”
Do you agree that your council tax should fund EDDC as a “commercial enterprise”?
Bear in mind as you think about this and read below, its HQ move has gone up from “cost neutral” to the most recent estimate of around £10 million.
And ask yourself: how many of our councillors (town, district and county) would you trust to run your local sweet shop? And is this all academic anyway when increasingly the purse strings are being controlled by our Local Enterprise Partnership?
“Commercialisation has become the most talked about topic in councils this year, with some seeing turnover equivalent to a FTSE 250 company, according to research gathered by Zurich Municipal.
The insurer conducted in-depth interviews with 22 council chiefs across England and Scotland gathering findings into the Why are we here? The 2017 Senior Managers’ Risk Report (link below).
This revealed that many councils are embracing the opportunity to become commercial entities with one council chief interviewed by Zurich admitted to turnover of £1.5bn.
“Commercial income generating projects are the new norm for local government, with some competing against one another to buy and build hotels, harbours, piers, cinemas, university campuses, and science and research parks,” the report – released at the Solace Summit in Manchester yesterday – stated.
Many see the potential for commercially generated revenue to be re-invested in local communities, however, some spoke of the need not to stray to much into private sector disciplines, while others said it should not be pursued at any cost.
However, austerity is still seen as an ongoing challenge, with some councils saying that services cannot be cut any further.
Funding issues are also harming relations with central government, the research revealed.
One council chief executive said: “We need a frank discussion with government. We can’t carry on doing everything we do.”
Rod Penman, head of public services at Zurich Municipal said: “Councils are facing challenges from all sides, and many are employing commercial ventures to mitigate some of the lasting effects of austerity.
“This approach is not without its challenges, however. There is the growing potential for moral and commercial dilemmas at almost every turn, and it is clear that council chiefs are concerned about the long-term relationship between national and local government.”
Another theme to emerge from the study is the perception of councils following the Grenfell fire.
Council chiefs said they felt the tragedy marked a watershed in how local government’s purpose and remit is viewed.
One commented: “The Grenfell Tower disaster means we will take more consideration of community discussions.”
Penman added that councils needed to “improve the narrative” about the choices they take, especially in a more commercial environment.
“Framing decisions in a purely commercial light simply isn’t an option when the social value of public bodies and services has to be factored in,” he said.”
The full report is here:
http://newsandviews.zurich.co.uk/expert-lab/balancing-priorities-are-councils-facing-an-identity-crisis/
“Child poverty in Britain set to soar to new record, says thinktank”
6th richest country in the world fails the most vulnerable and powerless in its society – shameful.
Here is a picture of socialite Tamara Eccleston’s London home decorated for Halloween for her children:
“The number of children living in poverty will soar to a record 5.2 million over the next five years as government welfare cuts bite deepest on households with young families, a leading UK thinktank has said.
New research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts an increase of more than a million in the number of children living in poverty, more than reversing all the progress made over the past 20 years.
The IFS said freezing benefits, the introduction of universal credit and less generous tax credits would mean a surge in child poverty and that the steepest increases would be in the most deprived parts of the country.
“Across all regions, relative child poverty is projected to increase markedly,” the IFS said. “The smallest increases are in the south, but even there relative child poverty is projected to rise by at least four percentage points. The northern regions, the Midlands, Wales and Northern Ireland are projected to see increases of at least eight percentage points.”
The report’s findings, which also predict a widening of the gap between rich and poor and four more years of weak income growth, pose a direct challenge to Theresa May, who arrived in Downing Street pledging to help those “just about managing”. …”
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/02/child-poverty-britain-set-to-soar-to-new-record-ifs
Knowle Pegasus inquiry details
The Inquiry will commence at
10.00am on
Tuesday 28 November 2017
in the Council Chamber, Council Offices,
Knowle, Sidmouth EX10 8HL
The Inquiry is expected to be heard for the duration of five days.
Next Devon “Save our Hospital Services” demo and rally announced
A fair distance but a good day out in a good cause.
Poorer Devon council refuses to merge with richer council which agreed to own council tax rise to take it over!
Definitely Devon!
Poorer West Devon District Council agreed to talks with richer South Hams District Council. A consultation showed that a majority of people in both districts were against the move, which would have seen the South Ham council tax rise to match that of (more sparsely populated) West Devon. Both councils have large Conservative majorities.
South Hams District Council agreed last night to merge with its poorer neighbour. But, in a surprise move, again last night, West Devon voted not to merge!
It appears councillors in West Devon feared a loss of autonomy (and their jobs?) and felt that other avenues for making up a £1 milion plus shortfall had not been sufficiently examined.
Owl feels there is a very complex political back story here!
“Plans for two Devon district councils to merge are off.
South Hams and West Devon councils already share some services but proposed a full merger, saying it would mean £500,000 in savings annually.
Last night, members of South Hams authority voted in favour of the proposals, despite the fact it would have meant higher council tax bills for its residents – a £25 increase a year for three years.
But, in a surprising twist, West Devon councillors voted against, even though it’s the poorer authority.
It leaves it needing to find another way to plug a £1m projected black hole in its finances.”
“Majority of affordable homes lost due to legal loophole exploited by developers, show figures”
Well, we all know about this in East Devon where one of the UK’s mega-rich developers – Bovis – say they are too poor to provide “affordable housing in Axminster:
and Seaton:
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2016/08/15/bovis-too-poor-to-buld-affordable-homes-in-seaton-yet/
“Property developers are dodging their commitment to building thousands of affordable homes each year due to a legal loophole, new research has revealed.
Figures obtained through Freedom of Information requests show developers have sidestepped local planning policy to avoid building 79 per cent of social homes they had initially committed to, due to a legal loophole called a “viability assessment”.
A sample of 11 local authorities across nine cities in England shows developers were able to first win planning permission by promising to build a required number of affordable homes, but later go back to the council to say they can no longer honour the pledge because it would reduce their profit margin. …”
… The research, carried out by the housing charity Shelter, reveals that viability is used most frequently on larger developments, which are generally managed by the country’s biggest developers.
It shows that the worst affected areas were Manchester, Birmingham and parts of London, where viability was used to reduce the affordable housing to less than 1 per cent of homes being built.” …
Palliative care at home unavailable in more than two-thirds of health districts
“NHS palliative care delays mean thousands of terminally ill patients risk dying in hospital rather than at home.
Less than a third of NHS areas providing timely funding so terminally ill patients can be cared for at home.
… The report by end-of-life nursing charity Marie Curie estimates 57,000 patients who are terminally ill, or progressing to a terminal stage of their illness, are not receiving timely home terminal-care support.
The charity found fewer than a third (28 per cent) of NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) hit national targets on providing fast-track Continuing Healthcare (CHC) support within 48 hours.
Of the two thirds missing the target, a third (32 per cent) of CCGs reported patients waited more than a week, with some areas even reporting two week waits for this support. …”
Save (what’s left of) Axe Valley hospitals hits the headlines
Things MUST be bad in the local NHS if they hit the front page of the Midweek Herald!
East Devon Watch 