When our MPs tell us that we in Devon are receiving an extra £7.5 for education, perhaps point this out to them:
“The Government’s new national funding formula will mean an extra £7.5million for schools in Devon next year.
But they will still be left £268 per pupil short of the national average, say Devon County Council. …”
http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/devon-schools-worse-those-london-1067723
Fair?
Owl says: Amazing how some district councillors can change their attitudes when EDDC development is in THEIR town’s back yard!
“Town councillors have again refused to support an application for temporary attractions on Exmouth seafront.
Planning committee members decided not to support the proposal to install pop-up food outlets and a large to screen to show live sport, such as World Cup football matches, at the former fun park site in Queen’s Drive.
If given the go-ahead, East Devon District Council’s (EDDC) plan could also see the former boating lake filled in for a hard or soft seating area and a fenced-off children’s play zone created.
The current proposal is a full application and town councillors have suggested that it should be reverted to an outline plan. They say it could progress to a full proposal, with more detail, later.
The amended plans now include a letter intended to dispel previous objections over the lack of information in the application and the permanent infilling of the boating lake.
EDDC says the lack of detail was due to a ‘tight timescale’ and there is no ‘specific engineering solution’ for how the infilling will take place.
Objecting to the installation of the big screen, Nick Hookway, chairman of campaign group Save Exmouth Seafront, pointed out that an extensive environmental monitoring programme had previously been recommended for the site.
He said: “I think that the presence of a large number of people on that site will be highly damaging to that site itself.
“Will this present application prevent damage to the site or merely get the public to do the council’s work?
“Will this application have the same environmental mitigation conditions that the reserve matters application had?”
Exmouth Town Council Planning Committee members voted to oppose the amended proposals, saying the blueprint has not answered their original concerns and the plan should come back as an outline application.
In the additional information, EDDC says it wants the application to be decided on by its development management committee in March.
Councillor Bill Nash said: “March is plenty of time for this application to come back in to this committee as an outline application, which I think would be considered properly and probably be acceptable.”
Carillion bid for, and got, many big contracts to offer privatised services in every part of the UK. While it was making profits, these were creamed off first by directors and then by shareholders with a good slice for donations to the Tory party and as little as possible to taxation.
Directors changed its rules to eliminate or vastly reduce their risks (see below). When it went bust, it was “too big to fail” so now the Tory government – which believes, or so it says, in the “free market” and DEFINITELY NOT in nationalisation – picks up the tab and we, the taxpayers, pay for its failure.
Can anyone tell Owl the difference between Carillion and Accountable Care Organisations for the NHS? Big contracts to be offered to privatised services such as Virgin Care, to offer their privatised services all over the UK, where once again, directors cream off the first layer of profits and shareholders the rest. Though in the case of Branson and Virgin HE pays no tax.
What incentive do they have to keep costs down and quality up. when, if they fail, we pick up the tab?
Imagine if this was happening under Corbyn. Who would the Conservatives be blaming? What would they be saying if his government was picking up the bills.
This is NOT a homily to Corbyn – just saying!
Bernie Sanders lost to Hillary Clinton to be Democratic nomination for the US presidential election:
“… Difficult as it is to comprehend, the fact is that the six richest people on Earth now own more wealth than the bottom half of the world’s population – 3.7 billion people. Further, the top 1% now have more money than the bottom 99%. Meanwhile, as the billionaires flaunt their opulence, nearly one in seven people struggle to survive on less than $1.25 (90p) a day and – horrifyingly – some 29,000 children die daily from entirely preventable causes such as diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia.
At the same time, all over the world corrupt elites, oligarchs and anachronistic monarchies spend billions on the most absurd extravagances. The Sultan of Brunei owns some 500 Rolls-Royces and lives in one of the world’s largest palaces, a building with 1,788 rooms once valued at $350m. In the Middle East, which boasts five of the world’s 10 richest monarchs, young royals jet-set around the globe while the region suffers from the highest youth unemployment rate in the world, and at least 29 million children are living in poverty without access to decent housing, safe water or nutritious food. Moreover, while hundreds of millions of people live in abysmal conditions, the arms merchants of the world grow increasingly rich as governments spend trillions of dollars on weapons.
In the United States, Jeff Bezos – founder of Amazon, and currently the world’s wealthiest person – has a net worth of more than $100bn. He owns at least four mansions, together worth many tens of millions of dollars. As if that weren’t enough, he is spending $42m on the construction of a clock inside a mountain in Texas that will supposedly run for 10,000 years. But, in Amazon warehouses across the country, his employees often work long, gruelling hours and earn wages so low they rely on Medicaid, food stamps and public housing paid for by US taxpayers.
Not only that, but at a time of massive wealth and income inequality, people all over the world are losing their faith in democracy – government by the people, for the people and of the people. They increasingly recognise that the global economy has been rigged to reward those at the top at the expense of everyone else, and they are angry.
Millions of people are working longer hours for lower wages than they did 40 years ago, in both the United States and many other countries. They look on, feeling helpless in the face of a powerful few who buy elections, and a political and economic elite that grows wealthier, even as their own children’s future grows dimmer.
In the midst of all of this economic disparity, the world is witnessing an alarming rise in authoritarianism and rightwing extremism – which feeds off, exploits and amplifies the resentments of those left behind, and fans the flames of ethnic and racial hatred. …
… Taking on the greed of Wall Street, the power of gigantic multinational corporations and the influence of the global billionaire class is not only the moral thing to do – it is a strategic geopolitical imperative. Research by the United Nations development programme has shown that citizens’ perceptions of inequality, corruption and exclusion are among the most consistent predictors of whether communities will support rightwing extremism and violent groups. When people feel that the cards are stacked against them and see no way forward for legitimate recourse, they are more likely to turn to damaging solutions that only exacerbate the problem.
This is a pivotal moment in world history. With the explosion in advanced technology and the breakthroughs this has brought, we now have the capability to substantially increase global wealth fairly. The means are at our disposal to eliminate poverty, increase life expectancy and create an inexpensive and non-polluting global energy system.
This is what we can do if we have the courage to stand together and take on the powerful special interests who simply want more and more for themselves. This is what we must do for the sake of our children, grandchildren and the future of our planet.”
This is from the Daily Mail “This is Money” on 12 September 2017:
“Troubled engineer Carillion introduced tougher rules that protect bonuses paid to bosses – just months before it was embroiled in an accounting crisis that wiped £600million off its shares.
The firm changed the wording of its pay policy to make it harder for investors to claw back bonuses paid to executives in the event it ran into financial difficulty.
In recent days Carillion has been under pressure from investors to recoup some of the millions of pounds in bonuses paid to former chief executive Richard Howson and ex-finance chief Richard Adam when they were in charge.
A probe by the Mail has found that previously bosses could have been forced to hand back their annual bonus and share awards in ‘circumstances of corporate failure’.
But in the group’s 2016 annual report this wording was tightened.
It says deferred bonuses may be reduced in circumstances of corporate failure but goes on to say the so-called ‘malus’ and ‘clawback’ provisions can be applied in two circumstances: if results have been misstated or the participant is guilty of gross misconduct.
The changes to clawback rules, if interpreted as being a higher bar, could save bosses millions.
Howson, 49, stepped down from his role as chief executive on the day of the disastrous trading update. He had been in the post since 2009.
He is still with the company as chief operating officer but is due to leave next year. He has made £1.9 million in cash and share bonuses during his tenure, only not getting an award in 2012, according to Mail calculations.
Last year he pocketed a £245,000 bonus in cash and shares as well as a £346,000 long-term incentive award.
Adam, 59, has had up to £2.6million in extra cash and shares since starting in 2006, according to Mail calculations.
Last year he was handed a bonus of £140,000 and long-term incentive awards worth £278,000.
After leaving Carillion in December 2016, he faced a revolt from shareholders at First Group when he joined the transport company’s board. More than a fifth opposed his appointment.
Carillion is still one of the most shorted stocks on the market, suggesting investors are expecting worse to come. But shares closed up 3.7 per cent yesterday, or 1.6p, at 44.76p.
The company declined to comment.”
As posted on the blog of DCC East Devon Alliance Independent Councillor Martin Shaw – three Devon A and E consultants write to the PM to tell it as it is – and it’s not good at all:
“Sir Nick Clegg, the former Deputy Prime Minister, has reportedly claimed almost £115,000 from an expenses allowance previously only granted to former Prime Ministers.
The former leader of the Liberal Democrats was given access to the public duty cost allowance after the 2015 general election.
The allowance provides for the office and secretarial costs for former premiers. …
… A recommendation to give him a reduced rate under the allowance was ignored, according to an internal memo released under freedom of information laws and reported by The Sunday Times. …”
“The growing NHS crisis has been fuelled by the closure of almost 1,000 care homes housing more than 30,000 pensioners, research suggests.
It comes as NHS figures show the worst Accident & Emergency crisis on record, amid a 37 per cent rise in the numbers stuck in hospital for want of social care, since 2010.
Experts said hospitals were being overwhelmed by the spread of flu because they had almost no spare capacity to cope with surges in demand.
The report by industry analysts shows that in the last decade, 929 care homes housing 31,201 pensioners have closed, at a time when the population is ageing rapidly.
The research from LaingBuisson show care homes going out of business at an ever increasing rate, with 224 care homes closed between March 2016 and March 2017, amounting to more than 2,000 beds. …”
The article (behind a pay wall) goes on to say that blocked beds have risen by 37% in 7 years … charities accused successive governments of “failure of leadership” … a senior researcher at the King’s Fund said it was “chickens coming home to roost” after underfunding.
Anyone notice how Brandon Lewis (Chairman, Conservative Party – whose new job is to whip the ageing party’s members into better digital shape) looks and sounds just like EDDC Conservative Councillor Phil Twiss (the man who is their Chief Whip but assures us he has never whipped anyone ever and who has been in charge of EDDC’s digital policies).
Has anyone ever seen them in the same room together!
A Devon GP shared this on the Save our Hospitals website:
“I put this post on my constituency [Labour] womens FB group.
I am an NHS GP- ex partner at ELM surgery- went off with burnout 2014- locuming since 2015 including at 2 practices that have handed back their contracts one has closed and the other in merging with Mount Gould.
I went to an important meeting last night- Arranged by GPs worried about the situation in Primary care in Plymouth and looking for a way forward.
About 30-40 GPs turned up (not bad for a short notice meeting on a Friday night which started when most of us would normally be at work!) We also had some patients representing their practices’ Patient participation groups and someone from Health Education England (responsible for workforce planning in the future/training GPs etc). Luke Pollard- Labour MP was the only MP to turn up. I know it was short notice (I think the venue was only confirmed on 2/1/18) but even so you would have thought may be the potential collapse of Primary Care in your constituency may be quite important to any MP?
It was a great opportunity for us to share issues and think about what could solve them and this is the summary:
Firstly – our wonderful NHS is one of the more cost-effective, safe and efficient health systems in the World and GPs are very cheap and cost effective within that.
Primary Care throughout the UK is being overstretched because of major cuts to services that support particularly our most vulnerable patients- cuts to: Mental Health Teams for adults and children, MIND and other charities, Drug and Alcohol services, Probation, Health visiting, School nurses, District nurses (40% vacancy rates in Plymouth), Social Care and unfair benefit cuts and sanctions etcetc.
Plymouth has a population with higher levels of deprivation than the UK average. These cuts are therefore more severely affecting our Primary care services (but there are similar problems in many similar areas).
Secondly: The NHS and Social Care have been severely underfunded for the past 7 years and now this has reached a tipping point.
GPs are working longer hours, seeing more patients and trying to continue to provide excellent, cost-effective care but are becoming burnt out and demoralised and therefore are retiring early, leaving permanent positions or leaving the UK or medicine.
It is also harder to recruit practice nurses as there is a massive shortage of nurses nationally. As practices are becoming more short staffed the remaining clinicians become even more pressurised and eventually become ill or leave or hand back their contracts.
Now 12-13% of Plymouth patients are from “failed practices”. We have a shortfall of between 26 (LMC figures) and 35 (Healthwatch figures) Full time equivalent GPs in Plymouth. Caretaker organisations – which look after these patient populations until new providers are found- are paid much more per patient than GPs are- I have heard unsubstantiated quotes of £300 per annum compared with GPs £115 per annum if we tick all the Government’s boxes and claim everything we can.
This works sort of as an insurance system where those that need little care sort of subsidise us for the patients that need a lot of care. Yet there is no money or help from NHS England forthcoming to go to practices before they fold. Also neighbouring practices are being put under extreme pressure because NHS England is not allowing any planning for the new patients. Adjoining practices must just keep their lists open without any inkling of how many patients could ultimately join their list. (my friend’s practice may have to take between 0 and 1800 patients within the next 3 months as an adjacent practices closes- when a similar thing happened in 2006 they were allowed to have a planned list of patients and recruit staff to serve those extra patients, WELL in advance)
We are also not allowed to move notes direct to the adjoining practice and Capita is taking 6 months to move notes between practices (much less when NHS run) and the GP2GP computer transfer is only working for 1 in 3 patients. Most patients who move before their practice closes are the ones that require the most care and are the most complex. The other patients, who maybe only see a GP every few years do not move until they need care again therefore effectively financially disadvantaging the new practice too.”
And just how will EDDC decide who are the top 50 employers? Turnover, number of employees, closeness to Woodbury or Otterton? Or big developers? Businesses submitting the most planning applications or biggest landholders? Or might it be social responsibility – lol? Environmental credentials – lol? Employee stakeholders – lol?
And how will they treat these “top 50 compared to the bottom several thousand?
Shades of the discredited, run by disgraced ex-councillor Graham Brown, East Devon Business Forum? And, here it comes again – scrutiny … conflicts of interest …
Owl ruffles its feathers …
“For the many or the few” to quote someone-or-other!
“Develop more effective business engagement though:
1) Publishing quarterly business bulletins and increasing SME readership;
2) Identifying and establishing communication with up to 6 Key Ambassador businesses in East Devon
3) developing and maintaining a contact list of our top 50 employers;
4) Identifying and making contact with businesses comprising our 4 GESP priority sectors (Smart Logistics, Data Analytics, Knowledge Based Industries and Environmental Futures).
Click to access 170118-joint-overview-scrutiny-agenda-combined.pdf
Another conflict of interest? Gamekeeper AND poacher?
“Our commercial premises team will explore the feasibility of offering a range of business advice and support services to local businesses. We will offer an enhanced food hygiene registration scheme to those businesses who would like consultancy time specifically dedicated to helping them improve their regulatory compliance generally and their food hygiene rating score in particular. We will market support package options (to include training, coaching and auditing) to newly registered businesses this year.”
Click to access 170118-joint-overview-scrutiny-agenda-combined.pdf
Owl says: health benefits of public open spaces? Pah! Flog ‘em, flog ‘em!
“ Corporate Green Space policy 1 –
Survey, plot and categorise all council managed green/open space across the district (including housing land, and allotment sites)
assess sites based on a range of criteria including;
strategic importance,
accessibility,
alternative or additional use,
levels of use, amenity value,
ability to protect our outstanding environment and cost.
Identify which sites are suitable for retention, community transfer or disposal taking into account our corporate policies, our Local Plan and open space study.
Click to access 170118-joint-overview-scrutiny-agenda-combined.pdf
Owl says: And if EDDC pitches for these services and does not get them , who foots the bill and what work will the officers NOT have done that we are paying for? And what about that dang conflict of interest?
“We will explore the potential benefits that might arise from working with other local authorities including Exeter City Council, Teignbridge District Council and Mid Devon District Council to deliver advice, support, training and auditing services to businesses across the region.”
Click to access 170118-joint-overview-scrutiny-agenda-combined.pdf
And all for £35,000 … our PUBLIC open spaces paying for their new HQ?
Or planning a money-spinner for Grenadier?
“East Devon District Council agenda papers say the authority is planning to close public spaces like Manor Gardens and Exmouth beach for privately-rented events.
Exmouth’s beach, parks and gardens could be closed to the public for privately-rented events such as weddings and festivals, under new proposals.
According to East Devon District Council (EDDC) agenda papers, the authority is considering hiring an events officer to ‘actively market’ its open spaces.
Previously, Exmouth’s Manor Gardens has been closed to the public for private occasions such as weddings and an open-air cinema. An area on the seafront was also used for the observation wheel last summer.
Proposals in the joint overview and scrutiny committee agenda say that these sites could be used for a big screen to show sports and music events.
There could also be Christmas markets, food fairs, and beach volleyball or surf lifesaving championships.
The agenda, for the meeting taking place on Wednesday, January 17, also says £100,000 could be set aside from EDDC’s capital reserve and that charges would be ‘in line with the private sector’.
EDDC says all parks, gardens and beaches are being considered as host venues and that town and parish councils will be consulted.
An EDDC spokeswoman said: “As part of the council’s objective to develop an outstanding economy through being more commercial, we have been making steady progress in improving our events offer and rentals of our assets such as parks and gardens.
“Last year we increased events income from £10,000 to £35,000.
“This has already included a wedding in Manor Gardens, Exmouth, the Exmouth Observation Wheel and other ticketed events such as open-air cinema, where the park or area was closed to the public.
“We consult with the local town or parish council and elected members before such events go ahead.
“Any East Devon District Council parks, gardens, beaches or open spaces will be considered by the council for events bookings or private functions.
“Charges will be in line with the private sector and anyone interested in making a booking, should contact the council on 01395 517528 or visit http://eastdevon.gov.uk/events.”
http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/exmouth-beaches-parks-rented-out-privately-1-5351545
Owl says: A High Tory who adores privatisation in charge of investigating developers! Pull the other one! AND this is the man who:
“… Speaking to consultancy firm KPMG on 27 July 2011, Letwin caused controversy after stating that you cannot have “innovation and excellence” without “real discipline and some fear on the part of the providers” in the public sector. This was widely reported, with The Guardian headline stating Letwin says ‘public sector workers need “discipline and fear.”
This is the Tory Conservative Home press release says about this – and identifies NHS land as ripe for fast development:
“Sir Oliver Letwin is undertaking a review for the Government on “land banking” by property developers. It will seek to “explain the significant gap between housing completions and the amount of land allocated or permissioned and make recommendations for closing the gap”.
The delays are certainly a source of frustration. “Use it, or lose it,” is that great rallying cry – forgetting that planning permission routinely expires after three years under the current rules. In any case if property developers expect prices to be going up why would that be a reason not to build the homes – which they could then delay selling? I suspect delays are more usually caused by the planning system and difficulties raising the required capital.
We will see what Sir Oliver makes of it. But as he knows better than anyone, the worst culprit when it comes to land banking is the state itself – at least based on the broad definition of sitting on surplus land that could be developed. I have quoted from his memoirs, the examples of the Ministry of Defence and Network Rail. Even in London where we are all so squashed, Transport for London owns land equivalent to the size of Camden.
Another prime culprit is the National Health Service Chris Philp, the Conservative MP for Croydon South, wrote on this site last month that:
“The NHS alone sits on enough surplus land for more than 500,000 homes.”
In his paper for the Centre for Policy Studies, Homes for Everyone, Philp elaborates:
“In its 2017 report on surplus land, NHS Digital identified 1,332 hectares of surplus land across a total of 563 sites. Just 91 hectares of surplus land had been sold previously, with 11 hectares of those sold during 2016/17 – less than 1% of the potential total. At that rate, it would take 112 years to dispose of all the surplus NHS land. (A further 135 hectares is set to be sold by 2020, which is still only ten per cent of the available spare land.) If the NHS was to release its entire 1,332 hectares of surplus land for housing, as many as 533,000 new homes could be created.”
Actually if you look at the data it is likely that the potential is much greater. The NHS Trusts were marking their own homework. They can always say that some bit of unused land isn’t surplus as they might think of something to do with it some time. Then we had 75 of the 236 Trusts that responded denying having any surplus land.
But anyway, the acknowledged 1,332 hectares (that’s 3,291 acres since you ask) is a useful starting point. Surely this is something that councillors should help to pursue? After all, the housing shortage and the financial pressure on the NHS are two of the biggest political concerns of our time – releasing this land for development could help with both.
Perhaps the scrutiny remit of Health and Wellbeing Boards could be extended to cover it. But council leaders should also be chasing the NHS about all these derelict sites. They should be actively encouraged to seek outline planning permission so that the proceeds from sales could be increased. Of course Philip is right that central Government should doing far more. But let’s also get some pressure going locally.”
“Thousands of wealthy homeowners in Britain are receiving hundreds of million of pounds from public money under the Government’s scheme designed to help first-time buyers.
A staggering 5,545 homeowners earning more than £100,000-a-year have benefited from Help to Buy scheme which is aimed at helping people get on the housing ladder.
Data analysis also revealed that of the 5,545 homeowners earning more than £100,000-a-year, 1,287 of those already owned a property.
If householders earning above £100,000 received the same size loan as other groups on average, it would mean they are claiming at least £280m of public money in the past five years.
Richer households are likely to buyer more expensive homes, which could mean the true figure is much higher. …“
Owl says: Chances of this government legislating to stop this – zero. They couldn’t even pass a law saying rented housing should be habitable:
“Highly organised gangs of rogue landlords are making millions every year out of the housing benefit system by enticing desperate local authorities to place single homeless people in micro-flats in shoddily converted and dangerous former family homes.
Three-bed houses, where the maximum weekly housing benefit for flat-sharers is under £100 a person, are being converted into as many as six tiny self-contained studios – as little as 10 sq m in size. Each then qualifies for housing benefit of £181 a week, enabling a landlord to squeeze £56,000 a year in rent from a property on London’s fringes, all paid from public funds. The £56,000 compares with the typical £6,200 annual rent on a three-bed council house.
A previously unpublished government report into a £700,000 project to tackle the scam, released this week under freedom of information laws, shows that councils are struggling to contain the spread of the “lockdown” model, which has taken hold in at least 12 London boroughs since 2015.
It warns of “well organised but unscrupulous landlords” profiting despite some councils – including Hackney, Bexley and Greenwich – launching prosecutions, raids and prohibition orders. …”
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/jan/13/landlords-housing-benefit
“Thousands of young homebuyers remain trapped in virtually brand-new homes made unsaleable by spiralling ground rents and abandoned by developers such as Taylor Wimpey, despite a ban on the charges promised by the government.
Guardian Money can also reveal that the £5bn John Lewis pension fund is behind the soaring rents that have made the lives of some homeowners a misery. …”
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/jan/13/ground-rent-young-homebuyers-charges
East Devon Watch 