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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Conflict of interest, Housing (local), Inequality

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“PM among cabinet members earning money as a landlord”

“Nine cabinet ministers, including the prime minister, are making more than £10,000 a year by acting as landlords, a Guardian analysis has found.

Following Jeremy Hunt’s failure to declare the purchase of seven luxury flats that he subsequently rented out, an analysis of the parliamentary register of MPs’ interests shows eight other members of the cabinet own and rent out a property.

The health secretary was forced in to an embarrassing apology on Friday after it emerged that he had failed to declare a business interest with both Companies House and the parliamentary register of MPs’ interests.

Hunt has amended the register, which now shows that he has a half share of a holiday home in Italy, a half share in an office building in Hammersmith and seven recently acquired apartments in Southampton.

Theresa May and Philip Hammond, who both live in Downing Street, rent out their personal homes in central London. Communities and housing secretary Sajid Javid also rents out property, while Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, rents out two properties, according to the register

The foreign secretary Boris Johnson, the international trade secretary Liam Fox, the minister without portfolio Brandon Lewis – who is also the Conservative party chairman – and the Welsh minister Alun Cairns also own and rent out a property, according to the register.

There is no suggestion that the ministers are in breach of the ministerial code. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/apr/13/pm-among-cabinet-members-earning-money-as-a-landlord

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Developers/ Development, Exmouth, Regeneration

“Exmouth is latest Devon town to be turned into ‘cruel’ seaside poster”

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/exmouth-latest-seaside-town-turned-1453190

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Accountability, AONB, COVOP, Developers/ Development, Environment (local), Housing (local), Planning System, Sustainability

“Griff Rhys Jones supports new report and says we must not lose our precious countryside by building low density sprawling estates”

Press Release:

“Civic Voice president Griff Rhys Jones has today added his voice to campaigns by six community groups fighting “garden communities” being imposed on them by the Government.

He has penned a powerful Foreword to a Smart Growth UK report mostly written by community groups around the country who are opposing garden towns and villages. Griff warns that, far from being utopias, these are disordered schemes that ignore local communities and would be located in unsustainable locations.

“We encounter proposals that are not going to answer local needs for housing at all, but will waste precious countryside by building low density sprawling estates and creating expensive houses. Brownfield land in England can accommodate one million houses, So get on with it and use that.” he says.

Griff warns that terms like “housing crisis” and “emergency” are being used to force through development of the countryside which fails to provide the affordable homes we need as a nation.

The report sets out detailed objections by six groups opposing Government-sponsored garden communities and four opposing large greenfield developments marketed as “garden villages” by their promoters.

““Planning” by definition means looking to the future. That must mean the long-term future as well as the next few years. We need to recognize that people who urge care, caution and attention are not dwelling in the past. They are not NIMBYS, says Griff. “They are protecting the future.”

He says the protests, assessments and legitimate concerns in the report make sober reading.”

Report:

Click to access Garden%20Communities%20Report.pdf

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Misc

Expensive gas or cheap nurses?

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Accountability, Accountable Care Organisation, Austerity cuts, Claire Wright, DCC, Health and Social Care (local), Integrated Care Systems, NHS (local), Scrutiny

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DCC cabinet refuses to accept decision of Health and Social Care Scrutiny Committee and rushes in Accountable Care Organisation without checks and balances

Claire Wright’s blog:

“The all Conservative Devon County Council Cabinet has thrown out its own health watchdog’s unanimous resolution on deferring the implementation of Devon’s Integrated Care System, while a range of assurances were received.

Dozens of objections from members of the public came flooding in at the 22 March Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee meeting and my resolution on the thorny issue, which can be found here –

http://www.claire-wright.org/…/devons_nhs_asked_to_provide_…

… had been backed unanimously by councillors.

A revised resolution that the Cabinet supported yesterday, merely noted that a new system was being set up and everything else was so watered down as to be almost meaningless.

The message was repeated at length that this was not an endorsement but simply noting that it was happening and that progress will be monitored.

I reminded the cabinet of the County Solicitor’s advice to the Health Scrutiny Committee in November that it is unique in scrutiny committees in that we provide a legal check on health services – the only legal check – and that our remit is to take up issues of public concern. And we were flooded with emails of public concern.

I then went through the issues as I saw them.

When summing up, Cabinet member, Andrew Leadbetter, accused me of bringing a set of ‘pre-determined’ proposals to the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee.

This is a serious allegation and I immediately asked him to withdraw it. Leader, and Cabinet Chair, Cllr John Hart, backed me up and Cllr Leadbetter retracted his statement.

I had in fact prepared the proposals during the lunch-hour before the meeting. it is quite permissable (and very common) to conduct business in this way.

There was cross party support for the Health Scrutiny resolution with Cllrs Alan Connett, Brian Greenslade and Rob Hannaford also addressing Cabinet along similar lines.

Here is the Cabinet’s final resolution, which you can compare with my proposals which are set out in yesterday’s post below:

(a) that the original recommendations of the Cabinet (a – d), as outlined in Cabinet Minute *148 and reproduced below, be re-affirmed:

(i) that the key features of an emerging Devon Integrated Care System being a single Integrated Strategic Commissioner, a number of Local Care Partnerships, a Mental Health Care Partnership and shared NHS corporate services, be noted.

(ii) that the proposed arrangements in Devon as set out in paragraph 4 of the Report be endorsed, reporting to the Cabinet and Appointments and Remuneration Committee as necessary.

(iii) that the co-location of NHS and DCC staff within the Integrated Strategic Commissioner, subject to agreement of the business case, be approved; and

(iv) the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee be invited to include Integrated Care System governance in its work programme.

(b) And, in light of the Scrutiny Committees deliberations, Cabinet further RESOLVE

(i) that the Health and Wellbeing Board is reformed to lead new governance arrangements for the development of integrated strategic commissioning of health and social care; and

(ii) that there is continued proactive communication to the public using clear and consistent messaging and where appropriate there will be relevant involvement and engagement.”

Here’s the webcast – https://devoncc.public-i.tv/…/po…/webcast_interactive/325467

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Accountability, Developers/ Development, Fracking, NPPF, Planning System, Sustainability

“Stampede to build homes threatens the rights of locals”

Article by Andrew Motion, President, CPRE in today’s Times (pay wall):

“In launching the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) last month, the communities secretary Sajid Javidpromised “a continued emphasis on development that’s sustainable and led locally”. Was he really talking about the same NPPF that, for the past five years, has forced wholly unsustainable development on communities already struggling with overstretched infrastructure and shrinking green spaces?

Initial analysis of the revisions by the Campaign to Protect Rural England shows that there is still not enough emphasis on a plan-led system such as the one that has been a cornerstone of our local democracy since 1947. We are calling for the final version to give a cast-iron guarantee that locally agreed development plans (including neighbourhood plans) should be upheld when deciding planning applications. It is the only way to restore communities’ faith in neighbourhood planning.

Local volunteers spend a great deal of time and effort in promoting good development, assessing housing needs and negotiating sites that respect settlement boundaries and preserve valued green spaces. So it is deeply disheartening that the revised NPPF could allow local authorities to overrule neighbourhood plans, either when local plans are reviewed (every five years) or if not enough homes are delivered elsewhere.

Communities across England are being targeted by parasitic “land promoters” who speculate on their ability to shoehorn large, expensive homes on to greenfield sites. In many cases the financial might of these companies allows them to steamroller councils in the appeals process, where the NPPF’s current “presumption in favour of sustainable development” provides the necessary loophole.

If it’s hard to achieve democratic decisions with respect to housing, the situation threatens to become even worse with fracking. The majority of recent applications have been decisively rejected by local authorities, yet the revised NPPF forces local authorities not only to place great weight on the supposed benefits of fracking for the economy, but also to recognise the benefits for “energy security” and “supporting a low-carbon transition”. This misguided emphasis can only lead to more travesties like January’s approval for oil exploration by West Sussex county council, in the face of 2,739 letters of objection (and 11 in support).

We must have new housing and infrastructure, but it remains vitally important that development benefits those who have to live with it. Now more than ever, we need to put people at the heart of the planning system.”

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Accountability, EDDC, Knowle/Honiton/Exmouth relocation

EDDC HQ builder in trouble – “problems emerged two years ago”

Owl says: due diligence?

September 2017:

“Construction of East Devon District Council’s new headquarters in Honiton is progressing well with groundworks completed and the building foundations underway.

The council is expected to be working in the new premises by December 2018 and contractors, INTERSERVE Construction Ltd, are on schedule to complete on time. …”

http://eastdevon.gov.uk/news/2017/09/foundations-in-place-for-new-east-devon-district-council-hq-in-honitons-heathpark/

TODAY:

Outsourcer Interserve seeks vote for borrowing increase

INTERSERVE will call a meeting of shareholders to seek approval to increase its borrowing limits and prevent it breaching its banking covenants.

The construction and public services group says that it needs higher borrowing levels because of expected “significant balance sheet writedowns”, which it expects to report in full-year results delayed until the last day of this month, only two days after the meeting.

INTERSERVE is one of Britain’s biggest outsourcing companies, cleaning schools, hospitals, government offices and railway stations. It also operates facilities for the ministries of defence and justice. It has annual revenues of £3.2 billion and employs 80,000 people.

It has been feared that INTERSERVE could become another Carillion, a larger rival that went bust at the turn of the year after the failure of several building contracts. Interserve is on the government’s watch list, with Deloitte, the accounting firm, having been brought in to monitor the company. EY, another of the Big Four accountants, is advising Interserve and its lenders.

The business’s problems emerged two years ago after the failure of a venture to build energy-generating incinerators led to it having to pay out £195 million in compensation and penalties.

In a statement to the stock market, Interserve said that at its year-end, its net debt had risen to £513 million. …”

Source: Times (paywall)

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Austerity cuts, Police (local)

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Devon and Cornwall Police has biggest cut (22%) in south-west

“Seven years of austerity has seen police numbers cut by “more than 15%”, according to new research from Unison.

There are now 2,817 fewer people employed by the South West’s five forces than there were in 2010.

Devon and Cornwall’s force has been hit worst – losing 22% of its strength.

Unison says the government needs to stop the cuts and get numbers back to a reasonable level.

Its Police and Justice Lead Mike Cracknell said austerity is “hitting public safety”.

“Our police workers are 100% committed to keeping people safe, often putting themselves in danger to do so. But you can’t do the job with a skeleton crew.”

The Home Secretary Amber Rudd says the evidence doesn’t back up claims that reduced resources are the cause of more crime.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-devon-43641547

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Developers/ Development, PegasusLife

Will PegasusLife (and other retirement housing developers) miss out on lucrative ground rents?

Today’s Metro newspaper business section:

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Accountability, Conflict of interest, Freedom of Information Act, Scrutiny, Transparency

“Council fails in appeal over FOI request and commercial prejudice”

“Hartlepool Borough Council has lost an appeal against a ruling by the Information Commissioner because it failed to provide evidence of what harm to commercial interests would be done by disclosing material dating from 2005 and relating to the transfer of ownership of Durham Tees Valley Airport.
In the First-Tier Tribunal General Regulatory Chamber (Information Rights), Judge Anisa Dhanji said neither the council nor property firm Peel had shown any convincing reason for keeping private details of the deal they did over the airport.

John Latimer had made a Freedom of Information request for papers relating to how ownership of 75% of the airport came to be transferred by the six Tees Valley local authorities to Peel.

Some information was provided but the council withheld the rest – though it later made further releases – and Latimer took his case to the Commissioner, who ruled in his favour.
Giving judgment in Hartlepool Borough Council v IC & (Dismissed : Freedom of Information Act 2000) [2018] UKFTT 2017_0057 (GRC), Judge Dhanji noted Hartlepool had not put forward any submissions or witness statements for this appeal.

She said: “It is not clear to what extent the council is still relying on prejudice to its own interests, but we entirely agree with the commissioner’s assessment…we do not find that the council has established that disclosure of the information would or would be likely to prejudice its commercial interests,”

Peel’s case asserted that disclosure could weaken its position in negotiations with potential new investors in the airport and could be used by competitors against it.

“What Peel has completely failed to do, however, is to support its assertions with evidence,” the judge said.
“There are no witness statements, and no evidence or even arguments to link the disclosure of any specific aspect of the information with any specific business interests that would or would be likely to be prejudiced by its disclosure.”

Peel had “failed to show the causal link between the disputed information and the claimed prejudice”, the tribunal concluded, ordering Hartlepool to send Latimer the information within 35 days.”

http://localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/index.php

Full Judgment:
http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKFTT/GRC/2018/2017_0057.html

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, NHS (local), Privatisation

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“Two-fifths of private hospitals in England are failing safety standards”

As waiting lists get longer and bed numbers get fewer, many people in East Devon are now resorting to using their savings to pay for private hospital treatment.

Maybe think twice.

“Two-fifths of private hospitals in England fail to meet expected safety standards, according to a report by health inspectors.

While most independent acute hospitals provide good quality care, inspections by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) raised concerns over the safety and leadership of some services.

The regulator also said “a lack of effective oversight” of consultants with practising privileges was a “major concern”.

The issue had been “brought into sharp focus” by the case of the rogue breast surgeon Ian Paterson, who carried out unnecessary operations in NHS and private hospitals, it added.

The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) said the report “exposes the poorer practices of some independent providers and underlines the need for a renewed focus on improving patient safety”.

Of the 206 independent acute hospitals inspected, 62% were given a “good” rating overall and 8% were described as “outstanding”. However, 30% of private hospitals were deemed to need improvement.

The CQC said it was particularly concerned about safety, with 41% of private hospitals rated as requiring improvement in this area and 1% as inadequate. Almost a third were rated as requiring improvement and 3% as inadequate in terms of how well they were led. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/11/two-fifths-of-private-hospitals-in-england-are-failing-safety-standards

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Accountability, Hinkley C, Local Enterprise Partnership

Hinkley C French twin having problems

No worries – our Local Enterprise Partnership will sort it out … won’t they …?

“EDF Energy has warned that a flagship nuclear power station it is building in France could run further behind schedule and over budget, after it detected faults at the €10.5bn ( £9.2bn) plant.

The French state-owned firm said inspections last month had uncovered problems with welding on pipes at the Flamanville plant in north-west France.

Flamanville’s reactor design is the same as the one being used at a delayed plant in Finland and at Hinkley Point in Somerset, where EDF is building the UK’s first new nuclear power station in decades.

The company said that it had discovered “quality deviations” on 150 welds in a system used to transport steam to turbines used for electricity generation.

EDF said it was performing further checks to see what works would be needed to satisfy the safety requirements of the French nuclear regulator, ASN, and would report back in May.

In a statement, the firm said: “Following the current checks and the licensing process by the ASN, EDF will be able to specify whether the project requires an adjustment to its timetable and its costs.”

The plant is already three times over its original estimates and several years late.

Nuclear industry experts said the announcement cast doubt over whether Flamanville unit three would be operational by the end of 2019, as planned.

Stephen Thomas, professor of energy policy at the University of Greenwich said: “If remedial work is needed, this puts in further doubt whether Flamanville can be in commercial operation [as previously planned].”

ASN warned earlier this year that the start-up schedule for Flamanville was tight.

Paul Dorfman, of the Energy Institute at University College London, said the problems did not bode well for Hinkley Point C, which is due to come online in 2025.

“If they can’t build their own reactor in France, where can they build it? This seems counter to their claims that they are learning from their mistakes and Hinkley won’t be a repeat.”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/apr/10/edf-warns-of-faults-at-nuclear-power-station-it-is-building-in-france?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Ot

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Accountability, Grant Thornton, Honiton/ Gittisham

Honiton Town Council slated for poor financial management

“Grant Thornton, who were appointed by the Audit Commission as auditor of the council, found that there have been a number of serious failings in governance and procedures at Honiton Town Council.

The internal audit report revealed that financial systems had not been updated between November 2016 and March 2017, no financial information had been provide to the council for scrutiny since September 2016 and that reserve levels were not being reported to the council.

The report of Mr Morris says that the internal audit report noted that:

The financial systems had not been updated between November 2016 and March 2017 and that only the clerk had the login details of the new finance system

The council did not have adequate contingency plans for key staff being absent, result in the council failing to maintain proper records

At the point of the internal audit review in March 2017 it was noted that due to the financial system not being kept up to date, there had not been any bank reconcillliations completed since September 2016

No financial information had been provided to the council for scrutiny since the October 2016 finance committee meeting

Insufficient information was provided on the assets and liabilities of the council

No amount had been input for the budgeted precept, resulting in the accounts showing the council was budgeting for a £236,000 deficit

Reserve levels were not being report to the council
There was little detail of how the council set its budget and that progress against the budget was not regularly monitored. …”

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/serious-failings-revealed-damning-report-1439581

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Coastal communities, Environment (local), Sidmouth/ Sidford/ Sidbury

Sidmouth Plastic Warriors lead the way in East Devon

“Sidmouth Plastic Warriors, a group started in January 2018 with the purpose of reducing plastic waste in Sidmouth, clearing up what is already here and helping to push forward change locally, nationally and globally.

Do please visit our Facebook page and join us in whatever way suits you – clearing up with a group (see our events page) or posting results of your own clear ups, let us know about what you’re doing to reduce plastic waste, become a keyboard warrior (use the hashtag #plasticpollution to make your posts searchable by other keyboard warriors who will like and share your posts about plastic waste) or just send us some cash! Anything raised will be poured back in to schemes to reduce plastic waste in the town. Email us with anything to contribute or any questions.

http://sidmouthplasticwarriors.org/sidmouth-town-council-meeting/

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Accountability, Accountable Care Organisation, Claire Wright, DCC, Health and Social Care (local), Integrated Care Systems, Martin Shaw (Seaton), NHS (local), Privatisation, Scrutiny

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“DCC cabinet decides tomorrow if to back Health Scrutiny resolution over controversial health plans”

Claire Wright’s blog, as she ploughs (with EDA DCC Councillor Martin Shaw) the lonely furrow of integrity and common sense – both sadly lacking in the DCC Health and Social Care Scrutiny Committee:

“Devon County Council’s cabinet will decide tomorrow whether to back the Health and Adult Scrutiny Committee’s resolution on deferring the implementation of the controversial Integrated Care System, which many local people have huge concerns over.

At the last Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee on 22 March, I proposed the following which was supported by the majority of the committee.

An additional line on a public engagement, was voted down by Conservative councillors:

Here’s what the cabinet will be considering. If it supports the resolution, it will be implemented with immediate effect…..

I will be speaking in support of the resolution tomorrow…… If you are keen to know the outcome or hear the discussion, the meeting is webcast live here – https://devoncc.public-i.tv/core/portal/home

(a) record the Committee’s concerns over the emerging Devon Integrated Care System being a single Integrated Strategic Commissioner, a number of Local Care Partnerships, Mental Health Care Partnership and shared NHS corporate services;

(b) defer the implementation of the Integrated Care System process until assurances are provided on governance, funding, the future of social care from a democratic perspective;

(c) recommend Councillor Ackland’s paper and proposals on the reformation of the Health and Wellbeing Board as a sound democratic way forward to provide the necessary governance on a new integrated system;

(d) give assurance that the proposals will not lead to deeper cuts in any part of Devon as a result of the ‘equalisation of funding’; and

(e) provide a copy of the business plan being developed and a summary of views from staff consultations.

For more background on Integrated Care Systems see my blog
post –

http://www.claire-wright.org/…/devons_nhs_asked_to_provide_…

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Economy, Productivity

Bank of England and Big Business take over productivity drive from the amateurs – where does this leave our Local Enterprise Partnership?

Our LEP members are pretty much one-trick ponies representing primarily the interests of their companies or their councils. Are they now quietly being frozen out?

“British business leaders announce further plans to boost firm-level productivity at Bank of England

The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has chaired a meeting of UK business leaders who have announced a new set of commitments to help UK firms improve their productivity.

As the countdown to Brexit begins, Be the Business – the campaign organisation formed to tackle the UK’s longstanding productivity challenge – met with the governor to set out plans to make the UK more productive and competitive.

Attendees included the leaders of Amazon, BAE Systems, the British Museum, BT, CBI, Cisco, EY, KPMG, the John Lewis Partnership, McKinsey & Co, Rolls-Royce and Siemens UK.
UK productivity grew by 0.9 per cent in Q3 and 0.7 per cent in Q4 of 2017.

While positive, this follows a decade of under-performance and Britain remains 25 per cent less productive than Germany. In its latest inflation report, the Bank of England highlighted poor productivity growth as a key factor limiting the UK’s capacity to grow to around 1.5 per cent per year.

That’s why some of the UK’s leading businesses have committed to bringing world-class management and technology practices to thousands of British businesses in their communities and supply chains. This includes:

Support for a national digital platform, launched today, giving businesses best in class advice on how to improve.

A new mentoring programme, launching nationwide later this year, to help SMEs build essential management skills – supported by senior staff from companies including GSK, the John Lewis Partnership and Siemens

The national roll-out of Productivity through People – an executive education programme for SME leaders

A new business productivity index and a series of tailored programmes targeted specifically at SME productivity

The Bank of England has been at the forefront of highlighting the need for UK firms to improve their productivity. In March 2017, the organisation’s chief economist Andy Haldane warned that technological diffusion from business “leaders to laggards” has slowed. This message was echoed by chancellor Philip Hammond, who announced a call for evidence in the Spring Statement to understand how to best help the UK’s least productive businesses to learn from, and catch-up with, the most productive.

At the meeting, held on 9 April 2018, Carney said: “UK productivity has severely under-performed since the financial crisis, resulting in a lost decade for real incomes and a lower speed limit for the economy. Reviving productivity growth is critical for the UK’s long-term economic prosperity, and part of the answer lies in spreading best practice across a much wider range of firms. Be the Business are playing a key role in achieving that, helping businesses to identify and implement ways to improve their productivity.”

Also attending the meeting was Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership and Be the Business, who commented: “Getting our businesses to improve their performance to the same level as our international competitors is the biggest economic challenge we face as a country. The UK’s businesses have the solution in their grasp. That’s why we’re building a movement that will recruit tens of thousands of companies across the UK to ensure we’re match fit to compete post-Brexit.”

Note:

Be the Business is a new business-led organisation created to close the UK’s productivity gap. Chaired by Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, Be the Business is spearheading a business-led drive to help companies across the UK improve their performance.

It is supported by some of the UK’s most senior business leaders including Tera Allas (McKinsey & Co), Olly Benzecry (Accenture), Sir Roger Carr (BAE Systems), Roger Connor (GSK), Ian Davis (Rolls-Royce), Carolyn Fairbairn (CBI), Doug Gurr (Amazon), Dame Fiona Kendrick (Nestle), Sir Richard Lambert (British Museum), Prof Juergen Maier (Siemens UK), Sir Charlie Mayfield (John Lewis Partnership), Gavin Patterson (BT Group), Phil Smith (Cisco), James Stewart (KPMG), Steve Varley (EY) and Nigel Whitehead (BAE Systems).

Be the Business’s advisory board members have committed the first 100 mentors to a leading nationwide mentoring programme. Be the Business will report on the programme roll-out at its next advisory board meeting, to be hosted by the chancellor, in September 2018.

Productivity through People is a 12-month regional productivity programme for SME leaders. Initially launched by BAE Systems and the University of Lancaster in January 2017, participants undertake a series of masterclasses, led by the leading business school faculty and industrial visits to some of the UK’s leading businesses, alongside tailored mentoring. Programmes are currently underway in Lancaster, Bath and Glasgow, and a national roll-out is in development for 2019.

Office for National Statistics, Labour productivity, UK: October to December 2017:
https://bit.ly/2uRexXl

Productivity puzzles, speech given by Andrew Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England, at the London School of Economics on 20 March 2017:
https://bit.ly/2EwlP2q

https://www.bethebusiness.com/2018/04/british-business-leaders-announce-further-plans-to-boost-firm-level-productivity-at-bank-of-england/

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Accountability, Asset sweating, Austerity cuts, Transport (local)

EDDC car parking permit charges “survey”

Nore this is not a formal consultation and, as you might expect, is about raising and extending charges, not reducing them – specifically for car parking permits.

“Anyone interested in learning more about the changes and who wants to have their say, should visit:

http://eastdevon.gov.uk/consultation-and-surveys/car-park-review. Alternatively, anyone who would like a paper copy of the consultation posted to them, or who needs the consultation in another format, then please call the council on 01395 517569.”

http://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/comments-invited-on-east-devon-car-park-charge-review-1-5469087

Chances of your comments making any difference – zero. But do it anyway and let them know how you feel.

And maybe don’t vote for Tory councillors next time round?

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Accountability, Police (local)

Do declining police numbers increase violent crime?

Owl is sure Tory Police and [Increasing] Crime Commissioner Hernandez will have an interesting theory!

“Police chiefs have hit back at claims a massive 90% rise in violent crime across Cornwall and Devon in the last nine years might be linked to ever decreasing officer numbers.

In Devon and Cornwall there were 32,509 violent crimes reported in the year to September 2017 (the latest figures), a 91% rise from the 17,058 reports received in the year ending September 2009.

However, over the same period the full-time equivalent number of police officers at the force has fallen by 18%, from 3,562 in September 2009 to 2,921 in September 2017, a loss of 641 officers.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-devon-43641547