Monthly Archives: March 2019

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18 Mar 2019

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Accountability, Barratt Homes, Developers/ Development

Now new Barratt homes in Devon getting bad publicity for faults

“What was meant to be a family’s forever home has turned into a living nightmare after they suffered more than 100 problems with their new build – including a millipede infestation.

They moved into their detached four-bed house, built by Barratt Homes in tucked away development Hawthorne Rise in Newton Abbot, nearly two years ago and say they have since had more than 100 snagging issues with the property.

The mother-of-two, who asked not to be named, says the latest issue to be investigated is insufficient drainage in their sloping garden which has caused a millipede infestation and it to become boggy. …”

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/family-say-dream-home-turned-2659117

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18 Mar 2019

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Accountability, Corruption, Privatisation

“Shadow state” and privatisation – part 4

“Police have launched a criminal investigation into allegations of fraud at the UK’s largest government-funded apprenticeship provider.

Derbyshire constabulary said its specialist fraud investigation unit has begun a formal fraud investigation into the collapse of 3aaa, which was training 4,216 apprentices at companies including Ocado, Volkswagen and the National Grid.

“A formal criminal investigation has been launched into 3aaa,” a police spokesman said. “This follows a number of allegations of fraud that have been made by the Department for Education against the firm. Officers from Derbyshire constabulary’s specialist fraud investigation team will now begin the process of making formal inquiries into these allegations.”

The firm, which received £31m of government money last year, was placed into compulsory liquidation in October 2018 after the DfE withdrew all funding following allegations of fraud.

More than half of the apprentices being trained by 3aaa – which stands for aspire, achieve and advance – have been left in limbo by the collapse. Almost 2,000 of the 4,216 apprentices have been moved to new providers.

The founders of 3aaa, Peter Marples and Di McEvoy-Robinson, resigned as directors of the company shortly before its collapse last year.

Separate to the fraud allegations, an investigation by the Guardian and the higher education journal FE Week revealed that 3aaa had spent £1.6m of its mostly government-funded income on professional sports sponsorship.

The money was spent on sponsorship between 2015-18, despite the firm making a £2.8m pre-tax losses in the 18 months to January 2018, according to unpublished company accounts.

It spent £480,000 to become the “principal partner” of Derbyshire county cricket club, which includes shirt sponsorship and the right to rename the club’s 147-year-old ground as “the 3aaa County Ground”.

The sponsorship deal gave Marples and McEvoy-Robinson access to the team’s 1870 Business Club – a “relaxed and informal environment where local businesses can meet, create new contacts and watch first-class cricket”. Marples and McEvoy-Robinson are seen in the club’s team photo.

There is no suggestion that the sports sponsorship deals form part of the police fraud investigation.

A DfE spokesperson said: “As a criminal investigation is now under way, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

It is the second time the DfE has investigated alleged wrongdoing at 3aaa. A previous investigation in 2016 by the auditing firm KPMG found that 3aaa had been overestimating its apprenticeship success rate.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/18/derbyshire-police-criminal-inquiry-failed-training-firm-3aaa-fraud-allegations-department-education

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18 Mar 2019

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Accountability, Democracy, EDDC, Lib Dem (local), Martin Shaw (Seaton), Sleaze, Voting

Seaton Lib Dem Councillor ‘censors’ councillor publicising bus consultation

Astounding that something as neutral (and important) as a consultation on changes to major bus routes to and from Seaton should be censored. And even a pitiful and low-bar excuse of a ‘political post’ (assuming that is the reason) doesn’t hold water as Councillor Shaw is not up for re-election until 2022!

Councillor Burrows, in the other hand, IS up for re-election on 2 May 2019 – even though he had to resign as Mayor, admitted that he had brought the town council into disrepute AND was censured by EDDC – if the Lib Dems can’t find a better candidate! If they can’t, it really doesn’t say much for the quality of their current membership in Seaton!

From the blog of Seaton and Colyton East Devon Alliance DCC Councillor Martin Shaw:

“Seaton EDDC and town councillor Peter Burrows (pictured in his Facebook logo with the late Liberal Democrat leader, Paddy Ashdown) resigned as mayor in January after self-confessedly ‘bringing the town council into disrepute’ after abusing a ‘Tourist Information Centre’ Twitter account to pursue a personal grudge.

Now, in the very week in which East Devon’s Monitoring Officer has formally censured him on four counts, Burrows and his co-administrator, Tony Antoniou, have abused their positions as admins on a community Facebook group to remove me from the group, as I found when I tried to post details of the Stagecoach bus consultation to the group, to which I’ve belonged for years. No warning was given and neither has responded to requests for an explanation.

This example of arbitrary censorship raises two fingers to Town Council recommendations – in response to Burrows’ January actions and expected to be adopted in two weeks’ time – that councillors should ‘behave responsibly, considerately and professionally’ on social media and should NOT be Facebook admins.

It is laughable for Burrows to call himself a Liberal Democrat. This self-appointed Town Censor has no respect for the idea that a community Facebook group – the group in question is called Positive Development for Everyone in Seaton and was set up after a community meeting – should be open to a County Councillor to post important local information, and indeed for members to express views different from the admins’.

There is a long history of Burrows arbitrarily removing people and posts from different Facebook groups. I have considerable respect for the Liberal Democrats – their members on the County Council are fine councillors and I work with them closely – but Burrows is bringing his party into disrepute. I am reporting him to their regional organisation for his latest antics.”

Seaton’s rogue councillor is at it again on Facebook. I’m reporting him to the Liberal Democrats, because this self-appointed Town Censor certainly isn’t a liberal. Paddy Ashdown must be turning in his grave.

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18 Mar 2019

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Local Government Finance, NHS (local), Privatisation

Shadow state – part 3

And now the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounting agrees privatisation isn’t working. The National Audit Office and the Government’s own Public Accounts Committee have said the same.

Will this cause a change of policy – particularly in the NHS? Not a chance!

“The collapse of outsourcing giant Interserve will be “costly and disruptive” for the public sector, a public services commentator has told PF.

Interserve, one of Britain’s biggest government contractors, was due to file for administration this evening. This was after just under 60% of the company’s shareholders voted against a rescue plan earlier today.

The business holds thousands of public sector contracts, including for local government, cleaning schools and hospitals. It also runs catering and probation services as well as managing construction projects.

John Tizard told PF that public sector clients will need to “spring into action either to bring the services back into public management or to broker the contracts to other contractors”.

The firm’s collapse will likely be “costly and disruptive” for public services, he added. The ‘deleveraging plan’, proposed on Friday, would have seen creditors take control in a ‘debt-for-equity’ swap. It was rejected 59% to 41% by shareholders.

The rescue plan would have meant lenders being given the greater number of shares in the business with the shareholders’ stake being reduced to 5%, the BBC has reported. A US hedge fund Coltrane, which owns 27% of the company, voted to reject the proposals.

Tizard told PF: “It’s another question mark over the appropriateness of outsourcing particularly on this scale – to companies that have business models which are risky and fragile and where ownership changes.

“They are likely to go into administration because Coltrane has said they won’t vote for the deal, but can we really afford to have key public services decided by US hedge funds?” he queried.

Tizard said he had no doubt that contingency plans will have been drawn and added that it was now necessary for public sector clients to implement these.

Interserve employs 45,000 people in the UK. Its website also states that it provides probation services for 40,000 people on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

A damning report from the National Audit Office recently highlighted the failings of prison reforms, which saw probation services transferred to the private sector.”

https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2019/03/public-sector-likely-suffer-collapse-interserve

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18 Mar 2019

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Misc

“Shadow state” part 2

To be read with the chilling post below. When The Guardian AND The Times agree, something is DEFINITELY going wrong!

“The government has been accused of “irresponsibility” as it emerged that Interserve won £660 million worth of public contracts as it slid into a financial crisis that led to its collapse into administration last week.

Analysis of government projects has revealed that the outsourcing giant was handed public jobs worth £432 million in 2017 and £233 million last year. The deals were awarded even while it advised investors of its financial problems.

On Friday the parent company of the key government contractor entered administration after its largest shareholder, a US hedge fund, blocked a rescue deal. It was immediately bought out by lenders, wiping out shareholders and leading to uncertainty for its workforce. Interserve had annual revenues of £2.9 billion but a move into building energy-from-waste incinerators went awry. It cost the business £280 million and its share price collapsed.

Research by Tussell, a data analytics provider specialising in government contracting, shows that the company continued to win lucrative jobs. For example, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office awarded Interserve £66 million for facilities management services in July. The company had issued profit warnings in May 2016 and twice in 2017. Since it began lining up a rescue deal in December, it had won £6 million of taxpayer-funded work.

Interserve is one of Britain’s leading providers of privatised public sector services, with 45,000 workers maintaining and cleaning schools, hospitals, railway stations, government departments, armed forces facilities and job centres. The rapid “pre-pack” sale of the company to its lenders has allowed its operating subsidiaries to continue trading with customers and suppliers.

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: “The awarding of contracts follows a robust process, including financial checks.”

Source: Times (pay wall)

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18 Mar 2019

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Local Government Finance, Privatisation

Privatisation: ” a shadow state apparatus run solely for profit”

“Oh, how we laughed. Failing Grayling, the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, the Mr Bean of contemporary politics, had awarded a cross-Channel ferry contract to Seaborne, a company that had no ferries and had never run a ferry service. Six weeks later, the contract was torn up.

The trouble is, the laugh’s on us too. For it’s not just Grayling who’s failing. The Seaborne style of awarding contracts – never mind the competence, just get the signature – has long been the public sector norm for outsourced work. The result has been scandalous services and collapsing companies.

Consider Interserve. It’s another of those corporations, like Capita, Carillion and Serco, with bland names, barely visible to the public, but which have become a kind of shadow state, providing much of Britain’s essential public services.The outsourcing of public services began as a Thatcherite policy in the late 1980s, became turbocharged under New Labour and was pushed further still by the coalition government after 2010. An Institute for Government report last year calculated that a third of government expenditure – £284bn – was disbursed to external suppliers handling everything from parking permits to immigration control to the maintenance of nuclear warheads.

But why should the same company be deemed capable of motorway construction and probation management, of sewer repairs and hospital catering? And why is this not as scandalous as a company with no ferries being awarded a ferry contract?

Interserve is not unique. Take Serco, which began life as the British arm of the US entertainment firm RCA. By the late 1980s it had changed its name and aggressively moved to take advantage of the market in government outsourcing. Within 25 years, it was running everything from out-of-hours GP services to asylum detention centres.

It’s not uncommon for companies to change strategy or seek new markets, but this usually involves having some expertise in the subject. When it comes to public service contracts, however, expertise appears to mean primarily the ability to win contracts. Serco’s “panache in the bidding process”, one report observed, allowed it to “beat out competition from specialist firms”.

Inevitably, this has led to a constant stream of debacles. From charging for the tagging of nonexistent criminals to accusations of neglect and sexual assault at Yarl’s Wood migrant detention centre, from allegations of data falsification in an out-of-hours GP service to disastrous work capability assessments, the one thing that outsourcing companies have never been able to outsource is the stench of scandal.

A decade ago, such companies were boasting about reaping the rewards of the financial crash. Paul Pindar, CEO of Capita, told the Financial Times that he’d be “deeply disappointed” if the company did not double revenues from government contracts within five years. In fact, within a decade, Capita was knee-deep in debt and issuing profit warnings. Serco’s profits had already plummeted. Carillion collapsed. And now Interserve is in administration.

Government cuts may have opened up new markets, but they also squeezed profit margins. Combined with greed and overstretch and never-ending scandals, outsourcing companies have been forced into a “bankrupt” business model of chasing new public sector contracts to make up for the razor-thin margins in the old ones.

Shareholders have seen assets disappear and creditors have lost money. But the real losers are NHS patients, benefits claimants, asylum detainees – and the tens of thousands of workers employed by such companies, often in gig-economy conditions.

It’s time we recognised that the policy of giving construction or facilities management companies power over health provision, welfare assessment or prisoners is as rational as awarding a ferry contract to a company that’s never ferried a bugger in its life.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/17/we-scoffed-at-chris-grayling-ferries-but-his-way-is-now-a-public-service-norm

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17 Mar 2019

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Accountability, Hugo Swire

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Swire has another new job – paying (at least) £312.50 per hour … for 8 hours a month with an Irish connection!

8 hours ‘work” a month – 4 short lunches or two long ones! And if you add the £15,000 upfront payment in February 2019, his hourly rate goes up to £468.75!

)Sadly the words ‘East Devon’ do not appear anywhere below!)

From 1 February 2019 until further notice, non-executive chairman of the Enbarr Fund, an early stage venture capital fund with universities in Ireland. Remuneration from Imprimatur Capital, Fifth Floor, 1 Tudor Street, London EC4Y 0AH. I received £15,000 on 6 February 2019 and until further notice I will receive £2,500 a month in return for a monthly commitment equivalent to 8 hrs. (Registered 22 February 2019)

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/190304/swire_hugo.htm

Owl cannot find any informative on “Enbarr Fund”, although there are other companies with the name Enbarr in them. So, what is “Imprimature Capital” to which it is linked? Hard to say – this is how they describe themselves:

“We are an international boutique science and technology investor. We specialise in medium and long term intellectual property (IP) opportunities, emerging from a unique international network, including leading universities and research institutions.

Established in 2003, and headquartered in London, we are a direct investor and a UK FCA regulated fund management company. We collaborate and partner internationally with experienced investment, finance and technology professionals, including our own high-net-worth and institutional shareholders, to deliver a return on investment.”

http://www.imprimaturcapital.com

Owl finds this somewhat difficult to understand. In translation, it seems to imply they simply exist to make shedloads of money for rich clients!

Who is on its advisory board?

Katarina Uherova Hasbani
“Katarina has more than 15 years of professional experience across most of the sub-sectors of energy, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, power, water and natural gas. She currently works with private sector clients, enabling their innovation and market entry into clean energy markets in South East Asia, Middle East and Central Asia. …”

Hans Van Linschoten
“Hans has been an entrepreneur and a strategy consultant working in Europe, USA, Middle East and India since 1988 after attending the University of Nyenrode, a renowned business school in The Netherlands. His vast fields of experience span from mobile technology disciplines and cloud computing to on- and offline consumer marketing. As an entrepreneur, Hans has (co-)founded over twenty-five companies. Some of these were acquired, some merged with other companies and some failed utterly with the latter bringing most valuable lessons learned. …”

Kirsten Jack
“Kirsten has delivered urban infrastructure and local economic development consultancies for multilateral development banks such as EBRD and AfDB, and led major initiatives for governments in Syria, Russia, China and Nigeria. …”

Peter Jaco
“Peter Jaco is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor specialising in cyber security, internet of things and block chain technologies. After his 10-year career at Reuters where he was commercial director for their US$1bn interbank transactions products trading business, he has co-founded or invested in several cyber security and encryption start-ups including BeCrypt and Digital Shadows. …”

http://www.imprimaturcapital.com/about/advisory-board/

And, just so you know, here are his other current “jobs”:

From 15 November 2016, Deputy Chairman of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council. Address: Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5HX. From 1 April 2018 I expect to be paid £2,083 every month until further notice. Hours: 10 hrs per month. I consulted ACoBA about this appointment. (Registered 16 November 2016; updated 22 May 2018)

From 19 March 2018 until further notice, Non-Executive Chairman of the British Honey Company, Unit 3 Vista Place, Coy Pond Business Park, Ingworth Road, Poole, Dorset, BH12 1JY. I will receive shares with a value of £50,000, in lieu of two years’ payment. Hours: expected to be about 5 hrs a month. I consulted ACoBA about this appointment. (Registered 22 May 2018)

From 11 October 2018 to 11 October 2020, Senior Adviser giving strategic advice to Brennan and Partners Ltd, of Wilmington House, High St, East Grinstead, RH19 3AU; a provider of strategic investment advice for the Latin American market. Fees will be based on a percentage of profit and on my contribution to the business. Expected time commitment: between 2 and 4 hours per quarter. (Registered 26 October 2018)

and still has his dormant company with Russian oil magnate Oleg Derepaska’s good mate (Lord) Greg Barker:

From 12 December 2016, partner in Eaglesham Investments (not yet trading) which was set up to focus on renewable energy projects. (Registered 22 May 2018)

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/190304/swire_hugo.htm

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17 Mar 2019

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Accountability, Developers/ Development, Housing (local), Tax avoidance

Want to know which tax haven companies own property in your town?

“IN September 2015 Private Eye created an easily searchable online map (see below) of properties in England and Wales owned by offshore companies. It reveals for the first time the extent of the British property interests of companies based in tax havens from Panama to Luxembourg, and from Liechtenstein to the South Pacific island of Niue. Most are held in this way for tax avoidance and often to conceal dubious wealth.
Using Land Registry data released under Freedom of Information laws, and then linking around 100,000 land title register entries to specific addresses, the Eye has mapped all leasehold and freehold interests acquired by offshore companies between 2005 and 2014.

Using this data the Eye published a series of exposes of the companies, arms dealers, oligarchs, money launderers and others who use offshore companies. Now Private Eye, using the same data, is also publishing a database of all properties acquired by offshore companies from 1999 to 2014, showing the address, the offshore corporate owners (some have more than one) and, where available, the price paid.

To download the 1999-2014 database,follow instructions on the website

Download the FREE Tax Haven Special Report follow instructions on the website.

http://www.private-eye.co.uk/tax-havens

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17 Mar 2019

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Accountability, Developers/ Development, Housing (local), Sleaze, Tax avoidance, Transparency

No anti-corruption move on property ownership since promised in 2016

“More than £100bn of property in England and Wales is secretly owned, new analysis suggests. More than 87,000 properties are owned by anonymous companies registered in tax havens, research by the transparency group Global Witness reveals.

The analysis reveals that 40% of the properties are in London. Cadogan Square in Knightsbridge, where the average property costs £3m, hosts at least 134 secretly owned properties. Buckingham Palace Road is also home to a large number, with a combined estimated value of £350m.

The revelation comes as parliament’s joint select committee on the draft registration of overseas entities bill meets on Monday to hear evidence on the impact of property ownership by anonymous companies.

The government committed to introduce a register of UK property owners at its anti-corruption summit in 2016, but since then progress has been slow.

“It’s increasingly clear that UK property is one of the favourite tools of the criminal and corrupt for stashing and laundering stolen cash,” said Ava Lee, senior anti-corruption campaigner at Global Witness.

“This analysis reveals the alarming scale of the UK’s secret property scandal.”

The combined value of the properties was at least £56bn, according to historical Land Registry data at the time of their acquisition. Once inflation is factored in this would exceed £100bn.

Some 10,000 of the properties are in Westminster, while almost 6,000 are in Kensington and Chelsea. Camden is home to more than 2,300 of the anonymously owned properties while almost 2,000 are in Tower Hamlets.

Global Witness says its investigations have shown how criminals and corrupt politicians use the UK property market to hide or clean dirty cash, and to secure safe havens for themselves and their families.

In 2015 it revealed how the mystery owner of a £147m London property empire owned via a network of offshore companies could be linked to a former Kazakh secret police chief accused of murder, torture and money-laundering.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/17/100-billion-of-uk-propert-secretly-owned-anonymous-firms-tax-havens

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15 Mar 2019

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Accountability, EDDC HQ, Privatisation

EDDC HQ builder goes bust – another privatised services company bites the dust

Shareholder lose money one day, debtors get nothing, hedge fund starts it up again next day with no debts. Who profits? Not us.

“The government contractor Interserve has gone into administration after its largest shareholder, the US hedge fund Coltrane, led a rebellion against financial rescue plans drawn up by the company’s lenders.

About 16,000 small shareholders have lost their investment, with the business sold to hedge funds and banks via a “pre-pack” administration which means Interserve, which employs 45,000 people in the UK, can continue trading.

Interserve has thousands of government contracts including hospital cleaning, school meals and maintenance of military bases in the Falklands. It also runs parts of the probation service, which was part-privatised under a heavily criticised process overseen by the former justice minister Chris Grayling.

The company and the Cabinet Office, which oversees state suppliers, said there would be no disruption to the public services that Interserve manages and job losses were not expected in the short term and the pension scheme was protected.

Interserve’s chief executive, Debbie White, said: “Interserve is fundamentally a strong business and with a competitive financial platform in place we see significant opportunities as a best-in-class partner to the public and private sector.”

But the failure of another outsourcing firm, little more than a year after Carillion’s collapse, sparked fresh calls by trade unions and Labour’s business select committee chair Rachel Reeves for public services to be taken back in-house. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/15/interserve-to-go-into-administration-after-shareholders-reject-deal

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15 Mar 2019

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Accountability, Accountable Care Organisation, Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local), Scrutiny, Transparency

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“Public Accounts Committee calls for ‘step change’ in transparency in local public bodies”

“There is a need for a step change in transparency by local public bodies and particularly those in the NHS, MPs have said.

In a report, Auditing local government, the Public Accounts Committee noted that in 2017-18, auditors found that more than 1 in 5 local public bodies did not have proper arrangements in place to secure value for money for taxpayers.

“The numbers are worst for local NHS bodies such as clinical commissioning groups and hospital trusts, where 38% did not have proper arrangements,” it said.

The MPs added that some local bodies were not putting enough information in the public domain about their performance, including reports from their external auditors.

The report called on central government departments to make clear their expectations, “not only for what is made publicly available, but also for making the information accessible to users and so helping citizens to hold local bodies to account”.

The PAC said there appeared to be few consequences for those local bodies who did not take auditors’ concerns seriously and address them promptly. “Even where local auditors use their additional reporting powers to highlight failings, this does not always lead to the bodies taking immediate action.”

The report also recorded the MPs’ concern that, as partnership working becomes more complex, accountability arrangements will be weakened, and the performance of individual local bodies will become less transparent.

Meg Hillier MP, chair of the committee, said: “Taxpayers must be assured that their money is well-spent but in too many cases local bodies cannot properly safeguard value. Particularly concerning are NHS bodies such as Clinical Commissioning Groups and hospital trusts: last year almost two in five did not have adequate arrangements.

“As we reported last week, many CCGs are underperforming and this must improve as they take on responsibility for commissioning services across larger populations.”

Hillier added: “It is vital that local bodies take auditors’ concerns seriously, address them swiftly and ensure meaningful information on performance is made accessible to the public.

“Our report sets out ways central government can help to drive improvements at local level and we urge it to respond positively to our recommendations.” …”

https://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/governance/396-governance-news/40088-public-accounts-committee-calls-for-step-change-in-transparency-in-local-public-bodies

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15 Mar 2019

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Axminster, High Street decline

“Stronger Towns Fund” not new money

“Theresa May’s £1.6 billion ’shameless bung’ to MPs in a bid to get them to back her Brexit deal is not new money, it has been revealed.

Much of Government’s ‘Stronger Towns Fund’ Much will be distributed to Leave-voting Labour heartlands to give communities a boost after leaving the EU.

Angry Labour MPs accused the Prime Minister of trying to woo them to back her plans ahead of this week’s failed second vote.

But the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) have confirmed it is not new money and will be met from existing departmental budgets. …”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/theresa-mays-shameless-16m-brexit-14139714

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15 Mar 2019

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Education (local), Inequality, Poverty, Universal Credit

“Schools have become ‘fourth emergency service’ for poorest families”

It makes one ashamed to be British. “Suffer the little children …” and they do.

“Schools have become “an unofficial fourth emergency service” for vulnerable families across England and Wales, offering food parcels, clothing and laundry facilities to those worst affected by austerity, according to a new report by a headteachers’ union.

A majority of the 400 school leaders surveyed by the Association of Schools and College Leaders (ASCL) said they were seeing a “rising tide” of poverty among their pupils, at a time when they were having to cut their own budgets and receiving less support from local councils.

Sarah Bone, headteacher of Headlands school, a comprehensive in Yorkshire’s East Riding, said: “We have far too many children with no heating in the home, no food in the cupboards, washing themselves with cold water, walking to school with holes in their shoes and trousers that are ill-fitted and completely worn out, and living on one hot meal a day provided at school.”

Other heads reported pupils with no winter coats, while others said they regularly had to buy shoes for their pupils.

“A decade of austerity has wreaked havoc with the social fabric of the nation and schools have been left to pick up the pieces while coping with real-term funding cuts,” said Geoff Barton, the ASCL’s general secretary.

“They have become an unofficial fourth emergency service for poor and vulnerable children, providing food and clothing and filling in the gaps left by cutbacks to local services.

“Politicians must end their fixation with Brexit and work together to build a new sense of social mission in our country. We simply must do better for struggling families and invest properly in our schools, colleges and other vital public services …..

”Nine out of 10 heads said they gave clothes to their most disadvantaged pupils, and nearly half said they washed clothes for pupils. More than 40% reported operating a food bank at the school or giving food parcels to pupils and their families.

One school leader commented: “In 24 years of education I have not seen the extent of poverty like this. Children are coming to school hungry, dirty and without the basics to set them up for life. The gap between those that have and those that do not is rising and is stark.”

Another teacher said some families had nowhere left to go for help: “We have seen an increase in the number of families needing support for basic human needs.”

Edward Conway, headteacher of St Michael’s Catholic high school in Watford, said: “Pupil poverty has increased significantly over the past eight years, with us providing food, clothing, equipment and securing funds from charitable organisations to provide essential items such as beds and fridges.” …

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/mar/15/schools-have-become-fourth-emergency-service-for-poorest-families

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15 Mar 2019

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Accountability, EDDC, Exmouth, Grenadier

Exmouth: Where are we with the Grenadier agreement?

A councillor implies it is agreed and is signed or on the point of being signed:
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2019/03/09/has-the-grenadier-contract-been-signed-or-is-councillor-stott-confused/

A Freedom of Information request implies that it is not:
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2019/03/13/exmouth-what-do-they-know-that-they-dont-want-you-to-know-you-cant-know/

Purdah (when local government is forbidden to enter into politically sensitive agreements or public announcements because of the proximity to local elections) starts on 26 March 2019, so this should be ironed out before then.

Or is that the “cunning plan”?

Dangle the “is it” or “isn’t it” carrot to 26 March 2019 to buy time to try to sort out major problems between then and 2 May – while leaving voters in the dark about whether it is on or off till after elections?

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15 Mar 2019

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Accountability, Audit (EDDC), Local Government Finance

“Local bodies poor at securing value for money, says Public Accounts Committee “

“An increasing number of local public bodies are demonstrating “significant weaknesses” in securing value for money, MPs have warned.

Auditors found more than 20% of local authorities, NHS bodies and police and fire authorities in England did not have proper arrangements in place to achieve value for money in 2017-18, the Public Accounts Committee has said.

Central government’s measures to stop this were “limited”, the watchdog added.

NHS bodies, like Clinical Commissioning Groups and hospital trusts, were found to be the worst public bodies for assuring taxpayers’ money is spent effectively, according to the PAC report out today.

Qualified audit opinions – which signify weaknesses in an organisations accounts – were issued to 38% of NHS bodies in the last financial year, compared to 29% in 2015-16, it said.

In 2015-16 18% of non-NHS local bodies were given a qualified audit opinion, compared to 22% in 2017-18.

There were 495 local authorities, local police and local fire bodies subject to external audit, with responsibility for £54bn of net revenue spending in 2017-18. Another 442 local NHS bodies received funding from the Department of Health and Social Care of approximately £100bn.

Only 5% of local bodies had implemented changes to address weaknesses highlighted by auditors last year, according to information obtained by the National Audit Office.

The PAC noted that some bodies were failing to put enough information in the public domain, including reports from external auditors and suggested that central government should “make clear their expectations” for information that should be made public helping citizens hold bodies to account.

“Local bodies should also be taking auditors’ concerns seriously and addressing them promptly, but there appear to be few consequences for those who do not,” the report said.

The committee said that central departments were not doing enough to make sure that local bodies take “prompt corrective action”.

Meg Hillier, chair of the PAC, said: “Taxpayers must be assured that their money is well-spent but in too many cases local bodies cannot properly safeguard value.

“Particularly concerning are NHS bodies such as CCGs and hospital trusts: last year almost two in five did not have adequate arrangements.

“It is vital that local bodies take auditors’ concerns seriously, address them swiftly and ensure meaningful information on performance is made accessible to the public.”

DHSC and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have been contacted for comment.”

https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2019/03/local-bodies-poor-securing-value-money-says-pac

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14 Mar 2019

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Misc

Shell CEO’s pay more than doubles to £17.2m – 143 times greater than average pay of oil company’s UK workforce

And they add to pollution!
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/14/shell-ceo-ben-van-beurden-pay-doubles-oil

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14 Mar 2019

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Business Rates, East Devon economy

Bad news for councils on business rates and empty properties

“Councils may be left unable to claim some £10m in business rates after Rossendale Borough Council lost a test case in the Court of Appeal over empty properties.

The case arose over property owners who lease unoccupied premises to another company which then becomes liable for business rates. The second company is then either voluntarily liquidated or struck off without liability for rates returning to the first company. …”

https://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/property/404-property-news/40072-court-of-appeal-blow-for-councils-over-business-rates-and-empty-properties

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14 Mar 2019

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, NHS (local)

RDE struggling to cope with winter pressures

“NHS England publishes weekly reports which reveal whether hospital trusts are struggling to manage during the colder months, based on key indicators.

This is how Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust, which includes the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and 26 community hospitals across the Devon, coped from February 25 to March 3.

Bed Occupancy:

General and acute wards at the trust were 89.8 per cent full on average, above the safe limit of 85 per cent recommended by health experts. The occupancy rate has remained mostly unchanged since the previous week.

British Medical Association (BMA) guidelines state ‘to ensure safe patient care, occupancy should ideally not exceed 85 per cent’.

The BMA also raised concerns about the number of available beds needed to cope with winter demands.

On average, the trust had 670 available beds each day, of which 602 were in use.

Of those, 28 were escalation beds – temporary beds set up in periods of intense pressure.

According to NHS Improvement, a higher proportion of long-stay patients can impact the ability of hospitals to accommodate urgent admissions and manage bed capacity.

At the trust, 285 patients had been in hospital for a week or more, taking up nearly half of the occupied beds.

Of these, 96 patients had been in hospital for at least three weeks, making up 16 per cent of all occupied beds.

Ambulances:

A total of 532 patients were taken by ambulance to A&E during the week. A slight rise in emergency arrivals compared to the previous week, when 523 patients were brought by ambulance.

All of the patients arriving at a hospital by ambulance were transferred within 30 minutes.

NHS guidance states that ambulance crews should hand patients over to A&E staff within 15 minutes of arrival.

Any delay in transferring patients leaves ambulances unable to respond to other emergencies, as well as risking their patients’ safety. The previous week, three patients waited more than 30 minutes to be transferred.”

https://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/rd-e-winter-pressures-1-5933264

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Accountability, Affordable and Social Housing, Housing (local), Sleaze

“Right to Buy homes re-sold since 2000 made £6.4bn in profit” (many sold within 6 weeks)

Proof that the destruction of social housing is a Conservative policy.

“A former council tenant bought their home under Right to Buy for £8,000 and sold it on for £285,000 nine days later – a £277,000 profit, the BBC found.

The Solihull buyer was among 140 in Great Britain who bought and resold within one month, making a £3m collective profit.

Opponents of the scheme said too many people had profited from a policy that had “much bigger social ambitions”.

Supporters said Right to Buy helped people secure their financial future.
The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) said it was “shocking to see the extent of the profit margin in black and white”.

It called for the scheme to be suspended in England. In January it was halted in Wales, as it was in Scotland in 2016.

Housing commentator Henry Pryor said: “Far too many… simply profited from a scheme that had much bigger social ambitions”. …”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47443183