On Wednesday 5 February EDDC is going to hold a masterclass on Jointery (noun – the art of weaving liaison/co-ordination/steering committees/groups into such a complex web no-one knows who’s really in charge and no-one has time to do anything anyway).

https://democracy.eastdevon.gov.uk//documents/g233/Public%20reports%20pack%2005th-Feb-2020%2017.30%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10

Buried deep – see agenda Item 20, page 114 of the Cabinet Papers, subject: Heart of the South West Joint Committee Governance Arrangements.

Step back with Owl to 2014 when the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), covering Devon and Cornwall was first formed. The government’s idea was that this should be business chaired and business led. Consequently, of the 20 board members only six were elected representatives of the 19 local/unitary authorities covered.

In 2017 Mary Ney published a critical review of the unacceptably poor governance arrangements in most LEPs. Following this the Joint Committee referred to in the EDDC cabinet paper was set up in March 2018. A single representative from each local authority formed the membership plus co-opted members from HotSW, transport and health bodies. One might have thought that this was to provide some sort of accountable oversight of the LEP. But the EDDC cabinet papers say that the Joint Committee acts as a single voice to Government on socio-economic and environmental issues and makes the case for additional powers and funding to be transferred to its individual members for the benefit of the people of Devon and Somerset. Accountability seems to have been relgated to the Joint Scrutiny Committee which can barely scrape a quorum together.

Where does this leave HotSW, until now our formal devolution link with government?

Perhaps some clues can be found in para 4 of the cabinet paper which explains why a review (and more funding in cash and officer effort) is needed.

Changes in Government policy away from large devolution ‘deals’ to a more targeted dialogue on key themes of relevance to the local authorities and partners, e.g housing. The Joint Committee’s influencing role has become increasingly important as recognised by Ministers, local MPs and Government officials. The ambition remains to draw down additional functions, powers and funding from Government.

The developing relationships with other key local partnerships to ensure that there are appropriate reporting lines, ie, HotSW LEP Joint Scrutiny Committee, Peninsula Transport Board, HotSW Local Transport Board, and Great South West.

No! Great South West is not another rail franchise as the name suggests, it is, in fact, another example of Jointery which has crept out of the woodwork.

Steve Hindley, Chairman of Midas Group, stepped down as Chair of HotSW in 2019 and has now popped up in 2020 as Chair of this Great South West (GSW).

The Great South West prospectus sets out how the area spanning Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, the Heart of the South West (Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay) and Dorset aims to become the latest growth alliance to rebalance the UK economy, alongside the Midlands Engine and Northern Powerhouse.

On Wednesday, January 22, a delegation comprising business leaders, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), MPs and local authorities (Including DCC Leader John Hart) presented Minister for Local Growth, Rt Hon Jake Berry MP, with the GSW growth prospectus and briefed him on ambitions to deliver £45 billion of economic benefit and 190,000 new jobs over the next 15 years.

It seeks support for an enhanced export and investment hub; recognition of a Great South West Tourism Zone and an agreement to create a rural productivity deal.

At HotSW, Hindley oversaw an unrealistic and undeliverable strategy for regional growth aimed at doubling the local economy in 20 years, way ahead of any national performance forecasts, with no clear strategy or feedback mechanism to measure success.

The GSW proposal is more modest. It considers three scenarios: continue growth at 2017 levels; increase to 90% of UK average; matching UK average — nothing about doubling the economy in 20 years. Owl wonders if everyone is singing from the same Hymn sheet.

Owl also wonders why Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset couldn’t have agreed on forming a single LEP based on the GSW area in the first place, a much more logical arrangement to make the case for infrastructure investment on transport etc .

GSW Prospectus here:

Click to access GSW%20Prospectus%20published%20final%20version%20100120.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/03/pm-urged-to-give-nhs-100-new-hospitals-plus-an-extra-7bn-a-year?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

NHS leaders have urged Boris Johnson’s government to build 100 new hospitals and give the service an extra £7bn a year for new facilities and equipment.

They want the prime minister to commit to far more than the 40 new hospitals over the next decade that the Conservatives pledged during the general election.

So many hospitals, clinics and mental health units are dilapidated after years of underinvestment in the NHS’s capital budget that a spending splurge on new buildings is needed, bosses say. Too many facilities are cramped and growing numbers are unsafe for patients and staff, they claim.

Johnson has promised £2.7bn to rebuild six existing hospitals and pledged to build 40 in total and upgrade 20 others, although has been criticised for a lack of detail on the latter two pledges.

The call has come from NHS Providers, which represents the bosses of the 240 NHS trusts in England that provide acute, mental health, ambulance and community-based services.

The government needs to match the scale and ambition of the more than 100 new hospitals built between 1997 and 2015 under the controversial private finance initiative, and the 95 created in the first three years of the ”hospital plan” construction programme in the 1960s, they say.

They argue Johnson’s pledges, while welcome, “fall well short of what is needed” across the NHS, and that his planned 40 hospitals represent “a much more modest ambition than what was achieved under those previous initiatives”.

Flybe’s planes at risk of being impounded as wait for rescue package goes on

It appears Owl is not the only one flying on a wing and a prayer at the moment.

Embattled Flybe is facing a nervous wait over its potential £100m taxpayer loan amid reports that air traffic controllers could impound the regional airline’s planes.

According to mortgage records, many of Flybe’s planes are owned by other firms such as NordLB and Nordic Aviation Capital, who lease them to Flybe to use.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that the firms are monitoring the situation closely. Firms which lease planes to aircrafts are usually allowed to monitor debts owed to air traffic controllers in order to protect their interests.

Debts to air traffic controllers, which could add up to millions of pounds according to one source, must be paid within 30 days.

Last week it was reported that Flybe had been in talks with baggage handlers and other suppliers to postpone the payment of its debts until its rescue package is approved.
The struggling airline has also asked airports to be patient regarding unpaid landing fees.

Last month Flybe staved off collapse after shareholders and the government struck a controversial deal that will review the regional airline’s air passenger duty contributions.