Not quite the “all clear” but very good news.

The district council worker who was at the centre of a Coronavirus scare over the weekend is no longer displaying symptoms of COVID-19.

Daniel Wilkins  www.midweekherald.co.uk .

The council offices at Blackdown House, in Honiton, was closed to the public on Friday (March 6) afternoon after an employee who had just returned home from Italy was displaying symptoms of Coronavirus.

The offices re-opened on Monday (March 9) and the council has confirmed that the employee is in self isolation.

A spokesman for East Devon District Council said: ‘Over the weekend the Blackdown House offices were cleaned according to Government’s COVID-19 guidance and reopened this morning for business as usual.

‘We are waiting for the results of tests on the member of staff who was displaying potential cold/flu symptoms on their return from Italy.

‘They are currently in self isolation and are no longer displaying symptoms.’

Owl has recently posted the extraordinary news that the Tories had no plans on how to solve the social care crisis. This article paints a vivid picture of the problem and gives an insight into what might be going on. A long read but worth the effort.

Rachhel Sylvester  www.thetimes.co.uk

It’s like putting a broken leg into plaster then kicking away the crutches on which the patient is leaning. Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, has promised “whatever action is required” in the budget to help the NHS cope with coronavirus and yet the government still has no answer to the crisis in social care.

The Covid-19 outbreak is another reminder that the divide between the health and social care systems is not only artificial, it is counterproductive. With elderly people more vulnerable to the disease, the pressure on hospitals is sure to grow but what could turn difficulty into disaster is the lack of social care for those who are well enough to go home.

Already NHS wards are full of elderly patients who have no medical need to be in hospital. More than 148,000 bed days were lost in December alone as a result of delayed discharges. There has also been a 35 per cent rise in the number of dementia patients turning up at accident and emergency departments over the past five years following day care centre closures.

The system is driven by perverse incentives. It costs about £250 a day for someone to be on a hospital ward and £100 for a domiciliary care package, so from the point of view of the NHS (and the taxpayer) it makes sense for elderly people to go home quickly — but councils, which are responsible for funding social care, have a financial motive to transfer the cost to hospitals. Although health funding has been ring-fenced, local authorities face a shortfall of almost £4 billion by 2025 in social care budgets.

According to Age UK, 1.5 million elderly people are not getting the care and support they need. More than 1,600 residential and nursing homes have closed in the past five years and the government’s post-Brexit immigration policy, which includes a minimum salary threshold, will only make matters worse. There are already 122,000 vacancies in the sector and one in 11 care workers is from the EU.

Social care provision is also confusing and unfair for elderly users. People with assets worth more than £23,500 have to pay for their own care and these “self-funders” are charged 42 per cent more on average than local authorities for the same service. Care “black spots” have developed in poorer parts of the country where there are not enough self-funders to cross-subsidise the council provision. Many of them are, of course, in the so-called “red wall” areas that the Tories won from Labour at the last election. This will soon be a political crisis as well as a public policy catastrophe but, although the prime minister declared on his first day in No 10 that he had a “clear plan” for social care he has still not set it out.

Last week the government announced cross-party talks. Ministers, however, cannot agree a position between themselves. The dilemmas created by an ageing population have challenged traditional Conservative assumptions. The Tories have gone round and round in circles trying to find a market-based solution that would involve the private sector, encourage self-reliance and reduce people’s dependence on the state. The problem with this approach, though, is that social care is a broken market that defies the capitalist desire for individual responsibility. Half the population will end up spending less than £20,000, but one in ten will, through no fault of their own, have care costs of more than £100,000.

Insurance companies will not get involved because the costs are completely unpredictable. And, although Conservatives like to say that they support those who “work hard and do the right thing”, old age has become a condition lottery in which those with cancer have their treatment funded by the NHS while those with Alzheimer’s have to pay for the cost of their care. The only fair response is to pool the risk among as many people as possible.

Last year a report from Policy Exchange, the centre-right think tank founded by Michael Gove, proposed bringing social care into line with the NHS and making it free at the point of use. The £11 billion cost should, it argued, be funded from general taxation, with a £5,000 means-tested annual contribution from those who need social care. The plan was even more generous than Labour’s manifesto pledge to introduce free personal care (help with washing and dressing) but it is now being taken seriously by ministers.

It is significant that the foreword was written by Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons leader who is hardly a champion of socialism. “This is one area, it is clear, where the state has a significant role to play,” he argued, insisting that the policy was “something we can afford as a nation”.

Another proposal being considered by Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is for people over 40 to pay an extra social care tax. The third model under consideration — referred to in Whitehall as “free personal care plus” — would give the elderly help with washing and dressing and also remove the value of a home from the means-test for residential care. Senior Tories accept, however, that there is a simplicity in creating a universal system that creates a level playing field between those with different conditions.

No decision has been made but the balance is shifting in government away from a private or voluntary scheme to a publicly funded system. The merger of advisers between No 10 and No 11 would make it easier for the traditional Treasury concerns about additional spending to be overruled. Under Sajid Javid, the Treasury was pursuing a version of the Dilnot Commission proposal for a cap on individual care costs, but Downing Street fears that even a £100,000 limit would mean many of the new Tory voters in the north and the Midlands potentially having to sell their homes to pay for care.

Cabinet ministers are also adamant that the manifesto commitment to protect the family house should apply across the generations, meaning that care home fees cannot be charged to somebody’s estate after their death. “It’s an emotional rather than a rational thing,” one says. “People want to leave their home to their kids.”

There is in fact already a broad cross-party consensus on social care: Labour and the Liberal Democrats agree that taxes must go up to pay for improved provision and they support a cap on care costs paid by individuals. Until now the agreement has excluded the Tory party, but that could be about to change.

Officials say that “flooding is expected” to hit Devon and Cornwall over the next couple of days after a number of warnings were issued across the counties.

Owl, however, is reassured by Council Leader, John Hart’s solution which is to encourage a modern day dad’s army of individuals, villages and Parish Councils, where they care, to do more for themselves. Self-help is going to be the order of the day. No need to panic Captain Mainwaring.

George Thorpe  www.devonlive.com

The Environment Agency has activated six flood warnings and five other alerts in the region as rain continues to fall.

Weather forecasts from the Met Office, which is based in Exeter, for the counties both say the rain will continue to fall over Devon and Cornwall overnight.

The flooding is expected to hit mainly between tomorrow morning (March 11) and Thursday with the agency saying some areas could see wave heights increasing to over 5m and tides could be 500mm higher than predicted because of the weather conditions.

All six of the Environment Agency’s warnings, which are the second highest alert it issues and require “immediate action”, affect the coast of north Cornwall although one stretches out to Hartland Point in Devon.

Lands End, Chapel Porth, Copperhouse Pool Hayle, Wadebridge, Chapel Amble, The Rumps and the River Camel are among the areas mentioned in the warnings.

On top of these, the Environment Agency has issued alerts, its third level of warning, along parts of the south Cornish coast including Lizard Point, Gribbin Head and Rame Head.

An alert has also been issued in Plymouth and along the north Devon coast from Hartland Point to Lynmouth.

Within its warnings, the agency says it is “monitoring the situation” and will provide updates if the situation changes.

There is a long history of traffic problems in Cranbrook – see the archives – good to see  “children power” drawing attention to the problem outside their school. Owl wishes them success.

eastdevonnews.co.uk

Children in Cranbrook have staged a silent protest over parents’ antisocial parking outside their school.

Primary-aged pupils crafted their own placards calling on mums, dads and carers to stop-off safely at the town’s education campus in Tillhouse Road.

Pupils from Cranbrook Education Campus protest antisocial parking in Tillhouse Road.

The parent-teacher association (PTA) at Cranbrook Education Campus has been working with walking and cycling charity Sustrans on the campaign.

Its aim is to reduce the amount of traffic that parks or idles outside the school to improve road safety and air quality.

Headteacher Stephen Farmer said: “As a new campus, in a new town, we want to ensure that good habits related to safe parking and sustainable travel are embedded in our culture.

“The health and wellbeing benefits to both pupils and their parents/carers of walking, cycling or scooting to the campus are well researched and documented.

“However, we realise that some working parents/carers have to drive and drop off/pick up due to their commitments.

“If this is the case, we want to ensure that these parents/carers drive and park responsibly ensuring the safety of our pupils and their families at all times.

“Many of our pupils have concerns about some of the current unsafe parking practices of a few of our parents/carers and they are staging this protest to raise awareness of safer parking around the campus.”

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council cabinet member for highway management, added: “Hats off to the pupils for taking a stand against antisocial parking outside their school and for bringing attention to this issue.

“It’s great to see such enthusiasm for sustainable travel and, while we appreciate not everyone may be able to walk, cycle or scoot to school, no doubt everyone would agree that the safety of children is paramount.

“I expect the local community will do everything it can to maintain the safety of the area outside the school gates.”

Charlotte Stokes, active travel officer for Sustrans, said: “It’s great to see the students so enthusiastic about this campaign that is encouraging parents to think carefully about their parking at the beginning and end of the school day.

“I have worked with the school to encourage walking, cycling and scooting as part of the school journey aiming to prevent the need for parking in the first place.”

One pupil said: “It feels safer crossing the road this morning.”

The school has successfully teamed up with Sustrans since 2015 on ‘active travel’ challenged such as Leg it to Lapland and the Big Pedal.

When asked last year, 76 per cent of pupils who took part in a survey said they would like to ‘actively travel’ to school.

Owl has reproduced Neil Parish MP’s thoughts on the environment bill, “much good in draft, but I think it can be more ambitious still”. Here is a riposte from Liz Pole, media officer for Devon Labour. She asks:

“why regale people in Devon with what’s needed, when it’s not in the government’s Bill in Westminster?”.

Seven years ago, Ella Kissi-Debrah aged 9, was rushed to a South London hospital unable to breathe properly, never to come home again. The World Health Organisation has been recommending 10 μg/m3 limits on fine particulate (PM2.5) air pollution since 2005. A new report from the British Heart Foundation warns dirty air will lead to more than 160,000 deaths from heart attacks and strokes over the next decade. “Let’s get on and put it in law”, exhorts Mr Parish. Yet Devon’s Conservative MPs are in process of voting an Environment Bill through parliament that includes no such legally binding commitment nor target date on air quality.

Poverty is also a threat to human health, and government policies, propped up by Devon Conservative MPs’ voting records, now mean 14 million people – more than one in five of the population – are living in poverty in the UK. East Devon District Council’s 2019 report on Poverty – A Local Picture, tells us that Universal Credit, the Right to Buy and the Housing Allowance cap are the easily avoidable factors driving families, who were previously getting by, over the edge into poverty. Over half of UK families living in poverty have at least one adult in low paid, insecure work, and over 30% of people aged 20-34 now live with a parent.

Another adverse effect of poverty is that it’s wasteful: and not just of human potential.  Investing in a good pair of shoes is a luxury enjoyed by those on a dependable income. People drawing their pay packets from zero hours contracts are more likely to buy a cheap pair that wears out quickly.

On waste, the Environment Bill’s RWS (Resources and Waste Strategy) and EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) make good progress towards establishing the concept of a circular economy, encouraging suppliers and retailers to seriously reconsider the materials used and the lifecycle of their products. However, City to Sea – a not-for-profit organisation campaigning to stop plastic pollution – says the Bill’s waste strategy is “very vague with relaxed, or no deadlines” and “a considerable amount of language like ‘consider’ and ‘try’”. Umbrella group Greener UK confirms the Bill does not commit the Secretary of State to uphold existing environmental standards.

Labour’s 2019 amendment to the Climate Change Act committed the government to a clear 2050 net zero target, but the Tory logic of the invisible hand cutting carbon by individuals at their own pace will not get us there. The reality is that “those who can afford to decarbonise will do so, and those locked in poverty may not”, says Shadow Environment Secretary, Luke Pollard, MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.

We should fund the new Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) “like the Environment Agency”, urges Mr Parish. Who isn’t alarmed by this? The Environment Agency has been one of the bodies worst affected by Tory austerity, suffering budget cuts of over 60 per cent over the nine-year period to 2019. As a result, prosecutions have fallen by around 80 per cent, and levels of food testing, water pollution sampling, and illegal waste prosecutions have all fallen sharply. The government response on flooding is slower even than that of its Part-Time PM. 

Mr Parish says the OEP should have “strong teeth”. It doesn’t. “The secretary of state both sets the OEP’s budget and appoints its leadership; will it be able to bite the proverbial hand that feeds it?” asks the Landscape Institute. They summarise what’s missing from the Bill: non-regression from EU standards, legally binding targets, independence of the OEP, and a sustainability skills agenda, equipping young people and employers. 

This week George Eustice, the government’s new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has voted against his own amendments to uphold British food standards in the Agriculture Bill. “Diverting agricultural financial support away from producing food and towards protecting the environment means that every Tom, Dick and Boris will use taxpayers’ money to invest in land for its ELMS (Environmental Land Management Scheme) payments”, says Paul Turner, Rural Affairs Officer for Wells Labour Party. “What is the point of planting the trees if we don’t have the labour to pick the fruit?”, asks NFU’s Horticulture and Potatoes Board Chair, Ali Capper on Farming Today. British Farmers must be wondering whether they’ve been sold “a pig in a poke” by the government.

Mr Parish rests on his environment and agricultural committee laurels locally, but does his vote up there in Westminster reflect what he writes in his column down here in Devon? “The government has grasped the nettle”, he proclaims in his latest column; but Devon’s farmers, Devon’s flooded and Devon’s FridayForFuturists alike may well wonder who is getting stung.