Dominic Cummings arrived in Downing Street with big plans, and the stated intention to only stay long enough to get them rolling. So what has Boris Johnson’s chief adviser and policy touchstone actually achieved?

Peter Walker www.theguardian.com

Reforming the civil service

Perhaps Cummings’ most resonant quote from No 10 – albeit delivered at second hand – was the idea of a “hard rain” landing on complacent civil servants. Revolutionising a hugely complex organisation of more than 400,000 people was never going to be simple, especially within a year of a pandemic. The main changes have been at the top, with a series of permanent secretaries – the lead official in a department – being ousted, along with Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary and head of the civil service.

Verdict: not achieved.

Centralising authority in Downing Street

Many of the Conservative MPs who cheered the news of Cummings’ departure in the hope it will result in a more open No 10 would certainly agree this has happened. Much of the tighter grip has been based on centralising advisers, all of whom had to report to Cummings, an innovation that led to Sajid Javid resignation as chancellor. Given this revamped operation has presided over a series of mishaps and U-turns, whether it can be deemed a success, or will last, is another matter.

Verdict: yes, but at a cost – and could be reversed by a successor.

A data-led government

Another obsession of Cummings, who – while a history graduate – is known for lamenting the grip of dilettante generalists on government. In an unusual recruitment drive, Cummings used his personal blog in January to appeal for data scientists and other “assorted weirdos” to sign up. Government data is yet another area brought into No 10 under Cummings, and in July it advertised for a data expert to set up a largely autonomous data “skunkworks”.

Verdict: some change achieved.

Finalise Brexit

As one of several Vote Leave veterans inside No 10, Cummings had arguably less direct impact here than in other areas, instead being more part of a consensus. It is fair to say that his presence helped keep Johnson’s feet to the fire in terms of threatening Brussels over a UK walkout without concessions on a trade deal from the EU, even if the PM’s allies argue this would have happened anyway. Could Cummings’ departure see Johnson again achieve a deal by suddenly giving ground but nonetheless claiming a great victory? Perhaps – but then again, this might have happened anyway.

Verdict: he has played a role in the UK’s tough Brexit stance

Operation Moonshot

Allies of Cummings say that the main reason he is staying at No 10 until Christmas is to oversee the rollout of mass coronavirus testing, based around innovative and near-instant tests. The most ambitious iteration of this would see millions of daily tests, meaning that even before the mass rollout of a vaccine, people could be certified Covid-free before going to work, or mass events such as at sports stadiums. A first try-out, in Salford, was some way from being a success, but ministers are more bullish about the new version, kicking off in Liverpool.

Verdict: needs work – and could be overtaken by a vaccine.

Planning reforms

While successive government have talked up the need to liberate planning processes so more homes can be built, they have generally done little. Cummings’ experience illustrates why. A planned change to the system, based on an algorithm to allocate new homes to certain areas, has prompted open revolt among many Tory MPs, who argue the scheme is overly blunt and will dump large numbers of badly-built homes in the wrong places. Nimbyism is ubiquitous in planning matters, but the Cummings proposal has prompted genuine anger, and would very possibly struggle to get through parliament.

Verdict: unlikely to happen, as it stands.

Chief aide accuses Prime Minister of ‘dithering’ as he is ordered out of Downing Street.

[Torygraph source so Owl gives this “great weight”]

By Gordon Rayner, Political Editor 13 November 2020 • 9:00pm www.telegraph.co.uk

Dominic Cummings was ordered out of Downing Street for good on Friday night after being accused of briefing against the Prime Minister.

Mr Cummings, until now regarded as Boris Johnson’s most trusted adviser, left with a broadside against his boss, telling allies Mr Johnson was “indecisive” and that he and Lee Cain – who resigned as director of communications earlier in the week – had to rely on the Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, to make decisions.

Mr Johnson’s chief adviser cleared his desk after a lunchtime meeting in Number 10 and left the building for the last time carrying his possessions in a cardboard box. Mr Cain was also asked to leave in the same meeting. 

Both men had intended to stay in Number 10 until the end of the year to see out the Brexit project that had brought them and Mr Johnson together, but the last straw reportedly came after Mr Johnson heard claims that the faction headed by Mr Cummings and Mr Cain was briefing against him and his fiancee, Carrie Symonds.

They will remain employed until mid-December, with Mr Cummings expected to complete some work on mass testing, but neither is expected to set foot in Number 10 again.

Multiple sources claimed Mr Johnson had accused the two men of being behind negative briefings, but Mr Cummings called the claims “invention”, adding: “We had a laugh together.”

Mr Cain described the meeting as “warm” and said Mr Johnson had said it would be better for “morale” if there was a clean break. He later posted a picture on social media of a pair of Brexit boxing gloves he said the Prime Minister signed for him after the meeting.

It came after a fortnight of highly damaging leaks and poisonous briefings that have culminated in an ongoing Cabinet Office inquiry into who passed secrets of discussions about the second coronavirus lockdown to the media.

After Mr Cummings resigned on Thursday evening, allies had complained of “dithering” by Mr Johnson, saying they had to go round him to Mr Gove to get decisions made.

They are also known to have spread rumours that Mr Johnson had lost his powers of concentration after being hospitalised with coronavirus earlier in the year, and that Ms Symonds “bombards” him with texts setting out her opinions on policy up to 25 times per hour.

Sources said Mr Johnson was particularly riled by newspaper reports of Ms Symonds being referred to by nicknames including “Princess nut nuts” by Cummings loyalists.

Sources loyal to the Prime Minister accused Mr Cummings of “trying to blame everyone but himself” for his demise, saying his complaints of dithering by Mr Johnson were simply “the occasions when the PM won’t do what he wants him to”.

One source said: “The truth is that Dom will pay no attention to something for months, then he will get interested in it and expect it to happen in two or three days. That’s not how Government works. When he says Boris is indecisive, what he actually means is that Boris won’t do something he wants. That’s not the same thing – it’s just the Prime Minister saying no to him.”

Mr Cummings had formally resigned on Thursday, a day after his closest ally Mr Cain had also handed in his notice. It came after Ms Symonds and Allegra Stratton, Mr Johnson’s press secretary, vetoed the promotion of Mr Cain to chief of staff.

The departure of the Prime Minister’s two most long-standing aides marks not only the rancorous end to a relationship forged in the Vote Leave campaign five years ago but also a new beginning for Mr Johnson’s premiership.

Lord Udny-Lister, his chief strategic adviser, was on Friday installed as interim chief of staff while Mr Johnson searches for a permanent incumbent for a job originally offered to Mr Cain.

Whoever becomes his permanent right-hand man or woman will play a major role in shaping the Johnson Government between now and the next general election, while Ms Stratton wants a “reset” of Downing Street’s relationship with the public and the media.

Ms Stratton, who emerged as the winner in a bitter power struggle with Mr Cain, is determined to soften the image of the Government and supports Ms Symonds’ determination to push the green agenda alongside the core aim of “levelling up” the country.

Mr Johnson’s decision to keep Mr Cummings and Mr Cain employed until mid-December means he will still exert some measure of control over them while the Brexit trade negotiations play out.

Dominic Cummings walks along Downing Street after leaving Number 10 Credit: Yui Mok/PA

There had been fears among some of the Prime Minister’s supporters that Vote Leave alumni could attack the Government from the sidelines if a Brexit trade deal that they do not agree with is signed.

It is also likely to mean the Cabinet Office will retain access to both men if they want to take evidence from them for the ongoing leak inquiry. Mr Cain is understood to have been cleared of blame for the leaking of the Government’s plan for a second lockdown, but the inquiry continues.

Although both men are expected to do some work from home in their final weeks of employment by Number 10, one source said: “We don’t expect to see them back in the building.”

On Friday, Downing Street hit back at suggestions that the Prime Minister’s Brexit stance would soften in the final days of trade negotiations as a result of Mr Cummings and Mr Cain leaving Number 10.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Absolutely not. The Government’s position in relation to the future trade agreement has not changed. We want to reach a deal, but it has to be one that fully respects the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

“Time is in very short supply. We are clear the transition period will end on December 31, there’s no doubt about it. We would like to get a deal. If we’re not able to reach a free trade agreement, then we will leave on Australian-style terms.”

The new reality is that, in the middle of a pandemic, Labour-run Croydon has become only the second council in 20 years to issue a section 114 notice – meaning it is in effect insolvent. It has a £67m hole in its budget, and a projected overspend next year of £47m. It has just £10m in reserves, and holds almost £2bn in capital loans – many tied up in risky property investments.

Patrick Butler www.theguardian.com 

As beleaguered Croydon council declared effective bankruptcy on Wednesday afternoon, its interim chief executive, Katharine Kerswell, sent an ominous wake-up-call memo to staff: “Too many of us are still operating like business as usual,” she warned, “and are not facing up to our new reality that we are actually in a financial crisis.”

The methodical drip-drip erosion of council budgets in recent years had maybe inured some to the scale of the challenge now facing the south London borough. Bankruptcy came suddenly, but the origins of the council’s woes go back years, driven by heady dreams of making Croydon a major housing developer, and hampered by a culture of lax financial controls and poor governance.

The new reality is that, in the middle of a pandemic, Labour-run Croydon has become only the second council in 20 years to issue a section 114 notice – meaning it is in effect insolvent. It has a £67m hole in its budget, and a projected overspend next year of £47m. It has just £10m in reserves, and holds almost £2bn in capital loans – many tied up in risky property investments.

It now faces the ignominy of having to implement its own drastic mini-austerity programme to meet its legal obligation to balance the books. “We will need to make decisions that will be very difficult, very challenging, and will have implications [for staff and services], no question,” the new leader of the council, Cllr Hamida Ali, told the Guardian.

Despite the shock of the section 114 notice, observers say Croydon had been teetering on the edge of bankruptcy for months. In August its former chief executive Jo Negrini left, allegedly with a £440,000 severance package. Weeks later, the council’s finance director drafted a section 114 notice but it was never issued. The council leader, Cllr Tony Newman, resigned in mid-October after six years in charge.

In late October, a devastating report by the council’s own auditors, Grant Thornton, savaged the council for “collective corporate blindness”. There were lax financial controls, despite a series of formal audit warnings, and a corporate culture of failing to challenge or scrutinise financial decisions made by the leadership.

The auditor’s report said Croydon’s finances had been deteriorating for years. The huge costs of overhauling the council’s failing children’s services after a critical Ofsted report in 2017 had resulted in huge rolling budget overspends that had never been properly addressed – and indeed their impact had been masked by accounting tricks.

At the same time, Croydon borrowed £545m over the last three years to buy a shopping centre and a hotel and to set up a property development business. Corporate oversight of these deals was feeble, the auditors said, and despite the vast sums invested, the council has yet to receive any significant return. Servicing the loans is said to cost millions a year.

The final straw seems to have been the coronavirus pandemic. As costs spiralled, Croydon’s income from council tax and business rates collapsed. Government compensation schemes failed to cover outgoings. “The council’s fragile financial position and weak underlying arrangements have been ruthlessly exposed by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,” noted Grant Thornton.

The council’s public services – already battered by a decade of austerity funding cuts – face another hammering as it tries to bring its finances back on track. All non-essential spending has been frozen, more job losses are expected, and there are rumours of staff being put on to a four-day week. The future of so-called non-core services, from libraries to parks, looks fragile.

Ali and her cabinet will present a fresh budget to the council in three weeks that she hopes will stabilise the finances over the next two years. She will not say what services will be cut or shrunk but she does not seek to downplay the seriousness of what is required. “We are looking at everything,” said Ali.

Steven Downes, the editor of the independent Inside Croydon website, which has reported the council’s financial woes in forensic detail, said the savings are likely to be painful. “Two-thirds of Croydon’s libraries have been closed since March because of Covid. It may be they never reopen. They have got rid of most of the ‘nice-to-have’ services in recent years. The parks service is already basically two men and a dog.”

The council has been forced to go cap in hand to the government for a financial bailout to see it through the next two years. The secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, Robert Jenrick – who accused Croydon’s ruling Labour group of being “dysfunctional” – has already despatched a taskforce of experts to oversee the day-to-day running of the council.

Chris Philp, the Conservative MP for Croydon South, told the Guardian he believed the audit report showed the council’s downfall was down to its uniquely reckless leadership. “It’s not a government funding problem, it’s a problem manufactured by the Labour clique running the council.”

Steve Reed, Labour MP for Croydon North and the shadow secretary of state for communities and local government, disagreed: “Croydon council’s serious financial challenges have deep roots through a decade of austerity and administrations of different parties and have been greatly worsened by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic”.

The council’s new leadership is under no illusions about its future. Ali has admitted that while austerity and Covid-19 have had a huge impact they do not excuse the failings highlighted by auditors. Mistakes were made, she said, and “swift and decisive action” will follow. For Croydon, she warned, there are “difficult decisions ahead”.

There is something rotten in the government’s culture. Less than a year after Boris Johnson led his party to an 80-seat majority, ethical standards are routinely compromised and the principle of transparency is under attack.

Richard Vize www.theguardian.com

The mishandling by the communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, of the £3.6bn towns fund typifies this casual abuse of power – a shoddy piece of work that barely pays lip service to basic principles of openness and objectivity. Established in July 2019 to support the economies of struggling towns, the fund selected 101 places, 40 based on need and the other 61 chosen by ministers. Tory seats and targets were the big beneficiaries, leading to Labour concerns that the money was used to win votes.

An excoriating report by the cross-party Commons public accounts select committee accuses the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government of dishing out billions based on vague justifications, scant evidence and sweeping assumptions. One town, Cheadle in Greater Manchester (Conservative, majority 2,336), was given cash despite being ranked by officials as the 535^th priority out of 541 towns.

The department refused to disclose its reasons for selecting or excluding towns, offering risible excuses that have fuelled accusations of political bias and that has, according to the report, risked the civil service’s reputation for integrity and impartiality. The MPs were riled by the refusal of the permanent secretary, Jeremy Pocklington, to publish his formal assessment that the scheme met Treasury requirements for managing public money.

To deflect criticism over the summer, the department misrepresented an investigation by the National Audit Office by falsely claiming it had shown that the selection process had been “robust”. Pocklington said he did not know about these press statements.

Jenrick has not even explained what the towns fund is expected to achieve, how it fits with other government funding programmes, when he expects to see the benefits, and how he will measure success.

This comes just six months after Jenrick was forced into conceding that he had acted unlawfully in overruling Tower Hamlets council and the Planning Inspectorate to grant approval for a housing development by Tory donor Richard Desmond.

A culture of secrecy and denial is becoming pervasive. It is now established government practice simply not to publish documents that should be exposed to public scrutiny.

The same day as the PAC report, Lord Evans of Weardale, the former head of MI5 and now chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, called for the government to publish the investigation into allegations that the home secretary, Priti Patel, bullied staff, which Johnson has been sitting on for months. As the guardian of the Nolan Principles of standards in public life, Evans warned that the failure to publish could undermine public trust.

And just the day before, the Good Law Project accused the government of breaching its legal duties by failing to publish any information about £4.6bn of Covid-related contracts to private companies, with suspicions that a number have been secured through Tory contacts.

The failure to release the Patel report, the formal assessment of the towns fund or the details of the Covid contracts leaves more than a whiff of impropriety. If the government has nothing to hide, why not publish?

All this is within months of that massive election win. Johnson’s government hasn’t even troubled itself with good intentions.

In the runup to the 2010 election David Cameron talked about sunlight being the best disinfectant, while Tony Blair set himself up for a fall by stressing the importance of being “whiter than white”. The current administration has been twisting the rules from the beginning, and has compromised the integrity of the civil service along the way. If that is how far standards of integrity can fall in a year, how much further they could go in five.

• Richard Vize is a public policy commentator and analyst

Leaders say service needs cash to tackle surgery backlog and mental health demand

Denis Campbell www.theguardian.com

NHS leaders are urging Rishi Sunak to fulfil his pledge to give the service “whatever it needs” to respond to the coronavirus crisis, by boosting its budget by £4bn next year.

NHS services need the money to tackle the huge backlog of patients waiting for surgery and the sharp increase in people needing mental health care as a direct result of the pandemic.

Patients will suffer if the money for those problems does not arrive, they claim.

NHS Providers, which represents trusts in England, wants the chancellor to unveil a major financial boost for the service in his comprehensive spending review on 25 November. It will set departmental budgets across Whitehall for 2021-22 at a time when the government has committed to spend at least £210bn to deal with the Covid public health emergency.

The plea comes amid fears at high levels of the NHS that, with public finances under intense pressure because of the huge costs of the pandemic, it will not get as much money as it has been seeking. “We’re hearing that it’s not going to be as much as we need,” said one NHS source.

The letter to Sunak reminds him that on 11 March, as the pandemic was unfolding, he told the House of Commons that “whatever extra resources our NHS needs to cope with coronavirus, it will get … whether it’s millions of pounds or billions of pounds … whatever it needs, whatever it costs, we stand behind our NHS”.

NHS Providers’ letter acknowledges that “the current public expenditure position is difficult” and that the Treasury does not want to revisit the five-year funding deal which the then prime minister, Theresa May, unveiled in 2018 to mark the service’s 70th birthday.

However, it warns that two “urgent, new problems” – the many people unable to access care in the spring and the extra pressure on mental health services – require a rethink and the provision of an extra £3bn-4bn.

Acute hospitals need to pay for more diagnostic equipment, such as scanners, while mental health trusts need to increase their capacity to treat those in need, says the letter from Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, and Saffron Cordery, his deputy.

“Trust leaders are deeply concerned that if the spending review fails to allocate the extra money to fund this capacity in 2021-22, the health and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of patients is at risk,” they add.

As a result of May’s deal, the budget for the Department of Health and Social Care was due to rise to £139.8bn this year, with NHS England getting £129.9bn of that. However, since then, the Treasury has had to spend £31.9bn more on the NHS than planned. Of that money, more than £15bn went on personal protective equipment for NHS staff, £10bn was earmarked for the controversy-mired test-and-trace programme and more than £1bn on extra ventilators. It has also allocated another £5.5bn to pay private hospitals to treat NHS patients.

A government spokesperson said: “This government has put never-before-seen levels of investment into our NHS, both before and during the pandemic.

“We confirmed £31.9bn extra in July for health services to tackle coronavirus, with £3bn specifically to support the NHS during winter and to upgrade A&E facilities.

“Alongside this we have provided £2.3bn of extra mental health investment a year by 2023-24 as part of the NHS long-term plan and £10.2m in funding to mental health charities to support adults and children affected by the pandemic.”

The government body has a legal duty to protect the environment, but says its standards have slipped because it is running out of money.

By Madeleine Cuff November 13, inews.co.uk

England’s most precious patches of wildlife habitat are being left unmonitored and unprotected due to a funding shortfall at the nature conservation body Natural England.  

Chair of the agency Tony Juniper revealed Natural England has been forced to dramatically scale back its conservation work because it has not been given enough money to run by government.  

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Much of this conservation work, which includes regular monitoring of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and assessing the environmental impact of planning applications, is legally required of Natural England.  

“Natural England’s current funding is below the level required to deliver all of our statutory duties to a good standard,” Mr Juniper admitted today in a letter to MPs. He warned the agency could face legal challenges for its inaction.  

Natural England is now only doing the legal minimum to maintain National Nature Reserves, like this one in Northumberland (Photo: Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Crowdfunding for cash

Natural England has been in dire financial straits for some time. Its baseline grant from the government has been cut by 45 per cent since 2014. Last year it even set up a crowdfunding page for the public to make donations to fund its work, before the government stepped in earlier this year and awarded the body an additional £15m. 

Lack of cash means planning applications that could harm local wildlife or habitats are going unchecked and management of national nature reserves has been dramatically scaled back, Mr Juniper admitted.

Most seriously, the rarest natural habitats are not being regularly monitored, resulting in officials failing to spot serious problems like pollution or rapid population declines of rare wildlife.  

Mr Juniper said Natural England will struggle to carry out its duties effectively until it can get a long-term settlement generous enough to fund its essential activities. He estimates the body will need at least £322m next year and £389m the following year to fulfil its duties.  

“This is a vital moment for the natural environment,” he said. “There are some very encouraging signs to look towards for the future – things we know work and we know how to approach them. The ability to make a difference is within our grasp.”

A government spokesperson said: “We are currently assessing the budgets for our arm’s length bodies as part of the Spending Review process and will update on this in due course.

“This government is committed to restoring and enhancing nature, introducing the first new Environment Bill for 20 years and setting ambitious goals in our 25 Year Environment Plan.

“We recognise the ongoing pressures on the country’s biodiversity and many of our native species are in decline, which is why we must continue to act to restore and enhance nature.”

Latest ONS figures show “R” number falling but still above 1. The King’s College Covid symptom tracker is more optimistic. This app certainly correctly “called” the start of the turnaround at the peak of the first wave before anyone else.

covid.joinzoe.com

According to the ZOE COVID Symptom Study UK Infection Survey figures based on swab tests up to four days ago, the number of daily new COVID-19 cases is now declining across the UK.

Key findings from ZOE COVID Symptom Study UK Infection Survey this week: 

• There are currently 35,963 daily new symptomatic cases of COVID in the UK on average over the two weeks up to 01 November (excluding care homes) 
• This compares to 42,049 daily new symptomatic cases a week ago
• The Midlands is the only region where the numbers are still going up, with the numbers now reaching the same levels are the North East and Yorkshire and overtaking the North West
• The number of new cases in the worst affected area, the North West, is now at the same levels they were at the beginning of October and have an R value of 0.8
• The number of daily new cases in the South East and South West have now stopped rising but have yet to start declining. These regions still have significantly less cases than the North West, North East and the Midlands (see full table of regional results and graph below)
• The UK R value is 0.9 
• Regional R values are: England, 0.9. Wales, 0.9. Scotland, 0.9.
• Age: Again this week, infections nationally have stopped increasing in most age groups apart from modest increases in the over 60s group, which needs to be monitored closely (see graph below)

The ZOE COVID Symptom Study UK Infection Survey figures are based on around a million weekly reporters and the proportion of newly symptomatic users who have positive swab tests. The latest survey figures were based on the data from 13,460 recent swab tests done between 25 October to 08 November 2020. 

If you’d like to receive the full daily report for the ZOE COVID Symptom Study app head to: https://covid.joinzoe.com/your-contribution 

Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London, comments: 

“Having peaked at the end of October, cases coming down across most areas of the UK, is good news but the numbers are still high in most areas, and with a prevalence of over 500,000 infected people there is still a lot of virus in the population. Yesterday, we reported that the R value was below 1 across all UK nations for the first time and we need this trend to continue. A caution is that rates are still increasing in the Midlands for reasons that are unclear. We aren’t out of trouble yet, but with numbers falling and the news of a vaccine, it feels like the end is in sight.”

An historic site with agricultural significance in the heart of Honiton could be demolished to make way for a multi-storey retirement home complex, if plans get the go-ahead.

Hannah Corfield honiton.nub.news

Honiton Livestock Market

Architect illustration of the proposed development. Picture: Churchill Retirement Living

A redevelopment proposal for Honiton Livestock Market, located just off Silver Street, was submitted to planning authorities at East Devon District Council (EDDC) on November 6.

Churchill Retirement Living seeks permission for ‘demolition of existing buildings’ to build a block of ’57 retirement apartments including communal facilities, access, car parking and landscaping’.

It comes after Churchill held a public consultation in Mackarness Hall back in March of this year to speak to locals affected by the town centre redevelopment plans.

Many residents have expressed strong objections to the proposals; citing impractical vehicular access down a small one-way road and close proximity to a high school and sports facilities used by families, among other reasons.

Historic site

Planning documents include a description detailing the historic significance of the Cattle Market.

It states: “The site is located just outside the historic core of Honiton. Forming part of a wider agricultural hinterland from the medieval period onwards, its immediate environs were subject to industrial and residential expansion and development in the later post-medieval and modern periods.

“From the early twentieth century onwards the site was utilised as Honiton Livestock Market and it has been subject to several phases of reorganisation and development associated with this use.”

Objections

So far, three people have commented on the planning application posted on the EDDC website – all objecting to the proposals.

Mr Hennessey wrote: “The destruction of Holyshute House and the adjacent, historically important toll house should serve as a warning of what happens when large, aggressive retirement companies are not subject to proper planning process.”

Mrs Howe, highlighting the issue of traffic, said: “The one-way system of traffic from the High Street via Silver Street, St Cyres Road and Dowell Street is so constrained as to make this proposal utterly nonsensical.

“Although the proposal is for sheltered accommodation and one may assume that the residents will not be major car users, the staff, visiting services and relatives will present a considerable addition to the existing traffic.”

In support of the plans

Managing Director of Churchill Retirement Living in-house planning consultancy, Stuart Goodwill said: “There is a compelling overall housing need in Honiton, especially for older people.

“Our proposed development will go some way to increasing access to this type of housing for local residents.

“By meeting this rising demand, we can allow older people to downsize and free up under occupied houses in the local area for families.

“The site is excellently located on previously developed land within easy walking distance of the town centre.

“As well as meeting the need for high-quality retirement apartments, the development will bring benefits to the local economy.

“Owners will be within easy walking distance of shops, restaurants and other amenities in the town, helping to boost local businesses.”