Plans have been refused for a care village for the elderly at a former holiday park in the countryside near Torquay.

Looks to Owl like another example of the wrong development in the wrong place but all the usual arguments deployed.

Edward Oldfield www.devonlive.com

Developers wanted to create a retirement community on land at Sladnor Park near Maidencombe.

But Torbay Council’s planning committee voted against the scheme at a meeting on Monday night.

They were told the scheme on land above the coastal village was for 159 self-contained units, described as ‘close care’ and ‘assisted living’, including 11 apartment blocks, with health facilities.

A 10-storey block forming the village core would include a reception area, staff office and accommodation, nursing stations, restaurant and bar, cafe, shop, gym, hair salon, consulting and treatment rooms, laundry, swimming pool and sauna.

The committee voted for refusal after hearing it conflicted with planning policies for the area and would harm the landscape, had poor access and transport links, and would risk flooding and drainage problems.

Proposed site of care village at Sladnor Park, near Torquay (Image: English Care Villages)

Backers of the scheme said it would provide much-needed housing for the elderly and support the equivalent of 75 full-time jobs.

Objectors said the plans were in the wrong place and it would add too much pressure to local health services.

They argued the price of the homes would be too high for local people, and would result in wealthy older people coming to Torbay from elsewhere.

Councillors were told people would have to rely on private cars to reach the site off Teignmouth Road, a narrow winding road with an hourly bus service, which went against sustainable transport policies.

The former country estate once held a Victorian manor house, but was later turned into a holiday park with chalets and lodges. The manor house burnt down after the park closed in the 1980s.

Dr Rodney Horder, secretary of Maidencombe Residents’ Association, told the meeting the proposals breached a series of planning policies and should be refused.

He said: “It is the wrong type of development in the wrong place, in violation of numerous development policies, is not sustainable development, and with 227 objections.”

Maidencombe resident Christine Davies, who lives near the site, said the development would increase the risk of flooding for properties in the village below.

Nigel Goodman, of Sladnor Park Road, said the development would have a “devastating impact” on the rural setting of the area.

Retired Torquay GP Dr Vivienne Thorn said all six Torquay GP practices had issued a joint response that they had no capacity to cope with the number of new patients, many of whom would be frail.

Data showed they would need 1,000 GP visits a year, and add further pressure to health services at Torbay Hospital.

Leon Butler, chair of the Torquay Neighbourhood Plan Forum, said he “vehemently” opposed the application, which was “wrong on so many levels”.

Jonathan Rainey, of Pegasus Group, on behalf of English Care Villages and the landowner, told the committee that the benefits of providing housing for older people outweighed any potential harm.

Keith Cockell, chair of English Care Villages, said the scheme would offer choice for older people who wanted to live in the countryside, and would provide essential housing needed in the area.

St Marychurch councillors Hazel Foster and Anne Brooks spoke against the scheme. Cllr Brooks said: “On so many levels, I think the harm caused would outweigh the benefits.”

St Marychurch councillor Ray Hill, a member of the planning committee, proposed refusing the scheme.

He highlighted difficulty accessing local GPs, and said the application conflicted with the local plan and neighbourhood plan. Councillors voted eight to one for refusal.

The committee heard that planning permission for a 188-unit retirement village had been granted in 2006, then updated in 2008, but the council’s view was that work had not started within three years and the permission had lapsed. The applicant claimed it had started work on an access road, and has appealed against the council’s refusal to allow it to complete the original scheme.

The higher numbers of deaths seen in the UK recent weeks may be starting to fall, figures suggest.

BBC News www.bbc.co.uk

In the week ending 4 December there were 13,956 deaths – 15% above the five-year average.

But that is down on the previous week when deaths were 20% higher.

Just over 3,100 of the deaths involved Covid – down by 200 on the week before. It brings the total excess deaths seen since the pandemic started close to 80,000.

These are a measure of all deaths above what would normally be expected.

It is a different way of measuring the death toll from the pandemic from the daily figures, which look at the numbers of people dying 28 days after a positive Covid test.

People dying from Covid in this period are likely to have caught the infection in the first half of November after cases peaked.

Since then cases continued to drop, before starting to climb again over the last week or so, particularly in the south east, which prompted the government to move London and some surrounding areas into tier three.

That suggests the next few weeks could see Covid deaths going down and then up again in the coming weeks.

The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital has moved into OPEL 4, the highest alert level, previously known as ‘black alert.’

Katie Timms www.devonlive.com

The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust has issued a statement explaining OPEL 4 has been activated due to “high levels of Covid-19 and non-Covid related staff absence”, as well as a large number of inpatients with Covid-19.

It comes after DevonLive reported 411 staff were off work from the RD&E due to Covid-19 related illness, either through sickness or self-isolation as of December 2.

Figures for November 11 showed the hospital had 614 staff off for Covid related reasons, and a further 412 general absences meaning the hospital was down by 1,026 workers that day.

A number of measures are in place to help the hospital out of the highest alert level.

Being on OPEL 4 means pressures on the hospital has left it unable to deliver comprehensive care, and there is an increased potential for patient care and safety to be compromised.

Professor Adrian Harris, RD&E medical director and deputy chief executive stressed that despite the pressures the hospital is facing it is “important” that those who need emergency or urgent care phone 999 or attend the emergency department.

Prof Harris said: “We take infection prevention and control extremely seriously at the RD&E and in line with national guidance, we have strong processes in place to keep patients and staff as safe as possible.

“Hospital acquired infections can occur despite the very rigorous safeguards in place, although such incidences are low. However, if a patient does test positive for Covid-19, we have to shut whole wards or bays, and this leads to a shortage of beds.

“At the same time, we are facing severe pressures as a result of staff being absent from work due to Covid-19 and non-Covid illness or self-isolation.

“As always, our top priority is to continue delivering safe, quality care. To help us ensure this, I am asking people who do not need emergency or urgent care to phone 111 or contact primary care.

“This will help ease the burden on our overstretched services at this time. It is important to stress, though, that if you do need emergency or urgent care, phone 999 or attend the Emergency Department.

“In addition, where patients are medically well and able to leave hospital but cannot be discharged as there is nowhere available for their onward care, we are asking loved ones, where appropriate, to help make the necessary arrangements for them to be cared safely in other settings – either at home or in a care home.”

The measures in place to address the situation;

• Our Emergency Department is extremely busy today with longer waits than usual. If people need urgent care, before coming to our Emergency Department, we ask that they call 111 or visit 111 online first. Through 111, they’ll be able to speak to a clinician, who will advise you on where to go and what to do next, helping them to get the right treatment at the right place more quickly.
• Our Emergency Department is for urgent and immediately life-threatening cases only – if people need emergency care, we ask that they call 999 or attend the Emergency Department.
• It’s really important that people continue to attend appointments and seek medical attention if they need it.
• If a friend, family member, or loved one is medically fit and able to leave hospital sooner, we ask that people get in touch with our Family Liaison Service to help us make discharge arrangements. The service is open 7 days a week, 8am-8pm, and can be reached on T: 01392 402093 or E: rde-tr.pals@nhs.net (if you cannot get through on phone please email and we will ensure this is picked up).

A spokesperson for the RD&E added: “To help manage the situation on staffing, the RD&E is working with partners across Devon to encourage staff from the RD&E and other NHS organisations in the county to work additional shifts where possible.

“Staff who can offer this help are being asked to get in touch with the RD&E as soon as possible.”

The RD&E continues to operate its maternity services as normal.

Eight Devon sites will see family doctors giving the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine to local people from today.

Katie Timms  www.devonlive.com 

It comes at the NHS continues it phased roll-out of the vaccination programme, with GP practices working in groups to set up local vaccination centres for their patients, which will open in stages over coming weeks.

The first phase of GP-led vaccination centres in Devon will see the opening of eight sites serving 49 of the county’s practices.

The NHS is contacting eligible patients and people are being urged to avoid calling their practices or local hospital to ask about an appointment.

As well as using NHS locations like GP surgeries and health centres, some local vaccination centres are being opened in more unusual venues.

In Devon, these specially adapted sites include Exmouth Tennis and Fitness Centre, The Staddy function centre in Plymouth, and the Riviera International Centre in Torquay.

The eight locations in Devon’s first wave of local vaccination centres will see nurses, paramedics, pharmacists and other NHS staff working alongside doctors to vaccinate people aged over 80 and care home workers, who have been identified as priority groups for a life-saving vaccination.

In Devon, the eight sites in the first phase are;

Abbey Surgery, Tavistock, which is serving patients from Abbey Surgery, Tavyside Health Centre and Yelverton Surgery.

Exmouth Tennis and Fitness Centre which is serving patients from Coleridge Medical Centre, Honiton Surgery, Sid Valley Practice, Budleigh Salterton Medical Practice, Claremont Medical Practice, Haldon House Surgery, Imperial Surgery, Raleigh Surgery, Rolle Medical Partnership and Woodbury Surgery.

Limes Surgery, Exminster, which is serving patients from Cranbrook Medical Centre, Ide Lane Surgery, Pinhoe & Broadclyst Medical Centre, Topsham Surgery and Westbank Practice.

Okehampton Medical Centre, which is serving patients from Chagford Health Centre, Moretonhampstead Health Centre, Okehampton Medical Centre and Black Torrington Surgery.

Riviera International Centre, Torquay, which is serving patients from Croft Hall Medical Practice, Chelston Hall Surgery, Brunel Medical Practice, Southover Medical Practice, Chilcote Surgery, Pembroke Medical Group, Corner Place Surgery, Old Farm Surgery, Mayfield Medical Centres and Compass House Medical Centres.

St Boniface House, near Buckfastleigh, which is serving patients from Leaside Surgery, Totnes, Catherine House Surgery, Totnes, Buckfastleigh Medical Centre, Ashburton Surgery, South Brent Medical Centre, Redfern Medical Centre, Salcombe, Chillington Health Centre, Modbury Health Centre, Norton Brook Surgery, Kingsbridge and Dartmouth Medical Practice, Dartmouth.

Seaton Community Hospital, which is serving patients from Axminster Medical Practice, Seaton & Colyton Medical Practice and Townsend Hose Medical Centre.

The Staddy function centre, Plymouth, which is serving patients from Church View Surgery, Wembury Surgery, Dean Cross Surgery and Yealm Medical Centre.

Between them, the sites will vaccinate people from 49 of the county’s GP practices.

At Exmouth Tennis and Fitness Centre, patients from 10 local practices will be vaccinated from Tuesday onwards in specially adapted clinical facilities positioned on one of the indoor courts.

Dr Barry Coakley, a GP and Clinical Director of Woodbury, Exmouth and Budleigh (WEB) Primary Care Network, who is among those leading the set-up of the centre, said: “We feel honoured to play our part in this wonderful national Covid vaccination programme.

“As soon as the opportunity arose, the teams from all ten practices have come together, working with great skill and efficiency, seizing the moment to ensure that these lifesaving vaccinations are delivered to our communities.

“We would like to thank all those who have been waiting patiently to be contacted for their invitation. We are working through our patient lists in order, as set out in the national guidance, and will make contact with everyone who is eligible in due course.”

Four GP practices are working together to open the local vaccination centre at The Staddy, Plymouth. Dr Mark Sanford-Wood, a GP and Clinical Director of Mewstone Primary Care Network which serves Plymstock, Yealmpton and Wembury, said: “The Staddy is a well known local venue with plenty of space to safely set up the specialist clinical facilities we need for the programme.

“This is the most significant vaccination programme ever undertaken by the NHS and we are eager to play our part in protecting people against coronavirus and saving lives and livelihoods.”

More local vaccination centres run by family doctors will open in coming weeks across the county as the roll-out of the greatest vaccination programme in NHS history expands out of hospital hubs.

Simon Jolly, managing director of Riviera International Conference Centre, where patients from ten local practices are being vaccinated, added: “We were really happy to be able to put the Riviera International Centre forward as a venue for COVID-19 vaccinations. It’s an honour to be able to support such a vital project.”

Darryn Allcorn, Devon’s lead chief nurse, said: “We’re working seven days a week to make sure eligible people in Devon a vital vaccine as soon as possible.

“As a nurse I am proud to be part of this huge national effort to protect our patients against the virus and I would urge people in Devon to come forward when they are called up for the vaccine.

“I can reassure everyone that the NHS will be in touch with you when it’s your turn to have the vaccine. Contacting your local hospital or practice only slows us down as it takes up precious time and resources to respond to the calls.”

The local vaccination sites are using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, building on the work of the scores of hospital hubs which have already started vaccinating.

At Exmouth Tennis and Fitness Centre, which is run by LED Community Leisure, play continues on the courts not being used by the local vaccination centre.

A political consultancy co-founded by the pollster who headed the Conservative party’s general election campaign was given a contract by the government without a competitive tender during the pandemic.

Another example of the “Chumocracy” in action? – Owl

David Conn www.theguardian.com 

Fleetwood Strategy, which was co-founded this year by Isaac Levido, was given the £124,000 contract by the Cabinet Office in April. The 37-year-old has been credited with playing a large part in securing Boris Johnson his landslide victory.

The government has been accused of giving contracts to companies with links to the Conservative party during the pandemic, drawing criticisms that it has created a “chumocracy”.

The government has also been accused of being unnecessarily secretive after refusing to say which companies have been awarded multi-million-pound Covid-19 contracts after being processed in a high-priority channel for firms with political connections.

Official guidelines stipulate that government contracts should be published 30 days after being awarded. But details of the contract given to Fleetwood were only published on a government website on Friday, six months later than they should have been.

In addition, the Cabinet Office delayed responding to a freedom of information request by the Guardian for a list of contracts that it has given to Fleetwood, claiming that publishing the information could damage commercial interests.

The Cabinet Office has published only a brief description of its two-month contract with Fleetwood, saying it is for “research into government communications for Covid-19 updates”.

It disclosed that other firms had been unable to bid for the contract before it was given to Fleetwood as it was not advertised.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Levido, an Australian, was recruited by Downing Street to help run its communications strategy to combat coronavirus.

During the general election last year, he had headed the campaign from a desk in Tory party headquarters. When the size of the Conservative election victory became clear, others in the office began singing “Oh Isaac Levido” to the tune of The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army in tribute to him.

Sitting next to him during the campaign was Michael Brooks, a pollster. In January, Levido and Brooks set up Fleetwood, claiming they had a proven track record at the highest levels of political campaigning, media, opinion polling and other spheres.

Levido had worked on the two previous Conservative general election campaigns, alongside Lynton Crosby, the political strategist who had run them.

According to official records filed at Companies House, Levido stepped down as a director of Fleetwood Strategy in April, but rejoined in July.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “We want to make sure that people have the information they need to keep themselves safe and take advantage of all the government support available to them. This kind of research helps us do this by making our messages and communications more effective.

“In times of national emergency government procurement guidelines allow for direct awards for urgent requirements. These contracts are subject to all the usual transparency requirements.”

A Fleetwood Strategy spokesperson said its team conducted and analysed public opinion research.

“We work with organisations around the world and are proud to have been able to provide assistance to the UK government as it dealt with the Covid-19 crisis.”

French auditors have delivered a stinging blow to the French nuclear industry with a withering report on the “failure” of EDF’s under construction Flamanville plant.

Montel News: Chris Eales 12 October 2020 www.montelnews.com

They could have called it “How not to build a nuclear power plant”. Instead, magistrates at France’s Cours des Comptes, the country’s supreme public spending watchdog, went for the anodyne title “The EPR sector: thematic public report”. Yet the 148-page probe from the state auditors, focusing on EDF’s under construction European pressurised reactor (EPR) at Flamanville, pulls no punches. The newbuild plant is a “failure” with “huge” financial consequences and implications for the French nuclear industry and beyond, it says.

Released in July, the report charts the steps that have led EDF and former reactor builder Areva (now Framatome), into a costly mire: from a far too hasty launch, through mismanagement and a striking lack of oversight to a string of costly setbacks.

“It is not only an exceptional documentation of the failures and mishaps of project management, engineering and huge financial consequences, it is foremost an unprecedented illustration of the total absence of state oversight,” writes nuclear industry critic and independent consultant Mycle Schneider in the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2020, published in September.

Flamanville was supposed to be a flagship plant for a nuclear renaissance. Now, 13 years after its launch, the build is billions of euros over budget and a decade behind schedule. EDF’s latest start-update, by 2023, is in doubt given the potential for further coronavirus related delays. And, according to the auditors, the firm’s current EUR12.4bn estimate of the construction cost is unreliable. A further EUR6.7bn may be needed before the 1,600 MW reactor is commissioned, with financing costs in particular – due to delays – contributing around EUR 4.2bn extra.

What’s more, the interminable delays have driven up the estimated cost of power output from the plant to EUR 110-120/MWh, well above the price of renewable wind and solar output, the auditors have calculated, adding EDF itself has failed to publish any cost estimates regarding Flamanville’s generation for over 10 years.

There are two other European EPR builds, Olkiluoto in Finland and Hinkley Point in England. All come in for criticism from the auditors, whopoint to more delays at Olkiluoto – being built by Finland’s TVO – and “risks” at Hinkley Point, which are “weighing heavily on EDF’s finances”. The two completed EPRs sited in Taishan, China, meanwhile, are showing insufficient profitability”, the auditors say.

So how did it all go wrong? EDF and Areva, were at loggerheads from the start. Both state- owned, each wanted to be first in the world to build a series of EPRs. The rivalry led to a “bidding war” and a vast underestimate of costs, along with an “unrealistic” timetable, to build new units in France and Finland, says the report.

Construction at Flamanville went ahead when only 10-40% of the necessary assessments had been completed, says the report. EDF estimated it could build the reactor in 54 months when the average lead time to complete reactors at the time elsewhere in the world was 121 months. It said it needed 5m hours of engineering when “in fact it would take 22m”.

EDF knew it had to “convince public authorities and public opinion” that EPRs could be built and commissioned by 2020 to replace the firm’s ageing, existing fleet of reactors when they reached 40 years old. But in reality, it was woefully disorganised, say the auditors. Its oversight at Flamanville as self-styled “architect builder” led to “confusion” and until 2015 there was no specific entity “responsible for ensuring that the objectives of the technical and financial framework of the project were respected”. It was only in 2012, four years after construction started, that EDF began to “track expenditure” and not until 2015 thatit “estimated completion costs”. The firm’s board rarely discussed the build even when it was alerted to problems, the report says.

Further up the ladder, there is more evidence of a tendency to look away or not to look at all. State representatives sitting on EDF’s board –the company is owed 84.7% by the state – failed to carry out their own analysis of the impact of “successive problems” or to alert ministers of the consequences. “The shareholder appears as a spectator of events which it only seems to know of via the press”, the auditors write. Among other things, the lack of oversight meant the government cleared a EUR7.5bn bailout of Areva and EDF “without having been alerted of the situation in time”.

The report is also critical of EDF’s handling of two of the most notable setbacks to have hit Flamanville’s construction. The risks following the discovery of excessive carbon in the lid of the reactor vessel, equipment that is vital for safety, were “poorly assessed and consequences poorly qualified”. And the auditors reiterate that EDF was only allowed to keep the vessel in place due to a government decree in July 2015 which created exemptions “for the application of compliance rules to nuclear pressure equipment”. The firm will have to replace the lid in 2024.

Secondly, it is currently grappling with sub-standard welding, which has already added EUR 1.5bn to the cost of the reactor. Yet, according to the report, EDF knew about this issue in 2013 but did not inform France’s ASN nuclear safety authority until 2017.

The welding saga illustrates how the nuclear industry has suffered from a “loss of human capital” on the one hand – it’s 30 years since France built a reactor – and more stringent post-Fukushima safety demands on the other, says Aurelien Saussay, an economist at the London School of Economics Grantham Research Institute.“

Those welds would have passed inspection when the EPR was designed,” he says. Now, in a tougher safety environment, “the people with the practical experience of building the French reactor fleet in the 1980s have all retired. This loss of human capital takes years to rebuild”.

Some industry insiders say EDF has learnt lessons from the mistakes made at Flamanville and elsewhere. The firm launched a EUR100m action plan to improve the manufacture of reactor equipment and construction last December following a critical government commissioned audit of the new EPR last year.

The utility is now touting a revised version of the EPR and drawing up plans to build six of them in France over the next 15 years, which it estimates will cost EUR 46bn. Known as EPR2s, these reactors, it says, will be simpler and cheaper to build.

Yet the auditors at the Cours des Comptes take a different view. “We cannot establish with a reasonable degree of certainty that the construction savings of the future EPR2s compared to the cost of construction of Flamanville-type EPRs will be realised.”

EDF alone cannot finance the building of new reactors without some sort of public guarantee, the auditors say. But the estimated costs of power generated by new units would have to be competitive to justify asking consumers and taxpayers to cough up, it adds.

And given that nuclear costs are rising while those of renewablesare falling, “it doesn’t make sense at all for EDF to go ahead with  more EPRs in France compared with pulling their weight towards renewables”, says Saussay. This didn’t mean there was no future for the EPR, however. Far from it.“

The only way that the EPR plans will be shelved is if EDF goes through a dramatic bankruptcy procedure just as Areva did… EDF is a company with tremendous pride and a great history. They don’t want anyone else teaching them what to do, especially not pesky auditors from the Cours des Comptes who have no power of sanction,” he adds.

Watch this space.

Boris Johnson has approved the start of negotiations with EDF about funding a new £20 billion nuclear power plant despite concerns that taxpayers would foot the bill for any extra costs.

As might be expected, “New Anglian” LEP follows Heart of the South West (HotSW) in welcoming this “boost” to the local economy. But Owl detects a more measured tone, none of the “Golden Opportunity” hype of HotSW – see below

[French auditors report on EDF to follow in separate post, essential reading for those footing the bill. ]

Steven Swinford | Emily Gosden, Energy Editor www.thetimes.co.uk 

The government is considering backing Sizewell C, a twin-reactor plant in Suffolk. It could generate 3.2 gigawatts of electricity, enough to provide 7 per cent of Britain’s energy needs.

The move is a vital part of the prime minister’s pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Most reactors are due to shut down this decade, leading to fears of blackouts in the 2030s.

China General Nuclear Power (CGN), a Chinese state company, has a 20 per cent stake in Sizewell C but is thought to be planning to pull out, increasing the need for new investors. The government is considering taking an equity stake in the plant amid concerns that private investment could still leave it with multibillion-pound liabilities. Taking an equity stake would allow taxpayers to benefit from any profits.

Sizewell C is now the only project in contention for government investment. The government offered to take a one-third stake in Hitachi’s Wylfa plant on Anglesey, but the Japanese company cancelled it in September.

Sizewell would be a sister project to Hinkley Point C, which EDF, the French energy company, is building in Somerset with CGN. Costs there have risen to £22.5 billion. Alison Downes, of the Stop Sizewell C campaign group, has said previously: “Sizewell C is a bad project — if EDF can’t make it work on their own terms they shouldn’t expect the British public to bail them out.”

Tom Greatrex, of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: “Any credible analysis of reaching net-zero shows you need lots of zero-carbon, including that which is not reliant on the weather.

“Nuclear construction isn’t expensive — financing nuclear projects is. Using a better model than at Hinkley would significantly reduce the cost for consumers.”

The announcement of talks with EDF comes as the government publishes its energy white paper, which includes plans to switch consumers to cheaper tariffs automatically.

Alok Sharma, the business secretary, will publish proposals today to end the “loyalty penalty”, which according to Look After My Bills, a price comparison website, costs loyal customers an average of £169 more a year. Under one plan to be tested, called “opt-in switching”, consumers will be offered a simple method to switch if their initial contract has ended. “Opt-out switching” will involve consumers being automatically moved to a more competitive rate.

Mr Sharma said the decision to enter talks did not amount to a “green light” for construction to begin. “We are starting negotiations with EDF, which would be the developer at Sizewell C,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“What this is not is a green light on the construction, so what we will be doing is looking to see whether we can reach an investment decision in this parliament on that particular project. We will only do so if this delivers value for money for taxpayers and consumers.”

New Anglia LEP welcomes submission of application for Sizewell C 

newanglia.co.uk 

EDF Energy submitted its Development Consent Order application for Sizewell C, a new nuclear power station in Suffolk, on 27 May 2020.

The construction of a new nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast would create 25,000 employment opportunities and 1,000 apprenticeships, as well as bringing a huge economic boost to the local area.

New Anglia LEP Chief Executive Chris Starkie said: “We welcome the decision by EDF Energy to submit its planning application.

“The planning process will now give EDF Energy the opportunity to make its case for the project and for supporters and objectors to be heard.

“New Anglia LEP is keen to see the project proceed with the maximum benefits for local businesses and workers and to cause the minimum disruption for residents and the tourism sector. We believe this can be achieved if EDF Energy responds positively to the concerns of local residents.

“We are also calling on EDF Energy to set an ambitious target for the value of contracts of £2bn awarded to businesses from Suffolk and Norfolk.”

Millions of medical gowns bought for the NHS at the end of the first lockdown for £122m have never been used.

By Phil Kemp www.bbc.co.uk 

The gowns were ordered by the government from a supplier which had set up just a month earlier, and no other companies were asked to bid for the contract.

The supplier, PPE Medpro, says it had met the agreed terms.

The Department of Health said all PPE must undergo rigorous checks.

PPE Medpro was set up as a company in May while the UK was still in the first coronavirus lockdown.

At the time, hospitals across the country were reporting shortages of personal protective equipment – clothing and accessories to protect medics from the virus.

Earlier this week NHS Providers, which represents English hospital trusts, told the House of Commons spending watchdog that the supply of gowns was the most “pertinent problem” over several months.

Six weeks after it was incorporated, PPE Medpro signed a contract with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for £122m to supply sterile surgical gowns to the NHS in England.

The contract was not opened to competition due to the exceptional urgency of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sterile surgical gowns are used to reduce the risk of infection when Covid patients are put on to ventilators, for example.

The DHSC told the BBC that contracts for the gowns must meet the British Standard for the sterilisation of medical devices or a “technical equivalent”.

PPE Medpro followed this second route. This required the DHSC to seek approval from the health regulator, the MHRA, for them to be used in the NHS.

The contract, which shows the agreed sum of £122m

The DHSC and MHRA declined to comment when asked for details of the approval application made for the Medpro products. There is as yet no record of PPE Medpro or either of its two Chinese suppliers on the regulator’s exemptions list, although it is understood the evaluation process is now under way.

PPE Medpro say they delivered 100 per cent of the contract to the terms specified.

The company said it supplied the equipment “fully in accordance with the agreed contract, which included clear terms as to technical specification and performance criteria of the products”.

“We did so in very challenging circumstances earlier this year and are very pleased to have been able to assist DHSC fully and properly at a time of national crisis,” it added.

In August the BBC revealed that 50 million face masks bought by the UK government from a different company earlier in the year would not be used in the NHS because of safety concerns.

The DHSC said: “The safety of front-line staff and patients is of paramount importance and we now have a four-month stockpile of all Covid-critical PPE in place.

“All PPE must undergo rigorous checks so they meet the safety and quality required.

“Proper due diligence is carried out for all government contracts and we take these checks extremely seriously.”

Rapid action has been backed by East Devon council as alarming figures show one in three local children are from deprived homes in certain districts.

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com

Councillors at last Wednesday’s full council meeting heard that applications for Universal Credit have doubled since the coronavirus pandemic began, and that is without any potential negative effects of Brexit and when the Government Furlough scheme ends.

There are hundreds of households in deprivation in East Devon in parts of Exmouth, Honiton, Sidford and Seaton, while in some parts of the district, one in three local children are from deprived homes.

The full council meeting unanimously backed a motion that had been put forward to speed up the work to reduce deprivation and poverty in East Devon.

The cabinet, when they meet on January 6, 2021, will be asked to give urgent consideration to the unprecedented challenges now being faced by many residents and in recognition of the worsening poverty crisis decide whether a further report should be prepared to identify practicable and affordable further actions.

Conservative Cllr Mike Allen, who put forward the initial motion, said: “At first sight, the challenges facing us today appear overwhelming, so we have set out to see what we could do at speed to help the poorest in our East Devon and help them to cope during the extreme and unprecedented circumstances we have seen this year. One in six mortgages went into default this year, although many recovered during the summer.

“However with future uncertainty East Devon District Council should look at innovative ways, such as using the Councils housing company funding support to allow hard working people to keep their homes that might otherwise be at risk of being lost.

“The measures put in place to stop spread of Covid has caused a problem for the most deprived and we need to help the poorest in these extreme circumstances. We need to look at the consequences for the economy very fast and need to limit the rise in unemployment, help those find jobs quickly, as work is the best protection against poverty, but even then there needs to be a living wage.

“We are still going through the motions of putting a poverty strategy together and it has been far too slow. This is nothing that hasn’t already been propose but I am just trying to bring things together quicker.”

Moving to speed up the actions that would be set to be taken, Cllr Dan Ledger put forward an amendment to refer the motion to the next cabinet meeting. He said: “We need to debate this and get this right and get this moving. We are trying to come up with results quicker while not detracting from the evidence base programme.”

On January 6, the cabinet will give it urgent consideration to the motion and to decide whether a further report should be prepared to identify practicable and affordable further actions with a view to:

– identifying any emergency actions for prioritisation;

– helping address gaps in the benefit system;

– applying for all available grants;

– strengthening families and communities with clear signposting;

– improving communication with towns and parishes around financial resilience;

– promoting long term economic growth potential;

– addressing issues affecting all age groups with regard to mental health and employment.

– assessing how the Poverty Strategy and action plan can be expedited by the Poverty Working Panel without compromising the evidenced based programme of work.

The motion was unanimously agreed by the council, and the cabinet will in January the need for any short-term actions as well as strategic initiatives to be put in place immediately.

The council had previously agreed a policy vision for poverty that no one in East Devon is to be destitute without immediate help, and nobody should be in involuntary poverty for more than two years duration.

A scheme that allows care and health workers to park on double yellow lines across Devon is to be made permanent.

Daniel Clark eastdevonnews.co.uk 

The pilot to allow professionals visiting people at home to stop in normally-restricted spaces in certain situations was launched earlier this year.

Professionals with a Care and Health Worker Parking Permit can currently park in on-street, limited waiting and residents’ parking bays when delivering essential services to residents.

The new permits allow stop-offs on double yellow lines for an hour, but only if there is no other parking available.

Devon County Council’s (DCC) cabinet heard at its December meeting that a one-year trial had seen 9,000 permits issued to care givers, social services and NHS providers.

Members unanimously agreed that the scheme is retained and becomes permanent.

It will also be extended to allow up to three hours’ parking in ‘no waiting’ areas.

Permits will have a time clock, similar that for Blue Badge holders, which must be displayed.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, DCC cabinet member for highways, said: “Many care and health workers have told us that they struggle to park in some areas and it can affect their ability to deliver essential services to vulnerable people and adds to their stress. With the Covid-19 crisis, this has been invaluable.”

An officer’s report to the meeting said: “The Care and Health Worker Permit has delivered real benefits to its users.

“Of the 228 responses received in our recent survey, 100 per cent of current permit holding responders want the scheme to be continued as it has made a difference in their ability to deliver an efficient service and improved the quality and quantity of time spent with their client/patients.

“They report that savings have been made and that staff retention and recruitment has been improved as a result of a permit scheme minimises the risk to care staff of being fined when parked when providing care to a client/patient.

“The pandemic has seen the general public come to recognise and appreciate the value these key workers play in society.

“In our initial consultation to introduce a permit scheme for care workers, over 94 per cent of responses were in favour of the introduction of this permit.

“The council would appear in a very poor light and suffer reputational damage in the eyes of its residents, if the scheme were now to be withdrawn.”

Boris Johnson has been accused of hypocrisy after he objected to a scheme for 514 homes in his constituency claiming it was “inappropriate” and “out of character” for the area.

George Grylls www.thetimes.co.uk 

In letters obtained by The Times through a Freedom of Information request, Mr Johnson said that the plans for houses in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat constituted “overdevelopment”.

Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary, has now intervened in the case and is blocking planning permission from being granted to the scheme, which includes 179 affordable homes.

Boris Johnson has been under pressure to resist an application by Inland Homes to build on the Master Brewer site

Earlier this year the prime minister unveiled radical reforms to overhaul the planning system and limit people’s ability to object to individual applications. He recently decried the “cumbersome planning procedures” that prevented young people from getting on the housing ladder and attacked a culture of nimbyism in a speech over the summer where he demanded that developers “build, build, build”.

Mr Johnson’s majority of 7,210 in his west London constituency is the smallest of any prime minister in recent times. He faces pressure from a number of residents’ groups to oppose the application by developers Inland Homes to build on the Master Brewer site.

In September Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, approved the plans but Mr Jenrick overruled the decision and directed officials to issue a holding order.

Mr Johnson wrote to Hillingdon council’s head of planning in February last year: “While I welcome additional appropriate housing in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, having considered the plans this application appears to be an overdevelopment for the location with too high a density proposed.”

He added: “A 12-storey tower block in amongst this development is wholly out of character for the locality.” He said that he and residents were worried that the development lacked sufficient parking. He urged planners to take account of the extra pressure on services, including schools and doctors, “to ensure Hillingdon welcomes sustainable developments and inappropriate applications such as this are refused”.

Mr Johnson had also written to the leader of Hillingdon council that the homes lacked “aesthetic quality”.

Stephen Wicks, chief executive of Inland Homes, said that the prime minister, was putting politics over planning.

“The hypocrisy of all this is that Boris is on one hand saying ‘build, build, build’ but on the other hand he’s quietly nobbling councillors behind the scenes,” he said. “It’s difficult to demonstrate it but I’m pretty certain Boris will have had a word with Robert Jenrick and said ‘Look, this one’s a bit difficult for me, the locals don’t like it, so can you just quietly issue a holding order’.”

A government spokesman said that officials in Mr Jenrick’s department had issued the holding direction and denied that the housing secretary had had any involvement.

He added: “The government has set out its vision for a planning system that delivers high-quality, sustainable homes and puts local community agreement at the centre of proposals.”

Labour should show it could work with like-minded parties by committing to proportional representation

Editorial www.theguardian.com 

More than a year ago, Labour won its lowest number of parliamentary seats in a general election since 1935. Sir Keir Starmer began by saying Labour was “under new management”. He now offers new leadership. That is unlikely to be enough. Whereas managers want to do things right, leaders do the right thing. Leaders scan the horizon for destinations; managers are guided by short-term considerations. Sir Keir’s task is to lead his party to victory while building a coalition to unseat the Conservatives. Organisations fail when they are over-managed and under-led.

Sir Keir says Labour has a “mountain to climb”, higher than that scaled by the party in 1997. It needs to win 124 seats to form a majority at the next election, expected in 2024 but possibly sooner given the government’s ambition to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act. The political situation may be even worse in four years’ time. The law requires independent reviews of constituency boundaries every five years. The next review could recommend changes that, if enacted, could see Labour left with a steeper ascent and a higher peak to conquer.

Some think the party has become too liberal socially and too radical economically for voters. This seems an overreaction. In a paper for the Compass thinktank, Neal Lawson and Grace Barnett suggest Labour ought to drop its tribalism rather than its policies. The electoral map holds out hope for Labour if it could work with like-minded parties. The Compass report identifies two clear battlegrounds emerging primarily in England: one between Labour and the Conservatives, another between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. There are few constituencies where Labour and the Liberal Democrats are vying for supremacy. Hence Mr Lawson and Ms Barnett’s call for a progressive alliance formed from parties given to tolerance, solidarity and greenery – a politics that sets them apart from the me-first, rightwing nationalism of their opponents.

These lines may be harder to draw in the years to come. Sometimes coalitions in politics are overt. Often they are covert. Whether they work depends on whether political allies are closer to each other, and to the mood of the nation, than they are to those outside their ranks. An informal agreement among centre and centre-left politicians has an undeniable appeal. But it is difficult to see how a Lib-Lab rapprochement would lead to a majority government without building bridges with the Scottish National party.

To defeat a common enemy, parties should set aside differences and cooperate. The political right understands this. The Conservatives have been in power for seven out of the last 10 years thanks first to a coalition with Lib Dems led by Nick Clegg and then a pact with the Democratic Unionist party. What might bring about a progressive alliance in Britain? All its major constituent actors – apart from Labour – recognise that the first past the post (FPTP) electoral system has frozen a dysfunctional pattern of politics.

Brexit shows that a different political culture is desperately needed. Proportional representation is a way of redistributing power more fairly and encouraging consensus to be built across party lines. FPTP’s defenders say it delivers durable single-party administrations rather than fickle pacts. This is untrue: the Tory party is an unstable coalition in government. Labour is unlikely to change a voting system that took it into government unless it adopts a policy to do so before entering power. Progressive parties could limit the damage to each other’s chances in an election with a common front. But they need a shared sense of policies to unite them.

A strategy that aims to help stop parts of the South Hams and West Devon become ‘millionaire holiday communities’ and to ensure people can afford to live in the region has been devised.

South Hams and West Devon have a different interpretation of: “Build back Better” and “Planning for the Future”. Essential reading for EDDC? – Owl  

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com

The ‘Better Homes, Better Lives’ strategy sets out the housing strategy for the two districts for the next five years, as they aim to make the best of our beautiful natural environment, but also delivers for those who need it the most.

House prices have been increasing in the area with a 27 per cent increase in house prices in West Devon in the last five years and a 17 per cent increase in the average house price in South Hams, and the ratio of lower quartile house price to lower quartile gross earnings has correspondingly increased such that it is now 11 times the average earnings in South Hams and 10.42 in West Devon.

At the same time, levels of fuel poverty in the district and borough are above the national average, affecting occupants of existing housing stock. The national average proportion of households in fuel poverty in 2017 was 10.9 per cent compared to West Devon 12.6 per cent and South Hams 11.2 per cent.

A total of 8.2 per cent of the total dwellings in the South Hams are second homes with up to 50 per cent in some areas, while the availability of housing is further restricted by many otherwise available homes being registered as a holiday homes business.

And the impact of ever-increasing house prices is the continued shift in demographic profile for both South Hams and West Devon, with the median age of homeownership in the two areas ten years older than the national average.

South Hams and West Devon housing strategy

Both council last week agreed to go out to consultation on their ‘Better Homes, Better Lives’ housing strategy which aims to devise plans for the future that will deliver healthy and well-balanced communities, and to provide more affordable housing for locals who are unable to get on the housing ladder.

Speaking at last Thursday’s South Hams executive committee, Cllr Jonathan Hawkins said: “The strategy and policy is really good and easy to read. We have to provide affordable and social housing for local people to be able to live in the South Hams. Some of the communities are becoming millionaire’s holiday communities but we have to provide homes for local people who can afford them. It should be one of our priorities and we have to achieve that in the next few years.”

Cllr Hilary Bastone added: “This comes at a time of great uncertainty for people and a time when home took on a greater meaning. Important that we build back better and make commitments to change.”

Salcombe in the South Hams boasts many second homes

At last week’s West Devon hub committee, Cllr Debo Sellis said: “As we start to recover from the pandemic, it is important that we build back better. We want to deliver the key commitments so we ensure the residents, current and future, benefit from strategy that makes the best of our beautiful natural environment and delivers for those who need it the most.”

Cllr Chris Edmonds added: “I hope this brings forward more affordable housing, not just through developer contributions, and my wish is for a good mix of tenure’s so people have the chance to at least own a share of a house. I hope we can deliver some truly affordable housing in some form or other.”

In the foreword to the strategy, Cllrs Bastone and Sellis in the introduction state: “As our areas start to emerge and recover from the pandemic, it is important that we build back better, revisit our priorities and make commitments to change. That’s why we have called our strategy Better Homes, Better Lives

“We want to deliver on these key commitments to ensure all our residents, current and future benefit from a strategy that makes the best of our beautiful natural environment, but also delivers for those who need it the most.

“This popularity has over a number of years had an impact on the affordability levels of housing for local people. Average house prices have continued to rise well beyond the rise in the average local wage, making home ownership an unrealistic aspiration for many people living and working the area today. Most recent estimates show the average house costing 11.6 times the average wage in South Hams, and 10.6 times in West Devon.”

The strategy adds: “The sensitive natural landscape present challenges in terms of building large numbers of new homes, and most of the towns and villages are ill-equipped to adapt to the additional of large scale housing development, with local infrastructure, particularly transport networks in town centres, unable to be adapted to accommodate significantly greater usage

“Understanding the key characteristics of a place can help to devise plans for the future that will deliver healthy and well-balanced communities that are resilient to change. In order to create a housing strategy for South Hams and West Devon, it was important to know what issues needed to be addressed. Whilst the affordability challenges are well understood, the implications of this are less well known, for both the built environment and the people that live in South Hams and West Devon.”

The strategy says there is anecdotal evidence of an increase in home ownership from people outside Devon since the start of lockdown in March 2020, adding: “These home owners are relocating to a more desirable area, and taking advantage of the fact that very few people needed daily access to their place of work, indeed in a lot of cases people were actively discouraged from physically going to work.

“There is a chance that if remote working remains the norm for many people, the baseline data for average earnings in South Hams and West Devon will be artificially increased by virtue of people living in the area but working further afield in areas where average earnings are typically much higher.

‘Rise in second home ownership is distorting the South Hams housing market and pushing house prices up’

“But the displacement of people earning lower wages does not mean that the affordability problem has gone away, but simply that the people earning lower wages can no longer afford to live in the area, and have had to find somewhere to live in a cheaper area.”

The most recent census data shows that the dwelling stock in South Hams and West Devon is distinctly different from the national average. Both areas have far fewer one and two bed homes, 34 per cent, than the national average for England which is 40 per cent, while at the other end of the spectrum, with the housing stock of South Hams and West Devon comprising an average of 27 per cent of four and five bed homes compared to 19 per cent nationally.

It adds: “Household sizes have been getting smaller for a number of years, and this trend is projected to continue well into the medium term, and is just as applicable to rural areas as it is for urban areas. The difficulty this creates is that with every passing year the housing stock of South Hams and West Devon is becoming less aligned with the needs of the households that live in these areas.

“Combine this with the fact that larger homes typically cost more in South Hams and West Devon than in many other parts of the country, and you get a formula for further economic and social displacement for people living here.

“Of course many people will choose to under-occupy their home because it allows for flexibility of use like working from home or for accommodating occasional guests, but the proportion of homes that are significantly under-occupied in South Hams and West Devon however is also well above the national average.

“This identifies homes with at least two unused bedrooms, and data shows that 46 per cent of homes in both South Hams and West Devon are considered to be significantly under-occupied compared with the national average of 34 per cent.

“It may be that the home owners do not wish to live in smaller accommodation, but the data suggests a housing stock that does not align well with household sizes, and without a significant increase in the delivery of smaller homes this trend is only going to get worse

The blanket of snow made for some beautiful scenery on Dartmoor (Image: Matt Gilley/Plymouth Live)

“There are also pockets of poor quality housing located in South Hams and West Devon that feature both disrepair and overcrowding. The quality of housing has a direct impact upon the health and wellbeing of its occupants.”

The key aims of the strategy are:

Ensure sustainable housing growth

Housing needs to be delivered in places that are well served with services and amenities, and in sufficient quantity to meet the identified housing needs of the area, and if new development is going to contribute to making better places for people to live, we need to look beyond the number of new houses, and ensure that new homes are of the right type, in the right place and are accessible for those in most need.

Through the Joint Local Plan, the councils aim deliver 7,000 high quality, sustainable and affordable housing during the lifetime of the plan across South Hams and West Devon.

Promote Balanced and Sustainable communities

The long term resilience of rural communities depends upon having a diverse housing stock that can meet the needs of a wide range of households. By ensuing that new development adds diversity to the housing stock, we can help ensure our communities are inclusive and equitable places to live, and that can create communities that are well prepared to respond to change.

Ensuring that homes support the Health and Wellbeing of the area

The Council wants to meet the housing needs of all communities and the challenges of an ageing population. This Strategy aims to promote the best use of current housing stock, whatever the tenure, and enable new housing that is built to a standard that will enhance the health and wellbeing of future occupants.

Homes that support the Health and Wellbeing of our residents

The Councils are compelled to addressing hardship, deprivation, ill health and inequalities that exist within our areas.

Make the best use and improve the quality of existing housing

The Council is committed to making better use of already existing housing to meet the needs of residents and to encourage long-term empty homes back into use and address under occupation and overcrowding within social housing stock and by doing so reduce length of time on the housing register.

Following both council’s approval last week, the strategy will now go out for consultation, with the aim of it to return to both of them for adoption in March 2021. This would be accompanied by a Year 1 delivery plan that outlines how both South Hams and West Devon councils would achieve the aims within the first 12 months.

• Installation of ground mounted photovoltaic solar arrays Spring Hayne Offwell Honiton EX14 9SLRef. No: 20/2729/FUL | Validated: Fri 04 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of single storey rear extension and terrace. 385 Exeter Road Exmouth EX8 3NSRef. No: 20/2717/FUL | Validated: Fri 04 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• 1 no. non-illuminated fascia sign and 4 no. photographic panels attached to the building Tornado Shelly Road ExmouthRef. No: 20/2703/ADV | Validated: Fri 04 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Two Storey Side Extension 5 Yew Tree Close Exmouth EX8 5NFRef. No: 20/2708/FUL | Validated: Thu 03 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single-storey side extension. 79 Foxholes Hill Exmouth EX8 2DHRef. No: 20/2706/FUL | Validated: Thu 03 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Lawful development certificate for the construction of porch to front. 12 Bramley Gardens Whimple Exeter EX5 2SJRef. No: 20/2705/CPE | Validated: Thu 03 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single-storey and two-storey rear extension and single-storey side conservatory/drying room. 58 Madeira Villas Exmouth EX8 1QPRef. No: 20/2704/FUL | Validated: Thu 03 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Partial cladding of existing house 27 Woolbrook Rise Sidmouth EX10 9UDRef. No: 20/2699/FUL | Validated: Wed 02 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Agricultural storage building Land At Dulford BroadhemburyRef. No: 20/2696/AGR | Validated: Wed 02 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of detached garden office/store 19 Barnfield Avenue Exmouth EX8 2QERef. No: 20/2685/FUL | Validated: Tue 01 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision

• T1, Leyland cypress – shorten height and spread by approximately 2m to leave an approximate height of 10m and a radial spread of 4m. Flat 2A The Pines New Road Beer Seaton EX12 3HSRef. No: 20/2684/TCA | Validated: Tue 01 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of single storey extensions, replacement windows, and application of painted render and timber cladding to existing house Lawnswood House Harcombe Road Axminster EX13 5TBRef. No: 20/2686/FUL | Validated: Tue 01 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of side extension 12 Chestnut Way Honiton EX14 2UARef. No: 20/2689/FUL | Validated: Fri 04 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of single storey rear extension including porch and patio Little Knowle Chapel Hill Clyst St George Exeter EX3 0NNRef. No: 20/2678/FUL | Validated: Wed 02 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of single storey rear extension 47 Slewton Crescent Whimple Exeter EX5 2QARef. No: 20/2688/FUL | Validated: Tue 01 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of Agricultural Livestock Building (Weaner Unit) and associated infrastructure Land At Ridge Cross StocklandRef. No: 20/2680/FUL | Validated: Tue 01 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Sycamore reduce lower limb (NW) by 2.5m (redline on photograph) over car parking area. T2, Alder : fell T3, Field Maple : fell Woolbrook Reservoir Balfours Sidmouth EX10 9EFRef. No: 20/2665/TRE | Validated: Mon 30 Nov 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Alterations to garage roof and window at the first floor level to allow garage conversion 6 Sycamore Close Exmouth EX8 4HFRef. No: 20/2670/FUL | Validated: Wed 02 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of 2 no. two storey extensions Knappe Cross Nursing Home Brixington Lane Exmouth EX8 5DLRef. No: 20/2671/FUL | Validated: Thu 03 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of 2no. two storey extensions, and associated internal alterations Knappe Cross Nursing Home Brixington Lane Exmouth EX8 5DLRef. No: 20/2672/LBC | Validated: Thu 03 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Construction of two storey extension to existing annex Ruffold House Coly Road Colyton EX24 6QDRef. No: 20/2669/FUL | Validated: Mon 30 Nov 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey rear extension and garage conversion 10 Salterton Court Exmouth EX8 2THRef. No: 20/2664/FUL | Validated: Mon 30 Nov 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of two storey extension and porch Harcourt Wiggaton Ottery St Mary EX11 1PTRef. No: 20/2674/FUL | Validated: Mon 30 Nov 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Replacement of the Community Centre with 6 no. residential flats Ottery Feoffee Charity Community Centre Brook Street Ottery St Mary EX11 1EZRef. No: 20/2668/FUL | Validated: Fri 04 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of replacement porch and single storey side extension Little Shelvin Farm Luppitt Honiton EX14 4UFRef. No: 20/2651/FUL | Validated: Fri 04 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of lawful development for demolition of existing rear extension & construction of two storey rear extension with new roof & roof windows to new & main roofs. Demolition of existing porch & construction of new porch with slated, duo pitched roof Newcourt Barton Clyst Road Topsham Exeter EX3 0DBRef. No: 20/2654/CPL | Validated: Fri 04 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of greenhouse 11 Eastfield West Hill Ottery St Mary EX11 1XNRef. No: 20/2647/FUL | Validated: Tue 01 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Installation of an 18 panel/6kw ground mounted solar pv system. Land North East Of East Lodge South Rousdon Lyme Regis DT7 3XURef. No: 20/2645/FUL | Validated: Mon 30 Nov 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of new parking space, associated retaining walls, and new drop kerb 1 Highfield Sidmouth EX10 8XARef. No: 20/2635/FUL | Validated: Tue 01 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of existing studio/workshop and construction of replacement studio/workshop including roof mounted solar panels Land West Of Lower Court Cottages Fluxton Ottery St Mary EX11 1RLRef. No: 20/2599/FUL | Validated: Mon 30 Nov 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Replacement of window with french doors Flat 2 Woodbury House 83 Salterton Road Exmouth EX8 2EWRef. No: 20/2606/FUL | Validated: Mon 30 Nov 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• G1 – To undertake crown reduction via thinning to a group of Beech trees by thinning the crown by less than 25% of the folia area and making natural target pruning cuts of less than 75 mm. in diameter removing branch lengths up to 3 m. in length to retain the ascetic and amenity value of this group of trees by reducing to a more manageable size increasing light and airflow into the gardens and properties. 26 Simcoe Way Dunkeswell Honiton EX14 4URRef. No: 20/2594/TRE | Validated: Tue 01 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Provision of balcony rails to the second floor front elevation. 7 Mudbank Lane Exmouth EX8 3EGRef. No: 20/2584/FUL | Validated: Wed 02 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Conversion of large barn to office Cadhay Barn Cadhay Ottery St Mary EX11 1QTRef. No: 20/2577/COU | Validated: Wed 02 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use from B2 to gymnasium (Class E) First Floor Of (Former) Unit 23 Axminster Carpets Woodmead Road Axminster EX13 5PQRef. No: 20/2575/FUL | Validated: Wed 02 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Conversion of large barn to office Cadhay Barn Cadhay Ottery St Mary EX11 1QTRef. No: 20/2578/LBC | Validated: Wed 02 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Associated operational development in conjunction with the approval 20/0686/PDR for the change of use of an existing agricultural building to a shop St Isidore Farm Combe Raleigh Honiton EX14 4TGRef. No: 20/2563/FUL | Validated: Mon 30 Nov 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Various works to include: block up existing door into living room; remove wall between living room and bedroom no.1; block up existing door and create new door opening in bedroom no.1; block up existing door and create new door opening in shower room; enlarge cupboard and install double doors on cupboard in bedroom no.2 Flat 5 Highcliffe 10 Louisa Terrace Exmouth EX8 2AQRef. No: 20/2552/LBC | Validated: Fri 04 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Replace 2no. window casements, frames and sills at ground floor north east elevation and Replace 2no. window casements, frames and sills at ground floor south east elevation. 1 Gilbrook Cottages Woodbury Exeter EX5 1LHRef. No: 20/2533/LBC | Validated: Tue 01 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use of industrial unit (use Class B2) to gymnasium (use Class E) and external alterations including new disabled ramp and steps Axminster Carpets Ltd Woodmead Road Axminster EX13 5PQRef. No: 20/2521/FUL | Validated: Wed 02 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Sub-division of existing residential property to form new dwelling 1 The Square Whimple Exeter EX5 2SNRef. No: 20/2509/FUL | Validated: Mon 30 Nov 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Cut branches back in line with boundary wall Greencroft House Sidmouth Road Colyton EX24 6NPRef. No: 20/2470/TCA | Validated: Wed 02 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• General purpose agricultural building. The Dairy Barn Combehayes Farm Honiton EX14 9TSRef. No: 20/2461/FUL | Validated: Tue 01 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of first floor extension over existing commercial kitchen to house replacement ventilation plant equipment, incorporating new external staircase and replacement of ground floor windows C T C R M Exmouth Road Lympstone Exmouth EX8 5ARRef. No: 20/2441/FUL | Validated: Mon 30 Nov 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of single storey rear extension. 2 Hamlet Cottages Weston Honiton EX14 3PBRef. No: 20/2437/FUL | Validated: Wed 02 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a new 3-bed house 7 Redwood Close Exmouth EX8 5NSRef. No: 20/2400/FUL | Validated: Tue 01 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use of areas of land in Strand Gardens for the siting of tables and chairs until 30 September 2021 Strand Gardens The Strand ExmouthRef. No: 20/2383/COU | Validated: Thu 03 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use from store to extra accommodation above the garage The Briary Lane To The Briary Exton Lane Exton Exeter EX3 0PNRef. No: 20/2372/FUL | Validated: Fri 04 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of live-work unit in place of existing workshop Devon And Somerset Gliding Club Store DunkeswellRef. No: 20/2325/FUL | Validated: Wed 02 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Formation of bin store. Land East Of 11 – 19 Phillips Square Honiton EX14 1NGRef. No: 20/2245/FUL | Validated: Mon 30 Nov 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Formation of a bin enclosure. 1 Dunning Court Honiton EX14 1FQRef. No: 20/2172/FUL | Validated: Tue 01 Dec 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Replacement farm buildings. Myrtle Farm Chardstock Axminster EX13 7DDRef. No: 20/2133/FUL | Validated: Mon 30 Nov 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision
• New brick building to store ground source heat pump tanks, water treatment plant and garden equipment, and installation of underground pipework for heat pump in adjacent field Ware View Ottery St Mary EX11 1PJRef. No: 20/1693/FUL | Validated: Mon 30 Nov 2020 | Status: Awaiting decision

SINGAPORE: A new type of public housing with senior-friendly design features and subscription to care services will be launched for sale in February’s Build-to-Order (BTO) exercise, authorities announced on Thursday (Dec 10).

By Cheryl Lin @CherylLinCNA www.channelnewsasia.com

The flats, known as Community Care Apartments, are for home buyers aged 65 and above.  

To be located at Bukit Batok West Avenue 9, buyers will have the flexibility to choose a lease ranging from 15 to 35 years. The flats cannot be resold or rented out.

“(The apartments) will offer seniors aged 65 and above an affordable housing option which integrates senior-friendly design features with care services that can be scaled according to care needs,” said the Ministry of National Development (MND), the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Housing and Development Board (HDB), which jointly developed the housing concept.

Under the model, eligible seniors will have to buy a variable housing lease and subscribe to a compulsory basic care package, with the option of adding on more advanced care services.

There will also be communal areas, services and programmes to “enable meaningful participation and social interactions amongst residents”, the authorities said.

The new housing concept was developed as Singapore deals with a rapidly ageing population. By 2030, almost a million Singaporeans will be aged 65 and above, nearly double the figure in 2017, they added.

“This pilot will broaden today’s options for seniors who require some care and support within their homes, but are still able to and wish to live on their own,” said National Development Minister Desmond Lee in a Facebook post.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong added:”With the new Community Care Apartments, our seniors can look forward to living independently even as their care needs change, and enjoy more opportunities to stay active and take charge of their health.”

CARE SERVICES, SENIOR-FRIENDLY FEATURES

There will be 160 flats up for sale, housed in a single block with 14 units on each floor.

Under the mandatory basic service package, residents will have access to 24-hour emergency monitoring and response, key card access to their flats, basic health checks and simple home fixes.

These will be facilitated by an onsite community manager.

Residents may also opt for extra care services at an additional cost, including personal home care, medical transport, meal delivery, laundry and housekeeping.

They will also get priority admission to the nearby Bukit Batok Care Home in future if needed.

To facilitate social interaction, the community manager will also organise programmes for residents, said MND, MOH and HDB. On top of that, they can mingle in communal spaces of about 50 sqm on each floor.

“Residents of the Community Care Apartments at Bukit Batok will also enjoy convenient access to a variety of retail, leisure, healthcare and public transport amenities that support seniors’ daily needs,” the authorities said.

These include a hawker centre, community garden, the Bukit Batok polyclinic, malls and wet markets.

Each flat, measuring 32 sqm, will come with senior-friendly fittings, including wheelchair-friendly doors, large bathrooms, grab bars and slip-resistant flooring.

There will also be built-in wardrobes and cabinets, along with a furnished kitchen so that minimal renovations will be needed before seniors can move in, said the authorities.

The flats are designed with an open layout, with sliding partitions separating the living room and bedroom space. It was a design adjustment made after feedback from focus groups.

WHO’S ELIGIBLE

Applicants must be 65 years old and above, with an average gross monthly household income not exceeding S$14,000.

Only families with at least one Singaporean applicant, and singles who are Singapore citizens may apply.

Those who have previously received two public housing subsidies and who bought HDB Studio Apartments or short-lease two-room Flexi flats in the past are not eligible.

Applicants who already own a private property or HDB flat must sell the property within six months of collecting the keys to their Community Care Apartments.

Similar to other housing types, applicants must purchase a lease that can cover themselves and their spouse, if any, until they are at least 95 years old.

That means possible lease lengths are between 15 to 35 years, in five-year increments. 

Applicants for the assisted living flats must purchase a lease that can cover themselves and their spouse, if any, until they are at least 95 years old. (Source: Housing & Development Board)

While the apartments cannot be resold or rented out, owners who no longer need the flats can return it to HDB for a refund on the value of the remaining lease.

Authorities added that seniors “with more pressing care needs” will get priority, such as in cases where one applicant or occupier needs permanent assistance with daily living activities.

More details on the quota for this group will be released at the BTO exercise in February.

Seniors can also jointly ballot for the flat with a friend or family member who is eligible. If successful, both applicants will get to book their flats together.

PRICING STARTS FROM S$62,000

Indicative prices for the Community Care Apartments go upwards of S$62,000 for the shortest lease of 15 years.

This price includes both the cost of the unit and the subscription for the basic service package.

Applicants must pay for the flat lease fully upfront, using cash and/or their Central Provident Fund balance.

Buyers will also have to pay stamp, legal and other fees for the flat purchase, which will add up to around 2 per cent of the flat price, the authorities said.

For the basic service package, they can choose to pay either fully upfront, or partially upfront while paying S$50 a month throughout the flat lease. This monthly fee will be reviewed periodically.

An example of the total upfront payment applicants would have to make depending on the leases they opt for (Source: Housing & Development Board)

The public can find out more about the apartments at an exhibition held at HDB Hub in Toa Payoh from Dec 14 to Mar 31.

There will be a mock-up of the communal space, along with 3D models of the apartments, while a showroom of the flat will be available from Jan 4 next year.

In line with safe distancing measures, visitors must book an appointment to visit the exhibition. Appointments can be made from Dec 11, before the exhibition opens.

A further 154 coronavirus cases have been confirmed across the East Devon in the last week – with another 111 in Exeter.

East Devon Reporter eastdevonnews.co.uk 

And ‘clusters’ of the virus remain in all but two areas of the district and all but one of the wards in the city.

The new cases recorded in East Devon represent an increase of five when compared to the previous seven days.

Exeter’s number is a decrease of 38.

Eighteen wards in East Devon – spanning Exmouth, Honiton, Budleigh Salterton, Ottery St Mary, Seaton, and Cranbrook – currently have three or more coronavirus infections.

Clyst, Exton and Lympstone and Sidmouth Town are the only areas where ‘clusters’ of the virus have not been identified.

The district’s highest numbers are currently in Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh (15 cases), Honiton North and East (15), Cranbrook, Broadclyst and Stoke Canon (13) and Sidbury, Offwell and Beer (13).

Exmouth’s five wards have a combined total of 46 cases.

In Exeter, Countess Wear and Topsham is the only part of the city without a ‘cluster’.

The biggest numbers of cases are in Central Exeter (19) and Wonford and St Loye’s (15).

A total of 869 new cases have been confirmed across Devon and Cornwall since December 4 – the lowest weekly tally since the beginning of October.

It is 178 less than the total of new cases across both counties the week before.

Clusters across district and city

Covid ‘clusters’ – where three or more Covid cases have been confirmed – have been identified in 18 wards in East Devon:

• Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh (15 cases);
• Honiton North and East (15);
• Cranbrook, Broadclyst and Stoke Canon (13);
• Sidbury, Offwell and Beer (13);
• Budleigh Salterton (12);
• Exmouth Brixington (11);
• Feniton and Whimple (ten);
• Ottery St Mary and West Hill (ten);
• Dunkeswell, Upottery and Stockland (nine);
• Seaton (nine);
• Axminster (eight);
• Exmouth Town (eight);
• Exmouth Littleham (eight);
• Kilmington, Colyton and Uplyme (seven);
• Honiton South and West (six);
• Sidmouth Sidford (five);
• Exmouth Halsdon (four);
• Newton Poppleford, Otterton and Woodbury (four).

The ‘clusters’ data, last updated yesterday afternoon (Friday, December 11), is based on a rolling rate of new cases by specimen date ending on December 6.

‘Clusters’ remain in 14 wards in Exeter:

• Central Exeter (19 cases);
• Wonford and St Loye’s (15);
• Middlemoor and Sowton (nine);
• St James Park and Hoopern (nine);
• Heavitree West and Polsloe (eight);
• Heavitree East and Whipton South (eight);
• Pinhoe and Whipton North (eight);
• St Leonard’s (seven);
• Exwick and Foxhayes (five);
• Alphington and Marsh Barton (five);
• Mincinglake and Beacon Heath (four);
• Pennsylvania and University (four);
• St Thomas West (four);
• St Thomas East (three).

New cases across Devon and specimen dates

 Of the 869 new cases confirmed in Devon and Cornwall since December 4, 154 were in East Devon and 111 in Exeter.

There were 64 cases in Mid Devon, 92 in North Devon, 154 in Plymouth, 16 in the South Hams, 56 in Teignbridge, 48 in Torbay, 30 in Torridge and 41 in West Devon.

Cornwall recorded 103 cases.

Of the 869 new cases, 664 had a specimen date between December 4 – 10, with 109 of these in East Devon and 86 in Exeter.

There were 51 in Mid Devon, 78 in North Devon, 136 in Plymouth, 11 in the South Hams, 41 in Teignbridge, 32 in Torbay, 21 in Torridge and 30 in West Devon.

Cornwall had 69 cases with specimen dates in the last seven days.

Hospital admissions

The number of people in hospital in the South West though has risen slightly from 904 to 913 in the last seven days.

Figures have been revised upwards in all areas of the UK – but there are 51 patients in mechanical ventilation beds, down from 60 as of last Friday.

NHS England data shows that, as of Tuesday morning (December 8), there were 231 patients across Devon and Cornwall in hospital after a positive Covid-19 test.

This compares to 255 as of December 1.

There were 88 coronavirus patients in the Royal Devon and Exeter (down from 101); 36 in Derriford Hospital in Plymouth (down from 45); 23 in Torbay Hospital (down from 28); and 37 in North Devon District Hospital (unchanged).

And the Nightingale Hospital in Exeter has seen an increase from 20 to 32.

The number of Covid-19 patients in mechanical ventilation beds has fallen from 19 to 12 – with four at the RD&E, five at Derriford Hospital and three in North Devon District Hospital.

In the last week there have been 25 deaths within hospitals in Devon and Cornwall within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 death.

Fourteen of these have been in Exeter, seven in North Devon, three in Torbay, and one in Plymouth.

Tier 1 move ‘unlikely’ for now

County council leader John Hart and Devon’s director of public health Steve Brown have warned that it is unlikely that a return to Tier 1 restrictions before Christmas is ‘unlikely’.

The Government will review national tier allocations next week.

Councillor Hart said: “As much as I would like to see restrictions lifted a little in order to support our local tourism and hospitality industry, I fear case numbers are not yet coming down sufficiently to warrant a move to Tier 1.

“I fully recognise that there is a very fine and difficult balance to strike between lives and livelihoods here in Devon.

“If we are to stay in Tier 2 then I would like to see more support from the Government for our hard-pressed local businesses, and the hospitality trade in particular.”

Mr Brown added: “We are still concerned about positive rates among older people, and those in care homes, where we’re seeing most cases being asymptomatic.

“The decline in cases that we have seen in recent weeks has started to slow down and numbers are stabilising.

“We know, from our previous experience in Tier 1, that restrictions at that time did not stop our case numbers rising.

“I therefore do not believe that we are seeing a sufficient drop in cases yet for the Government to decide that Devon should be in Tier 1.

“Please continue to follow the Tier 2 guidance. Do not do not meet up indoors with anyone not in your household or bubble; please remember at all times to maintain your social distance and wear face coverings when you’re indoors in a public space; and please wash your hands regularly.”

Simon Jupp won’t be too bothered by having his pay rise chopped. He can find other ways to “feather his nest”.

He charged taxpayers for a knife set and chopping board, and even claimed £2.75 for a toilet brush. No doubt to clean the “toilet seats” amongst his Tory councillors.

Gabriel Pogrund www.thetimes.co.uk  [extract]

MPs have finally had their pay rise cancelled in solidarity with millions of people facing pay freezes or life on the dole.

How fitting, then, that one Conservative MP has charged taxpayers for a knife set and a chopping board. Simon Jupp, 35, who represents East Devon, made the claims (worth £3 and £2.75 respectively) as part of a renovation of his new constituency office this year.

Jupp, a former Tory aide and journalist elected last year, made other purchases from Ikea including: two armchairs (£300); two office clocks (£24); a coffee maker (£19) and a teapot (£5); coasters (£9) and six mugs (£7.50); eight cups and saucers (£20); a vacuum flask for water (£5); a toilet brush (£2.75); a solitary jar (£1.75) and four pencil cases (£4).

Were such investments essential during a pandemic, with many MPs working from home? Jupp says they were, as it’s important constituents “have a place to visit to meet with me and my team to access support”. It’s strange, then, that his website reminds constituents: “During the Covid-19 pandemic I am holding regular weekly surgeries by phone.”

There are not enough nurses to safely care for patients in the UK, according to the body that represents the profession, and many of those who are working are suffering from anxiety and burnout after a gruelling nine months treating Covid patients.

James Tapper www.theguardian.com 

A year after the prime minister pledged during the 2019 election campaign to add 50,000 nurses to the NHS, the Royal College of Nursing has accused Boris Johnson of being “disingenuous” for claiming the government is meeting this 2025 target.

Johnson claimed last week that the government had “14,800 of the 50,000 nurses already” during prime minister’s questions in the Commons.

Yet the latest NHS figures show there were 36,655 vacancies for nursing staff in England in September, with the worst shortages affecting mental health care and acute hospitals. Staff in some intensive care units (ICUs) have quit since the pandemic, with those whom the Observer spoke to choosing to work instead in supermarkets or as dog-walkers.

Dame Donna Kinnair, the RCN’s chief executive and general secretary, said: “The simple, inescapable truth is that we do not have enough nursing staff in the UK to safely care for patients in hospitals, clinics, their own homes or anywhere else.”

She said that even before the pandemic, “heavy demand” was rising faster than the “modest increases” in staff numbers.

Last week the Health Foundation thinktank said there were 5.5% more nurses in English acute hospitals compared with last year, but some of these were nurses who had previously retired or left the profession, and had returned to help during the pandemic.

The thinktank said that even if the government met its target, 50,000 nurses would not be enough to recover from the pandemic.

“With tens of thousands of vacancies in the health and care system right now, any suggestion by politicians that a small increase equals success is disingenuous,” Kinnair said. “We know many returned to support the pandemic, and 35% of our members surveyed this year said they were considering leaving the profession.”

She said the solution was “honesty and investment” from the government.

With Covid-19 surging in Wales, Northern Ireland and London, many senior NHS leaders around the UK are concerned about the strain on medical staff, who have worked in full PPE and stressful conditions for nine months.

Amanda Smith, an ICU nurse in Belfast who is also a RCN steward, has worked in Nightingale wards at several of the city’s hospitals throughout the pandemic. “We’ve lost something like 15 nurses since the first surge,” she said – about a quarter of their team. When the number of Covid patients has risen, the NHS in Northern Ireland has brought in support nurses from other parts of the region but they are not trained in some procedures such as kidney dialysis.

It means nurses are responsible for two ICU patients instead of one, while support nurses are often taking on more responsibility without extra pay.

“If you’ve got an unstable patient, the other ICU nurse could be left with three or four patients to look after on her own,” Smith said. “You’re worried you’ll miss something.” The rise in patients combined with staff shortages meant nurses felt guilty about taking breaks, she said.

“People are getting very stressed at trying to combine their home lives with work. If they have young children who are hearing all the talk of how dangerous Covid is, they worry about their mum going to work.

“And when you see somebody in a bed who’s 44 years old, you think, ‘that could be any of us’.”

A survey of RCN members earlier this year showed that 35% were considering leaving the profession.

More students are studying nursing at university, up by 20% this year according to the Health Foundation, but the government was still relying on recruiting nurses from overseas.

The Department of Health and Social Care said: “We stand by our commitment to back the NHS and deliver 50,000 more nurses by the end of this parliament. Vacancies are falling and we are on track to meet the target, with 14,800 more nurses working in the NHS and 23% more students starting nursing courses than last year.

“Looking after the wellbeing of dedicated staff is at the heart of the NHS People Plan, with a £15m investment to strengthen staff mental health support this winter. To support recruitment, we’re giving all eligible nursing, midwifery and AHP students at least £5,000 for each year of their studies.”

Security concerns raised as ownership of UK’s key strategic assets comes under the spotlight

By Rachel Millard 11 December 2020 www.telegraph.co.uk 

At its height, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company had an empire spanning 100 countries, with ports, ships and property touching ground from the UK to Australia.

But at the turn of the 21st century restive and “short-termist” fund managers began demanding a payout – and the company founded in 1837 to take mail between Falmouth and Gibraltar started being broken up.

In 2002 its P&O Princess Cruises trading arm was sold off to rival Carnival, and then in 2006 its ports owner P&O Ports was traded to the UAE’s Dubai Ports World (DP World).

The £3.3 billion sale marked the end of its 168 years as a British firm, but was also one of the starkest moments in a decades-long drip-feed which has handed swathes of British ports to foreign investors.

As products fail to reach the shelves and millions of Christmas presents hang in the balance, the logistics crisis engulfing British docklands has thrown this foreign ownership into the spotlight after years of quiet deal making.

As a source of reliable income in a world running on global trade, British ports from Felixstowe to Grangemouth have long proven alluring for pension funds, state investment funds and billionaires seeking safety for their cash. The main groups that own the bulk of Britain’s ports are now overwhelmingly foreign owned.

Chaos at Felixstowe and other ports this week as the pandemic and Brexit rocks global supply chains throws a spotlight on their ownership at a time of heightened soul-searching and concern about foreign control of strategic UK assets, and nervousness about post-Brexit trade arrangements.

John Whittaker’s Peel Group, whose portfolio includes a controlling stake in the Port of Liverpool, is a rare example of a British owner in the UK ports sector. But even there, Peel Group is 25pc owned by Saudi conglomerate the Olayan Group, while Whittaker has recently sold a stake in the ports division to the pension fund Australian Super.

Associated British Ports and its 21 sites around the UK – including in Southampton, Immingham, Ipswich and Plymouth – was sold in 2006 to a consortium of funds including Canada’s Borealis Infrastructure and Singapore’s GIC.

Shareholders found a 50pc premium offered in a deal put together by Goldman Sachs, under the code name Project Admiral, too good to ignore.  

Middlesborough-based PD Ports, which owns the large seaport of Teesport as well as the inland port of Keadby and others, can trace its roots back to a mining company in South Wales founded by the Welsh entrepreneur Thomas Powell. But it was sold in 2000 to the Japanese brokerage Nikko Cordial before being handed on again to Brookfield Asset Management, the real estate and infrastructure investor among many attracted to the UK as a source of stable income.

Southampton Port, owned by Associated British Ports which was sold to a consortium including Canada’s Borealis Infrastructure and Singapore’s GIC in 2006

In 2011, Forth Ports, owner of ports including Tilbury and Grangemouth, was sold to Arcus Infrastructure Partners, a European investment fund, and has since been sold onto Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board.

One of the world’s largest port owners Hutchison Ports – a subsidiary of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings – has been in the UK for decades, buying Felixstowe, Britain’s largest container port, in June 1991 for £90 million, and adding Harwich in 1998. Britain prides itself on an open economy, but foreign control of UK ports has prompted questions given their importance to global trade, security and the country’s seafaring identity – as well as imports on which our reliance is growing.

The relative ease with which DP World took over P&O Ports stood in stark contrast to the reception to its attempt to buy P&O’s American ones. Rebel Republicans with concerns about security forced the UAE to abandon the deal, despite President George Bush wanting it to go through due to the two nations’ friendship.

The logistics chaos of the past few weeks affects an industry that is generally in decent health and key to the economy. UK ports handle more than 500 million tons of goods annually, and directly employ over 120,000 people.

Research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that in 2015 ports contributed about £1.5 billion in tax revenues and helped support a total 695,200 jobs.

DP World has invested £1.5 billion to develop the hi-tech London Gateway container port, where robots and cranes ceaselessly unstack goods arriving from around the world.

Research published in 2018 by the British Ports Association found that UK ports and terminals had an estimated £1.7 billion of infrastructure investment in the pipeline. Mark Simmonds, BPA policy manager, argued it showed that ports “are investing in new infrastructure to keep goods and people moving as efficiently as possible.”

He added: “The UK ports industry operates in a competitive and commercial environment, independently of Government, so this significant investment is at no cost to the taxpayer.”

Yet the sector is unlikely to avoid further scrutiny, as Brexit and the pandemic forces Government to think more carefully about logistics. The threat of empty supermarket shelves or the elderly unable to get vaccines looms too large.

Amid the latest problems, Logistics UK, a freight industry body, has urged Grant Schapps, the Transport Secretary, to “seize the opportunity to make acute freight congestion less likely in the future”. It called for investment in the road and rail network as well as “better recognition of the important and value of freight in planning and infrastructure decision making.”

The body added: “It is clear that whole sections of the economy are being reshaped at a speed beyond most forecasts in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, accelerating existing trends and introducing new disruptions.”

Britain’s ports will, as they have done for centuries, be called upon to do their bit in the national effort to recover from the pandemic. Whoever they are owned by, they will need to be ready. 

Five of the UK’s biggest housebuilders have scrapped ground rents on new flats, in a victory for future homeowners and campaigners who have long argued that the charges allow leaseholders to be exploited.

edition.independent.co.uk 

Thousands of homeowners have been hit with inflated management fees and ground rents that rose by hundreds or even thousands of pounds a year on new-build flats and houses. Many of those sales were subsidised with public money under the help to buy scheme which has helped to boost developers’ profits.

The practice of developers selling off the freehold of a new property to a third party is now effectively over, a move that campaigners hailed as the end of the “leasehold racket”.

Changes affect new sales only and will not directly impact the roughly five million flats that are already under contract to pay ground rents but will add to pressure on the government to overhaul the leasehold system.

Three of the four developers that are currently being investigated by competition regulators for allegedly mis-selling leasehold properties – Taylor Wimpey, Countryside and Barratt Developments – are granting all new buyers zero ground rents and long leases. The fourth developer, Persimmon, has not made its position clear.

Bellway, which is not under investigation, has introduced 999-year leases with zero ground rent. A management company run by residents will be in charge of the building, giving them control over maintenance and the level of charges they face. Barratt is offering a similar arrangement and senior industry sources predict that other developers will soon follow.

Buyers at a Berkeley development in Greenwich had been told they would be charged ground rent of £450 a year but have since been told this will be reduced to zero. The company is understood to be taking a “development by development” approach to lease terms.

Housebuilders are responding to changes in the help to buy scheme which reopens to new applicants next week.

The subsidy scheme has provided tens of billions of pounds of public money to finance sales of homes, significant numbers of which left owners with charges for maintenance or ground rents that rose to unaffordable levels. Other properties were later found to be substandard or to present a fire risk, leaving owners with large bills while freeholders and developers avoided liability.

After sustained pressure over the leasehold and cladding scandals, the government said in February that from April 2021, leasehold homes cannot be sold under help to buy unless ground rent on them is peppercorn – legal jargon for “no financial value” or zero. Developers are applying the same lease terms to properties sold outside of help to buy.

“Developers have not taken this decision because it’s the ‘right thing to do’,” said Katie Kendrick, founder of the National Leasehold Campaign. “They are being forced to change their poor practices because the applications for the new help to buy scheme opens from the 16 December and Homes England have stipulated that ground rent charged must not exceed a peppercorn.”

“Developers have used help to buy as a pull factor to sell leasehold houses for no other reason than to create a second asset for them to sell and boost their profits. It’s a national scandal.”

Ms Kendrick added: “By agreeing to do away with monetary ground rents on their new flats, developers are giving up a lucrative income stream but it is also quietly dropping the practice of the onward sale of the freehold to a third-party investor. This will end the unethical trade in the freeholds of people’s homes.”

The NLC is calling on the government to help “a generation of leaseholders trapped in homes they cannot sell”.

Sebastian O’Kelly, of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, said all developers must now publicly commit to 999-year leases, zero ground rents and giving residents power over their homes by giving freeholds to residents’ management companies.

This would guard against excessive fees charged by freeholders that have caused financial problems for many leaseholders.

Service charges are only meant to cover the cost of services provided but many leaseholders have been charged more. Some freeholders have also made money from kickbacks on buildings insurance, a cost that is borne by leaseholders through higher premiums.

“With ground rents gone there is no legitimate income stream from owning the freehold of a building,” said Mr O’Kelly.

“Developers can’t now sell them off to sharks who jack up the costs. The reputational damage would be too great. The leasehold racket hasn’t got a future.”

Around five million flats in the UK are leasehold and most residents must pay ground rents. Mr O’Kelly said the change in approach sends a message that ground rents are charged for “no service whatsoever” and should lead to a significant reduction in the amounts leaseholders must pay to extend their lease or buy the freehold of their building.

These costs frequently amount to tens of thousands of pounds, figures which Mr O’Kelly said are now harder to justify.

“A major flaw has been exposed in the system. We now need ground rents to be banned altogether,“ he added.

A spokesperson for Taylor Wimpey said: “We intend to participate in the new help to buy scheme which launches next April, and we can confirm that all new sites with leasehold plots that have commenced being sold on or after 1 December 2020 will have a peppercorn ground rent, not just those being sold under the new help to buy scheme.”