Boris Johnson 2019: “And so I am announcing now on the steps of Downing Street that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared. To give every older person the dignity and security they deserve…”

Just another of “those” Tory promises – Owl

www.spectator.co.uk

If Daniel Defoe had been writing about modern budgets, he would have adapted his famous saying to include the certainty of death, taxes and an absence of a long-term plan for adult social care. Once again, the statement from the Chancellor had a yawning gap where the settlement for funding the beleaguered sector should be. There was no mention of social care in Rishi Sunak’s speech or in the Budget Red Book, either. The government’s answer to complaints about this is that ministers will publish a white paper on social care reform — but we’ve been hearing this line for years now.

Indeed, we might be hearing this line for longer than we’re being led to believe currently. The Whitehall machine at least seems to be gearing up for yet another delay to social care reforms. Ministers have been saying they will announce them later this year, but two official government documents have recently said we should instead expect them next year. 

There’s this official government response to a House of Lords Public Services Committee report, which reads: ‘In the longer term, the government is committed to sustainable improvement of the adult social care system and will bring forward proposals next year.’ Then there’s this letter from Treasury minister Steve Barclay to the Future Social Care Coalition, which says exactly the same thing.

When I spoke to No. 10 about this, sources pointed me to Boris Johnson’s words to the Liaison Committee in January that reform would be announced ‘later this year’. There’s always a chance, of course, that this sentence is being cut and pasted around Whitehall by civil servants who haven’t noticed that it was originally written in 2020 with a view to reforms being published in 2021 and we are in fact now in ‘next year’. But then again, they could turn out to be a Freudian slip.

If Daniel Defoe had been writing about modern budgets, he would have adapted his famous saying to include the certainty of death, taxes and an absence of a long-term plan for adult social care. Once again, the statement from the Chancellor had a yawning gap where the settlement for funding the beleaguered sector should be. There was no mention of social care in Rishi Sunak’s speech or in the Budget Red Book, either. The government’s answer to complaints about this is that ministers will publish a white paper on social care reform — but we’ve been hearing this line for years now.

Indeed, we might be hearing this line for longer than we’re being led to believe currently. The Whitehall machine at least seems to be gearing up for yet another delay to social care reforms. Ministers have been saying they will announce them later this year, but two official government documents have recently said we should instead expect them next year. 

Rishi Sunak “isn’t really levelling with people” about painful cuts that will be needed to repair the public finances, according to budget analysis by a respected economic think-tank.

John-Paul Ford Rojas news.sky.com 

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director Paul Johnson said “Santa Sunak… looks more like Scrooge Sunak” under plans for a squeeze totalling more than £50bn compared to the pre-pandemic outlook.

That is the scale of spending cuts and tax rises over coming years compared to what the chancellor outlined in his first budget a year ago – implying a spending outlook that seems “implausibly low”, Mr Johnson said.

“The chancellor isn’t really levelling with people about the choices the government is making to repair the public finances,” he added.

Mr Johnson characterised the plans outlined by Mr Sunak as a “tale of two budgets” with £65bn more coronavirus-related spending and a “super-deduction” tax break for investment followed by fiscal belt-tightening of £30bn, adding further to a squeeze outlined in November.

Spending heavily on policies such as furlough and business rates support this year will mean borrowing at historically high levels in the current fiscal year and the next.

But the chancellor’s plans, if delivered, put him on course to balance the books by 2025/26 – partly thanks to an income tax threshold freeze set to drag more than a million more people into paying it, as well as a hike in corporation tax to 25% in 2023.

“The sad truth is that that would be a balance built on the highest sustained tax burden in UK history and yet further cuts in unprotected public service spending,” said Mr Johnson.

The IFS director described the freezing of tax thresholds as “screeching U-turns” and the corporation tax hike a gamble that it “won’t have too terrible an effect on investment”.

He also pondered the likely impact of a plan to trim public service spending trimmed by £4bn a year, adding to a £12bn reduction outlined last November.

“If delivered, this additional £4bn cut in cash spending will cause additional pain,” Mr Johnson said.

One part of the plan to bring public finances back under control is to end the £20 a week temporary uplift in Universal Credit – though it has been extended for six months for now.

Unlike the gradual phase-out of furlough and other business support measures, this will be a “cliff edge” that sees some of the poorest families see their income drop by £80 from one month to the next, Mr Johnson pointed out.

The scale of the planned cuts is also likely to mean pain for services such as justice and local government – whose budgets, unlike the NHS, schools and defence, are not protected, he added.

Mr Johnson also called into question the assumption that the NHS would next year revert to its pre-COVID spending outlook.

“In reality, there will be pressures from all sorts of directions,” he said.

“The NHS is perhaps the most obvious. Further top-ups seem near-inevitable.

“Catching up on lost learning in schools, dealing with the backlogs in our courts system, supporting public transport providers, and fixing our system for social care funding would all require additional spending.

“The chancellor’s medium-term spending plans look implausibly low.”

Mr Johnson also pointed to “perennial absurdities” on pensions – with the lifetime allowance for savers frozen again – and climate change.

“This is the 11th year in a row that a government supposedly committed to net zero greenhouse gas emissions has cut the tax on burning petrol and diesel,” he said

Exmouth’s former lorry park which overlooks the Exe Estuary could become a dedicated location for motorhomes and camper van pitches.

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com

The site off The Royal Avenue, near to the train station, has been put forward as a possible location in East Devon where ‘appropriate facilities’ would be provided by the council to allow longer stays, and for which a premium overnight rate comparable with commercial campsites could be charged.

The East Devon Car Parking TAFF, when they met on Wednesday morning, backed officer proposals to explore the possibility of creating dedicated motorhome / camper van pitches at the site.

Subject to approval by cabinet at a later date, the council would begin a formal consultation process Natural England this winter to consider the impact of the first such development on the site of Exmouth’s former lorry park adjacent to the Estuary, although Andrew Ennis, East Devon’s service lead for car parks, said that this could be a ‘significant hurdle’ to overcome.

The TAFF also recommended that the existing ‘absolute bargain’ charge for £11 for 24 hours be increased to between £15-20 a night, with overnight stays in car parks allowed in any of the pay and display car parks that are “deemed suitable”.

Mr Ennis, in his report, said that East Devon is seeing an increasing number of motorhomes in the beauty spots and the car parks, and the revised policy he had put forward was not about encouraging visitors but to alleviate some of the issues that may arise or offer services that could benefit the community and generate some useful revenue for the council in the process.

He said that increasing the charges to £15-20 a night would cover the extra cost of providing fresh water and additional refuge at the site where we are allowing stopovers.

On the proposals for the former lorry park, he said that it would need Natural England consent and planning consent, and that while consent from Natural England could be a significant hurdle, he would begin to make the enquiries if councillors supported the proposals.

DAY VISITORS

The TAFF backed keeping the policy unchanged and that visitors and residents may use any public car parks, but if their vehicle is unable to park wholly within one of the standard parking bays (2.4m x 4.8m) then they must parking with care

STOPOVERS/SHORT OVERNIGHT STAYS

The TAFF backed the proposals that overnight stays in car parks can be allowed, subject to strict terms and conditions of use, in any of the pay and display car parks that are “deemed suitable” in consultation with Ward Members and the relevant Town or Parish Council. It may be appropriate to allow overnight stays of three consecutive nights in suitable locations.

FIRE SAFETY

The Council can allow overnight stays in circumstances that are compliant with relevant fire safety legislation and therefore car parks must be managed in accordance with the appropriate guidance on the safe separation of vans staying overnight.

The TAFF agreed to the suggestion made by Cllr Eleanor Rylance that bays in different colours be marked out for people parking overnight so they can manage spacing to stop people parking wherever they like

The view across the Exe Estuary from the Exmouth lorry park (Image Google Maps)

TARIFFS

The current tariff of £11 per night is set to be increased to between £15-20 a night, with the TAFF allowing the cabinet to decide upon the final figure. Mr Ennis, in his report, said: “An appropriate tariff to reflect the value of these “casual” overnight stays in approved car parks for one, two or three consecutive nights only needs careful consideration.

”In my view, our current tariff of £11 per night in the Exmouth pilot is deliberately inexpensive (bearing in mind that it also includes 24 hours parking in a prime location). It was based on the previously charged on-street tariff so that the pilot did not act as a deterrent and sought to encourage existing visitors to relocate from the desirable seafront highway parking spaces into a less intrusive location within an off-street car park.

“If we were to up the charge to £15-20 a night, it would cover the extra cost of providing fresh water and additional refuge at the site where we are allowing stopovers

Cllr Maddy Chapman said that £20 a night wasn’t a great deal, while Cllr Olly Davey said that £18 was a better figure as it was just low enough to overcome the physiological barrier of a £20 fee and would ensure it wasn’t too high and driving visitors out from using the car parks

ARRANGEMENTS FOR LOCAL RESIDENTS

Residents will still be unable to purchase a parking permit to use our public car parks for long-term storage of motorhomes and campervans when they are not in use, but it has to be a vehicle that fits into a standard bay.

One safeguard to be introduced is to make it a condition that the exemption will only apply in areas where the resident lives in close proximity to the car park in question and where the vehicle is registered and insured in their name at that home address.

DEDICATED SITES

The TAFF backed the proposals from officers to explore the possibility of creating dedicated motorhome / camper van pitches within sites with appropriate facilities to allow longer stays and for which a premium overnight rate comparable with commercial campsites could be charged.

Mr Ennis said that they would propose beginning a formal consultation process with local members and Natural England this winter to consider the impact of the first such development on the site of Exmouth’s former lorry park adjacent to the Estuary.

He added: “The implementation of this would be subject to further consideration by members in due course in terms of financial investment decisions and might also need to be the subject of a planning application depending on the exact details of the change from Lorry Park to camp site.”

Cllr Rylance said that the Lorry Park site was perfect for overnight camping, with Cllr Davey adding that it would be a very attractive site and an exciting opportunity, while Cllr Joe Whibley said that camper vans and motorhomes won’t stop coming so the council needs to encourage them to a certain extent but to manage them in some way.

LOCAL PLAN

The TAFF agreed to proposals from Cllr Val Ranger that a formal planning policy for motorhomes and campervans should be tied into the Local Plan review to address the issue across the whole of East Devon.

The recommendations of the TAFF will now go to the scrutiny committee for consideration, before finally being sent to the cabinet for a final decision as to whether to move forward with the suggestions made as part of the revised motorhomes policy for East Devon.

Extract from Dan Bloom www.mirror.co.uk

Rishi Sunak today presented yet another £65billion of Covid support in his annual Budget.

The Chancellor extended most schemes until September and gave businesses another shot in the arm as they wait for a vaccine.

But all that help comes at a cost, and we’re not just talking about a hike in Corporation Tax.

A stealth tax hike on working Brits will raise £8bn a year and schemes could run out in September while 2million are still furloughed.

The Budget speech is always a triumphant affair, burying the awkward details to a few lines or none at all. To get a real feel for what’s going on, you must read the hundreds of pages of documents slipped out when the Chancellor sits down.

We’re still trawling through the mammoth pile of Budget documents, including analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility watchdog (OBR). But here are the biggest surprises in the small print that have leaped out at us so far.

1. NHS spending overall looks set to be cut

2. Public spending could be ‘cut by £4bn a year’

3. 2million people ‘will still be on furlough’ just before it ends

4. Brexit will leave us worse off – it’s official

5. The self-employed face a hit earlier than expected

6. Massive firms could escape the Corporation Tax hike

7. New Stamp Duty cut won’t actually help first-time buyers

8. Stealth tax raid on working Brits will rake in £8bn a year

9. Eye-watering cost of the fuel duty freeze

10. We have no idea how much 95% mortgages will cost the nation

11. The Green Homes Grant looks to have been buried

Our LEP has been spending its effort in backing a “Freeport” bid centred on Bridgewater, did we know?

“Freeport aims to bring innovation and jobs to Somerset – Heart of the south west LEP”

But yesterday the Government chose Plymouth instead. 

From heartofswlep.co.uk

“Somerset has a key role to play in the bid to develop a new Great Western Freeport – a project which could create thousands of jobs and boost the region’s reputation as a leader in high-value design and innovation…….

…..Karl Tucker, Chairman of Heart of the South West LEP, said: “We are delighted to have worked in partnership with public and private sector partners to submit this bid to government for a Great Western Freeport, which will deliver thousands of jobs and support businesses and their supply chains both within and well beyond its boundaries across the region.

“It would create significant potential for the Gravity site near Bridgwater and the Freeport would become a national hub for green manufacturing and trade, building on the wider South West’s key strengths and helping to deliver clean and inclusive economic growth for our region.“

The submitted bid has been put together by the combined authority working with public and private sector partners, including large-scale businesses across the aerospace and nuclear sector, the region’s universities and colleges, innovation centres, local authorities and business networks.”

Free ports – or sleaze ports? Opinion divided.

From www.theguardian.com 

Proponents say free ports can attract investment to areas that have been left woefully short, bringing jobs and prosperity to deprived regions as part of the “levelling up” agenda, helping prioritise greener industry, and breathing new life into, say, the former Redcar steelworks site, or the Grimsby docks.

But others fear the move signals the creation of “mini-tax havens” and a race to the bottom on regulation, keeping revenues from councils and the Treasury to line the pockets of business and landowners, with profits sent offshore rather than reinvested in the UK.

Support is found predominantly among those who voted – and campaigned – to leave the EU; backers call it a Brexit dividend enabled by the final deal. The EU has started to clamp down on the 80-odd free zones within its jurisdiction, over tax evasion, corruption and crime concerns.

Labour accused the government of using public money “to serve their own party’s needs” after Sunak’s own constituency of Richmond in Yorkshire, and those of other cabinet ministers, were put in the top tier to receive money from a new fund.

Peter Walker www.theguardian.com

Rishi Sunak has denied that funds intended to boost struggling towns are biased towards Conservative-held areas after it emerged that 40 of the 45 places to receive a share of the first £1bn in funding are represented by Tory MPs.

Labour accused the government of using public money “to serve their own party’s needs” after Sunak’s own constituency of Richmond in Yorkshire, and those of other cabinet ministers, were put in the top tier to receive money from a new fund.

The allocations from what are officially called the towns fund and the levelling up fund, unveiled as part of the budget, highlight the government’s intention to focus spending on areas outside major cities, particularly in northern England and the Midlands.

Separately, Sunak used the budget to announce that two new economic hubs will open in the north, in Darlington and Leeds, in another apparent attempt to strengthen the Conservatives’ support outside their traditional heartlands.

But in his post-budget press conference, Sunak was accused of “pork barrel politics” given that 40 of the 45 towns in the first tranche of towns fund spending were represented by Conservative MPs, while his constituency is in tier 1 of the levelling up fund, while less prosperous neighbouring areas are not.

The chancellor rejected this, saying: “The formula for the grant payment for the new fund is based on an index of economic need, which is transparently published by MHCLG [the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government], and based on a bunch of objective measures.”

He said that the tier 1 areas were only receiving extra capacity funding to bid for support as they “might need a bit of extra help” and that this did not mean other places would lose out. Sunak added: “If you look at things we’re doing, they’re benefiting people in every corner of the country.”

Neither the Treasury or MHCLG said where the formula was published. Labour has tabled a parliamentary question to seek the information.

Labour said the levelling up fund not only now had Sunak’s local authority in tier 1, but also areas represented by the communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, the Welsh secretary, Simon Hart, the Scottish secretary, Alister Jack, and the Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis.

Labour said ministers needed to be more open about the metrics used. Steve Reed, the shadow communities secretary, said: “This research raises big questions marks over the fairness of the government’s regeneration funding schemes.

“This government should be investing to rebuild the foundations of our economy, but they’re pulling the country further apart by pitting regions and nations against each other for crucial funding, then diverting the money to serve their own party’s needs.”

Announcing the new northern hubs in his speech, Sunak said a Treasury campus will be set up in Darlington and a national infrastructure bank will be situated in Leeds.

Sunak announced plans for a regional Treasury site in last year’s budget and, after an extensive scoping exercise, revealed on Wednesday that Darlington in Tees Valley would be the location.

Sunak promised that the infrastructure bank in Leeds would be up and running “in an interim form” by the spring. Its role will be to dole out £13bn of equity and debt capital, and to issue up to £10bn of guarantees, as well as offering loans to local authorities from the summer. “Redrawing our economic map means rebalancing our economic investment,” said Sunak.

Details about how many civil servants could be relocated to Darlington and how many jobs could be created in the region have yet to be clarified, but the government plans to move 22,000 civil servants out of London by 2030. The policy mirrors a pledge in Labour’s 2019 manifesto when the then shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, pledged to “break up No 11” and move it “to the north”.