“Visitors are not getting a good experience, locals are frustrated and systems can’t cope”.

Cornwall’s services are struggling to deal with an influx of visitors.

By Johnny O’Shea www.bbc.co.uk

With more Britons holidaying in the UK, Visit Cornwall estimates there are about 210,000 visitors, up from a usual peak of 180,000.

Beaches are busy, traffic heavy and the situation at the hospital is described as “dire” by its medical director.

Malcolm Bell, head of Visit Cornwall, said some “visitors are not getting a good experience, locals are frustrated and systems can’t cope”.

The county’s only 24-hour Emergency Department – at the Royal Cornwall Hospital serves the 560,000 residents – has been incredibly busy, with waiting times often more than four hours.

Medical director Allister Grant called the situation “unprecedented”.

The hospital said about 30% of those attending the Emergency Department are not registered with a Cornish GP, and were assumed to be visitors.

The number of Covid patients in the hospital has also increased, with 22 inpatients with the virus on 3 August.

South West Water said the demand in Cornwall was about 10 megalitres more water per day compared to this time last year, which was “the equivalent of between 50,000 to 75,000 people’s water use per day”.

The company said the demand is “putting a strain on the network” although reservoir levels are “looking healthy”.

However, for plenty of business owners the economic boost is welcome after a difficult 18 months, with an estimated £1bn lost in visitor spending.

In Padstow, Cherry Painter from Cherry Trees cafe said it is “absolutely amazing. It’s unprecedented – we have never had the crowds like this before. People realise this is where to come after lockdown. They are all enjoying themselves.”

Many businesses are also facing staffing shortages exacerbated by those being contacted by the NHS Covid app and told to self-isolate.

Next door to Ms Painter, Richard Walker from Padstow Fish and Chips said: “We are up by about 25 to 30% on a normal peak summer season. But that is made even busier by the fact we have a significant lack of staffing so we are having to manage on much less staff than we would normally.”

The Headland Hotel in Newquay has lost 21 staff in this way, causing it to close off some of its accommodation.

Increasingly, individuals have also been cashing in by letting their houses out to visitors, or opening a spare field as a pop-up campsite.

“Lots of local people, which you cant criticise them for have suddenly decided they can make a few thousand if they rent out their property and either go somewhere else or move in with mum and dad”, Mr Bell said.

Ali Arnison arrived on Friday, 30 July, for a long-awaited week-long holiday in Newquay with six of her family. By Wednesday they had returned home to Leeds.

“There are so many cases of Covid down there, no staff in restaurants… but they’re still packing people in.

“Ridiculously busy supermarkets with no staff and empty shelves. Even remote beaches were heaving, just no escape at all from the crowds. I feel so sorry for the locals.”

She said they were disappointed to end their holiday early, but “safety comes first”.

The latest figures show infection rates in Newquay West of 792.7 per 100,000 people, well above the averages for Cornwall of 248 and for England of 270.

When the sun was shining on Wednesday local people reported that Cornwall was “busier than ever”.

In Perranporth, which has a resident population of 3,000, lifeguards estimated a peak of 14,000 people on the beach: “We don’t get days like that very often.”

The car parks, and their overflow sections, were full by mid-morning and people took to parking along any available route into the town.

This meant parking on verges, and in housing estates several well away from the beach, and traffic jams winding for miles along the small roads and country lanes.

Tracy Brown has missed two cleaning jobs because of getting stuck in traffic this week but said: “I’m upset I have lost money after the last 18 months we have had, being self employed, but my biggest concern was the care in the community.

“Elderly people are sat in the beds waiting to be got up, given breakfast and even medication. But with a two-hour wait in traffic this is dangerous.”

At Porthcurno in west Cornwall, and Porthcothan on the north coast, some beach goers returned to their vehicles to find tickets on their windscreens after a visit from Devon and Cornwall Police and Cornwall Council.

Penzance Police said: “Porthcurno was again brought to a stand still… due to inconsiderate parking by visitors attending the area.”

It warned: “Inconsiderate parking like this may result in the delay of emergency services and put lives in danger.”

Kim Hayward, from Porthcothan – a small village with a beach near Padstow, north Cornwall, said: “I’ve never known it as busy as it is at the moment.

“We welcome them with open arms but I just wish that when they came they had some consideration for other people.

“We put bollards around to stop them parking on the junction, but they have parked the other side of the bollards on the road which makes it even worse than it was before.”

An anonymous caller to BBC Radio Cornwall said she and her husband “feel like prisoners in our own home” since a pop-up campsite was authorised next door to them for the first time this summer.

“It is so hectic. I can’t cope with it,” she added.

‘Anti-tourism’

Mr Bell said: “The biggest factor is the restriction on travelling abroad which has meant that most if not all of the accommodation is full with the only vacancies coming when people cancel, or get pinged.

“This summer is a one-off but it is also a bit of a siren to say we can’t be here again in normal circumstances.”

Mr Bell said an anti-tourist feeling has been growing in recent years among people for whom Cornwall is home.

He thinks this can be partly put down to the 10,000 or more additional properties that are now available to let through online platforms like AirBnB.

“Up until about 10 years ago we were losing bed stock in Cornwall. In 2018-19 we were holding numbers but we weren’t growing. And up until 2019 there wasn’t that much anti-tourism feeling.

“We don’t want to be here where the visitors aren’t getting a good experience, the locals are frustrated and the systems can’t cope.”

In order to “reduce the peak and capacity in August”, he wants every property being offered to let, to be officially registered “so we at least know what is going on”.

He said without a reduction “we will end up in a place we don’t want to go, a very dangerous place which is the quality of experience for the visitor will go down, the price will go down, and we will end up with over-tourism”.

“The last thing I want to see is Cornwall being destroyed by tourism.”

There are no beaches, no seagulls, and in some places there are more cows than people. This is summer 2021: the year that Britons sought social distancing as much as sun, sea and sand.

Josh Halliday www.theguardian.com

Demand for rural retreats in counties such as Worcestershire and Staffordshire has soared this summer as people swapped the Algarve and Costa del Sol for the countryside, data from travel websites shows.

Camping and caravan trips to Staffordshire – which is nearly 100 miles from the nearest beach – have increased by 300% compared with 2019, according to pitchup.com, while bookings in the landlocked counties of Worcestershire and Cambridgeshire have more than doubled.

The traditional honeypot resorts of Devon and Cornwall, which together attract about 10 million tourists a year, have seen the usual influx of visitors this summer. But nervousness around Covid-19 has meant that some of the UK’s less-obvious – and, crucially, quieter – destinations have enjoyed a huge tourism boost.

“There’s an element of anxiety as people are emerging from lockdown,” said Dan Yates, the founder of pitchup.com. “People are tiptoeing an hour away for one or two nights … and that’s why you’re seeing counties like Worcestershire seeing the demand as well as continued demand for places like the Lake District, Devon and Cornwall.”

Uncertainty around the UK’s ever-changing travel restrictions has meant millions of people have ditched their annual foreign getaway. AirBnB said domestic holidays account for 82% of nights booked so far this year. And rural retreats are becoming vastly more popular, accounting for nearly half of all bookings this year compared with 23% in 2019.

In previous years, AirBnB’s most in-demand properties have been in exotic locations abroad: last year’s favourite was a Greek cave, and a Balian treehouse took top spot in 2019. This year’s hottest listing was a luxury “Pigsty” on a farm in Winchester (£200 a night, almost fully booked until January).

Although there is evidence of a rural renaissance, travel experts are reluctant to call time on the traditional bucket and spade holiday. All of the top 10 searched-for towns on campsites.co.uk this summer was a beach resort, said the website’s founder, Martin Smith. Newquay, one of Cornwall’s rowdier spots, was the most sought after destination.

Away from the campsites, however, people have looked for lesser-known retreats as many hotels and short-term lets in Devon and Cornwall have been fully booked for months. None of AirBnB’s top trending seaside destinations this summer were on the popular south-west coast.

Instead, tourists have swarmed on the seaside resorts of Seaburn, near Sunderland, and Ingoldmells and Sandilands, near Skegness, according to the site. On the south coast, Sandgate in Kent and Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex had the biggest increase in bookings.

On the Isle of Anglesey, an astronomical rise in visitors has not been wholly welcomed. Campers have been pitching up illegally on beaches and private land, some leaving behind rubbish and creating a huge drain on resources, said Michael Thomas, the council’s tourism manager.

“It’s great that there has been a massive increase in visitors,” he said. “The downside to this is a lot of people are turning up with motorhomes and tents without booking places and they’re putting a massive pressure on our infrastructure. We’ve probably got a 500% increase [in visitors] because people are coming in the hope they will get somewhere and then we’re faced with the cleanup.”

In Staffordshire, however, tourism officials were over the moon with a near-300% rise in campsite bookings. The county has been busy promoting its many jewels since lockdown restrictions began to ease in April. Its gems include the rolling hills of Cannock Chase and Peak District, as well as the theme parks Alton Towers and Drayton Manor.

Philip White, the deputy leader of Staffordshire county council, said on Friday he was overjoyed to see people discover the county’s lesser-known qualities: “The huge range of attractions in Staffordshire is well known, but the beauty of our countryside is one of the UK’s best-kept secrets. We’ve been focusing on telling people about what we have to offer, how easy it is to get here and all there is to do so we’re delighted to see it paying off.”

Anthony Mangnall, MP for Totnes & South Devon and Judy Pearce, leader of South Hams district council are the authors of Friday’s “Thunderer” column in  the Times.

Where do Neil Parish and Simon Jupp stand on this? – Owl

Anthony Mangnall, Judy Pearce www.thetimes.co.uk

South Devon is home to some of the most extraordinary views, landscapes and coastlines. As representatives at both a local and national level we are only too aware of the privilege that we have in speaking up for such a unique part of the country.

While our businesses, tourism and hospitality industries were put on hold during the worst of the pandemic, our previously deserted beaches are now packed, our high streets bustle with residents and tourists alike. As a result our local economy is booming. While this is welcome, it comes at a cost.

Such are the demands from the visitor economy that thousands of homes are being moved from long-term rentals to Airbnb lets. Many who live and work in the area are being issued with eviction notices so landlords can capitalise on the boom in holiday rentals. Only 16 properties are available for long-term rent in the district council area of South Hams, with a population of 86,000.

Wit and wisdom from our award-winning stable of columnists and guest writers, including Caitlin Moran, Matthew Parris, Rod Liddle and Dominic Lawson.

For years there has been a balance between holiday rentals and primary residences. That balance saw schools, hospitals and lifeboat stations (to name a few) catered to by locals. This is often no longer the case as all these and many other businesses struggle to find the staff they need. Towns and villages which are thronged in the summer are ghostly quiet in winter.

At a local and national level more needs to be done to return that balance between holiday homes and primary residences. First, we must introduce legislation to close the loophole that allows second homes, advertised as holiday rentals, to avoid council tax by registering for business rates and getting small business rate relief. Every holiday home puts pressure on local services and they must pay their share. We have campaigned vociferously for this change in the law and welcome the chancellor’s announcement earlier this year that he will do so but it cannot come soon enough.

Second, a nationwide survey should be conducted to gauge the impact of Airbnb-type rentals. This could include lost tax receipts and the effect on long-term rental markets in rural and urban areas.

Third, newbuilds must be built with local affordability targets in mind, including section 106 legal agreements that can be registered against the property title to ensure they are primary residences in perpetuity. We have already achieved this in Salcombe and look set to do so elsewhere in south Devon.

The visitor economy is hugely important to this area. We welcome it, but Devon and the southwest must have functioning communities that offer more than just a seasonal visitor economy.

This particular case illustrates that some new found freedoms, such as the freedom to enjoy the “night time economy”, still have the potential to become super spreading events.

Exeter at 571 new cases per 100,000 people, and rising, is also one of the cities with the highest rates in England. The pandemic is far from over. – Owl

A Covid-19 infection spike in Lincoln has been pinpointed to a nightclub in the city, health bosses have said.

BBC News 03/08/2021 www.bbc.co.uk

New cases increased by 83% to 649 in the week to 29 July, giving the area England’s highest infection rate of 654 per 100,000 people.

The Wharf and University district, a popular destination for bars, clubs and restaurants, recorded a rate of 1,140.

Natalie Liddle, from Public Health Lincolnshire, said the majority of cases were in people aged under 30.

“We are currently managing a cluster of outbreaks in and around Lincoln – and we’ve seen a particular increase in cases linked to the night-time economy,” she said.

“We are particularly dealing with one large outbreak at the moment, [and] that has impacted a large number of people.”

Ms Liddle declined to name the venue involved.

Ms Liddle, who is programme manager for infection prevention and control, said the outbreak had also coincided with a “natural spike” in case numbers, with Lincoln continuing to follow slightly behind the national trend in terms of peaks.

“Unfortunately for us, it’s coincided with us coming out of lockdown,” she said.

She urged anyone who had not taken up an offer of a jab to do so, adding that it was more important than ever, especially as there were now no rules regarding social distancing, testing or vaccination status for nightclubs.

“We don’t want to scaremonger but, for us, the biggest thing we can do right now is really amplify that message about the importance of the vaccine programme,” she added.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last month that people attending nightclubs and other large venues where crowds gather would be required to be fully vaccinated from the end of September.

Meanwhile, cases in most other parts of the county have fallen.

North East Lincolnshire has seen one of the sharpest drops with case rates decreasing by nearly 50% in the week to 29 July.

The area recorded a rate of 471 new infections per 100,000 people compared to 805 in the preceding seven days.

The England average currently stands at 292.

It is a remarkable and tragic example of bureaucratic amnesia, and one that deserves the full attention of the authorities now, and indeed when the public inquiry into the government’s Covid response eventually starts.

Editorial: www.independent.co.uk

Almost two decades ago, a detailed plan of how the UK should respond to a Sars-type coronavirus was drawn up by public health officials. They carefully examined the experience of the 2002 Sars outbreak in east Asia. Fortunately, the active virus at that time was not infective enough to trigger a global pandemic and was contained within China and its surrounding countries.

Nonetheless, the opportunity was taken to envisage what precautions should be taken if a subsequent episode developed in a more sinister fashion. The report was drawn up in 2005, apparently shelved and forgotten, and has only now come to light via a freedom of information request.

Too late to have any impact on decision-making now, had it been “remembered” in the early, panicked months of 2020 it would have been a useful guide and blueprint. From what can be gathered from the detailed eye-witness account of Dominic Cummings and other stories, Whitehall was by turns complacent, bewildered, panicked, and then disastrously slow and disorganised in its response to this unfamiliar crisis.

Yet what was clear from the first cases identified in Wuhan province, China, was that this was a coronavirus, and one with some features in common with the Sars, or avian flu, infections some years earlier. But the UK’s various public health authorities, along with the government, based their planning on the assumption that it would cause an influenza-style epidemic. It was the wrong diagnosis, and the outbreak could have been better managed if the correct lessons of past experience had been acted upon and the 2005 plan implemented.

The 2005 document makes for eerie reading. Its prescient recommendations included limiting travel, stopping “super-spreader” events, building stocks of appropriate protective equipment, “clear and transparent communications”, building surge capacity in hospitals, and rapid testing. In the event, all of those measures were implemented, but too slowly and with consequent loss of life. It even created a framework of six “action levels”, roughly equivalent to the tiers and stages later used to guide restrictions and relaxations.

The lesson learned now from this sorry story should be that the government needs urgently to create contingency planning for civil emergencies that may seem remote but which could, nonetheless, cause huge disruption, loss of life and economic damage.

So-called “black swan” events are not predictable, by definition, but there are certainly areas of threat to national infrastructure that deserve to be planned for, with regular “exercises” and a designated lead agency or government department, as well as named individuals, responsible for keeping data.

The banking crisis of 2008-09 was only the latest financial panic to expose the fragility of the credit system, prompting the Bank of England to plan for future responses. There is also the continuing risk of a mass hacking attack on the national digital infrastructure, covert activity from hostile foreign powers, energy shortages, and, of course, climate change, and the floods, damage to buildings, and droughts that could flow from that.

History suggests that, for whatever cultural reasons, the British response to an impending existential crisis has generally been a mixture of denialism, amateurishness and improvisation, and usually with disastrous consequences.

The nation has hardly ever been prepared for any war it has had to fight, for example, but the Dunkirk spirit should not be relied upon. Where, for example, is the plan for a response to the arrival of some heavily vaccine-resistant new coronavirus variant? It would be reassuring to know that Whitehall hasn’t already forgotten the lessons of what went wrong last spring.

Covid cases have fallen in every part of Devon except Torridge.

Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter exmouth.nub.news 

In the latest seven-day period (up to 25 July) cases fell by 2,335 across the county, a drop of almost 35 per cent on the previous week.

Plymouth had the largest fall, with new cases declining by almost half, from 2,549 to 1,344.

Last week the city saw numbers rocket by 1,126 (85 per cent), taking cases per 100,000 to 935, nearly three times (188 per cent) higher than the national average at that time.

Mid Devon recorded a similar drop with new cases falling by 135 (41 per cent).

Torridge fared better this week than last, although the number of infections rose, bucking Devon’s overall trend.

The area recorded 209 new cases, 19 more than the previous week. But the rate of Torridge’s increase is more promising: in the previous week, cases rose by more than 145 per cent.

Overall, new Covid-19 infections dropped by a quarter (23 per cent) across Devon’s district councils (which means everywhere except Plymouth and Torbay), although this is behind the one-third drop nationally (33 per cent).

Hospitalisations

Forty-five patients were admitted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth with Covid-19 in the seven days up to Sunday 25 July, the latest date for which figures are available. This is 12 more than the previous week.

In Exeter, 29 patients were admitted to the RD&E, also 12 more than the previous week.

The Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs several hospitals in the area, admitted 11 new covid patients, while Torbay Hospital admitted 14.

Deaths

Two people died in Devon this week as Torridge registered its first deaths within 28 days of a positive test in more than five months.

The number of people who have died within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test since the pandemic began is 1,048 in Devon, including 206 in Plymouth and 156 in Torbay.

A total of 129,583 people have now died within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test in the UK, a rise of 439 in the last seven days.

Vaccinations

As of 28 July, 87 per cent of adults in the Devon County Council area have now had their first dose of a vaccine, with 72 per cent having had both.

In Torbay, 85 per cent of adults have had their first jab while nearly 73 per cent have had both doses.

The gap in the number of adults who have had both their first and second doses in Plymouth fell slightly this week, narrowing by two per cent. The numbers are now sitting at 82 per cent and 65 per cent respectively.

The UK total is currently at 88 per cent for one dose and 72 per cent for both doses. A total of 84,737,932 jabs have now been given across the country.

In the Exmouth Nub News, Simon Jupp appears to sing from a different hymn sheet to John Hart. in the Exmouth Journal.

Perhaps Robert Jenrick didn’t make him a copy addressee to his “Dear John” letter? The key message being Robert Jenrick says councils with common history and identity should work more closely together on existing boundaries to deliver a better deal for their residents, and won’t be required to elect Mayors or become combined authorities.

Doesn’t look like he has received the John Hart: “We need to present a united front to the Government” message either or he would have mentioned “Team Devon”. 

Owl isn’t surprised, Tories seem to be incapable of presenting a coherent message at the moment.

Owl’s advice: stick to the pub crawl Simon.

East Devon MP says a ‘conversation’ is needed about turning Devon’s councils into a single unitary authority

Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter exmouth.nub.news 

What’s the current system?

In Devon we have one county council, eight district councils, and two unitary authorities (Plymouth and Torbay).

The county council and district council ‘partnership’ is called a two-tier system.

What’s being proposed?

We could see a unitary authority for the whole of Devon – that means all of the current councils would combine into one council.

Or, we could see Exeter promoted to a unitary authority in the same way as Plymouth or Torbay.

—–

Earlier in July, it was announced by the government that five councils in Somerset are to be replaced by a single unitary authority. If matters progress as expected, the county and four district councils will cease to exist on 1 April 2023.

A similar slimming down for Devon’s local government has been discussed for years, often meeting with fierce debate.

Between 2007 and 2010, significant energy was put behind attempts to reorganise Devon’s two-tier structure.

The two options on the table included a unitary authority for the whole of Devon. The other would have promoted Exeter to its own unitary authority.

The Exeter option was given the green light by the Labour government only to be scrapped when the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition came to power.

But the issue is still bubbling away. Speaking this week, several Devon’s MPs declined to dismiss the idea outright, citing the potential efficiencies and cost-savings of streamlined local government services.

Simon Jupp, Conservative MP for East Devon, said; “I believe we need a conversation as a county about the future of local government and value for money for the taxpayer.

“I don’t think a single council covering the whole county would be advised by government due to the significant size of our population.

“However, our neighbouring counties have all now decided to reduce the number of councils to help neighbouring communities work stronger together, build better services and squeeze every taxpayers’ penny.”

Kevin Foster, Conservative MP for Torbay, said: “Over the next two years it is right councils across Devon focus on the recovery from the coronavirus, rather than their own structures, yet in the longer term a discussion about a unitary system of local government for Devon is inevitable as the two-tier structure disappears across England, having already been abolished in Wales and Scotland.

“Unitary structures work well across the south west and few in Cornwall would now argue for a return to the previous two-tier structure abolished in 2009.

“Torbay should be a pro-active part of any discussion about how a unitary system would work across Devon and the potential boundaries of new councils created to cover the current two-tier area, for example, Torbay becoming part of a wider South Devon Unitary.

“A core part of any move to unitary status would also be deciding how communities across Devon could still shape and influence items which related to their own community.”

Meanwhile, Selaine Saxby, Conservative MP for North Devon said: “Devon is a very big county so would one unitary work here? I think there are benefits of having local councils.

“The joy of North Devon council is that it’s here in North Devon and therefore it properly understands the people of North Devon and the local area, whereas when a lot of issues arise I know our county council is a very long way away from us.

“But similarly I do think there are benefits from a unitary and I think talking and working in the pandemic with different authorities and knowing what’s gone on in Cornwall I think there are some advantages of having a bigger authority managing everything in one place.

“To bring planning and infrastructure and schools all into one body so they’re not separated I can see some advantages to this.

“So I think it’s something we should probably look to in case there are advantages that we can benefit from moving forward.”

Councillor Philip Bialyk (Labour), leader of Exeter City Council said that, having spoken to council leaders across the county, that a unitary authority “is not the direction we would want to go.”

“However, we do feel there are a number of areas we can work together in the interests of Devon and we will hopefully be bringing a county proposal to government for a county deal which clearly will be lead by the county with all the district councils participating.”

“We think this is the best way to have a collective forum in which we can do the best things for Devon.”

Cllr Bialyk said discussions for this proposal were in an early stage at the moment and included Devon County Council and other district councils and said that he hopes it would “bring forward a good deal for Devon.”

Asked what areas he would like to see these councils collaborate on he said that was all part of the discussion, adding: “We are diverse county. Rural meets urban. We’ve got to make sure we get the right mix.

“We’ve got to try to make sure that we get an attractive proposition to government which reflects the needs of our residents.

“We know what we want in Devon. We’ve got to get around the table. We’ve got to get our heads together and that’s exactly what we all want to do.

“We want to work together with the county council and we feel we can get a good deal which represents everybody.”

Explaining his thoughts of a unitary authority for Exeter, like that which almost came to pass early in the 2010s, he said: “That’s not on the agenda.

“I’m not giving that any thought because that’s not a possibility. We are a strong sovereign district council, we want to remain as that.”

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service in July last year about the potential to unify Devon councils, leader of Devon County Council John Hart (Conservative) said: “I have no wish to open up a guerrilla war and start something and get us into a position that might not be resolved in the short term and argue with the districts for years on end and ruin the current good relationship.”

Councillor Rob Hannaford, leader of the Labour group, added: “There is clearly no appetite in Devon for another costly and disruptive reorganisation of our local government.

“To blow everything up now would be an act of political vandalism to our local communities, and a terrible barrier to making the progress that we need to make across the whole county.”

In his ‘Levelling Up’ speech on 15 July, the prime minister set out a new County Deals system that would look to devolve more power to local communities. More details will be announced in the Levelling Up white paper, due later this year.

Commenting on the potential for unitarisation in Devon, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said:

“We’re open to discussion with councils about unitarisation where there is a good deal of local support.

“We are clear that any reform of an area’s local government is most effectively achieved through locally-led proposals put forward by those who best know the area, the very essence of localism to which the Government remains committed.”

The MHCLG said it was conscious that councils are more focused on service delivery than any structural changes in the wake of the pandemic.

They said they want to see the Levelling Up White Paper before developing proposals for local government reform or county deals, as they did not wish to see councils spending money on developing new proposals at this time.

The department said that there will be no requirement to unitarise for the forthcoming county deals.

In his latest press article, John Hart explains that government thinking on power devolution may have changed. He intimates that “three homes” Robert Jenrick is now suggesting councils with common history and identity should work more closely together on existing boundaries to deliver a better deal for their residents. And he won’t require elected Mayors or combined authorities.

This is to be welcomed, especially as Owl was under the impression that Cllr Phill Twiss was, King Lear like, plotting to divide the County.

He ends by saying:

“The South West has long been the poor relation when it comes to funding. I will continue to work with councils of all political colours across the region to be a voice for the South West in Westminster and Whitehall and to campaign for a fair deal for local people.”

Too true, when was the last time a government of any colour took any notice of The South West?

Owl’s advice: start rocking the boat John!

United Front needed to ensure Devon does not remain poor relation

John Hart, Leader DCC, this week’s Exmouth Journal

Just a couple of months ago we had elections for Devon County Council and I don’t recall a single voter raising the issue of local government reorganisation with me.

I’m sure that’s not a huge surprise to you. Suffice to say, it’s always been my view that most people just want us to provide a good school for their children, to look after the elderly and the vulnerable, to deal with potholes and to empty their bins on time.

They don’t much mind if that’s done by unitary councils, district councils or county councils as long as it’s done effectively and efficiently and their council tax is affordable.

So I was interested to receive a letter last month from the Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick, outlining his thinking about devolution and how councils could work more closely together to drive the recovery from the pandemic. Previously, Government thinking on devolution has always favoured elected Mayors or new tiers of bureaucracy but he is now suggesting councils with common history and identity should work more closely together on existing boundaries to deliver a better deal for their residents. And he won’t require elected Mayors or combined authorities.

I’ve written here before about Team Devon which I set up with Devon’s district and town and parish councils to respond swiftly to all the extra needs and requirements of our people during the pandemic. Working with community groups and local volunteers, I believe we have delivered for Devon during the pandemic and used the additional money that was available effectively and efficiently. And our regular meetings of council leaders and chief executives throughout the crisis has brought us closer together – no matter what our individual political colours. That’s true on a wider scale with South West Councils of which I’m privileged to have been re-elected as chairman. The organisation represents 33 county, unitary and district councils stretching from Cornwall to Gloucestershire and Wiltshire as well as police, fire and rescue services, national parks and town and parish councils. A region that size obviously has differences. But we also have many issues in common, with the economic recovery from the pandemic as our most urgent task alongside support for our vulnerable residents and our vital tourism, hospitality and food and farming sectors.

We all have a common goal in tackling climate change and reducing our carbon emissions. We must also stimulate our economy by improving communications with the rest of the country – whether that is physical infrastructure or digital – ensuring fast broadband coverage for our rural areas at an affordable price and promoting greater skills and employment for our young people.

We need to present a united front to the Government to ensure we do not remain the poor relation when it comes to funding and that we get a fair share of cash for levelling-up.

We have worked hard to support the region and been particularly active in lobbying to improve the resilience of our road and rail network.

We need to improve the supply of affordable housing for our young families who are often priced out of buying a home where they grew up. And we have to move swiftly to ensure that the professionals we are seeking to attract here like nurses, teachers and social workers can find suitable accommodation.

The South West has long been the poor relation when it comes to funding.

I will continue to work with councils of all political colours across the region to be a voice for the South West in Westminster and Whitehall and to campaign for a fair deal for local people.

Campaigners have threatened to blockade all routes into Cornwall in protest against second homeowners in the county.

Lee Trewhela www.devonlive.com 

Kernow Matters to Us, a Cornish campaign group, said it is making a stand against non-locals coming into the area, in an attempt to ensure every “Cornish person” has one first.

The group said it was discussing the possibility of blocking routes including the A30 and Tamar Bridge if the problem was not addressed.

A spokesperson said: “It is within our power to do these things and there is little to stop us.”

The comments come as it was announced that a protest will be held in Truro later this month to highlight the growing housing crisis in Cornwall.

It was previously revealed dozens of former council homes are being illegally let as student accommodation and AirBnBs for the sake of profit.

Kernow Matters to Us said this keeps these properties extremely high in rent and inaccessible to the people who need them.

Cornwall Council announced in 2019 it would take legal action against homeowners who did not abide by the covenants attached to the sale of former council homes.

However, there are now concerns that the promise of taking action dropped off the radar after council officers were diverted to other roles due to the Covid pandemic.

A Kernow Matters spokesperson said: “We cannot live like this any longer, and we won’t accept growing mass homelessness of people in Cornwall and ever-expanding house prices becoming an accepted part of life.

“We demand action, we demand change, we demand dignity.

“We are not just bartenders, ice-cream servers, and lifeguards, we are people who deserve to be able to rent and buy where we live.

“This is a protest to demand immediate, emergency action from our MPs and Westminster to tackle this crisis.

“We deserve affordable housing and rental properties. Cornwall is not a playground, it is not just a tourist-hot-spot and nice place to live by the beach if you have the cash for it – it’s our home, it’s our culture, our family, friends, livelihoods – and we can’t even afford to live here.

“No more second homes. No more exorbitant rents. No more holiday lets over council homes. Enough is enough.

“Cornwall Council building cabins is not enough, and does absolutely nothing to address the roots and growing catastrophe of this crisis.

“Come to the protest, show your support, and you can share your story or someone else’s in living through and experiencing this housing crisis.”

Formed during 2015 to proclaim and celebrate Cornish culture, history, language and music “whilst speaking out unashamedly for the Cornish,” Kernow Matters’ members support the Cornish National Minority.

They are urging people concerned about housing issues in Cornwall to attend the demo on Truro’s Lemon Quay on Saturday, August 21.

The protest is asking for the following demands:

• “That (MPs) George Eustice, Scott Mann, Sheryll Murray, Steve Double, Derek Thomas and Cherilyn Mackrory commit to sending a public joint letter to Parliament, demanding immediate and material action to end the housing crisis.
• That all six of Cornwall’s MPs commit to participating in a community-led Housing Crisis Action Plan Group.
• That Cornwall Council leader Linda Taylor and the newly formed Conservative-led council agree to the demands of a housing crisis petition, which has been signed by 44,581 people as of July 31 to:
• Levy a higher, more stringent tax on second homes which recognises the threat they pose to local communities.
• Close the loophole which allows them to be classed as ‘businesses’ allowing them to tap into locally allocated funds and in some cases avoid paying council tax altogether.
• Work quickly towards outlining firm strategies to cap local rents in keeping with local incomes so that local families are not left homeless.
• Use the funds accrued from taxing second homes properly into building FIRST and ONLY affordable homes for local families.”

Bella Smith, 21, from Newquay, who has organised the Truro demonstration, told CornwallLive : “We need the government to truly address and commit to ending Cornwall’s extremely high poverty rates and housing crisis – we need action on many things including second home ownership, the illegal letting of former council houses as Airbnbs, a limit on holiday lets, and much, much more.”

“The low tax, low regulation regime combined with globalisation ended up widening income disparities in a way that not only hurt those at the bottom of the income distribution, but ended up having adverse macroeconomic effects.”

Editorial www.theguardian.com  (Extract)

….Gertjan Vlieghe was appointed to the bank’s rate-setting committee by then-chancellor George Osborne and has proved a thoughtful commentator on the UK economy. On the verge of stepping down, his valedictory speech made last week is remarkable for going beyond the usual banker’s fare.

The great weakness of the UK, he says, lies in the policies it has followed for decades. “The low tax, low regulation regime combined with globalisation ended up widening income disparities in a way that not only hurt those at the bottom of the income distribution, but ended up having adverse macroeconomic effects.” Those effects include very high levels of debt held predominantly by households and low levels of workplace productivity, which is the result of businesses not investing. Add all those together, Mr Vlieghe suggests, and the UK is stuck in a deep rut of low growth and low rates. In other words, the exact hue of Conservative most worried about low [interest] rates has been a cheerleader for the very policies that mean we are stuck with low rates. To fix this situation, the central banker proposes stronger trade unions, much tougher rules on competition and higher taxes. Such policies are not in the bank’s gift but the government’s. Will Boris Johnson implement them? If he did, he might legitimately call them “levelling up”.

Many areas across Devon have recorded more than 50 cases of Covid-19, according to the latest figures.

Charlotte Becquart www.devonlive.com

Devon had 15 coronavirus hotspots of more than 50 cases between July 24 and 30, data published by the Government has revealed.

The biggest cluster – area where three or more cases have been reported – was Central Exeter, with 78 confirmed positive tests.

Four other areas of Exeter recorded over 50 cases. They were: Countess Wear & Topsham (59), Heavitree West & Polsloe (63), Pennsylvania & University (56), St James’s Park & Hoopern (68).

In the Torbay area, three areas recorded more than 50 cases. They were: Chelston, Cockington & Livermead (60), Paignton Central (59), Shiphay & the Willows (56).

In Plymouth, Cattedown & Prince Rock had 54 cases, City Centre, Barbican & Sutton Harbour recorded 65, Ham, Beacon Park & Pennycross had 54, Honicknowle & Manadon had 57, Lipson had 60, Millbay & Stonehouse had 69 and Mutley had 61.

North Devon’s highest number of cases was 39 and was recorded in Braunton. South Hams’ biggest cluster was Totnes Town with 45 cases.

In the Teignbridge area, the highest number of confirmed positive tests – 38 – was recorded in Starcross & Exminster.

It was revealed on Wednesday that Exeter has the third highest infection rate in England.

According to data from the PA news agency, based on Public Health England data from 3 August, the case numbers have increased from 484 positive tests to 712 in just one week.

To paint an accurate reflection across the 315 local areas in England, PA has calculated the case rate to show how many people would have coronavirus if there were 100,000 people living in the city.

In Exeter, there are the equivalent to 541.8 cases per 100,000 of the population, sitting slightly below Lincoln with 717 and Middlesbrough with 550.4.

Plymouth has the tenth highest Covid-19 infection rate in the country – although the city’s infection rate did fall in the latest set of data.

In the Torbay area, the council’s director of public health confirmed multiple care homes have been reporting Covid infections.

Dr Lincoln Sergeant said that 17 residents and six staff in local care homes recently tested positive for the virus, with nine cases in one home alone.

The premises involved have not been revealed by the health director.

One unvaccinated resident was taken to hospital, although no deaths have been reported as a result of the outbreak.

Last month, infections in Torbay reached their highest recorded level since the pandemic began, with 960 cases in the week commencing 11 July.

Since then rates have fallen, with 564 new cases recorded in the week commencing 25 July. You can read more about this here.

From where Rishi Sunak sits, he might regard Taylor Wimpey’s bumper set of first-half figures as a triumph of policymaking. 

Nils Pratley www.theguardian.com 

The chancellor threw subsidies at the housing market during the pandemic in the form of stamp duty holidays and probably hoped to see what has now materialised: record house completions and the UK’s third largest builder talking about profit upgrades and “excellent momentum into the medium term”.

From a policy perspective, though, the proper way to look at events is the precise opposite: the stamp duty giveaway was a waste of public money.

The savings inevitably cling to the seller as much as the buyer, and, as should now be clear, the big housebuilders did not need a helping hand to get through lockdown.

The boom would have happened anyway because the basic ingredients of a helpful trading backdrop were in place. Interest rates were at rock-bottom, mortgage availability was good and pent-up post-Brexit demand was still being released.

At a push, one could argue that the initial holiday, announced early in the pandemic, helped to create a little confidence in a sensitive corner of the UK economy.

But the extension, announced by Sunak in his budget in March this year, was indefensible. By then, take-off had happened and the housebuilders were busy buying land again. Indeed, Taylor Wimpey, wisely, had raised £500m from investors in mid-2020 to get ahead of the rush.

The company was never a member of the industry chorus intimidating Sunak with talk of a “cliff edge” if the holiday wasn’t extended, it should be said. Others were, though, and the chancellor should have ignored them and looked instead at how fat 20% profit margins (more in some cases) were coming back.

The net cost of the extension was put at £1.3bn by the Treasury in the current tax year. That’s small beer in the context of the overall Covid support package for business, but it is still money that could have been directed at sectors genuinely in need. Sunak was naive.

Another day, another set of rules!

Taylor Wimpey, one of the UK’s biggest housebuilders, has returned to profit and upgraded its earnings targets after building a record number of homes in the first six months of the year.

Jillian Ambrose www.theguardian.com 

The High Wycombe-based firm built more than 7,300 homes in the first half of 2021, almost all of which have been pre-sold, allowing the company to lock in the benefit of soaring house prices triggered by cheap loans, the government’s stamp duty holiday and a pandemic-driven preference for larger houses.

The FTSE 100 housebuilder reported a pre-tax profit of £287.5m for the six months to early July after a £40m loss in the same period last year in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Pete Redfern, Taylor Wimpey’s chief executive, said the company expects to complete between 13,200 and 14,000 houses in 2021, and reach an operating profit for the year of about £820m.

“We have a clear purpose to deliver high-quality homes and create thriving communities and a strategy to ensure the long-term sustainability of the business,” he said.

Taylor Wimpey’s housebuilding rivals Barratt Developments and Persimmon last month predicted that the strong demand for housing would continue even after the government’s stamp duty holiday on property purchases ends in September.

In an interview with the BBC, Redfern dismissed fears that the UK faces a house price bubble and downplayed comparisons between the current housing market surge and the 2007 boom, which led to a crash in property prices and played a key role in triggering the 2008 financial crisis.

“I think we’ve seen a short-term reaction to the pandemic but an underlying stable and healthy housing market,” Redfern said.

“The number of investors buying homes [in 2007] was a very significant part of the market, particularly in the US – but also in the UK, the number of apartments being bought in markets that haven’t traditionally sustained apartments was very high, mortgage lending was significantly laxer than it is today. And also, we’d seen five years of house price growth well above inflation levels. None of those things are true today.

“We are seeing a return of second-time buyers to the market, having had several years following the financial crash where that market has been very subdued, and I think the pandemic has changed people’s mindsets and moved things along.”

Shares in Taylor Wimpey had risen 2.5% in afternoon trading at 169p.

The conversion of offices into flats in urban centres poses a “potentially deadly risk” to occupants as the intensity of heatwaves rises, experts have warned.

Damian Carrington www.theguardian.com 

Further relaxation of planning rules from Sunday mean even more commercial premises can be converted into homes without planning permission. But a failure to provide vital cooling features would make some uninhabitable as the climate crisis worsens, the experts said.

More than 64,000 flats have been built in former offices in the past five years and the rise of home-working during the pandemic is expected to lead to a surge in conversions. The latest government data show a 28% rise in applications since last year.

Permitted development rights (PDR) allow the use of a building to change without planning permission and already applied to offices, but from Sunday they are expanded to cover commercial premises, such as vacant shops, restaurants and gyms. A report commissioned by the government concluded in July 2020 that PDR conversions “create worse quality residential environments in relation to a number of factors widely linked to the health, wellbeing and quality of life of future occupiers”.

The Climate Change Committee, the government’s official advisers, estimates that one in five UK homes already overheat. In 2020, summer heatwaves in England caused 2,556 deaths, and the CCC projects such deaths to triple by 2040 if no action is taken.

Ministers rejected CCC advice in 2015 to bring in new heat-proofing regulations. The CCC repeated its warning in 2019 and said the UK’s lack of plans to protect people from climate crisis was “shocking”. In July, it said it was “absolutely illogical” not to tackle the risks of heatwaves.

“While we recognise the need for more affordable housing, we have concerns about the standard of some homes built under PDR,” said Paul Redington at insurer Zurich UK. “In particular, overheating is emerging as a potentially deadly risk.”

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Chartered Institute of Building share the concerns. Eddie Tuttle at the CIOB said: “There is clear evidence that homes built using PDR has led to spaces detrimental to the health, wellbeing and quality of life of future occupants. Ministers must address these concerns as a matter of urgency.”

He added that PDR conversions had few checks on some aspects of quality, including ventilation and energy efficiency: “Deregulation is part of the problem – what you have to do is regulate sensibly.”

The danger of deadly heat is greatest in small flats and particularly those with only south-facing windows that suffer the full glare of the sun. In some flats, residents may be reluctant to open the windows due to security risks or air pollution.

“Many of these buildings are in city and town centres, which by definition already suffer from the urban heat island effect,” said Redington. Developers could be required to improve cooling by installing shutters on windows, using reflective surfaces and ceiling fans, he said.

“These shocking [PDR conversion] figures are a further damning indicator of the government’s failure to take the threat of heatwaves seriously,” said Bob Ward, of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics. “Badly designed homes that overheat can be lethal to the occupants in hot weather, particularly if they have underlying health conditions. The government must urgently create and implement a national heat risk strategy.”

A spokesman at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Our reforms will transform unused buildings into much-needed new homes, and all new homes must be of high quality and meet national space standards and building regulations – including ventilation requirements.” He said any claim that PDR homes were necessarily of worse quality was unfounded.

A quarter of donations to the Tory party since Boris Johnson became prime minister in July 2019 has come from donors with property interests, the Financial Times revealed last week.

Reddington also said water leaks were disproportionately frequent in converted flats, due to inadequate plumbing for residential use. One London office block converted into 400 flats saw a leak in one ninth-floor home cause £1.5m of damage and forced 36 families in other flats to move out for many months. He said measures to avoid leaks, overheating and fires should be installed during conversion, to avoid expensive retrofits later.

Labour has called for an inquiry into the use of WhatsApp within the government, after it emerged a health minister replaced his mobile phone before it could be searched for information relevant to £85m of deals that are subject to a legal challenge.

Rowena Mason www.theguardian.com 

James Bethell, who oversaw the award of Covid contracts, is one of those under scrutiny over the way deals for personal protective equipment (PPE) and tests were allocated at the height of the pandemic.

As part of legal proceedings issued by the Good Law Project, the government is expected to disclose Lord Bethell’s correspondence including by email, WhatsApp and SMS relating to the award of £85m of contracts for antibody tests to Abingdon Health.

The secretary of state has a responsibility to preserve and search documents for information relevant to the case from the point at which judicial review proceedings were issued in late 2020, under the government’s “duty of candour”.

However, a witness statement from a government lawyer revealed Bethell replaced his phone in early 2021 and it may no longer be possible to retrieve the information about his dealings with Abingdon, although efforts are being made to recover them from his mobile phone provider.

The statement said Bethell had used his official email account as well as his private email account to send and receive emails relevant to the contracts, and that he had also used his mobile phone for SMS and WhatsApp messages. But it said Bethell had confirmed that about six months ago his phone was broken and replaced and that his new phone did not contain the phone data.

Government lawyers revealed Bethell had not been issued with a “preservation notice” requiring him to save documents because ministers’ official correspondence was routinely saved as a matter of course. However, this did not cover government business conducted by private means.

Bethell is already under investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) over the use of private emails for government business, prompted by revelations that his former boss Matt Hancock was using a private account at the height of the pandemic.

Labour called on the information commissioner to widen the scope of her investigation to cover discussions via instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp.

The party’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said: “If ministers and their advisers really have nothing to hide then they will have no problem handing over the emails and messages showing what government business was being conducted in secret, so the public know how their money was spent and these messages are secured for the long-promised public inquiry.”

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) did not respond to two requests for comment.

Downing Street admitted in July that Bethell had used private emails for government business despite denying it 24 hours earlier, but said he had abided by the guidance on copying in official accounts.

Bethell, a close ally of Hancock’s, told the House of Lords at the time: “In terms of the use of private email can I just reassure members that I have read the ministerial code, I have signed the ministerial code and I seek to uphold it in everything I do.”

He has also been criticised for failing to declare meetings with PPE suppliers that were awarded contracts and is facing a separate inquiry by the Lords standards watchdog over his sponsorship of a parliamentary pass for Gina Coladangelo, the aide Hancock had a relationship with in breach of Covid rules.

Bethell has written to the standards watchdog saying Coladangelo provided “unpaid parliamentary research support, helping me to draft speeches, engaging with stakeholders and assisting with my communications”. The DHSC blamed the failure to declare meetings on an “administrative error”.

The ICO is investigating the use of all private correspondence channels used by ministers – which could include tools such as WhatsApp – after concerns were raised about the former health secretary’s email, as well as private emails from Bethell.

The former health secretary resigned for breaching social distancing guidelines. His use of emails will form part of the investigation.

Bethell previously faced calls for his resignation after the Guardian revealed that a number of emails had been copied into his private email account. His address was copied into at least four official exchanges relating to a businessman who was attempting to get government contracts during the pandemic.

Elizabeth Denham, the information commissioner, has said the use of private channels to conduct government business was “a concerning one” and could lead people to feel there was “a loss of transparency about decisions affecting them and their loved ones”.

She said the effects of decisions taken by government especially during the past 18 months would continue for years to come. “It is through transparency and explaining these decisions that people can understand and trust them,” she added.

The ICO has said the use of private correspondence channels does not in itself break freedom of information or data protection rules. But Denham said she was concerned information in private email accounts or messaging services was forgotten, overlooked, auto-deleted or otherwise not available when a freedom of information request was later made.

“This frustrates the freedom of information process, and puts at risk the preservation of official records of decision-making. I also worry that emails containing personal detail are not properly secured in people’s personal email accounts.”

Multiple Torbay care homes have been reporting Covid infections, the council’s director of public health has confirmed.

Edward Oldfield www.devonlive.com

Speaking this week, Dr Lincoln Sergeant said that 17 residents and six staff in Torbay’s care homes have recently tested positive for the virus, with nine cases in one home alone.

The premises involved have not been revealed by the health director.

Dr Sergeant does not believe the break outs are because of poor infection control.

He said: “What we think is happening is that the homes are being bombarded by the higher background rate [of infections] for quite some time.”

He argues it is unlikely that a single breakout event has occurred and more probable that separate instances of infection entering the homes are happening, such as residents receiving visits from people with Covid.

Dr Sergeant said: “It just shows that when the background rates are high it’s very very difficult to prevent infections from getting in.

“Even doing the right things you will get the occasional breakthrough.”

One unvaccinated resident was taken to hospital, although no deaths have been reported as a result of the outbreak.

“The majority appear to be recovering nicely. We hope that situation holds into the future,” Dr Sergeant said.

Last month, infections in Torbay reached their highest recorded level since the pandemic began, with 960 cases in the week commencing 11 July.

Since then rates have fallen, with 564 new cases recorded in the week commencing 25 July.

During an outbreak in Torbay’s care homes in March, 11 residents and 20 staff tested positive.

Another outbreak happened in care homes in the Bay in late May.

Younger adults are now more likely to come down with the virus in Torbay.

As of 28 July, the weekly figure for people testing positive aged under 60 in the area was 532 people per 100,000, compared with just 102 per 100,000 for older people.

With the promise of the last bit of sunny weather for a few days, one of Cornwall’s most popular beaches is already heaving – and it’s likely to get busier by the end of the day.

Lee Trewhela www.devonlive.com

The RNLI has verified that Perranporth beach is already very busy with approximately 9,000 people finding their own little patch of sand.

All the car parks in the town were reported to have been full by 10.30am and the Perran lifeguard team say that the beach will get even busier today with the good weather and are expecting it to reach around 12,000 people later in the day, which is almost four times the population of the town.

RNLI lifeguard Rory Tellam, who is working at Perranporth today, said: “The surf today is still relatively small but is set to build towards the end of the week. With good weather and increasing surf we urge anyone planning to visit the coast to choose a lifeguarded beach.

“If you are heading in the water always swim between the red and yellow flags.”

“Be aware of your footing and don’t do out of your depth, keep an eye on the flags and make sure to stay between them where the lifeguards can see you.”

Cornwall’s beaches are expected to be even busier than normal this month as more people holiday in the Duchy due to the pandemic curbing overseas travel.

“Team Devon” is the new catch phrase apparently. – Owl

Ollie Heptinstall, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

Councils across Devon are to launch a bid for more devolved powers from Westminster.

The move comes after the government announced it was looking at reviewing its current arrangements with the counties and local authorities.

In a speech on ‘levelling up’ the country last month, prime minister Boris Johnson talked about the “need to rewrite the rulebook with new deals for the counties” and the possibility of directly elected mayors.

Devon’s councils plan to build on what they say are close working relationships developed during the pandemic when they formed ‘Team Devon’ to respond to the challenges of covid. The group, which does not include unitary authorities  Plymouth and Torbay, has the backing of business groups, public sector organisations and the county’s MPs.

Devon County Council leader John Hart, who chairs Team Devon, said: “I believe we have delivered for Devon during the pandemic and used the additional money that was available effectively and efficiently on behalf of our residents.

“Our regular meetings of council leaders and chief executives from the county and all the districts – along with town and parish representatives – brought us closer together and the trust we built up meant that we could act swiftly and decisively. We want to build on that cooperation and trust in a deal for Devon.

“It would require the government to support us to do the very best we can for Devon and its residents and businesses as we drive the recovery, tackle climate change, boost skills, improve our infrastructure and connectivity and confront the very real problems we have to face such as the shortage of affordable housing.

“We believe Team Devon is ideally placed to negotiate a deal for Devon with the government. So we’ve asked our officers to start preparing proposals that we can discuss with ministers and Whitehall over the summer so that we can be at the head of the queue when the levelling-up white paper is published.”

Teignbridge District Council leader Alan Connett broadly welcomes the joint statement from Team Devon: “If it’s possible to bring more powers down from government to our area, which helps us serve our communities better then we should be looking at that,” he said.

“The public have elected us, and elected their local representatives, but I think sometimes government tend to hold a lot of power which could be passed down locally.”

However, while Cllr Connett backed councils working closer together in some areas, he rejected the idea of a unitary authority for Devon like the one recently given the go-ahead in Somerset, saying it would be “an enormous cost, an enormous waste of time”.

“Our whole focus at the moment should be on the recovery from covid, on creating and protecting jobs, on booming our economy, on supporting our communities.

“From what I’ve seen in the past, when people start talking about local government reorganisation, it hasn’t done a jot for the public while all that’s been happening. A lot of money gets spent on it and now is not the time in my view.”

Devon County Council is now working with district authorities on developing proposals for more devolved powers for Devon. The bid will be sent to ministers later in the year.