Step forward “Private” Jupp

If he wasn’t Johnson’s fall guy, Raab would be up the creek without a paddleboard

 Marina Hyde Extract from www.theguardian.com

“… To put things into perspective, Raab appears to have tired so completely of the bare-knuckle briefing in Westminster that he’s gone for a mini-break in the Middle East. Or diplomatic mission, as his department officially has it. Alas, that same department has a whole lot more to say unofficially, with a series of hilariously unflattering off-the-record lines reported by the Economist probably the pick of the bunch. According to these, Raab is “tightly wound”, “controlling” and “cold”, and has sidelined ambassadors, diplomats and officials in favour of some kind of spad lads’ army, which has failed to build him any significant relationships with global counterparts. Some Foreign Office officials call him “five Is”, which apparently stands for “insular, imperious, idle, irascible and ignorant”.   …

Housebuilder Barratt Developments has seen revenues soar above pre-pandemic levels after it sold more homes at higher prices amid a booming property market.

Camilla Canocchi www.thisismoney.co.uk 

Revenues for the full-year to the end of June came in at £4.8billion, which is a 40 per cent increase compared to 2020 and also 1 per cent higher than 2019.

Pre-tax profits at the FTSE 100 company also rose 65 per cent to £812.2million compared to last year, although they remain some 11 per cent below 2019 levels. 

Boss David Thomas said there was a ‘very strong demand for houses across the country’ 

The surge in profit and revenue comes as house prices leapt this year thanks to a mix of rising demand, stamp duty holiday and low mortgage rates, 

Barratt saw the average selling price for private homes soar to around £325,000, from £310,600 in 2020 and £312,00 in 2019. 

The most recent Nationwide house price index reported the average house price across the UK had risen 11 per cent to £248,857 in the year to August.

Barratt completed the sale of some 17,243 homes, which is an increase of 37 per cent from 2020 but still around 3 per cent below 2019.

And it said it plans to increase the number of home sales in the current fiscal year to pre-pandemic levels wholly owned completions allaying concerns about a cooling housing market.

The group is targeting between 17,000 and 17,250 sales in the current financial year, with an additional 750 joint-venture completions, which would take the total above the 17,856 home sales completed in 2019.

Chief executive David Thomas said there was a ‘very strong demand for houses across the country’, leaving the company on on track to hit its long-term target of 20,000 a year. 

Forward sales – a key housing metric for homes to be delivered and paid for at a later date – as of the end of August stood at £3.94billion, against £3.71billion in 2020 and £3billion in 2019.

However, it also said it was seeing build costs rise, currently by between 4 per cent and 5 per cent, with materials more expensive due to wider industry supply issues, as well as skilled labour shortages pushing worker wages higher amid a booming sector.

Annual results confirmed a £81.5million bill for cladding safety works in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster, taking its total hit so far since 2017 to £184.2million. 

The group unveiled a final dividend payout of 21.9p a share, bringing the full-year payout to 29.4p, up from 29.1p in 2019, with the group halting dividends last year due to the pandemic. 

Barratt shares were down 2.9 per cent to 721p at 1pm. 

Nationwide said the average house price has risen close to the £250,000 mark, but that remains considerably below Barratt’s average sales price

Nicholas Hyett, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the fall in shares is probably down to a lack of detail about shareholder returns.

‘All the signs in Barratt’s results are that the housing market remains robust,’ he said. 

‘Despite the progress the market seems disappointed with the results, and we suspect that’s down to limited detail about additional shareholder returns. The group exited the last financial year with over £1.3bn in net cash. 

‘A good portion of that is earmarked for helping the group reach 20,000 completions a year, but with land purchases already approaching that level that still leaves some surplus.

‘Still, with a dividend yield north of 5 per cent, profits back on track and end markets that look robust despite the recent housing boom, Barratt’s weathered the storm well, coming out of the pandemic with solid foundations on which to build.’

A village in North Devon has lost its affordable housing due to a council mistake.

Alex Davis www.devonlive.com 

Planning permission for Lower Broad Park, in West Down, Ilfracombe, was approved in January 2016 and was intended to provide five affordable homes for local people. Despite this, residents were told last year that this requirement would no longer be fulfilled.

Stewart Bryant, former landowner of what is now Lower Broad Park, has lived in West Down, Ilfracombe all his life and grew up himself in council housing provided by the village. Stewart read a speech to the Planning Committee in 2016 highlighting his intention to provide five affordable homes where local people could grow the community, resulting in the addition of a Section 106 requirement to the application.

The Section 106 attached to the planning permission created the legal requirement of five affordable homes within the new development, which could only be rented to tenants with an existing tie to the village. In addition, the application promised financial contributions to the community to be used to make improvements to the village hall, local primary school and community field.

In November 2017, Acorn Developments submitted applications for a drainage ditch, followed by an application to amend design and layout in August 2018.When signing off these amendments, North Devon District Council failed to carry over the Section 106 requirement across to the new application, due to oversight by an officer.

Stewart says the council’s lack of monitoring throughout the development has left his vision for the site in tatters.

He said: “The processes North Devon District have in place are not fit for purpose. With the Section 106 agreement, they should have monitored the site but they didn’t. They let this drift by.”

“This is such a lovely, working community here and that Section 106 was really valuable to this community. This was our own opportunity to get some affordable housing for local people and to have that torn away from us on the 11th hour was a huge blow to everyone.”

“We all make mistakes but I feel the council should stand up and make it public that they made a mistake. I doubt we’ll get another opportunity to provide new homes here for the next 30 years and I think they are now trying to sweep this under the carpet.”

The properties first appeared on Devon Home Choice in September 2019. After being told they would be moved in by Christmas, prospective local tenants were put on hold until Spring 2020, before being told a change of tenure removed the social housing requirement.

Many of these prospective tenants had already moved out of their homes and were on standby in temporary holiday accommodation.

According to the report, the council did not become aware of the error until March 2020, when Acorn Homes contacted them to state that acting on legal advice, they believed the site was no longer bound to S106 restrictions.

North Devon District Council and Acorn Homes have now agreed that one affordable house will now be sold and a payment of £106,500 is to be made for community projects.

In a report to the Planning Committee on December 9 2020, former Head of Place Michael Tichford stated: “A deed of variation should have been produced to modify the S106 agreement so that it related to the consent as amended by the subsequent applications. Unfortunately, this was not done, due to an oversight.”

Despite acknowledgement for the error, Stewart claimed many of the emails sent by residents and the Parish Council have been ignored.

A spokesperson for North Devon Council said: “It is confirmed that an error was made in relation to application 60385 which was an application for the erection of 17 dwellings on land adjacent to Pearldean, West Down, now known as Lower Broad Park.

“The error was that the terms of a section 106 agreement negotiated in relation to an earlier application on the site were not carried forward to this application. Subsequently, the developer, Acorn Homes, also argued that the level of benefits secured via the agreement could not be achieved through the development.

“North Devon Council (NDC) and Acorn Homes did not agree on the legal effect of the error but a compromise was reached whereby some of the benefits that had previously been agreed would still be provided. In particular, one unit of affordable housing and financial contributions totally £106,500 were to be provided.

“Those contributions are secured under a further section 106 agreement which is binding on the land and are to be paid towards community facilities and education. Whilst the triggers for making the payments have now been reached, payments have not yet been made by Acorn Homes and the council is currently corresponding with the developers to secure those contributions.

“The original error was unprecedented and is very much regretted by the council. That error has been acknowledged by NDC in its dealings with the Parish Council and with affected local residents and the council will continue in its efforts to secure the benefits described”.

Mark Thomas, Managing Director of Acorn Developments, said: “We have contributions to make and we are aware of those.

“The scheme has lost money, so it has been more challenging to make those payments, but we are looking to make a payment on September 31, followed by a final payment on October 31.”

According to Cllr David Worden, Leader of North Devon Council, 117 affordable homes have been delivered during the pandemic, with 636 affordable homes awaiting completion since May.

Within his statement, Cllr Worden said the housing crisis in North Devon “needs a joined up approach from local and national government to resolve these issues and will need honesty and commitment from all those involved.”

Stewart said the council’s handling of the development at West Down shouldn’t be repeated elsewhere in North Devon if it wants to discuss housing as their highest priority.

He said: “There’s a lack of affordable housing in the area and this is one example where the process has failed. The council are talking about creating affordable housing in North Devon, but the way that these developments are being managed needs to change.

“The affordable homes aspect of the development has been finished and empty for at least 18 months. At that time, it was a disgrace. Five homes empty and not occupied with the housing crisis in North Devon.”

“I think their approach has been incredibly rude, especially to our parish council. Our parish council are very passionate about the village but throughout this whole situation they have just been ignored and shut out.

“This is something that will affect our village for years and years to come.”

There are four levels of DBS check. They reveal what criminal records may be held on central police records and for enhanced checks, local records as well. Lower levels report “unspent” convictions, higher levels “spent” convictions as well:

• Basic DBS
• Standard DBS
• Enhanced DBS
• Enhanced DBS with barring list

Which are we going for?

The interesting question is whether or when DBS checks would have prevented either of the “rotten apples” cases highlighted by Owl.. Remember you are innocent until found guilty.

As has been pointed out in a recent comment, DBS checks are not without flaws and may provide a false sense of security.

The introduction of blanket DBS checks for councillors just by virtue of being a councillor, rather than on the basis  of their access to vulnerable groups, is something Owl believes should be considered nationally, not introduced by councils piecemeal.

Owl notes the Tory commitment to promoting openness and transparency. Maybe councillors’ declaration of interests would benefit from being given greater scrutiny?

Clearing the way forward – East Devon’s Conservative Group calls for mandatory DBS checks for councillors

Councillor Phil Twiss exmouth.nub.news 

Following the sentencing of a former member of East Devon District Council (EDDC) after being found guilty of despicable sexual crimes against children, the Conservative Group of councillors on EDDC are calling for Disclosure and Barring (DBS) checks for all existing councillors.

The Conservative Group wants every prospective candidate and all existing councillors to undergo the checks which show any criminal convictions now, with the enhanced version required if an individual is expected to work with vulnerable people, including children, being demonstrated as necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move would improve safety and protection whilst promoting openness and transparency. Previous calls by the Conservative Group to introduce such a measure have been ignored by other groups within the council.

Cllr Colin Brown, Leader of the Conservative Group, said: “We are shocked and appalled by the horrendous crimes that have come to light and our thoughts are with the victims.

“We must do everything we can to protect the public and we are calling for DBS checks to be carried out on every existing councillor and future candidates.

“I would like to see this initiative implemented as a prerequisite for standing and serving as a councillor and we plan to introduce the measure for anyone wanting to join the Conservative Group.

“We are calling on every councillor and the current leadership of the council to back our call and introduce the checks as soon as possible.

“It may not currently be a legal requirement, but it is unquestionably the right thing to do and if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.”

This one is a lot smaller than “Boardmasters” but Covid-19 is still likely to have a good time. So much for “enhanced response” – Owl

Latest rates of cases of Covid-19 in Devon and Cornwall show small decreases. The rates remain high when viewed in a national context.

www.bbc.co.uk

The figures show the number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in the seven days up to and including 29 August, with the previous week’s numbers in brackets.

The breakdown of the figures by local authority area is:

• Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly – 485 (down from 509)
• Plymouth – 497 (down from 521)
• Exeter – 360 (down from 380)
• Mid Devon – 403 (down from 448)
• East Devon – 380 (down from 385)
• Torbay – 419 (down from 446)
• Teignbridge – 407 (down from 420)
• South Hams – 420 (up from 409)
• West Devon – 374 (down from 387)
• North Devon – 376 (down from 385)
• Torridge – 375 (down from 397)

For comparison, the figure for England is 301.

There were 11 deaths in Devon and 6 in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

goodlawproject.org 

“Unimaginable resources” were thrown at Test and Trace. Yet it “cannot point to a measurable difference to the progress of the pandemic”. That’s what the Conservative-majority Public Accounts Committee found. There was a measurable difference, though, for the owners of the biggest of the pandemic contract winners, Innova. The LA Times reported that they flashed “an Innova bank statement with a $175-million balance as proof of funds”.  They also went on “a corporate and personal luxury buying spree”, including several Gulfstream jets and luxury houses.

Things are no better when one turns to PPE procurement. The Government’s own Counter Fraud Function         “assessed a high risk of fraud in the procurement of PPE”. 

You might think this is cause for the Government’s Anti-Corruption Champion, John Penrose MP, to take a look. His role, after all, is to “scrutinise and challenge the performance of departments and agencies”. And the sums involved are no laughing matter. Together, the Test and Trace and PPE programmes cost a staggering £50bn – about the size of the whole annual defence budget.

But rather than chasing corruption, he seems to spend his time besmirching those who do. A follower of Good Law Project has shared with us an extraordinary letter he received from John Penrose, which contains a number of out-and-out falsehoods. 

The letter says: 

• “Since the start of the pandemic [Good Law Project] have brought scores of legal cases against the Government and, so far, they’ve failed to make almost all of them stand up in court.” 

That’s just not true. At the time of writing, we have had only two substantive court decisions and have won both of them. And, of the 14 cases we have issued since the start of 2020, the Court has granted permission in 11 at the first time of asking. Official statistics (beginning in 2010) show that this happens in only 17% of all judicial reviews. Good Law Project’s success rate is 78%.

It also says:

• “In both cases, the judge said that their broader allegations of dishonesty or actual corruption (i.e. anything more than failing to follow the bureaucratic process precisely enough) weren’t proven.”

That is also false. In none of the decided cases did we allege dishonesty or corruption. So, his statement that judges dismissed our allegations of dishonesty or actual corruption is a pure and false figment of his imagination.

Is Penrose indifferent to the truth of what he says? Or is our notional anti-corruption champion telling out-and-out lies to try and smear those doing the job he should be doing?

Penrose goes on to say:

“I should probably add that a couple of their cases are against appointments at NHS Test & Trace, where my wife worked as a senior volunteer.”

That’s not entirely frank either. 

The truth is that the person in charge of the programme that delivered unimaginable wealth to Innova’s owners but made no measurable difference to the progress of the pandemic is Baroness Dido Harding. And John Penrose is her husband. Yep, you read it right: he’s charged with scrutinising whether there was corruption in the programme headed up by his own wife. It’s laughable – but it’s no laughing matter.

In fact, Good Law Project is bringing a judicial review – for which a court has granted us permission – of the decision to put Harding to lead the £37bn Test and Trace fiasco. 

What does all of this add up to? 

We wouldn’t normally respond to baseless slurs from a Parliamentarian. But what makes Penrose’s letter significant is that the anti-corruption champion has a responsibility to “engage with external stakeholders, including… civil society organisations”.

There is likely to be – the Government itself has acknowledged – fraud in pandemic procurement. And despite being a small not-for-profit without the powers of a law enforcement agency, Good Law Project has uncovered two highly suspicious cases involving contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds: one involving Priti Patel and another involving vast contracts awarded to a jeweller based in Florida.

Penrose’s letter tells the truth about his role. He’s not an anti-corruption champion – he’s a man speaking falsehoods to try and stop those working to uncover it. 

It is only with your support that we can continue to hold Government to account. If you would like to make a donation, you can do so here.

The public is being invited to have a say on Mid Devon’s new housing strategy until 2025, which includes a target for 160 new council houses.

[Mid-Devon is currently a “no overall control” council with 20 Conservatives, 11 Lib Dem, 8 Independent and 2 Green councillors]

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

The authority’s cabinet approved the draft strategy for a consultation that will begin later this week and last until the end of the month.

The 40 objectives set out in the document include 160 new council houses of a mix of social and affordable rent. Social rent homes are typically let at around half the local market rate by a registered provider, while affordable rent is up to 80 per cent.

The strategy also details how the council intends to retrofit its existing housing stock to a net zero carbon standard by 2050, help provide serviced plots for custom and self-build housing, provide eight new pitches for the gypsy and traveller communities and minimise rough sleeping to five people or fewer in Mid Devon at any one time.

In the introduction to the 56-page document, Councillor Bob Evans (Conservative, Lower Culm), deputy leader and cabinet member for housing and property services, said: “It is important that we support housing growth to meet a growing population and to support economic growth, but this cannot be achieved solely by developing new homes, but also by focusing on our existing stock and making better use of it for everyone, including our vulnerable households.”

Debating the strategy, Councillor Graeme Barnell (Lib Dem, Newbrooke) said that while its contents had been well-received at the scrutiny committee and homes policy development group, the plan was not ambitious enough.

“The housing crisis in Mid Devon – so-called – is one primarily of affordability. This plan, where it does address the issue of council housing and affordable housing, is very limited in its scope. All national studies suggest we need a hundred [social rented] houses a year, in addition to the current figures, and this comes nowhere near that.”

Cllr Barnell also criticised the proposed two-week public consultation on the plan, but Simon Newcombe, group manager for public health and regulatory services, later confirmed the consultation would stay open until the end of September.

Responding to Cllr Barnell’s comments, Cllr Evans said the plan was something the council “will deliver” and the “possibilities beyond this will be worked upon”.

“What we wanted to set out was something that we could be held accountable to and that we know that we can deliver. This isn’t the extent of where we believe we can go.”

Mr Newcombe added that, following the end of the consultation, final updates will be made to the strategy in early October before it is brought back to the cabinet for approval.

School spending per pupil in England will remain lower than in 2010 following a decade of education budget cuts, new research has revealed.

www.independent.co.uk

Boris Johnson’s government has committed extra £7.1bn funding for schools in England for 2022-2023 – but it will not reverse a cut in real-term spending per pupil over the past decade, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS).

Total school spending per pupil in England was just over £6,500 in the latest complete year of data in 2019-20, some 9 per cent lower in real terms than its high-point of £7,200 in 2009-10, meaning spending will still be 1 per cent lower than a decade ago after accounting for inflation.

The think tank also said disadvantaged pupils in the poorest parts of England have suffered from the biggest cuts over the decade of austerity, and its research shows they are now receiving the smallest increase in extra spending.

Between 2017–18 and 2022–23, funding allocated for the most privileged schools will increase by 8 to 9 per cent in real terms, compared with only 5 per cent for the most deprived schools.

Labour said Conservative cuts have “hammered” school budgets over the last decade and accused the government of “stripping away” children’s opportunities.

The opposition urged ministers to invest more in post-Covid catch-up funding, as House of Commons library data showed the UK has outstripped most European countries in the length of time schools were closed for during the pandemic.

Luke Sibieta, research fellow at IFS, said the “big squeeze” in school spending per pupil in England was the largest in at least 40 years.

“This will make it that much harder for schools to address the major challenge of helping pupils catch up on lost learning alongside everything else they are required to do,” he said.

The IFS expert added: “Schools serving disadvantaged communities face the biggest challenges. They faced the biggest cuts up to 2019 and are now receiving the smallest rises. This pattern runs counter to the government’s aim of levelling up poorer parts of the country.”

Josh Hillman, director of education at the Nuffield Foundation, the charitable trust which commissioned the research, added: “It is crucial that schools in deprived areas receive appropriate and well-directed funding so that they can help to close the disadvantage gap and ensure all children can reach their potential.”

Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, said the IFS report showed how “Conservative cuts have hammered school budgets over the last decade”.

The Labour frontbencher added: “Children’s opportunities have been stripped away as class sizes have soared to record levels and enriching extracurricular activities have been cut back.”

Since the start of last year children in the UK have been out of class on nearly half (44 per cent) of days – amounting to longer school closures than any European country except Italy.

The shadow education secretary said the long stretches pupils spent out of school was partly the fault of failures by education secretary Gavin Williamson.

“The Conservatives’ failure to respond to the Covid crisis has kept kids out of class for far longer than their European counterparts,” said Ms Green – calling on the government to make sure proper ventilation is in place so Covid outbreaks can be minimised this autumn.

“As the new school year starts, Gavin Williamson is again burying his head in the sand, ignoring the advice of scientific experts and risking creating a climate of chaos for schools if Covid rates rise,” she added.

A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said the £7.1bn increase in funding for schools, compared to 2019-20 funding levels was “the biggest uplift to school funding in a decade”.

The DfE added: “Next year, funding is increasing by 3.2 per cent overall, and by 2.8 per cent per pupil, compared to 2021-22. The National Funding Formula continues to distribute this fairly, based on the needs of schools and their pupil cohorts.”

Letters to the Guardian. www.theguardian.com 

Thank you, Rachel Clarke, for highlighting the disturbing emerging reality of the so-called New Hospital Programme (For a doctor, the Tories’ empty promises on hospitals are soul-destroying, 23 August). Just look at West Hertfordshire NHS trust, one of eight in the first wave of NHP projects. When Boris Johnson visited Watford hospital in October 2019, he claimed the area would soon have “world-class facilities”. But it is not turning out like that.

The trust’s preferred option is for a new hospital facility to be housed in three tower blocks in a heavily congested and inaccessible spot, next to the current Watford hospital. Other local hospitals would get minimal investment. The trust’s choice has zero chance of being approved by the government. It will cost more than £900m, well over any budget – a unicorn hospital.

Several surveys have shown that many local people and experts would prefer what we advocate – investment in a really new hospital on a clear site, accessible for everyone. Given the financial constraints, the most likely outcome of the NHP for West Hertfordshire is a fudged and lengthy refurbishment of the existing cramped, unpopular and decrepit Watford buildings.

Let’s hope this sorry story of mismanagement isn’t a foretaste of what is to come for the whole of the programme.

Philip Aylett

Coordinator, New Hospital Campaign, Hemel Hempstead

Dr Rachel Clarke asks why Sajid Javid lies. The question can be answered with an example of the three-word slogans Dr Clarke references in her column: “He’s a Tory.” Nothing more is needed.

Steven Julians

Romford, London

Your editorial (29 August) catalogues the unforgivable treatment of NHS staff. But in your analysis and the suggested remedy, you miss what is the key factor in the difficulties facing the NHS: its decline is deliberate government policy. For a decade (following a pattern set by earlier Tory and Labour governments) the service has been managed on the basis of plans prepared by management consultants. These have reached their endgame with the health and care bill, which will return to the Commons in the autumn.

This bill will make lawful what has been happening largely without public debate or even awareness. Next April the NHS will be abolished. It will be replaced by more than 40 local variants whose boards will eventually be controlled by giant corporations – many from the US health insurance sector, some already with contracts in the service.

If this is allowed to continue, it will put an end to the clapping and the rainbow posters as more and more people are forced to go private – which has always been the Tory ambition.

Kevin Donovan

Birkenhead, Merseyside

Re the TUC’s call for more public holidays (Report, 30 August), may I suggest 5 July, the date of the creation of the NHS, as a suitable thank you to those who got us through the pandemic? A petition that I recently launched on the parliamentary website to achieve exactly that aim – the creation of an NHS Day – has the added benefit of proposing a gratitude bonus for all NHS staff: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/590154

Gal Travis

Norwich

Private Eye notes that the housing crisis in Torbay seems to have accelerated since the then Tory council spent £2.35m on beach huts compared to £470,000 on affordable housing. “Get a grip” local Tory MP tells Lib Dem Leader.

Private Eye recalls that in 2017 Alison Hernandez suggested that licensed gun holders could be used to fight terrorism in rural areas: “We’re a highly armed community”.

More than £3million is going to be spent on upgrading a number of public toilets across East Devon, saving the council thousands of pounds on running costs for years to come.

eastdevon.gov.uk

More than £3million is going to be spent on upgrading a number of public toilets across East Devon, saving the council thousands of pounds on running costs for years to come.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) is planning to use a substantial amount of capital investment to ensure the district has the best, most modernised loos, located in the right place, that cost less money to run while also maintaining the highest standards of cleanliness.

The consultation is running for the next eight weeks and closes at 5pm on Friday, 1 October 2021. (See this earlier post for the background to this consultation.)

The authority can’t continue to operate all the public toilets as they currently are, so is also investigating the locations and potential alternative uses for some sites, to make best use of what there is.

Residents are now being asked to share their views in a consultation on the project that looks at how much the public toilets are used at different locations, possible alternative uses, some of which could include public toilets provided by businesses or organisations – such as a café with a public toilet or another community facility.

The idea for ‘pay-to-use’ public conveniences is also being put forward – this could help pay for the running costs of the toilets that are important for residents and tourists alike.

There has been a lack of investment and refurbishment of the toilets over the years and now the majority of these facilities are difficult to maintain, to clean and many require major improvement works. The recent public health emergency has highlighted that our facilities are very difficult to maintain to the new high standard of cleanliness and hygiene that users now expect.

Due to reductions in central Government funding, over the past 10 years, EDDC is facing a £3million funding gap in 2022, unless it changes the way it operates some services.

In 2019 £473,000 was spent running the public convenience service. This provided 30 public toilet sites, 26 owned and operated by the council and four maintained for others.

It amounts to an average of £15,786 a year to directly look after each toilet block, this includes the maintenance of the toilets and providing water, toilet rolls, cleaning them twice a day and management costs.

You can find out more about other costs such as depreciation of the capital assets and recharges in our Cabinet Report here.

The council has also looked into using a third party contractor, to help with the maintenance and services, but thorough investigations showed it would cost less to keep the service ‘in house’.

Councillor Geoff Jung, EDDC Portfolio Holder for Coast, Country and Environment said:  

“We know that public toilets are important to residents and vital to our visitor economy, and an emotive subject, which is why we are asking for your views, so we understand what you consider is important. 

“Most of our public toilets are now requiring major updating and over the last 40 years there has been considerable changes to the areas they are located in, so a total reappraisal is now required of where toilets are required and what facilities are important for residents and visitors.   

“We plan to invest £3million in our toilets to create top class, premier facilities to be proud of, which can address the imbalance in equal access for all, to provide a level of toilet provision within a reasonable walking distance, incorporate adult changing spaces in some prime locations and make better use of some locations for other community use, such as café’s or spaces that still incorporate a public access toilet, such as the Hideaway Café in Seaton. 

“We have to look at doing something differently as we can no longer afford to continue with the status quo, and we believe the proposals we have put forward offer the best balance of high quality accessible public toilets, additional uses that would be a benefit and provide a service that is sustainable for the future.

“Please read our proposals and use the online consultation so we know what you would like.

Tell us what you think about our proposals by filling in the online questionnaire by visiting www.eastdevon.gov.uk/publictoiletreview   

If you need a copy of the consultation on paper or in any other format, please contact us to discuss your needs by email: publictoiletreview@eastdevon.gov.uk or call 01395 517569.

In this week’s Exmouth Journal Simon Jupp’s regular column concentrates on EDDC’s consultation on public loos.

This is one of EDDC’s legacy problems: dilapidated loos and reduced government funding. Simon Jupp explains how the government is trying to help by removing business rates from them – big deal.

Is he being a bit disingenuous?

What we need is recognition that tourist areas face huge costs without any additional revenue, particularly in the past two years. The loos in the seaside towns during the pandemic have been cleaned four times a day, and don’t mention the cost of rubbish collection. Local authority funding can’t continue to bear the brunt of austerity cuts. – Owl

Simon Jupp MP:

East Devon’s high streets are alive with the sound of people spending pounds in our shops and whether they are visitors or residents, they may also need to spend a penny too.

We are a first-class tourist hotspot and need to remember that our reliance on the visitor economy is based around the experience of the people who choose to visit our towns and villages. They’ll buy lunch, enjoy a coffee or something stronger or shop until they drop. Their contribution to the local economy and creating and preserving jobs should never be taken for granted.

If they have a bad experience, they may not return, and they may share with others the frustrations they encountered. One such experience might be if they are caught short whilst shopping. Currently, public toilets dotted around our towns provide a welcome solution but some may not be around for much longer.

East Devon District Council is currently carrying out a public consultation to help decide the future of our public conveniences. It’s fair to say that some of our loos are a bit bog standard so they are also investing £3 million in some sites to bring them up to scratch.

However, the sites earmarked for closure are a cause for concern and I’m not sure of the logic used to put them on the list. I can’t quite understand the rationale behind potential plans to close the toilets in the Market Place in Sidmouth. They are smack-bang in the middle of town and are busy. I’ve regularly seen queues outside over the years, especially during the summer. They’ll remain open at the Triangle, which is further from the seafront and less obvious to visitors.

I’m aware of significant concerns about the potential closure of the toilets at the Imperial Recreation Ground in Exmouth which would be an extremely foolish move given the popularity of the area for residents and visitors. Meanwhile, the toilets at Orcombe Point also face an uncertain future. Last summer, the area received nationwide attention for the wrong reasons after brawls broke out alongside some very unpleasant antisocial behaviour. Sadly, the country didn’t see our area in a great light – but they did see how busy the area can be. If these loos are closed, signage to the nearby Foxholes toilets will need to be improved dramatically.

Finally, the lavatories at Brook Road and Station Road in Budleigh Salterton are also for the chop. Given the age demographic of the town and the number of visitors, closing both toilets which are so near to the high street would seem rather short-sighted.

The government is trying to help and I supported legislation to help councils keep these services open. As announced by the Chancellor in the last budget, The Non-Domestic Rating (Public Lavatories) Act 2021 introduces a 100% business rates relief for public toilets. The relief is backdated to April 2020. By effectively exempting public toilets from business rates, the new policy reduces running costs for operators of public toilets (including local councils) to help keep more of these facilities open.

According to EDDC, it saved them £40,000 which I understand is a small dent in the cost of running the service across East Devon. I understand that discussions between town councils and East Devon District Council may help save some of the sites currently destined for closure. I really hope negotiations are successful for the sake of visitors and residents in our towns and villages.

If you want to have your say on East Devon District Council’s plans, you have until 5 pm on October 1st to respond to the council’s questionnaire on their website. The current administration at the council will then decide on the future of our toilets. I sincerely hope they make the right decisions for East Devon or I fear more people will ask why they are paying ever increasing council tax

Sadly, one of the reasons local news in print is declining is that it is obviously finding it difficult to keep pace with electronic news. The John Humphreys story is a case in point.

The Crown Prosecution Service published his conviction and sentence on 20 August, along with a statement of Police praise for the two victims.

On 24 August Ian Thomas, Chairman EDDC, published a statement expressing sympathy for the victims and announcing the calling of an Extraordinary General Meeting on 7 August to consider withdrawing from Humphreys the honour of the title Alderman.

Today, 1 September, the Exmouth Journal carries these elements of the story on page 3 under two headings: 

Police praise for two victims in historic sexual abuse inquiry.

“Shocking acts of violence says” Judge Humphreys groomed and assaulted.

There was a time when this would have been front page news within days.

Some affordable home ownership schemes are open to people on incomes as high as £90,000

www.independent.co.uk 

The bulk of the government’s new £8.6bn “affordable homes programme” will be directed at helping homebuyers rather than renters, housing secretary Robert Jenrick announced on Tuesday.

Out of the 119,000 new homes being built, 57,000 will be for ownership, and just 29,600 will be for social rent. Meanwhile, 6,250 are set to be rural affordable homes.

Mr  Jenrick said: “Creating more opportunities for homeownership is central to this government. This £9bn funding is a landmark moment for our affordable homes programme and will ensure good quality housing for all as we build back better after the pandemic.

“This huge funding package will make the ambition of owning a home a reality for families by making it realistic and affordable.”

But some so-called “affordable homeownership” schemes have required prospective homeowners to have saved a deposit with a stable income to be considered for a mortgage.

In London, “affordable” shared ownership properties can be open to people earning as much as £90,000, while outside the capital they can be open to people on an £80,000 salary.

The housing secretary added:  “We are also ensuring tens of thousands of new homes for rent are built in the years ahead, including social rent, so those on the lowest incomes can enjoy good quality, secure, rented homes, built and managed by reputable providers.” 

Housing tenure is considered a large predictor of how a person votes, with renters typically supporting Labour and owners backing the Tories.

The government has pledged to build up to 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s but is set to miss this target by a decade. In 2019, UK housebuilding fell to its lowest quarterly rate for three years, and in 2020, housebuilding output dropped by a fifth.

Lib Dem Spokesperson for Housing Tim Farron said: “With social housing waiting lists now over 500,000, this is too little, too late. The Government should be making delivering social housing the main priority, not an afterthought.

“This announcement once again completely overlooks rural communities which are being turned into ghost towns because of excessive second homeownership. From Cornwall to Cumbria, the Government has well and truly turned their back on our rural towns and villages.”

Dominic Raab accused of being ‘missing in action’ as he was on holiday when Kabul fell to Taliban – The Telegraph

Dominic Raab slapped down by ex-head of Army for beach holiday while Kabul fell – Mirror

Tory criticism mounts over Dominic Raab’s handling of Afghanistan crisis – The Guardian

Dominic Raab under pressure as delegated Afghanistan phone call never took place – The Telegraph

Afghanistan blame game erupts as British soldiers fly home – The Times

Dominic Raab ‘will be “toast” at the next reshuffle’ – Daily Mail

Dominic Raab ‘faces axe’ after up to 9,000 people left stranded in Afghanistan… – The Sun

PM claims to back Dominic Raab, but a government insider reckons he’s toast – The Canary

Dominic Raab’s BBC interview savaged as he slams ‘ridiculous’ claims he’ll be sacked – Express

‘Control freak Dominic Raab is toast in the next reshuffle’, govt source claims – Daily Advent

Johnson and Raab blasted for cringe photo op at Afghanistan crisis centre – Mirror

Might a little bit of judicious CV “airbrushing” be needed? – Owl