Because of its importance, and the volume of material to consider, the case is being rescheduled to give it more time in court. 

This must be immensely frustrating to both Cathy Gardner and Fay Harris, and potentially more costly. – Owl

From the case page of crowd justice

Having launched my case against the Government and the NHS  on 12 June 2020 for the many failures to protect care home residents (including my father), the case eventually came before the Court for trial on Tuesday this week (19/10). It has been a long and hard road to get to this point. The Government have resisted us at every turn and sought to conceal key documents that explained what advice they had been given and why they decided what they did.

On Tuesday the Court told us that they considered there was much more information that they had to consider than time allowed. Although the previous judge ruled that the case could be heard in 4 days, the judges hearing the case this week decided that, because of the importance of the case and the volume of material, a longer hearing would be needed. This is likely to be early next year. Whilst the delay is frustrating, a longer trial will give us more opportunity to expose the detail of the Government’s failings to the Court. A longer hearing will ultimately help justice to be done.

I am so grateful to everyone who has given to the case. Without you I would have had to have given up long ago. The decision of the Court to adjourn the Trial means your help is needed again and more than ever. If you are able to give again please do so, and please also share this page with friends and colleagues. Thankyou for your support and generosity. 

Coalition politics in action, what a welcome change from the “Old Guard” – Owl

Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter honiton.nub.news

The government needs to reverse its decision to end the £20-a-week Universal Credit uplift according to a cross-party motion passed by East Devon District Council (EDDC) this week.

The boost to payments, which began in March last year to help with the financial pressures of the pandemic, ended on October 6. The government’s decision has proved divisive and has come under criticism from across the political spectrum, including from many Conservative MPs. Tory councillors on Exeter City Council voted with other parties this week in support of a motion to ask the government to review the decision.

However, some people have defended the switch to pre-pandemic rates, saying the country can’t afford to continue with the uplift. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a think tank, making the uplift permanent would cost taxpayers around £6 billion a year.

Latest figures show more than 2,300 households are on Universal Credit across East Devon. Earlier this year an analysis by the Trade Union Congress, a federation of trade unions, predicted the south west would have the highest proportion of low-income workers affected by a £20-a-week cut.

Following a vote at a full council meeting this week, East Devon councillors agreed to write to the prime minister and the chancellor asking them to re-introduce the £20 payment “as a matter of urgency to the thousands of individuals, families and their children in East Devon that will be adversely affected by this cut in financial support to the most vulnerable.”

Councillor Paul Millar (Labour, Exmouth Halsdon), who introduced the motion, told the council: “With rising energy prices somewhat out of the government’s control, this is the one lever government can pull to help the situation.

“This particularly affects residents in our area due to the gulf between wages and rents and house prices in our district.

“Some cynics may argue this letter will achieve absolutely nothing and that may well be the case but I think we have a duty to our residents to say we are doing all we can to try to help this situation and let them know that we are against this ill-timed cut.”

Councillor Megan Armstrong (Independent, Exmouth Halsdon), who chairs the the council’s poverty working panel, said: “If every council in the country writes to the chancellor and prime minister in the same vein we might actually achieve something.”

Councillor Jack Rowland (Independent East Devon Alliance, Seaton), portfolio holder for finance, also supported the motion and called the decrease in Universal Credit “pernicious.” He said the impacts of the cut will be worsened by escalating energy costs, the recent end of the furlough scheme, rising inflation and the increase in national insurance from April next year.

Council Steve Gazzard (Liberal Democrats, Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh) said: “I’m really pleased to be able to give my support to this motion. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that there is a crisis looming at this present time.”

He said more and more people have come to him seeking the help of food banks since the end of the uplift and added: “We all know people in our own villages and towns that are absolutely struggling.” Cllr Gazzard said he worried struggling families will “be put through hell” trying to balance bills over the Christmas period.

In passing the motion, the council also agreed to promote employment programmes and to request its cabinet to look at ways of putting additional resources into the council’s anti-poverty strategy.

However, Councillor Colin Brown (Conservative, Dunkeswell and Otterhead), leader of the Conservative group at EDDC, criticised the move and pointed to the government’s recent launch of the Household Support Fund, a £500 million kitty for councils in England to help people meet daily needs such as food, clothing, and utilities. Devon County Council, of which EDDC is a district, received £5 million pounds from the fund at the start of October.

Cllr Brown said: “In view of the fact that this household support fund has now been made available, I cannot agree to writing to the government asking for temporary measures to be extended as this new support fund will be available on a basis of those who are actually in need.”

The motion passed despite most of the council’s Conservative Group abstaining from the vote.

In a statement, the Labour group at EDDC, consisting of councillor Jake Bonetta (Honiton St Michael’s) and Cllr Paul Millar, said the Conservative Group’s failure to support the motion was “cowardly” and “heartless”, adding: “People living in East Devon, so many of whom work already, are facing an unimaginable winter ahead – facing a stark choice between heating, electricity, and food.”

In a separate statement, Cllr Bonetta praised Conservative councillor Mike Allen (Honiton St Michael’s) for defying his party to vote in support of the motion.

Critics around the country argue the £20 reduction Universal Credit has increased pressure on the 5.8 million people on the benefit in the UK. Last month, homelessness charity Crisis warned the move could put 100,000 private renters at risk of homelessness.

Speaking in September, transport secretary Grant Schapps defended the cut to Universal Credit, saying: “I think most people recognise that if it’s brought in for the pandemic, it’s going to end as we move back to people going back to work and more normal times.”

In a supporting document for the motion passed by EDDC, Cllr Millar argued that savings from the end of the uplift will be lost by councils spending more to provide emergency temporary accommodation and that it would put further strain on the NHS as it deals with the physical and mental impacts of homelessness.

It has been revealed recently that EDDC spent just over £400,000 on temporary accommodation for people in the 2020-21 financial year. The rise, attributed in large part to the impact of the pandemic, is a 140 per cent increase on the 2018-19 financial year when £286,000 was spent.

Boris Johnson used the £2.6m Downing Street briefing room for a private screening of the new James Bond film, No 10 has admitted.

www.independent.co.uk 

The government has been under fire for spending millions on fitting out the room only to scrap plans for the White House-style press conferences that were to be held in it.

Instead, the room is used for twice-daily briefings with political journalists, but has been unavailable for the last two days for unspecified “events”.

At first Mr Johnson’s spokesperson would not confirm that No Time to Die was screened there last night for the prime minister and his staff, as The Times reported, saying he did not know the nature of the event that took place.

Later, a No 10 spokesperson said: “Yesterday, the prime minister met with Pinewood Studios, Universal Pictures, Eon Productions and the BFI to congratulate them on the success of the latest James Bond instalment – a testament to the talent of British creative industry.

“An evening film screening took place for staff, who made voluntary donations, with all proceeds going to Sarcoma UK [a cancer charity].” Installation costs were said to have been paid by the companies involved.

The plan for televised press conferences was scrapped six months ago, after No 10 got cold feet over the prospect of the prime minister’s spokesperson facing an intensive grilling from reporters.

Labour accused Mr Johnson of a “vanity project” in creating the room, but the government argued it needed a “modern press facility”, and it did stage a media briefing by health secretary Sajid Javid this week.

The cost of the refit of No 9 Downing Street was revealed to be £2,607,767.67, largely excluding VAT, after a Freedom of Information request.

The bill included £1,848,695 for the “main works”, £198,024 on “long lead items”, and £33,395 on broadband equipment.

Allegra Stratton was due to front the televised briefings, but was instead handed the job of government spokesperson for the Cop26 climate summit.

While the briefing room was being used for “events”, the prime minister’s spokesperson has held briefings, without cameras, in No 10 instead.

The culture secretary during the fitting out of the new facility, Oliver Dowden, insisted that the venue was “not a waste of money” because the room previously used for press conferences was too small and “not fit for purpose”.

The “modern press facility” was similar to those used by other leaders around the world and would be available for future governments, not just the current one, he said.

“Levelling up”. This is another example of all talk and no action. The reward for voting Tory! – Owl 

Anita Merritt www.devonlive.com 

Every pupil in Devon school is now getting £223 less in government funding than the national average, prompting a direct plea to the prime minister for help.

For many years, Devon councils and teachers have been lobbying the government for more cash under its fairer funding campaign.

In October 2019, it was announced the South West would receive a five per cent increase in per pupil funding in the next financial year.

However, new figures show every pupil in a Devon school currently receives £5,145 per pupil, compared to the England average of £5,368.

F40, the campaign group for the 40 worst-funded education authorities in the country, is calling for major new investment in schools and young people as the government prepares to unveil its spending plans for the future.

James McInnes, who chairs f40 and is the deputy leader of Devon County Council, has written to the new education secretary Nadhim Sahawi urging him to fight for greater investment in schools in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

He has also written to the Prime Minister calling on him and Mr Sahawi to resolve long-standing issues over funding for the nation’s most vulnerable children with special educational needs.

Mr McInnes said: “We welcome the additional funding already provided. However, more needs to be done to enable schools to provide extra support and learning to help pupils recover academically and emotionally from the pandemic which has placed greater stress on already tight budgets.

“For a number of years, education funding has not kept pace with inflation, while the demands on schools and teachers have grown rapidly. In real terms, school funding is at 2010 levels. Education requires a substantial uplift to ensure schools are able to provide quality teaching for all.

“While the government is attempting to level up funding, the process is very slow and schools in some areas continue to receive far less funding than schools in other areas as many of the historic inequalities continue to be locked in.

“Many large rural communities and ‘shire’ local authorities still receive inequitably less funding, despite having sizeable pockets of deprivation. The basic entitlement should be enough to run a school, before extra money is added on for deprivation and higher area living costs.

“Early Years has become a major concern throughout the pandemic, with the future of many providers hanging in the balance. Funding for free entitlement has received some support but many providers have lost private parental income. The pandemic has also impacted on the readiness of young children to learn. Without additional funding, the effects will be felt for many years to come.”

Mr McInnes also highlights the severe pressure which many councils are under in spending on children with special educational needs.

He said: “This continues to be a major concern. The number of children with special educational needs, and their complexity of need, continues to grow, with demand far outstripping budgets.

“While we appreciate the increase in SEND funding during the last two or three years, significant additional funding is required for both mainstream and special schools. We urge the government to publish the long-overdue SEND review and to overhaul the SEND system to ensure it is fit for purpose.”

Andrew Leadbetter, who took over as Devon County Council’s Cabinet member for children’s services and schools earlier this year, is also a member of f40.

He said: “Over the coming days, leading up to the Budget and the Comprehensive Spending Review, we will hear from all the spending departments about how they need more money.

“The chancellor will, of course, be seeking to recoup some of the billions of pounds he has spent on the pandemic but it is vital that we invest in our children and their education because the future of our country depends on them achieving their potential.

”I am completely behind this appeal to the prime minister and the education secretary to make spending on our children and their education a top priority.”

“With the right national government support and planning, councils can use their economic power as major employers as well as owners of infrastructure, property and land, and procurers of goods and services, to be the agents of genuinely just transitions.”

But will they get that funding? – Owl

Stephen Smellie www.theguardian.com 

At Cop26 this year, we’ll hear about diplomats and heads of state negotiating over targets, but when a river bank bursts or a storm hits, it’s our local councils that are left to clear up the mess. When Storm Frank lashed the north-east of Scotland over the new year of 2016, it was council binmen, engineers, housing officers, social workers and home carers who worked day and night mobilising volunteers to evacuate homes and find temporary accommodation for some 300 households.

In the weeks and months afterwards, Aberdeenshire council had to deal with a mile stretch of destroyed road, three washed-away footbridges, and damage to several bridges. This is on top of the clean-up operation and returning families to their homes. Despite financial assistance from the Scottish government, the council was left with a bill of around £15m. This is the less glamorous, but very real work, that goes into responding to climate change.

As we look to the future, the task facing council workers like me is to think how we make our homes and neighbourhoods more sustainable and more resilient, and maybe even fairer along the way.

Starting with our homes, badly insulated housing is responsible for 14% of the UK’s total emissions. It’s a real challenge to retrofit houses and other buildings so that energy is not leaking through roofs and walls. Leaving this to individual homeowners and landlords will result in a disparity between rich people, who can afford cavity wall and roof insulation, and poor people, who will freeze in poorly insulated homes when left unable to meet rising heating bills.

Councils are ideally placed to coordinate social housing resources, while in turn benefiting other households. Local authorities who have retained in-house maintenance teams could retrofit their own buildings – but also, through the enormous efficiencies of scale that a cross-sector project would bring, reduce the cost of making homes fuel-efficient and warm for all other property owners. If you’re going to put scaffolding up to retrofit one house, it’s cheaper to do the house next door at the same time. At the same time, councils would be reskilling their own workforce, while creating industry-standard apprenticeship schemes. These would train young people in the skills needed to succeed in the green economy.

At the community level, councils themselves are enormous users of energy, from lighting the streets to heating buildings and running fleets of vehicles, so they face a challenge in reducing their own reliance on fossil fuels. However, councils can be a key agent in addressing this.

Local councils could become generators of renewable energy, using council land and buildings to generate wind and solar power for their own and the wider community’s use. This could address issues of fuel poverty within their areas, at a time when the share of household budgets being spent on heating is on the rise. There are costs involved in setting up such schemes, but the benefits would be produced quickly.

Such municipal energy projects could act as a spur to public sector partners, linking community and commercial energy projects into councils’ schemes through local renewable energy grids, avoiding the high cost of relaying energy long distance through the National Grid. With every roof fitted with solar panels, and wind turbines installed on appropriate council land, communities come closer to achieving energy self-sufficiency – an aim attainable within a couple of decades.

The benefit could be amplified if these schemes are connected to procurement policies that support nearby businesses. For example, the Community Wealth Building strategy, launched last year by North Ayrshire council, ensures that much more council spending is retained in the local area.

Of course, to initiate these schemes, councils require government investment. But many of these schemes will repay that investment over a period of 10 to 15 years, through savings on energy bills, the benefits of reducing fuel poverty and an improved local economy. Councils will need to identify the skills required to make this transition, while also recognising that some workers need to be retrained. There will be few jobs for diesel truck mechanics when council fleets switch to electrical or green hydrogen vehicles. As future social housing is built with electrical or pump storage heating, the gas fitters and maintenance teams will need to learn new skills. By working with their employees and trade unions, councils can ensure that these transitions are fair to the current workforce, tenants, service users and council taxpayers.

With the right national government support and planning, councils can use their economic power as major employers as well as owners of infrastructure, property and land, and procurers of goods and services, to be the agents of genuinely just transitions.

Too little, too late. Anyone get that déjà vu feeling? – Owl

www.independent.co.uk

Senior scientific advisers to the government have told ministers to start preparing for the “rapid deployment” of basic Covid measures amid rising infections and hospitalisation rates, as local councils and authorities urged Downing Street to “act now, rather than later”.

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said in a meeting last week that the reintroduction of mask-wearing, working from home guidance and vaccine certification – key components of the government’s ‘plan B’ – would “reduce the need for more stringent, disruptive, and longer-lasting measures” further down the road.

In minutes published on Friday, Sage said that advice to work from home was “likely to have the greatest individual impact” in cutting infections, which are now increasing in the majority of age groups and regions across the UK, according to official data.

More than a million people were infected with Covid-19 last week, the Office for National Statistics said, with hospitalisations also on the rise in the elderly, as fears grow that vaccine immunity levels are starting to wane among the most vulnerable.

Local directors of public health alongside politicians across England have told The Independent that the government should act immediately in introducing its plan B in order to prevent the NHS from being further overwhelmed.

“I definitely think we should act now, rather than later,” said Alice Wiseman, the director of public health for Gateshead Council. “We need to take action now as the NHS is on its knees.

“The measures are mild and not disruptive. They may not fully solve the issue, but will help to take the heat out of the fire. We could be forced to introduce stricter measures if we leave it too late.”

The intervention from Sage and local leaders adds to the pressure on the government to impose what have been described as “light-touch” measures – a move that ministers are continuing to resist.

“We are sticking with our plan,” prime minister Boris Johnson said earlier this week, while health secretary Sajid Javid insisted that the NHS was currently operating at a “sustainable” level, sparking dismay among health chiefs.

Modelling from Sage found that a “rapid increase in hospital admissions” could happen if the behaviour of the public swiftly returned to normal and the waning of the vaccines’ effectiveness was proved to be significant.

Contact patterns between children have largely returned to pre-Covid levels, though adults are still meeting and interacting less frequently with one another.

However, members of the group predicted that it was looking “increasingly unlikely” that Covid admissions for this winter would rise above the peak seen last January.

One senior member of Sage told The Independent that the recent lab testing fiasco, which saw 43,000 people wrongly told their tests were negative, had disrupted elements of the group’s modelling, meaning that it was “more unsure about the direction of the epidemic”.

In a meeting held on 14 October, Sage concluded that “reducing prevalence from a high level requires greater intervention than reducing from a lower level”. Scientists from the group have communicated to ministers that a relatively light approach, implemented early, will help to make a difference.

Assessing the impact of the plan B mitigations, members said there was “some evidence” that vaccine certification may have a positive impact on vaccine uptake, particularly in younger age groups. The reintroduction of face masks in public spaces is also expected to reduce transmission.

However, a return to working from home is likely to play the biggest role in limiting the current surge in cases, Sage said.

These measures should be reintroduced “in combination”, the group concluded, and advised ministers that “policy work on the potential reintroduction of measures should be undertaken now so that it can be ready for rapid deployment”.

It continued: “Modelling suggests that the stringency of measures required to control transmission of a growing epidemic is increased by a faster doubling time. In the event of increasing case rates, earlier intervention would reduce the need for more stringent, disruptive, and longer-lasting measures.”

The sharp increase in cases that has recently been recorded among school children is now beginning to drift into parental age groups and the elderly, data suggests.

This has coincided with a drop in immunity levels among those individuals who were vaccinated at the beginning of the year, typically the elderly and clinically vulnerable, putting them at greater risk of serious illness.

Research from Public Health England shows that protection against infection following a second AstraZeneca dose falls from 67 per cent to 47 per cent after 20 weeks. Protection against severe disease and hospitalisation falls from 95 per cent to 77 per cent over the same period.

Dominic Harrison, the director of public health for Blackburn with Darwen Council, said the “indicators that are coming out at a national level tell us that we should be acting now”.

“If we leave it too late, we’ll have such high case rates and admission that we might need to take more drastic action,” he told The Independent. “Bring in light-touch measures that still maintain the freedoms we currently have, so mask-wearing, Covid passes and renewed guidance to work from home.”

Backing calls to implement plan B, Evelyn Akoto, Covid-19 lead for Southwark Council, told The Independent: “Once again the government is failing to listen to the doctors and scientists and making the same old mistakes of inaction and complacency.”

On Wednesday, the British Medical Association accused the government of being “wilfully negligent” for not reintroducing rules including mandatory face masks. The NHS Confederation also warned that the failure to implement the plan B measures would hinder efforts to tackle the backlog of 5 million patients waiting for treatment.

Separately, it was reported that the former head of the UK’s Covid vaccine programme, Emily Lawson, had returned to the position, with the government facing calls to accelerate the administration of booster jabs. At the current rollout rate, the top nine priority groups, equating to some 30 million people, won’t have received a third dose until late January.

Comments on the continued dumping of sewage into rivers yesterday prompted Owl to find this July press article. It is a discussion about the financing of water companies.

England’s water system: the last of the privatised monopolies – for now

Phillip Inman www.theguardian.com 

Selling Britain’s state-owned water authorities seemed like a good idea to Conservative ministers in the 1980s, when they looked at the bill for upgrading a labyrinth of Victorian sewers and a leaky network of mains water pipes.

Why not let the private sector inject some energy and much-needed cash into a project that a tired public sector management was ill-equipped to handle, they argued.

But since 1989, when 10 regional water authorities were sold, there has been claim and counter claim about the benefits that can be credited to the new private sector owners.

But the industry has defended its record – most recently when the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn threatened to nationalise it in 2017. The industry regulator, Ofwat, claimed £130bn of investment had been made since privatisation and bills were £120, or 30% lower than they would otherwise have been.

Meanwhile, the firms say privately that climate change is responsible for the heavy downpours that cause sewage overflows so is not something they can control or be blamed for.

Critics point out that Margaret Thatcher’s government wiped out the industry’s debts prior to privatisation and since 1989 the industry has loaded it back up again with £48bn at a cost in annual interest of £1.3bn.

Research by David Hall and Karol Yearwood of Greenwich University found that the debt was not used to fix leaky pipes or treatment works but went straight into shareholders’ pockets. Adding up the shareholder dividends paid since 1989, they reached a total of £57bn.

In that time, customers’ water bills have increased by 40% above the rate of inflation. It is the water users who have paid for upgrades to the network, such as they are, while shareholders walk off with cash paid for by higher debt.

This is a strictly English problem. Welsh water became a not-for-profit organisation in 2001 and Scottish Water went into public ownership.

England’s water system hosts the last of the privatised monopolies. You can shop around for gas and electricity, telephone and broadband. Not water.

Environmental groups argue that climate change means water companies must become part of a coordinated effort to protect water supplies and that this cannot be done while they remain private.

At the moment, they have the resources to outwit the poorly resourced regulators in Ofwat and the Environment Agency. Local councils, which also play a role in protecting watercourses, have also seen their budgets cut and experienced staff losses, leaving them without the clout to confront private sector operators.

Paris and Barcelona are among the world’s major cities to take water under direct control and integrate policies that promote its better use by households, businesses and landowners. It must be only a matter of time before England follows suit.

According to reports, parts of East Devon had some of the heaviest rainfall from storm Aurore with half a month’s rain in just 10 hours.

As reported on Thursday this inundated some construction plant involved in the Lower Otter Restoration Project.

A correspondent has since sent Owl some dramatic photos, accompanied by notes.

This shows the scene about a month ago as new water course trenches were dug in the water meadows north of South Farm road.

With what now seems remarkable prescience, lifebuoys were placed along the trenches. One of these can clearly be seen in the centre.

With most of the hedgerows removed, the inundation gives us a glimpse of what the restored estuary will look like on a very high tide. Though after completion of the project fluvial flooding such as this should drain very quickly. This photo was taken 36+ hours after the storm.

This, again, is a photo taken a few weeks ago from the embankments just north of White Bridge looking towards South Farm road and the site of the old tip. Very much work in progress.

A similar view taken on Friday.

Behind the trucks are more inundated plant and equipment.

This is the view of South Farm road from White Bridge with a lot of floating detritus. The red and white objects are the barriers once used to fence off the road from the working areas.

This is the scene from the Lime Kiln car park looking down on the cricket pavilion. The water enclosed by the embankments reached such a depth that it overtopped them in many places to flow into the Otter. By Friday the level was only about 18 ins or so lower.

No sooner had Simon Jupp and Neil Parish voted to allow water companies to continue discharging sewage then they did just that!

Do not swim at these 14 Devon beaches, including Exmouth and Budleigh

Ami Wyllie www.devonlive.com

Sewage has been emptied into the water at over a dozen popular swimming spots along the Devon coastline.

Environmental charity, Surfers’ Against Sewage, have issued ‘do not swim’ warnings at all 14 beaches affected.

Most of the incidents are due to deliberate discharges after sewers overflowed in Wednesday night’s heavy rain that caused widespread flooding across the county….

A testing blunder at a disgraced Covid laboratory in the South West of England led to thousands of avoidable infections and may trigger a fresh wave in the region, experts warned today. 

Connor Boyd, John Ely Senior www.dailymail.co.uk 

Up to 43,000 infected people were incorrectly told their PCR results were negative due to ‘technical issues’ at a private facility run by Immensa Health Clinic in Wolverhampton, where workers were filmed playing football and wrestling on shift. 

The affected patients, mostly concentrated in the South West, were given the false negatives between September 8 and October 12, allowing the virus to continue spreading unrestricted within the region.

According to data from the Government’s Covid dashboard, case rates in the South West have doubled in recent days after the error was spotted to reach a record-high. Five of the 10 worst-hit areas in England are now in the region. 

Dr Rupert Beale, an eminent virologist at the Francis Crick Institute in London, described the scandal as the ‘worst f***-up this year by some distance’.

Professor Paul Hunter, an epidemiologist at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline he believed the faulty test results were ‘having an impact’ on case rates and estimated the error led to thousands of avoidable infections. 

A total of 32,815 new cases of coronavirus were recorded in the South West in the seven days to October 15 — the equivalent of 579.9 per 100,000 people. This is up from 16,910 cases, or 298.8 in the previous seven days.

Bath and North East Somerset is now the Covid capital of England, with cases almost tripling in that time to reach levels twice as high as seen during the darkest spell of the second wave in January. It’s recording 877.5 infections per 100,000 people now, compared to 260.7 the week prior……

More details online

At this stage in the pandemic, a positive lateral flow test, followed by a negative PCR, still means a reasonable chance of Covid-19 – Analysis by David Spiegelhalter

Will half-term act as an infection “circuit breaker” within the population of school children, or will we get “seeding” into the wider community if many are brought down to second homes in Devon and Cornwall? – Owl

A local council is beset by self-obsessed, selfish and not-very-bright councillors, says the town’s own mayor.

No not in East Devon but Middlesbrough! – Owl

Kevin Rawlinson www.theguardian.com 

Andy Preston, the mayor of Middlesbrough, intervened after complaints lodged by councillors against their colleagues this year neared the combined total for the previous two years.

“For way too long, politics in Middlesbrough has been a disgrace. There are some brilliant councillors here but there are also way too many self-obsessed, selfish and frankly not very bright people who seek to cause trouble for the good of their own self-promotion,” he said.

There have been 12 complaints from council members in roughly the first nine months of 2021, compared with four in 2020 and nine in 2019.

According to Teesside Live, Preston said: “Politics in Middlesbrough features a significant number of people who seek to cause trouble for others by making official complaints about them citing all sorts of false allegations, from bullying to pretty much anything they can dream up.

“What the public don’t necessarily realise is that every single one of those complaints costs the tax-paying people of Middlesbrough thousands of pounds in council time and resources. Some unscrupulous councillors are racking up council bills that amount to thousands simply to cause political trouble.

He continued: “The worst and increasingly frequent example I’ve seen is councillors trying to bully others by falsely alleging they themselves have been bullied. I want to see a culture change in Middlesbrough council that will end this outrageous waste of time and money and, for once, get all councillors focused on putting Middlesbrough first.”

Preston, who stood as an independent, has been at odds with councillors in recent months and even encouraged those who do not like his style of leadership to make official complaints against him.

Several councillors, including his deputy, resigned in May after telling him they had “collectively agreed that we can no longer support you … due to your consistent poor conduct and behaviour.”

The BBC reported that they accused Preston of incurring costs of £600,000 without official senior approval and of appointing and paying a friend without following required procedures.

The broadcaster quoted Preston as saying the allegations were unfounded and had been made by people “who don’t like the fact that I’m upsetting the applecart”.

He said: “I do things differently, I challenge the status quo and I clearly upset a few people along the way who’d like things to stay just how they are. I won’t stop. I won’t resign. I’ll keep doing what’s best for Middlesbrough. Ultimately, if anyone believes I’ve done wrong, they’d be better advised going through the appropriate channels and put in an official complaint to the council.”

THE Conservatives were hit by a fresh sleaze row tonight over claims party chiefs offered dinner with the Housing Secretary to property developers for £4,000.

Harry Cole www.thesun.co.uk

In a furious behind the scenes dust up, The Sun can reveal Michael Gove “point blank refused” to be sat with any builders and later walked out of the lavish fundraising bash early.

Tory HQ had advertised the 4 October party conference dinner with an offer for paying customers “to place a preference of senior minister to host your table” of 10 guests.

But The Sun and Sky News have been told a number of Cabinet ministers were angered that the £400-a-head dinner attempted to seat them near paying punters with interests directly involving their ministerial briefs.

A senior minister said: “Nobody really wants to do these dinners because there is always a risk of conflict of interest but this one was a joke.”

It was claimed requests for Mr Gove to dine with property firm executives sparked a furious backlash from the Cabinet big beast who sources say “point blank refused to come” if he was sat with any of them.

Tonight a CCHQ spokesman insisted: “At no stage in the preparation for this event did CCHQ plan to sit Mr Gove with any property developers. Any claims to the contrary are entirely false.”

A spokesman for Mr Gove declined to comment.

‘FACE LIKE THUNDER’

But eyewitnesses say the top Tory left the event after an hour “with a face like thunder”.

A senior Tory said: “Michael was trying to be whiter than white on this stuff and as he’s in charge of billions of potential developments, he had made clear he would not sit with developers and left after an hour.”

They branded the event “a farce” and said the party’s fundraising operation “needed a total reality check.”

The senior insider pointed the finger of blame at party co-chairman Ben Elliott who is in charge of raising party funds, but has been at the centre of a number of fundraising rows in recent months.

The source said: “They really don’t help themselves with situations like this. Ben Elliott needs to answer for this stuff.”

‘SOLD TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER’

Mr Gove’s predecessor Robert Jenrick was marred by a major sleaze affair after sitting next to billionaire developer and discussing a big housing project.

But Labour said the Conservatives had clearly failed to learn their lessons from that scandal.

Labour’s Steve Reed hit out: “Despite the outrage caused by the former Housing Secretary doing favours for a wealthy developer donor, Ben Elliot and his Conservative colleagues clearly think control of the planning system can be sold to the highest bidder.” 

The Tories hit back: “It will not come as news that the Conservative Party, like all major political parties, holds a business event at its annual conference.

“For this event, as with others organised by the party, CCHQ undertook robust due diligence to guard against any conflicts of interest.”

But not on Tory exceptionalism.

Sajid Javid, the health secretary, said MPs should be “setting an example” for the public by wearing masks.

But:

Jacob Rees-Mogg has said Conservative MPs do not need to wear face masks in the Commons chamber because they know each other and have a “convivial fraternal spirit”.

Anyone spotted Simon Jupp on one of his pub crawls recently?

With yesterday’s intense rainfall in East Devon causing flooding in the Axe and Otter valleys it would seem appropriate to ask what is happening to the Straightgate Farm quarry application.

Readers will recall that DCC considered an application for extraction of up to 1.5 million tonnes of raised sand and gravel in 2017, and requested further information with a consultation expiry date of 16/05/21.

Various correspondents tell Owl that Ottery Council currently have absolutely no idea what is going on.

One of the key issue is the permanent destruction of three important watercourses (that feed hugely sensitive bogs, ancient woodland and mediaeval fishponds).

These are the features in our ecosystem which play an essential role in flood alleviation.

Remember the fatalistic words of John Hart regarding flooding (Feb 2020): “self-help is going to be the order of the day.”

This “your’re on your own” response will never solve the climate emergency, society need leadership.

Is DCC about to make matters worse?

Including Simon Jupp and Neil Parish

Tom D. Rogers evolvepolitics.com 

Boris Johnson’s Conservative government have succeeded in voting down an amendment designed to stop private water companies from dumping raw sewage into the UK’s waterways.

The vote came as MPs were debating the final stages of the Environment Bill in Parliament yesterday evening.

Lords Amendment 45 to the Environment Bill would have placed a legal duty on water companies in England and Wales “to make improvements to their sewerage systems and demonstrate progressive reductions in the harm caused by discharges of untreated sewage.“

In 2020, water companies dumped raw sewage into the UK’s rivers and coastal waters more than 400,000 times.

This is despite the UK – and all other countries – being legally obligated to treat sewage before it is released into waterways.

The majority of dumping by private water companies is happening via storm overflow pipes which are only supposed to be used to relieve pressure on the sewage system during extreme weather events such as torrential rain.

Treating raw sewage costs money – and many have speculated that privatised water companies are simply dumping it into our waterways in order to make bigger profits.

Despite the horrendous environmental impact of the disgusting practice, shortly before the vote, the Conservative Environment Secretary George Eustace recommended to his fellow MPs that they should reject it.

And, owing largely to the government’s 80 seat majority, the amendment was indeed defeated – by a margin of 268 MPs to 204.

You can see how your MP voted on the amendment here.

And, just 12 hours after Johnson’s government voted to protect the disgraceful polluting actions of private water companies, they were back at it – with Southern Water exposed dumping huge amounts of raw sewage into the UK’s waterways and coastlines yet again:

Hugo Tagholm, a spokesperson for the Surfers Against Sewage organisation, said the Tories’ opposition to the amendment “beggars belief”, stating:

“Why wouldn’t they want water companies to have a legal obligation not to pollute our rivers and ocean with sewage, for example? It beggars belief and hardly shows a commitment to be the greenest government ever. It’s time for more ambitious thinking and law that builds protected nature back into public ownership rather than leaving it to the ravages of shareholder interests.”

Speaking about the practice last year, the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, Sir James Bevan, said his organisation was working with water companies to try and reduce the practice, stating:

“Storm overflows are designed to discharge sewage to rivers or the sea at times of heavy rainfall to prevent it backing up into homes and streets. But higher population and climate change means they will discharge more often.

“The Environment Agency is working actively with the water companies to ensure overflows are properly controlled and the harm they do to the environment stopped. Increased monitoring and reporting of storm overflows is part of the solution. It means everyone can see exactly what is happening, and will help drive the improvements and future investment that we all want to see, with £1.1bn of investment already planned for the next four years.”

However, given that the privatised system means water companies exist purely to make profit for their shareholders (rather than in the public interest under a nationalised system), it is extremely unlikely they will be stopping the practice anytime soon – unless new laws are brought in to force them.

Despite promising to make Britain the “cleanest, greenest country on Earth”, Boris Johnson and his Conservative government have once again shown exactly where their priorities lie – not with the people, but with those seeking profit no matter how disgusting their actions.

Recent polls have found that almost two thirds of Brits think water should be brought back under democratic control.

And, given the profit-seeking motives and pollutive actions of water companies, that figure is surely only going to rise going into the future.

Statement following flooding at project site 

www.lowerotterrestorationproject.co.uk

October 21, 2021: Following overnight flooding at the Lower Otter Restoration Project site, the Environment Agency has said:

“The Lower Otter Restoration Project is a partnership project seeking to adapt the downstream part of the River Otter in the face of rapidly changing climate, by connecting the Lower River Otter to its historic floodplain and creating intertidal habitat. This flooding is an example of what will happen increasingly as a result of climate change. It is an entirely natural phenomenon and has not been caused or exacerbated by project works.

“Flood waters from the River Otter rose sharply shortly after midnight peaking at 3:30am. This inundated some construction plant. We are working with our contractor, Kier, to understand why this was not moved ahead of the flooding. Plant will be moved as soon as is possible.

“Currently, flood waters resulting from heavy rainfall are unable to drain quickly in the valley due to the presence of an embankment that traps the water behind it. One of the benefits of the Lower Otter Restoration Project is that, once completed, the River Otter will be reconnected to its floodplain and the sea resulting in improved drainage.

“Once the project is in place, floods of this level will no longer sever access along the South Farm Road, flood the cricket club or threaten a former tip site to the same degree. Areas of footpath will also be raised above existing levels.

“The impact of this flooding highlights the need to adapt to climate change by moving human infrastructure out of the floodplain and make what remains more resilient to flooding. This is a key aim of the Lower Otter Restoration Project.”

Students, especially international ones, have become big business. According to one analysis, international students in the UK contribute £28.8 billion to the country’s coffers annually. 

Providing student accommodation has also become big business as is becoming very evident when walking or driving around Exeter city centre. Rents can be as high as £265/week in Bath or £149/week in Southampton. 

The article below also introduces the concept of Co-living accommodation. According to the applicant: Co-living accommodation represents a rapidly emerging residential sector and provides an alternative affordable housing solution for young professionals and key workers as they either transition from student accommodation, and/or as a stepping stone to more traditional modes of residential accommodation.

Owl is not convinced.

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com

Massive student flats plans have been submitted for Exeter’s former police station and magistrates’ court site.

Plans would see more than 1000 bed spaces created as part of the major new redevelopment scheme submitted this week for Heavitree Road.

The plans from Nixon Homes & Student Roost, would see the demolition of the existing derelict buildings, to be replaced by a dedicated Purpose Built Student Accommodation building and a separate residential communal living accommodation (Co-living) building, along with associated amenity and ancillary spaces.

The development would be right next to the 134 co-living studios being built in Gladstone Road on the site of the former ambulance station, and is right opposite the St Luke’s campus of the University of Exeter.

Developers behind the plans say that the ‘exciting proposals’ are committed to achieving an exemplary development on this special site on a key route into Exeter.

The student accommodation would be arranged around two landscaped courtyard spaces, providing an external amenity area for the students. The five storey building would consist of 689 rooms – approximately 30 per cent studios and 70 per cent shared accommodation. There would be 689 rooms and the entrance is located in a prominent position on Heavitree Road at the junction with Gladstone Road and opposite St Luke’s Campus.

Artist impression of the proposed student flats and co-living development for the former Magistrates’ Court and police station site in Exeter

The Co-living accommodation would provide 352 rooms across a range of high quality standard, premium and wheelchair accessible studios across a six storey building.

Co-living accommodation represents a rapidly emerging residential sector and provides an alternative affordable housing solution for young professionals and key workers as they either transition from student accommodation, and/or as a stepping stone to more traditional modes of residential accommodation, the statement with the application says.

A statement with the application adds: “The student accommodation and Co-living buildings have been designed to create a vibrant community, with a dedicated communal amenity provision, promoting social interaction, well-being and activation.

“The main entrances to both buildings lead into an amenity hub space at ground floor, creating an impactful first impression, and this connects to a further amenity provision at lower ground level, allowing for double height spaces, and access to the communal courtyard garden. The provision of amenity space has been designed in line with best practice in terms of quantum and quality.

“The site benefits from sustainable transport links via bus, cycling and walking to the city centre, amenities and to the University of Exeter – including St Luke’s Campus directly opposite. Cycling is encouraged as a sustainable mode of transport and a dedicated storage provision has been provided for each use. The proposed masterplan has also been designed to allow for the potential plans to introduce a bus lane along Heavitree Road.”

Artist impression of the proposed student flats and co-living development for the former Magistrates’ Court and police station site in Exeter

The statement continues: “This is a suitable location adjacent to St Luke’s campus for providing student residential accommodation, the new buildings positively address the distinctive topography of the area, and enhance the connection between street and buildings to encourage an active frontage and contribute to a higher quality, safer and more comfortable public realm around and through the site.

“It will enhance the pedestrian environment by removing vehicles from the site perimeter and the site accessibility for a pedestrian focused low car use development will encourage use of more sustainable modes of transport.”

It concludes: “The proposals look to deliver on the aspirations and opportunities that exist for the long-term investment and betterment of this site. The student accommodation provides 689 rooms and has been developed with award winning student accommodation provider Student Roost, to offer high quality, diverse living accommodation to suit different student needs, and to promote positive mental health and well-being. The Co-living accommodation provides 352 rooms across a range of high quality standard, premium and wheelchair accessible studios.

“The proposals will demand a sustainable approach to the design, construction and operation of the development, with an additional focus on occupant well-being, and the scheme features high quality contemporary architecture rooted in the site’s context.

“The team behind these exciting proposals are committed to achieving an exemplary development on this special site on a key route into Exeter.”

Artist impression of the proposed student flats and co-living development for the former Magistrates’ Court and police station site in Exeter

The magistrates’ court closed in 2020, with cases now being held at the Exeter Crown Court building instead, while the police station building also closed early in 2020, with officers now based at the new station at Middlemoor.

Exeter City Council planners will determine the fate of the applications at a later date.

Private Eye editor Ian Hislop announces the winner of the 2021 Paul Foot Award for Investigative and Campaigning Journalism from a shortlist of seven teams.

And the winner is………

Here are the key takeaways from the document www.independent.co.uk 

• Boris Johnson is keen to persuade voters that Britain can go carbon neutral without pain. In a foreword to the document, he writes: “This strategy shows how we can build back greener without so much as a hair shirt in sight. In 2050, we will still be driving cars, flying planes and heating our homes, but our cars will be electric gliding silently around our cities, our planes will be zero emission allowing us to fly guilt-free, and our homes will be heated by cheap reliable power drawn from the winds of the North Sea.”

• The strategy document states that more than £26bn of government investment in a “green industrial revolution” will support 190,000 jobs by 2025, and 440,000 by 2030, while leveraging up to £90bn of private investment by 2030. This will help the UK meet its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 68 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030 and delivering a “decarbonised economy” by 2050.

• The strategy commits the government to four principles: the net zero programme will “work with the grain of consumer choice” and will not force households to scrap existing boilers and cars; fair carbon pricing will ensure the biggest polluters pay most for the transition; the most vulnerable will be protected with financial support; government will work with business to deliver affordable low-carbon tech.

• The UK is planned to be powered entirely by clean electricity by 2035, “subject to security of supply”. This will involve the go-ahead for at least one new large-scale nuclear plant – and possibly two – by 2024, alongside 40GW of offshore wind power by 2030 and more onshore wind, solar and other renewables. A new £120m “future nuclear enabling fund” will develop technologies for smaller reactors, with Wylfa in north Wales among potential sites.

• The strategy commits £140m for a new hydrogen and industrial carbon capture business scheme, with industrial “clusters” in Teesside and the Humber, Merseyside and north Wales to become economic hubs for green jobs.

• It confirms the “ambition” to end sales of new gas boilers by 2035, with £450m to provide £5,000 grants for 90,000 households to switch to heat pumps.

• A “zero emission vehicle mandate” will be introduced to deliver on the commitment to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and ensure that all cars are “zero emissions capable” by 2035. Funding of £620m will go towards zero emission vehicle grants and electric vehicle infrastructure, including on-street charging points. There will also be £3bn for bus networks and £2bn for cycling and walking. Trials will be undertaken of HGV zero-emission technology.

• The strategy sets out the “aim” of making Britain a world-leader in the zero emission fight.

• It says the government will restore around 280,000 hectares of peat in England by 2050 and treble woodland creation rates.

• Mortgage providers could be required to meet targets to improve the energy efficiency of the buildings on which they have provided loans – potentially making it more difficult for homeowners to secure mortgages without putting in insulation and other carbon-saving measures.

Amid the hundreds of pages of the UK government’s comprehensive net zero strategy, there is one glaring omission – Rishi Sunak.

But Johnson’s desire to always please the crowd has left the trickiest problems ignored.

Damian Carrington www.theguardian.com 

The roadmap to end the nation’s contribution to the climate crisis by 2050 is comprehensive. But it is seriously underfunded and without Sunak’s backing, it could as easily become the route to climate hell as climate salvation.

As the prime minister, Boris Johnson, said on Tuesday: “I can deploy billions – with the approval of the chancellor.” Four ministers, the chief scientific adviser, and Alok Sharma, Cop26 president, all spoke up via the government’s press release. Sunak, or indeed any Treasury minister, was conspicuous by his absence.

Johnson promised to “unleash the unique creative power of capitalism to drive the innovation that will bring down the costs of going green” and deliver trillions from the private sector. But whether it is heat pumps, hydrogen trucks, green airplanes, or small nuclear reactors, public money is essential to kickstart the net zero journey and turn expensive new technology into affordable everyday infrastructure.

The fear had been that Sunak and the Treasury were obsessed with only one half of the net zero balance sheet – the costs. But a Treasury review published alongside the net zero strategy takes the same line as all serious economic analysis of climate action: “The costs of global inaction significantly outweigh the costs of action.”

The review goes further, noting the “multiple market failures” of the fossil fuel economy and saying: “UK climate action could provide a boost to the economy. There will also be co-benefits, such as [£35bn worth of] improved air quality.” It also notes the important role of public spending and that low-income groups must be protected from the upfront costs of going green – vital if the political fight for net zero is to be won.

But why is Sunak so shy of all this that he did not put his name to it? ​​Shaun Spiers, at the Green Alliance, said: “We need a more ambitious response from the chancellor at the spending review to turn these promises into jobs, growth and benefits to consumers.”

The spending review takes place on 27 October, four days before Cop26 begins in Glasgow. At the summit, the UK must win big pledges from all the major nations on emissions cuts and climate funding. Without credible action at home, that will be even tougher than it was already.

Johnson will be able to point at some striking steps forward, such as the end of new gas boilers by 2035, even if he is reticent to call it a ban. A mandate requiring carmakers to sell a minimum proportion of electric cars – starting in 2024 and presumably rising to 100% by 2030 – is a strong move.

The shiny tech so beloved of the prime minister gets a good shot of research money too, such as the £100m for technology to suck CO2 from the air and £380m for offshore windfarms, including ones that float.

But Johnson’s desire to always please the crowd has left the trickiest problems ignored. Meat consumption must fall to hit climate goals, but it is not mentioned anywhere in the 368-page strategy. His yearning for “guilt-free” flying is backed only by a plan for 10% of aviation fuel to be sustainable by 2030. The Treasury review warns of the huge tax loss when petrol and diesel cars have run their race, but the obvious replacement – per mile road pricing – is never mentioned.

Overall, the good news is that the net zero strategy largely mirrors the guidance of the Climate Change Committee, the government’s official advisers. But whether it gets the funding it needs to become a reality, just in time for Cop26, is up to Sunak.