Karime Hassan, Exeter City Council’s Chief Executive and Growth Director, has been awarded an MBE. Mr Hassan has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to government in the Queen’s New Year Honours.
Jan Webber, Director of Development at the Mission for Seafarers, of Sidmouth has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to women in the maritime sector.
“Always nice to be able to help one of those failed states you hear about on the news.” The Welsh government has come to the aid of Westminster by loaning England four million lateral flow Covid tests …
Graeme Demianyk www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
The Welsh government has come to the aid of Westminster by loaning England four million lateral flow Covid tests – a move that has delighted many on social media after recent attacks on the devolved administration from London-based politicians and media.
A surge in demand for Covid-19 tests has led to Boris Johnson’s administration scrambling to secure supplies from around the world, with home testing key to England avoiding a full-blown lockdown.
Home delivery slots for lateral flow tests are periodically unavailable on the Gov.uk website and pharmacies have also complained about patchy supplies of lateral flow kits.
Johnson previously urged people in England heading out for New Year’s Eve festivities on Friday to get tested. In England – unlike other parts of the UK – nightclubs remain open and there are no limits on social mixing.
On Thursday, the Welsh government agreed to loan four million more tests to the NHS in England – bringing the total the country has given England to 10 million.
First minister Mark Drakeford said: “Wales has a significant stock of lateral flow tests, sufficient to meet our needs over the weeks ahead.”
The move was seized on by many on social media – particularly in light of recent attacks on the Welsh government in recent days.
The Telegraph’s Madeline Grant labelled Welsh devolution “inherently biased towards failure and authoritarian politics”, and the Welsh government was criticised for forcing civil servants to sign up to “woke” values – though critics point out that the UK government gives the same advice.
And Tory MP Michael Fabricant said that he was justified in criticising devolution because “I subsidise Wales and all this nonsense as all English people do”.
Meanwhile, in a letter to MPs, health secretary Sajid Javid said the supply of lateral flow devices was being tripled in January and February from a pre-Omicron plan of 100 million to 300 million per month.
“To respond to anticipated demand over the coming few weeks we are buying hundreds of millions more LFD tests, bringing new products on board and accelerating their deployment to the public,” he said.
But “in light of the huge demand for LFDs seen over the last three weeks, we expect to need to constrain the system at certain points over the next two weeks to manage supply over the course of each day, with new tranches of supply released regularly throughout each day”.
New Year dawns with an immediate recurrence of one of last year’s scandals.
Simple message, nowhere can be guaranteed to be storm sewage free after heavy rain. – Owl
Ami Wyllie www.devonlive.com
Thousands of people are preparing to take part in official and unofficial New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day swims, a coastal tradition spanning years.
Keen swimmers are dusting off their swim wear or preparing their fancy dress costumes, but their plans could be scuppered yet.
However, sewage has been discharged into the water on three Devon beaches, affecting popular swimming spots on both the North and East Devon coast.
Environmental charity, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), have issued ‘do not swim’ warnings at these beaches due to the pollution risk that could cause illness or accidental swallowing of sewage water.
Owing to the off season, several beaches don’t have data available so while they carry no explicit warning, water safety cannot be guaranteed.
Here are the three beaches you should avoid swimming at, according to data from Surfers Against Sewage:
Westward Ho!
Storm sewage has been discharged from a sewer overflow in this location within the past 48 hours.
A New Year’s Day ‘dip’ is planned for 12pm on Westward Ho! beach.
SAS have pinpointed the location of the sewage discharge, saying: “A sewer overflow discharges to the sea at Nose Rock at the southern end of the beach while the Tawe/Torridge estuary also receives overflows from the surrounding urban area which may affect water quality especially after heavy rainfall.”
Anyone still wanting to join the the dip should keep clear of the discharge location.
Combe Martin
Storm sewage has been discharged from a sewer overflow in this location within the past 48 hours.
No official swim has been planned for Combe Martin on New Years Eve or New Years Day, but those who still want to go down for a dip should be aware of the pollution risk.
According to SAS, the sewage has been released upstream.
SAS says: “A sewer overflow discharges into the Umber River some 30m upstream of the beach with two more discharging further upstream.
“Other discharges from the surrounding urban area may also affect water quality particularly after heavy rainfall.”
Exmouth
Storm sewage has been discharged from a sewer overflow in this location within the past 48 hours.
While most famous for its Christmas Day swim, some people may still be planning to head to the waterfront on New Years Eve and New Years Day.
If you are planning to go down, SAS advise you avoid the Orcombe Point end of the beach as this is where sewage is released.
SAS advise: “There is a sewer overflow discharging through an outfall to the south east which may affect bathing water quality especially after heavy rainfall.”
Here are the beaches with no water quality data available meaning sewage contamination cannot be ruled out:
East Devon Watch 