Monthly Archives: March 2022

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15 Mar 2022

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Covid cases in Devon have skyrocketed

Covid cases in Devon have skyrocketed after weeks of consistent drops in infections.

Joe Ives www.devonlive.com

In the latest complete seven day period (to Sunday, 6 March) the county recorded 6,517 new cases, 1,899 more than in the previous week. The 41 per cent rise takes the infection rate across Devon to 556 per 100,000 of the population, higher than the national average of 459.

The Devon County Council area, which excludes Plymouth and Torbay, recorded 3,133 cases, 37 per cent (1,158) more than the previous week. The jump in cases takes the area’s infection rates to 529 per 100,000.

Plymouth has 532 cases per 100,000 of the population after a spike in infections. The city’s 1,399 new cases represent a 449 (39 per cent) rise on than the previous week.

Torbay’s 826 new infections represent a sharp, 55 per cent (292 cases) increase compared to the previous week. The Bay’s infection rate now sits at 606 per 100,000 of the population.

It reflects a national picture where, in the seven day period (to Sunday, 6 March), the UK recorded 307,679 cases, a 31 per cent increase on the previous week.

It follows the government’s decision to launch its “living with covid” strategy on February 24, which ended all restrictions in England, including the requirement to stay at home if infected. As things stand free lateral flow tests will no longer be available for most people from April 1.

Hospitalisations

As of the most recent data (from Tuesday 8 March) 216 patients were in Devon’s hospitals with covid, 48 more than the previous week. At 106 Plymouth has the highest number of infected people in hospital. Elsewhere, 62 infected patients are in the RD&E in Exeter, while Torbay has 31 and north Devon 17.

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Across Devon, five patients are on mechanical ventilation beds, four more than in the previous week.

Deaths

Deaths have risen in the most recent complete seven-day period (to Sunday 6 February). Ten people died within 28 days of receiving a positive covid test across Devon, three more than in the previous week.

Eight people died in the Devon County Council area, which excludes Plymouth and Torbay. One death was recorded in Torbay and another in Plymouth. Across Devon, a total of 1,620 people have now died within 28 days of a positive covid test.

Vaccinations

Eighty-nine per cent of people aged 12 and above have had their first dose of a vaccine in the Devon County Council area, which excludes Plymouth and Torbay, with 84 per cent receiving both doses. Seventy-one per cent have now had their ‘booster’ dose.

In Plymouth, 85 per cent have had one dose, while 80 per cent have had both. Sixty-one per cent have had the booster.

In Torbay, 86 per cent have received one dose, while 82 per cent have had both jabs. Sixty-six per cent have had their third vaccine.

The national rates are 92, 86 and 67 per cent respectively.

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14 Mar 2022

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Planning applications validated by EDDC for week beginning 28 February

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14 Mar 2022

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New homes and Travellers site plan for Cranbrook

Huge plans have been submitted to build more new homes in Cranbrook, along with a primary school, neighbourhood centre, a site for gypsies and travellers and a cemetery.

Anita Merritt www.devonlive.com

The proposals also include the creation of public open space and allotments.

The application for outline planning permission has been submitted this week by Persimmon Homes. It is hoping to build nearly 1,500 homes on land at Cobdens bounded to the north by the railway line, to the south by the existing ‘old’ A30 and now B3174 London Road.

The proposal includes:

  • Up to 1,435 new homes
  • A neighbourhood centre with a maximum of 750 sqm gross ground floor space (with uses including hot food takeaways and pubs/bars
  • Primary School with nursery provision, community room and a 50-place special educational needs school
  • Public open space
  • Allotments
  • Suitable alternative natural green space
  • Place of worship
  • Cemetery,
  • 10 serviced pitches for gypsies and travellers
Huge plans for news homes at at Cobdens in Cranbrook

Huge plans for news homes at at Cobdens in Cranbrook (Image: Still Imaging)

The application includes the demolition of four barns and associated infrastructure. Principal vehicular access will be off London Road. The precise mix of homes is yet to be confirmed.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) has launched a consultation on the plans which form an important part of the planned expansion of Cranbrook and its ‘masterplan’.

In the Cobdens design and access statement it states: “The proposed expansion of Cranbrook will increase demand and footfall for the town centre facilities when they are built out.”

It added: “5km to the west of the site, is the adjacent Redhayes development site. The site follows similar built street principles to Cranbrook, albeit with a more contemporary building appearance.”

Regarding its impact on the landscape and environment it said: “It will create a distinctive and high-quality place which respects and enhances the character and assets of Cranbrook while ensuring connectivity with the existing community

“A ground-up approach that retains and protects the landscape framework of existing trees and hedgerows, and places them within public green Infrastructure for their longevity.

The site plan at Cobdens in Cranbrook

The site plan at Cobdens in Cranbrook

“The creation of complimentary new habitats will build upon the existing landscape framework and enhance site wide biodiversity. This will include new structural native species woodland planting, species rich hedgerows, native species trees, as well as a matrix of long meadow, wet meadow, and amenity grassland.”

For more details on the application – reference 22/0406/MOUT – please click here.

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14 Mar 2022

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Countering Russian kleptocrats: What the West’s response to assault should look like

www.transparency.org 

In the wake of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the international community is scrambling to deter President Vladimir Putin and his cronies – and to help end the military aggression as soon as possible.

Among other measures, European Union member countries, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States have all announced targeted sanctions against Kremlin-linked individuals and businesses – many of whom are suspected of large-scale corruption.

In a kleptocratic system such as today’s Russia, going after the elites can be meaningful. The vast wealth that Russian kleptocrats have amassed – and continue to enjoy – has helped President Putin tighten his grip on power and exert illicit influence over the affairs of other nations, as well as emboldened his geopolitical ambitions.

And while forceful and hard-hitting, such sanctions do not always hurt as much as they’re meant to, considering that targeted individuals usually conceal their money and influence. So these measures will achieve little unless authorities are able to track down the assets purchased with dirty money – that they should have never welcomed in the first place.

It should not have taken the tragedy of this scale to prompt governments in the West to wake up to the dangers of enabling kleptocracy; we are seeing its devastating consequences now in Ukraine. To prevent future suffering, decision-makers in advanced economies need to urgently fast-track key anti-corruption policies. Many of these should have been adopted a long time ago.

Russian kleptocrats and their yachts

Corrupt officials and business people usually don’t own yachts and luxury goods in their own names. Instead, they make such lavish purchases through anonymous companies which are often registered in secrecy jurisdictions.

This week, Financial Times reported that Credit Suisse – Switzerland’s one of largest banks and subject of the recent Suisse Secrets investigations – tried to avoid information leaking out about loans to oligarchs who were later sanctioned by asking investors to destroy documents related to their assets, including yachts and private jets.

It is then not surprising that German authorities have yet to seize the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s super yacht, reportedly worth US$600 million. Officials stated that its ownership needs to be clarified as the yacht is registered in the Cayman Islands and owned by a holding company with a complex ownership spanning different jurisdictions.

Some progress has been made in France, however. On 2 March, customs officers seized a yacht reportedly belonging to Igor Sechin – former deputy prime minister and CEO of state-owned oil company Rosneft, who was included in the EU sactions list. The authorities in France confirmed that Sechin had been identified as the main shareholder of an entity that owns the yacht. This connection was originally exposed by a Russian investigative journalist, Roman Anin in 2016. Last year, as the Russian authorities scaled up their crackdown on civil society and independent media, Roman was interrogated for his reporting about that very yacht.

How countries in the West enabled kleptocracy in Russia

Corrupt officials prefer countries with strong rule of law and good governance to park their ill-gotten gains. This is especially true for corrupt officials and businesspeople from Russia. Transparency International Russia found that in the years 2008 to 2020 current and former officials have had 28,000 properties in 85 countries, including in EU member states.

The vast majority of Russian-owned foreign assets, however, are shrouded in secrecy. It has been estimated that the offshore wealth owned by Russians is equal to the country’s entire household wealth.

Thanks to financial data leaks, courageous investigative journalists and civil society activists have been able to track down some of this money and follow its movement across borders. Investigations such as the Panama Papers, the Russian and Troika laundromats, and the Pandora Papers have helped expose the extent of kleptocracy in Russia. The Pandora Papers investigations, in particular, have shed light on the alleged riches of Russian President Vladimir Putin – believed to be held for him by his inner circle.

These scandals have laid bare Russian kleptocrats’ reliance on the global financial system and intermediaries, such as banks based in leading democracies, to sustain and increase their illicit wealth.

The revelations from the past decade have helped Transparency International and other advocates to advance crucial anti-corruption policies in key countries and globally. But the speed of progress has been unacceptably slow.

Law enforcement authorities and courts in Western countries – where money is most often laundered, invested or parked – often do not have the technical resources, access to the right type of information, or lack rigour in clamping down on dirty money.

No checks or balances

Corruption is endemic in Russia. With a score of just 29 out of 100, Russia is the lowest-ranking country in Europe on Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Public institutions in Russia are almost completely captured by the executive government, failing to hold power accountable. State-sponsored propaganda shapes the public discourse as independent media and civil society exposing corruption and other abuses face increasingly harsh measures of repression – further limiting social checks on power.

Amendments to Russia’s “foreign agent law” have extended its use to target journalists and activists investigating government corruption. The government also used the COVID-19 pandemic to further tighten control and ban protests.

Kleptocrats should have nowhere to hide, no one help

The disregard to the rule of law and international norms demonstrated by Russia is an important reminder of the need to keep power in check. Transparency International and our national chapters across the world have been repeating, year after year, that the loopholes of the global financial system enable abuse of power and are a threat to democracy. Today, more than ever, this is a reality.

It is about time that countries in the Western fast-track important policies and finally act on issues where they had been dragging their feet.

We urge them to prioritise the adoption of key policies and strengthen enforcement in the following areas:

  1. Identify and freeze the assets of corrupt officials and complicit elites. The recently established Transatlantic Task Force is a step in the right direction. The Task Force should consider broadening its membership to include other key financial centers, map networks of nominees, proxies and family members and utilise and share available data on company and asset ownership, suspicious transactions reports, among others to trace assets. In the future, the task force should evolve into an effective model to deal with cross-border corruption and hold kleptocrats to account everywhere.
  2. End anonymous companies. Establish central, public registers with verified information of the real owners of companies, including on foreign companies.
  3. Increase transparency of trusts. Require the registration of trusts, requiring all parties to the trust to be disclosed and recorded in a register accessible to authorities as well as to the public.
  4. Improve transparency and checks in the real estate sector. Companies investing in the real estate sector should be required to disclose their beneficial owners and this information should be available in a publicly accessible register. Businesses and professionals involved in real estate deals, such as real estate agents, lawyers, notaries, should be required to identify the beneficial owner of customers, screen for politically exposed persons, and report suspicious transactions to authorities. Supervision should be the responsibility of independent and well-resourced public agencies instead of self-regulatory bodies.
  5. Open the black box of hedge funds, private equity and other investment funds. Investment fund managers should be required to undertake checks on customers and report suspicious transaction to authorities. All beneficiaries of investment funds, the real natural persons who are the end-investors, should be accurately identified, disclosed and recorded in registers.
  6. Increase transparency in luxury goods ownership. Information about the real owners of yachts and private jets should be recorded by governments and disclosed to the public. Luxury good dealers should conduct anti-money laundering checks.
  7. Ban EU golden passports and regulate golden visas. Citizenship-by-investment schemes should be phased out and passports issued to Russian oligarchs under these programmes should be revoked. Residency-by-investment schemes should be regulated and adequate checks should be put in place.
  8. Hold professional enablers to account. Banks, corporate service providers, lawyers, accountants and real estate agents that have been enabling Russian oligarchs and other kleptocrats to set up companies, move suspicious funds and purchase assets should be held to account. Dissuasive sanctions should apply to firms and senior management.
  9. Stronger mechanism for seizing, confiscating and returning assets. Going beyond sanctions, countries should ensure they have civil and criminal mechanisms to seize and confiscate assets, including, for example, unexplained wealth orders or non-conviction based forfeiture. Confiscated assets should be returned to the victims of corruption.
  10. Support civil society organisations, independent journalists, activists and whistleblowers. Especially in countries facing democratic decline or suffering from authoritarian kleptocracy, the support to civil society and whistleblowers is essential to turn the tide. Countries should invest in programmes combining investigative journalism with civil society advocacy for systemic change and provide support to anti-corruption fighters through learning exchanges, improvements to security protocols and use of diplomatic leverage to deter threats against them.
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14 Mar 2022

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Dismay as funding for UK’s ‘world-beating’ Covid trackers is axed

In 2020 Covid caught us ill prepared, with no stockpile of PPE and no functioning test track and trace system. These had all fallen victim to “cuts” (as had our strategic gas reserves).

Johnson’s cavalier approach to serious matters and inability to grasp detail, is sending us down the same path again, penny wise and pound foolish.

Covid hospital cases in Devon are rising – Owl

James Tapper www.theguardian.com 

If anything about the UK’s response to Covid-19 was world-beating, it was our surveillance system. From the World Health Organization to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), public health teams around the world have praised the UK’s infection-tracking capability, and used our data to plan their own pandemic measures.

Despite this health ministers have cancelled future funding for the React-1 study and other research projects. The decision has been met with dismay among leading scientists and researchers worldwide, who have questioned the UK’s ability to respond to future Covid threats.

Last week, researchers from Imperial College London revealed the latest turn in the pandemic with the finding that infections had begun to rise in people aged 55 and over. Imperial’s scientists work with Ipsos Mori to analyse PCR test results from more than 100,000 people a month .

The results from React-1, alongside the weekly Covid infection survey from the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) have given precise snapshots of how many people are infected and which areas are worst affected. The surveys are much more reliable than self-selecting community testing data, which misses many asymptomatic cases.

Yet Professor Paul Elliott, director of the React (Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission) study at Imperial, said last week its future depended on funding from the Department of Health and Social Care – and that funding would cease this month.

“We have one more round,” he said, at the announcement of the 18th set of findings last week. “So we’re going to be in the field from now till the end of March, but we’re not funded beyond that.”

Other research, including the Zoe Covid app, which tracks people’s symptoms and has cost £5m over the past two years, is also being defunded. Professor Tim Spector, who leads the research, said they had received “only a few weeks’ notice” of the “disappointing news”, after being assured by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) that it was almost certain that funding would continue. “We strongly believe that decision is a really bad mistake,” he said, adding that it cost only 1% of the funding needed for the ONS study.

The UKHSA’s own Siren study, which tracks infections in health workers and found that vaccine protection begins after two weeks, is ending recruitment on 31 March, although the body’s chief medical adviser, Susan Hopkins, said in a blogpost it would “continue to answer the most important questions about Covid-19 infection, reinfection and antibodies”.

University College London’s £4m Vivaldi study, tracking infections in care homes since May 2020, runs only until April 2022, according to UCL’s website.

And the CoMix social contacts survey, run by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which asks people how many direct contacts they have had with other people, stopped collecting data on 2 March and has published its final routine report.

The ONS weekly survey is to continue, after Sajid Javid, the health secretary, reportedly lobbied to keep it, in the face of Treasury cuts.

Professor Marc Lipsitch, director of science for the CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, visited the UK last month to speak to researchers at the ONS and Imperial with a view to setting up a similar system in the US.

“I think the UK can be justifiably proud of the system that it had, and it would be wise to try to build on that for future preparedness,” he said. “From a scientific perspective, React, together with the ONS Covid infection survey, provided the UK with a level of awareness of the pandemic that was really exceptionally good.“A proper random sample of the population is a very much superior way to understand the number of people who have the virus and the number of people who have had the virus, which are the two most critical things in understanding the progress.

“[It] is a gold standard for how to understand the pandemic. And certainly one way to be prepared for future waves or other viruses is to keep some capacity going.”

The UKHSA itself praised the work of the React-1 team in a blogpost in December, describing its work as “crucial in helping the government’s response to the pandemic”. It highlighted as one of React’s “key achievements” the discovery that a third of cases are asymptomatic.

Professor Sylvia Richardson, president of the Royal Statistical Society, said: “These two studies, the ONS survey and React, are unique in the world in my opinion. We should be proud of them. React picked up very early, in December 2020, that infections in the London area were not decreasing as expected. Now they’re picking up that cases are rising in the older population. They are picking up trends and we can trust those trends because of the robust way the study is done.

“The government says we have to learn to live with Covid, but to learn to do that we need data which is agile enough and trustworthy enough. The ONS survey and React have been very good examples of agile and trustworthy programmes.

“We know immunity is going to wane and health authorities have to decide how to deal with that, with recommendations for boosters, for example. So they need reliable information about what is going on to target their strategy.

“React has given very good information about the effectiveness of vaccines and can monitor the waning of immunity. The pandemic is not yet in a stable equilibrium. Many factors are still changing and we need to keep monitoring basic epidemiological quantities such as prevalence in a reliable way.

“I would like to see a strategic plan for preparedness in terms of what type of studies and resources they are going to keep. So far, myself and other experts at the Royal Statistical Society haven’t been consulted, and there seems to be a lack of strategy – we don’t know how they are going to monitor new variants, for example.”

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Should Cornwall follow Wales on Second Homes?

From today’s Western Morning News:

Wales’ plans to increase tax for second-home owners should be implemented in Cornwall, some residents have said.

The Welsh government announced last week that it would change the maximum council tax premium which local authorities can charge on a second home, putting it up from 100% of the usual charge for full-time residents to 300%

The change comes into force in Wales from April 2023.

The premiums, which are an additional charge on top of council tax, will mean second home owners can be charged up to four times the amount that a regular, year-round resident would pay.

The idea, brought in by the Labour-Plaid Cymru coalition which runs the Welsh Assembly, is designed to curb second-home ownership and prevent locals from being priced out of their home town or village.

Many people in Cornwall have since described the measure as a “good idea” and said the county should follow suit.

Taking to the WMN’s sister website, CornwallLive, on Facebook, Rose Lankston wrote: “Best thing that could ever happen. Need that to happen everywhere.” Fiona Davie added: “Cornwall should do the same”, while John Arthur said: “Well done Wales.”

Loveday Jenkin, a Mebyon Kernow Cornwall councillor, said there needs to be a rise of council tax on empty or under-utilised properties, including places rented out on the global website Airbnb.

Landlords who have been evicting full-time tenants and then selling their houses for a substantial profit or turning them into Airbnbs to cash in on the staycation boom are contributing to the county’s housing emergency, she explained.

“We need to do something in Cornwall,” she said. “That would be one tool. Other tools would be having a change of use from residential letting to holiday letting.

“Cornwall Council doesn’t have the power to increase the council tax either, that’s central government. We need to have more power.”

Landlords currently do not need to submit a planning application to turn a home into a holiday let, but Ms Jenkin said that could be one option to reduce the loss of homes for full-time residents to either rent or buy at a reasonable cost.

And she said it was ridiculous that people were challenging the measure in Wales. “If you can afford to buy a second home in Cornwall you’re likely to be able to pay a bit more council tax,” she said. “Just factor it into your budget.

“Wales is in a similar housing emergency as Cornwall.

“I’ve been dealing with people being evicted, this week actually a whole family who’s been living in the same home for 15 years are now in temporary accommodation in a caravan. What about the right of people in Cornwall to have a first home? What about the right not to be driven out of their home land?

“People are having to move away from Cornwall and are put in temporary accommodation. That’s wrong. It’s against their human rights.”

Second-home owners defend themselves pointing out the boost they and their holiday renters bring to the local tourist economy.

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More than half of UK voters still think Boris Johnson should resign

A majority of voters still want to see Boris Johnson resign despite the crisis over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.

[Not surprising as the Prime Minister presides over a weak cabinet and is incapable of backing up his booster blusters by subsequent delivery. – Owl]

Michael Savage www.theguardian.com 

There has been a significant fall in the proportion of voters who want the prime minister to stand aside. However, the new poll showed that 53% still wanted to see him go – down 10 points since January.

On the Ukraine crisis, a majority (52%) think the government has not gone far enough on accepting Ukrainian refugees into the UK. When asked whether they would take in Ukrainian refugees themselves, 9% of people said that they would, while a further 20% said they would consider it. About 63% said they were not in a position to do so, while 8% said they were, but wouldn’t.

Fourth-fifths (78%) of the UK support sending arms to Ukraine. Similarly, almost seven in 10 (68%) support donating western fighter planes for the Ukrainian air force to use in the country’s defence.

Voters are divided over a potential no-fly zone over Ukraine, with 40% saying they support western air forces enforcing a no-fly zone, and the shooting down of Russian aircraft that breach this, but 39% disagreeing.

There are clear concerns over the cost of living at home. There was a 15-point increase in those who now expect the economy to get worse over the next year (71%), while 57% expect their personal finances to worsen – up 12 points.

Johnson’s net approval ratings have improved from low levels. Those approving of the job he is doing make up 27%, with 54% disapproving. That gives him a net approval rating of -27, a 6-point improvement on the last poll a fortnight ago. Keir Starmer’s ratings remain largely unchanged, giving him a net approval rating of -2.

Overall, Labour’s lead has fallen marginally to 2 points over the Tories. Starmer’s party has 37% support, with the Tories on 35%. When people were asked who they preferred as prime minister, “none of these” remained the clear leader. However, when forced to choose, people would still prefer a Labour government led by Starmer (44%) over a Conservative government led by Johnson (35%).

Joe Curran, senior research executive at Opinium, said: “While most European countries are granting fleeing Ukrainians visa-free refuge, the UK has so far opted to require visas, to much outrage from certain quarters. Our polling finds that over half (52%) of the British public think that the government hasn’t gone far enough in accepting refugees.

“As for Boris Johnson, a cynic would say that the crisis in Ukraine offers both a distraction from domestic controversies and also the opportunity to act the statesman. Indeed we have seen a small uptick in his approval ratings, although we can’t say for certain that this is related to the war in the east. Whether this trend continues depends on many factors including the deepening cost of living crisis.”

Opinium polled 2,007 people online between 9 and 11 March.

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Protesting UK’s dirty money in one of London’s most exclusive streets

A washing machine brimming with fake bank notes and surrounded by union jacks sits on the pavement of one of London’s most exclusive streets.

www.independent.co.uk 

Its provocative presence in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea on Friday morning is intended to symbolise the laundering of dirty money in the British capital.

Since Vladimir Putin launched his bloody invasion of Ukraine last month, Britain has come under increasing pressure to clean up its act by introducing new legislation to aid transparency and tackle corruption.

It has taken the first step by introducing an Economic Crime Bill and by freezing the UK assets of some Russian oligarchs linked to the Kremlin. However, campaigners believe such moves are only a start.

Rachel Davies, head of advocacy at Transparency International UK, speaks of the unquantifiable scale of the issue.

“Because of the layers of secrecy, nobody really knows how much dirty money there is – not even the National Crime Agency (NCA),” she says.

Through open-source research, Transparency International found that at least £6.7bn of British property had been bought with “suspicious funds”, £1.5bn of which is Russian-owned.

Almost £300m in potentially fraudulent Russian money has been invested in bricks and mortar in Kensington, the most unequal borough in England, the group claims.

A washing machine is stuffed with fake money to protest against money laundering, in Kensington, London (Rory Sullivan)

“It’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Ms Davies says. “There’s almost certainly much, much more here in London and across the UK.”

Another group, Kensington Against Dirty Money (KADM), launched this week and staged the washing machine stunt in Thornwood Gardens to highlight the need to combat corruption.

“The awful war in Ukraine has shone a light on our responsibility to take action against dirty money in London,” Flo Hutchings, a co-founder of the movement, explains.

“We’re a campaign taking local action but making a national point, a global point. It’s not right that there are 6,000 anonymous foreign-owned properties in this borough where thousands are on years-long waiting lists for social housing.”

Joe Powell, KADM’s other co-founder, describes Kensington as “the epicentre of Britain’s dirty money problem”, adding that empty kleptocrat-owned properties have had an insidious effect on the borough, eroding the local community and its businesses.

Kensington residents have long understood the problem, but the war in Ukraine changed something, Powell believes. “There’s a moment now to say that this is not how we want our capital city to be. We also need to look at ourselves.

“It’s not just about autocrats and kleptocrats, it’s about our legal services, our banks, our accountants, our public relations firms, who have for a long time enabled dirty money to wash through our systems. A moment of introspection is needed.”

Powell says the government’s Economic Crime Bill, which will make it mandatory for shell companies to declare who owns property purchased in their name, is neither sufficient nor watertight. Under the law, kleptocrats will have a six-month grace period in which they can conceivably sell their homes.

“One piece of legislation this week is not enough to solve this problem, especially given that it is full of loopholes,” Mr Powell says.

To Mr Powell’s mind, greater transparency must be accompanied by greater enforcement. The NCA and other enforcement agencies have had their budgets slashed by ministers in recent years, making it almost impossible to effectively target dirty money, he notes.

On the borough level, he says the council, which already raises a tax levy on empty properties, must update its list of homes that are not occupied. “If you spoke to any resident, they’d say the real number was much higher.” Kensington and Chelsea should also invest more in social housing, he adds.

In response to Kensington Against Dirty Money’s comments, Cllr Kim Taylor-Smith, the council’s housing lead, said it was “absolutely not right” that there are empty properties while 2,100 households are in temporary accommodation.

The borough will continue to lobby the government “for stronger legislation to help councils bring empty homes back into use”, he stressed.

Sam Dodgson, a resident and aspiring Lib Dem councillor, has seen the detrimental effects empty properties have had on the area.

“We’re supposedly a village in the heart of London, but we’re a village with no one here. We’re becoming a dormitory town for investors. It’s upsetting.”

Monica Press, a local Labour councillor who has lived in the borough for 25 years, shares this view. Looking at the property behind the washing machine, she says: “My son went to Holland Park School. These were their playing fields. It’s now just a development that’s half empty.”

A government spokesperson said: “The government moved quickly in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to bring forward the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill, which will allow us to move more quickly with sanctions, prevent criminals from laundering their money in UK property, and strengthen unexplained wealth orders.

“This is part of a wider package of legislative proposals to tackle illicit finance, which will be introduced to parliament in the coming months, including reform of Companies House and new powers to seize crypto assets.

“We continue to lead the way in our fight against corruption, working closely with the private sector, international partners, and the crown dependencies and overseas territories, to ensure there are no safe havens for criminals to hide their dirty money.

“UK law enforcement has good existing information-sharing mechanisms with the crown dependencies and overseas territories, including on beneficial ownership information.”

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Rural communities without access to mains gas face ‘a tsunami of poverty’, charity warns

There’s a warning that “a tsunami of poverty” will hit rural communities if more help isn’t provided to the 14% of British households living without access to mains gas. (In Cornwall, 47% of homes are off the gas grid.)

Dan Whitehead news.sky.com 

Many homes in the countryside which rely on oil, bottled gas, coal and wood to heat and cook are facing rapidly rising bills, made worse due to the volatility caused by the war in Ukraine.

Those alternative fuel sources are not covered by Ofgem’s increased price gap coming into force next month and are often far more expensive than mains supply.

SNP MP Drew Hendry has tabled the Energy Pricing (Off Gas Grid Households) Private Members Bill in parliament to try to provide extra help and protection for households which are off-grid.

He told the Commons last month that those households are forced to pay about four times more for their energy bills than the average home.

The problem mainly affects rural parts of the UK, where mains gas pipes do not reach.

In Cornwall, 47% of homes are off the gas grid.

Lorraine Baker-Lynch and her husband Robert from St Austell use oil and bottled gas, and say their bills are increasing so much they may need to rely on their log burner instead: “If all else fails, or if prices go so high that we can’t afford, we’ve got the log burner and on that there’s a kettle ready to boil… what else do you do? Because oil is going through the roof.”

And with prices increasing, they can only afford to fill half the oil tank.

Lorraine says: “You have to constantly check – has the oil gone down? How much can we afford? It’s going up monthly. We live here day in, day out. We love it. But it’s hard and challenging. You have to second guess. You can’t just turn on a gas fire. This is life. I wouldn’t swap it, but it would be nice if it was a bit easier. It would be nice if the government looked out for us.”

At the tip of Cornwall is the town of St Just, which Sky News data identifies in the worst 10 places in the country out of 7,201 areas for home energy efficiency.

Holly Whitelaw lives in an old granite miner’s cottage in the centre of the town.

Her only source of power and heating is electricity, and rising bills means she can’t afford to heat her home.

She says: “It’s damp. It’s like living in a cave basically. You get lots of condensation, you get the sea mist. Mould becomes a bit of an issue, so you just have to blast it with bleach quite regularly.”

Holly says she is keen to keep her carbon footprint as low as possible – but even then, heating her whole house is impossible.

“I can’t afford to heat my home. Not properly. Not to keep the mould at bay. Not to keep my feet from going numb so I can’t sleep at night,” she says.

“It is worrying and getting into debt is debilitating. I’ve been there with electricity providers. I’m tough, but many aren’t. We’ve really got to look after the vulnerable here.”

The rising cost of energy bills is also having a direct impact on the way charities are helping the most vulnerable.

At the Churches Together Foodbank in Penzance, manager Michelle Brown says they are having to help people with their bills, as well as changing the types of food they supply.

She says: “There’s a tsunami of poverty that’s going to sweep over us. It’s been a choice for some time, especially during COVID, that people are having to choose to pay their rent, whether to put food on their family’s tables or whether to heat. There’s no point us sending out food to people who can’t heat it.

“Because a lot of people live off grid down here, they’re relying on the more expensive alternatives. Things like gas cylinders, oil, microwaves… it’s a vicious circle as that bumps up their costs as well.”

The impact of more expensive fuel sources is compounded in rural parts of the country, which often have an older population, lower wages, poorer public transport links and an ageing housing stock.

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‘Unjust proposition’ leads to rift between Mid Devon’s independent councillors

Who wins from these spats – the Conservatives! Owl

Lewis Clarke www.devonlive.com 

A split between independent members of Mid Devon District Council, over an ‘unjust proposition’ has led to changes on committees and the cabinet.

Seven independent councillors have split into two groups, the New Independent Group and the Non-Aligned, following a fallout over a proposal by the independent leader Councillor Bob Deed (Cadbury, New Independent), to remove fellow independent Councillor Ashley Wilce (Cullompton North, Non-Aligned) from their group.

Councillor Barry Warren (Lower Culm, Non-Aligned), who is the leader of the non-aligned group explained to council on Wednesday, February 23, that the request to remove Cllr Wilce was ‘contrary to common requirements of justice that the condemned man should at least know what he is accused of and this is not the case.’

He added: “Four of the seven members present would not support this unjust proposition.

“The outcome was that the leader and two other independent councillors formed the new independent group, which left five elected independent members ungrouped.”

The two other independent councillors in the group are Councillor Wally Burke (Westexe, New Independent), and Councillor Dennis Knowles (Lowman, New Independent).

He added: “I was asked to act as group leader so representations could be made, and the information obtained and shared as appropriate.

“We are currently all independent councillors, but we formed as a non-aligned group in order that we are open to others who feel they do not wish to be constrained by the dictates by a particular leader or system.

“If anyone wishes to join us you would be welcome. Each member would be free to act as his or her conscious dictates, to best represent those who have elected them. You make your own decisions and answer for your own actions. All that is asked is that we treat one another with respect and accept there are alternative views to our own.

“As the current leader I work on the basis that I am not my brother’s keeper.”

Last week, Councillor Graeme Barnell (Newbrooke, Non-Aligned) announced he would be leaving the Liberal Democrats to take up Cllr Warren’s offer of joining the non-aligned group.

This week, it was announced that non-aligned member Councillor Nikki Woollatt (Cullompton North, Non-Aligned) was removed from her cabinet position with Councillor Clive Eginton taking the role of cabinet member for the working environment and support service.

In an email to members she said: “Cllr Deed informed me that in light of recent events he considered my allegiance to the cabinet and the cabinet system was in question and that there were two ways of dealing with this. I could either resign or be removed.

“I told him that I would not be resigning and if he wanted rid of me that he would need to sack me.

“I also told him that it was his prerogative as leader, but I was not surprised as he had threatened it on numerous occasions throughout the last few years by insinuation and I was aware of occasions in the past when he had offered my portfolio to other members. It will be a relief to no longer have to work within that unhealthy environment.

“Cllr Deed was well aware of my views on the cabinet system when he appointed me. Despite those views I have always been pragmatic and professional enough to work within the system we currently have.”

She added: “As regards my allegiance to cabinet – despite at times not always agreeing with the leader’s actions within cabinet – I have continued to carry out my role and behave professionally.

“Though at times it has been difficult I have continued as I found that by being a cabinet member I was far better informed and had more influence than I had as a back bench member. I felt it was in Cullompton’s and my constituents’ best interests to stick with it.

She added: “I’m disappointed that having nominated and supported Cllr Deed to become leader in 2019 on the understanding that he would try to appoint a politically balanced cabinet we now have have a cabinet with very little diversity. Who is the disloyal one? That may be politics but it’s not my kind of politics.

“But every cloud has a silver lining. Now I have been released from collective cabinet responsibility I will have more freedom and shall return to what my dear friend, the late Councillor Jenny Roach, myself and others used to affectionately call ‘the naughty corner’.”

The changes mean that the independents have lost a seat on the scrutiny committee. At a vote at the council meeting, it was awarded to the Conservative Party.

The move was divisive with Cllr Deed saying the seat should have been given to the independent group. Councillor Elizabeth Lloyd said it should be awarded to the non-aligned.

Cllr Warren added: “The non-aligned group seek to take the scrutiny seat to retain the balance of six Conservatives, three Liberal Democrats, one Green Party and two independents.

“Given to the Conservatives, this will give them more than half of the seats on scrutiny when they already have more than half the seats on cabinet. To control the cabinet and scrutiny committee is hardly creating confidence in the openness and transparency of the council.”

However, Conservative group leader, Councillor Bob Evans (Lower Culm, Conservative) said: “This is a consequence of the independents having a disagreement and forming to separate groups.

“I object to being told by a group of five what we shall or shall not have, so to conclude, given this is a choice, I will move that the new scrutiny position be awarded to the Conservative group.

“I find it very disturbing that this council has in the past debated how we talk to each other, and treat each other, and nobody has mentioned the way our monitoring officer has been treated, and I put it on record that I think it is questionable. Members need to take a long hard look at themselves.”

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Public Survey – East Devon Culture Strategy

East Devon District Council is developing a ten year Culture Strategy.

docs.google.com 

Your thoughts and experiences are extremely important and will help ensure this will set out an ambitious, clear and deliverable vision unique to East Devon that is relevant to you.

What do we mean by ‘Culture’?

Music, theatre, museums, dance, crafting, libraries and every kind of visual and digital arts. It includes culture that you watch, or participate in, and culture made by professionals and amateurs as well as ‘everyday creativity’ that you might enjoy home.

Why is this important?

Culture brings joy, fun and wonder to our lives, whatever our age. Imagine a world without music, dancing, books or art! It brings communities together, contributes to jobs and prosperity, attracts visitors, and supports health and wellbeing. Culture and Heritage are the beating heart of our towns and cities.

What is the purpose of this Strategy?

The Strategy will set out a shared road map by and for East Devon to develop its cultural provision, capacity and ambition. East Devon District Council will be working closely with the creative and cultural sectors, tourism, economic development and other stakeholders to forge a stronger, sustainable future offer for East Devon.

There are just 12 questions, most of which are tick boxes – your time is appreciated.

You are not required to provide any personal information, except to leave, if you wish, your email at the end – in order to only receive future information about this project.

If you need a copy of this consultation on paper or in any other format, please call 01395 517569 or email jbuckley@eastdevon.gov.uk

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Plymouth City Council Leader faces no confidence vote

The leader of Plymouth City Council will face a vote of no confidence in just over a week after Labour claimed he has “lost all authority.”

planetradio.co.uk

Cllr Nick Kelly (Conservative, Compton) has been leader of the council since the Conservative group won the largest number of seats in the May 2021 elections.

However, following several suspensions and resignations, Tories now have the same number of councillors as the Labour group.

Cllr Kelly failed to get his annual budget – which included a 1.74 per cent council tax increase – approved at the end of February after Labour brought an amendment to freeze council tax for the next financial year – except for the one per cent ring-fenced for adult social care.

The amendment was passed and Labour are now calling for a vote of no confidence which will take place at the final full council meeting of the financial year on Monday 21 March.

Plymouth Labour leader Cllr Tudor Evans OBE (Ham) said: “This was a complete failure on Cllr Kelly’s part.

“Not to get your own budget through is unprecedented and if Cllr Kelly had anything about him at all he would have resigned as leader there and then.

“As it is, he has lost all authority and we cannot allow the city to continue to be led by someone who does not have the confidence of the majority of the council.”

Tudor Evans (Labour Leader, Plymouth)

The latest development follows controversy surrounding several members of the Conservative group.

In March last year Cllr Mark Deacon (Conservative, Southway) was temporarily suspended by the party after claims he had mocked women’s safety concerns in the wake of the death of Sarah Everard.

Cllr Kelly was also suspended after being accused of “victim-blaming” in comments he made following the death of Plymouth teenager Bobbi-Anne McLeod.

The Labour groups says it has not had a reply to a letter they sent to Cllr Kelly about the comments he made.

Plymouth Conservatives also faced questions after it emerged emerged that two councillors, elected as Tories last year, are now living in Gloucestershire.

Plymouth City Council was eventually left with no party holding overall control when Cllr Dave Downie (Independent, Budshead) was suspended from the Conservative Party.

However, Cllr Downie remains cabinet member for education, skills and children and young people, enabling him to continue to receive a special responsibility allowance of £22,000 a year.

“It really is time for Cllr Kelly to go,” said Cllr Evans.

“There have been repeated suspensions, resignations and expulsions under Cllr Kelly’s tenure and infighting on a colossal scale.

“It certainly does not serve the residents of Plymouth to have a weak leader who is manifestly incapable of holding his own group together, let alone lead the city.”

As both Labour and the Conservatives have the same number of seats, the result of the no confidence vote is likely to depend on how the 11 independents on the council vote.

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New industrial site for East Devon to result in ‘significant job creation’

A commercial property developer has announced a partnership to develop a new industrial site in East Devon, creating job opportunities.

Becca Gliddon3 eastdevonnews.co.uk

Developer Stoford has revealed a new site-wide agreement with the Church Commissioners for England that it says ‘will unlock future phases of development at a job-creating industrial scheme in East Devon’.

The development partners said the new build will result ‘in significant job creation locally’.

Stoford said the agreement will create an additional c.500,000 sq ft of industrial/logistics development at Exeter Logistics Park, in Clyst Honiton, with new units available on freehold or leasehold terms.

Joanna Loxton, head of strategic land for the Church Commissioners for England, said: “The latest agreement builds on our already strong partnership with Stoford and will see hundreds of thousands of square feet of high-quality employment space being delivered, resulting in significant job creation locally and supporting the area’s continued growth.

“We are particularly proud of Exeter Logistics Park’s sustainability credentials, which are a demonstration of our ESG commitments in action and will help support a ‘green recovery’ post-covid.”

Exeter Logistics Park is part of the second phase of a significant industrial scheme which was opened in 2017, following the grant of outline planning, secured by the Church Commissioners.

Part of the Exeter and East Devon Growth Point economic development zone east of the M5, near Exeter Airport, the scheme will total more than 650,000 sq ft upon completion and includes improvements to the local transport infrastructure.

A new access road and junction have been created off the B3174 London Road, in a bid to make the site ‘immediately available for further development’.

Stoford has already completed construction of a new 90,000 sq ft distribution unit and a 415-space electric vehicle charging park at Exeter Logistics Park, on behalf of an international retailer.

And works are also underway to build two additional buildings, including DHL’s 54,732 sq ft parcel distribution service centre and a 28,464 sq ft warehouse being developed speculatively.

The new developments have green roof spaces, a sustainable urban drainage system, provision of solar panels and an external trim trail with outdoor gym and fitness area.

They are expected to be completed later this month (March 2022) and ‘have the potential’ to create more than 100 new jobs, said Stoford.

Dan Gallagher, Stoford joint managing director, said: “Exeter Logistics Park is an extremely well-connected site with enormous potential.

“We are on track to deliver the two new buildings in Q1 this year and the new agreement will enable us to further develop the scheme to meet continued demand.

“This is a sustainable scheme that has already attracted high calibre, international occupiers. It has all of the attributes to become the South West’s leading distribution hub, south of Bristol.”

It is estimated that Exeter Logistics Park could contribute between £90 million – £105 million to the regional economy when fully complete.

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Four new members elected to Honiton Town Council

Four new members have been elected to Honiton Town Council. 

Philippa Davies www.midweekherald.co.uk 

Lisa Beigan, Jenny Brown, Cathy Maunder and Robert Fowles join the St Michael’s Ward after a by-election on Thursday, March 10. 

Two other candidates, Andrew Pearsall and John Taylor, also stood but were not successful. 

The election was held after six councillors resigned in January in protest against a rise in council tax. Another councillor had stepped down for unrelated reasons, and there was already a vacant seat on the council. 

This left four vacancies in the St Michael’s Ward, and four in St Paul’s. 

Three candidates came forward for the St Paul’s seats and were elected unopposed: Joseph Furneaux-Gotch, Debra Hulin and Caroline Kolek. 

Yesterday’s election saw a turnout of 15.6 per cent.

Lisa Beigan – Credit: Lisa Beigan

Lisa Beigan, who runs the Honiton Wine Bar with her family, secured 574 votes.

Cathy Maunder – Credit: Cathy Maunder

Cathy Maunder, who runs a business supporting families of children and young adults with special needs, won 460.

Robert Fowles – Credit: Robert Fowles

Robert Fowles, who promised to use his experience of working in major international organisations for the benefit of Honiton, gained 431 votes.

Jenny Brown – Credit: Jenny Brown

Jenny Brown, former hotelier and East Devon District Councillor, won 426. 

The other two candidates, Andrew Pearsall and John Taylor, gained 266 and 174 votes respectively. 

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Refugees from Ukraine – Priti Patel need to avoid another Windrush scandal

Debate between Yvette Cooper and Priti Patel (extract)

www.parallelparliament.co.uk

Yvette Cooper:

“…This has just been shameful. We are pushing vulnerable people from pillar to post in their hour of need. Week after week we have seen this happen. It is deeply wrong to leave people in this terrible state. Our country is better than this. If she cannot get this sorted out, frankly she should hand the job over to somebody else who can.”

Priti Patel:

“….Visa applications are important in this process. It is important that we are flexible in our response, and we have been. We are seeing that many Ukrainians do not have documentation. This country and all Governments, including probably a Government that the right hon. Lady once served in, will recognise that there was something known as the Windrush scandal and it is important that everyone who arrives in the UK has physical and digital records of their status here in the UK to ensure that they can access schemes—[Interruption.] Opposition Members may holler, but the process is vital in terms of verification, notification and permission to travel. It is important to give people status when they come to the United Kingdom, so that they have the right to work, the right to access benefits and digital verification of their status. That is absolutely right…..”

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Johnson announces terms of reference for Covid inquiry

Boris Johnson has promised bereaved families will have their voices heard, as he published wide-ranging terms of reference for the public inquiry into the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Heather Stewart www.theguardian.com 

The prime minister bowed to pressure last year and announced the inquiry, which will be chaired by the retired judge Lady Hallett.

The government has now published its draft terms of reference. These cover the public health response, including how decisions were made, and a wide range of other issues from shielding to lockdowns, the procurement of personal protective equipment to the closure of schools.

Hallett will also examine the economic response, including the furlough scheme, and how the NHS and wider health and social care system responded.

Announcing the draft terms of reference, Johnson said: “The importance of the inquiry working to understand the experiences of those most affected by the pandemic – including bereaved families – as well as looking at any disparities evident in the impact of the pandemic and our response.”

Hallett will hold a four-week consultation on the draft terms of reference. They include the necessity to produce a “timely” report, although the very broad remit suggests merely taking evidence may be a very lengthy process.

The inquiry is asked to produce a “factual narrative account” of the response to the pandemic – and then to identify any lessons to be learned, “thereby to inform the UK’s preparations for future pandemics”.

In doing so, the inquiry will “listen to the experiences of bereaved families and others who have suffered hardship or loss as a result of the pandemic”. It will not “investigate individual cases of harm or death in detail”, and Hallett will not be asked to apportion blame for any failures she identifies.

The families of people who have died from Covid-19 have long campaigned for a full public inquiry. Johnson initially rejected those calls, before announcing one in May 2021. But he stipulated the inquiry would not begin its work until this year, when the government hoped the worst of the pandemic would be over.

At the time, Johnson said it would take a “frank and candid” look at how the pandemic was managed.

An investigation by the health and science select committees has already pointed to a number of failures in the government’s response, including the pace at which Covid testing was ramped up, and the decision to discharge patients from hospitals into care homes without testing.

The committees took dramatic testimony from Johnson’s former chief aide Dominic Cummings, who claimed the prime minister consistently failed to grasp the seriousness of the pandemic in its early stages.

Becky Kummer, a spokesperson for Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, said: “The inquiry is a one-off and historic opportunity for the terrible suffering and loss of the past two years to be learned from, [and] to ensure these tragedies are not repeated in the future. The government finally publishing the draft terms of reference is a huge step forward, and we look forward to feeding into the consultation on them.

“Sadly, today’s announcement comes far too late. We will never know how many lives could have been saved had the government had a rapid review phase in summer 2020, as we called for at the time.”

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Devolution deal could help transform our Devon communities

Not entirely clear what John Hart is proposing, a single Devon-wide unitary authority perhaps?

But it looks like the end of our ineffectual Local Enterprise Partnership “Heart of the South West”.

Transforming our Devon communities

John Hart, Leader Devon County Council from this week’s Exmouth Journal

The term’s become something of a cliche but the Government’s Levelling-Up agenda could bring welcome benefits for Devon.

I’ve written here before about Team Devon and the close working relationship the county council has developed with district, town and parish councils across Devon originally to deliver help and support for vulnerable people during the pandemic.

But we have also been cooperating on the county’s economic recovery from Covid and the housing crisis affecting us. We have also linked up with Plymouth and Torbay to propose a county-wide devolution deal to the Government that will deliver both economic and social benefits for local people.

You may have seen that earlier this year, ours was one of nine bids from around the country invited to start discussions with Ministers and civil servants and that’s now underway with the aim of achieving agreement by the autumn.

This isn’t necessarily about asking for more funding – although that would be nice – but about taking on extra powers and influence to improve the economic and social conditions for the communities we all serve. For example, bringing together the responsibilities for areas such as skills and training that are currently spread across many organisations and having more say in how Government resources are spent in our communities something that is all too often determined by bureaucrats 200 miles away in London. I firmly believe devolving funding and power to the most local level possible is absolutely the right thing to do.

As well as skills and training, we’ve identified affordable housing, health and social care, and transport and digital connectivity as our key priorities alongside clean, Green economic growth to help pay for these improvements.

I believe this is a groundbreaking opportunity for our councils – working as a strong team – to partner with the Government on a deal that’s right for all our communities and best for business.

If we get this right, we could really transform the future for people and communities right across Devon.

We want to drive up skills and training, create more opportunities for our young people to find good jobs locally and deliver more affordable homes that meet the needs of local people.

We have world-beating examples of enterprise and innovation across our county and we must build on them to deliver opportunities for businesses and individuals and so drive up prosperity for all our residents. As well as our partnership in Team Devon and with Plymouth and Torbay, we propose working in close collaboration with our colleagues in the health sector, in business, our universities and colleges, towns and parishes, housing associations and national parks. There is real strength in our unity, which the Government has recognised, and by working together we can achieve much more for the people of Devon. It’s about us coming together to have one voice and being a credible partner with national Government and others to be able to get investment and development, having more power and influence on funding and decision-making locally.

But let me make it very clear. This is not about more bureaucracy. We do not believe elected mayors work well outside of big cities and conurbations. Instead, we believe our existing councils have already demonstrated they can work together strategically and we want to develop and refine this whilst respecting the sovereignty of our individual authorities.

And, if you will allow a political leader to say this, it is also above politics. Our current Devolution Deal proposals are backed by Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and non-aligned council leaders. What we all want is the best for Devon.

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New Housing Minister: “Save Our Greenbelt”

Stuart Andrew, who took over the job of Housing Minister on 8 February, has been battling unpopular development in his own patch!

From his web site:

www.stuartandrew.org.uk

Leeds City Council are currently exploring sites that they will consider allocating for houses over the next 16 years, with 70,000 houses being planned. Although the consultation on the Site Allocations Plan has now closed, Stuart is continuing to keep up the pressure on the Council, saying:

“It was great to see so many constituents get in touch with me, and contribute to the consultation. This has really caught the heart of the area. Many have joined me in saying that the site allocations plan, in their current plan, will have a terrible effect on the greenbelt across the area. We need to preserve these natural boundaries and our treasured landscape, which creates the unique identity of this area.

“I particularly want to praise neighbourhood groups like RGAG and the Aireborough Neighbourhood Development Forum, who have helped so many people understand what can be an incredibly complicated area of policy. I will continue to keep up the pressure to ensure that the independently appointed Government Inspector comes to an informed decision on whether the proposals need further review.

“The recent flooding across Yorkshire has highlighted the importance of getting planning right – we have seen areas that are proposed for development effectively turn into lakes, and I hope that the Council will heed the calls to reassess their plans.”

In order for Stuart to be able to communicate with you directly in order to update you on the Leeds City Council Site Allocations Plan, please sign up below. You can also read a copy of Stuart’s response to the Consultation via the attachment below.

 For more details on the Council’s proposals, visit the following website: http://www.leeds.gov.uk/council/Pages/Site-Allocations-Development-Plan-Document-(LDF).aspx

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Covid spike leads to Cornwall’s main hospital halting visitors

The main NHS hospital in Cornwall has been forced to suspend almost all visiting after a “significant” spike in the number of patients with Covid.

Steven Morris www.theguardian.com 

Eighty-five patients at the Royal Cornwall hospital in Truro have tested positive for coronavirus, meaning that many wards and bays are unable to take in new admissions.

According to the latest figures published by Cornwall council, the seven-day case rate for Cornwall is 376 per 100,000 people, compared with 313 for England as a whole.

A spokesperson for Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust said: “Over the last few days there has been a significant increase in the number of people in hospital who are Covid-positive.

“Although the vast majority of the 85 people have been admitted for another reason, it means we have many wards or bays unable to take new admissions.”

The spokesperson said the hospital would consider visits in “exceptional circumstances”, such as to say goodbye to a patient who is dying. The current visiting arrangements for maternity, neonatal and paediatrics remain unchanged.

“We will be making every effort to resume visiting as soon as we can, but we must reduce the number of people coming into our hospitals to a minimum, and it is likely we will have to keep this restriction in place for at least the next seven days,” the spokesperson added.

The trust’s deputy medical director, Dr Gill Derrick, said: “Although all patients are tested on admission, we are finding many have been unknowingly carrying the virus.

“When a Covid test later in their admission proves positive, it means we must close a bay, or in some cases a whole ward, for at least 10 days. This has a big knock-on impact for patients waiting for admission and ultimately ambulances waiting to hand over their patients. All of our health and care services continue to be under significant pressure.”

Dr Ruth Goldstein, of Cornwall’s public health team, said Covid was still causing “havoc” with many people’s lives. “Everybody seems to know somebody who has got Covid. It absolutely hasn’t gone away,” she said.

Andrew George, a Lib Dem councillor who speaks for the party on health issues in Cornwall, said: “The Conservative government sets the tone and climate as well as the rules. The prime minister follows public opinion rather than science, chases headlines and has no respect for his own rules.

“Ministers and portfolio holders must stand aside and let public health officials set standards for social distancing, mask wearing and personal hygiene. Because it’s evident the public have lost respect for those who set the rules.”