Andrew George, formerly MP for St Ives, is calling for intervention at national level. “Since the late 80s, I’ve argued for a new planning use class for non-permanent occupancy,” he says. “So any person wishing to convert an existing property from permanent to non-permanent use would need to apply for planning permission.

“Local communities and authorities could set limitations on this, and there would also be a register of existing second and holiday homes, based on which authorities could apply higher levels of tax.”

Jonny Weeks www.theguardian.com 

“Holiday let, holiday let, holiday let,” says Leo Walker ruefully, as he leads the way through the historic fishing quarter of St Ives in Cornwall, pointing to successive properties.

As the afternoon sunshine breaks through the clouds and gaggles of tourists devour ice-creams at the nearby harbour beach, Walker is reminiscing about how this area – known locally as “downlong” – was once affordable for young renters and was populated with traditional B&Bs.

“I used to pay £25 a week to live here, but those prices are long gone,” he says. “Housing poverty here is not a new thing. Something should have been done about it 20 years ago.”

In 2016, residents in St Ives voted to take action against the scourge of second home ownership. By inserting a “principal residence” condition into the sale of new-build properties, a mechanism known as Policy H2, the St Ives Area Neighbourhood Development Plan hoped to curb the influx of investment buyers, while providing better and more sustainable housing prospects for locals.

Residents of Whitby in Yorkshire recently voted in favour of similar action. But the people of St Ives have a warning for them: such action may not be “bold enough”.

Morag Robertson, chair of St Ives Community Land Trust, says: “The policy was designed to temper the feverishness at the edges of the market and to ensure open land was used for housing for local people, not for speculative investments or holiday lets. We think that’s been a success, but we should’ve gone further.

“The town has been sucked out by holiday lets in the last couple of years because H2 doesn’t stop existing properties from being turned into holiday lets. We’ve also faced issues such as no-fault evictions [long-term renters have been forced to leave their properties at short notice when the owners turn their properties into holiday lets]. Maybe we should have tackled the existing market head on. Maybe we weren’t bold enough.”

The average sale price of a home in the heart of St Ives has risen from £336,153 in 2016 to £556,493 this year. Local estate agents attribute some of that increase to heightened demand throughout the south-west since the Covid pandemic, but lifelong resident Vaughan Bennett feels “the horse had already bolted”.

“You won’t hear a St Ives voice here anywhere, it’s now a glorified holiday camp,” he says. “I’m Cornish born and bred; a big chunk of my heritage has gone. I don’t feel good about that.”

Bennett collects waste on behalf of holiday companies in St Ives and feels “conflicted” about being part of such a ravenous tourism industry. “I don’t know what anyone can do about St Ives,” he adds. “Perhaps restrictions will work elsewhere, but not this end.”

Cath Navin, co-founder of campaign group First Not Second Homes, welcomed the news of Whitby’s referendum.

“Amnesty International recently said housing needs to be enshrined in human rights – I agree, it does,” she says. “The way things are now, we’ve lost our moral compass.

“The fact that you’ve got queues of people stepping up for a referendum to change things in Whitby is really important. There are many more honeypot areas like this, and I think more places will follow suit.”

Even the tourists themselves are sympathetic. Paul Thomas and his family live in Upton St Leonards, near the Cotswolds, and say their community has been eroded by second-home owners.

“Houses in our village get bought up by people from London who then lease them out,” Thomas says. “You have to find the right balance between tourism and residential, because tourism does fund these areas.”

However, many academics have criticised the limitations of Policy H2. Among them is Nick Gallent, professor of housing and planning at University College London.

“If you’ve decided to buy a second home in St Ives, do you really want a new redbrick house on a peripheral estate or are you looking for an old fisherman’s cottage by the harbour?” he says. “I think most buyers want the cottage. But H2 hasn’t restricted the sale or usage of existing properties. That’s the problem.

“H2 in St Ives was an act of political theatre because the local authorities needed to be seen to be doing something. That’s not a criticism of them – they’re doing what they can with the powers they have through the planning system.”

Andrew George, formerly MP for St Ives, is calling for intervention at national level. “Since the late 80s, I’ve argued for a new planning use class for non-permanent occupancy,” he says. “So any person wishing to convert an existing property from permanent to non-permanent use would need to apply for planning permission.

“Local communities and authorities could set limitations on this, and there would also be a register of existing second and holiday homes, based on which authorities could apply higher levels of tax.”

As Walker wanders the streets of St Ives pondering the merits of ethical tourism, he describes the current situation as “an economic accident”. Yet he says he is lucky.

“My mum bought a four-bedroom house in 1971 for £15,000 – it’s now worth £1.1m,” he says, pointing “uplong” to their family home on the hillside. “We don’t want to sell it because we live there together. But if it wasn’t for that house, I couldn’t afford to live here because I don’t have a million pounds for a house!”

In the English department on the top floor of Tiverton High School, there are holes in the ceiling. Rain leaked in last year, damaging GCSE coursework. When a tile fell off in the girls’ toilets, asbestos was discovered. There are boarded-up windows, damp patches and mould, peeling paint and signs warning of a “fragile roof”.

Environment Agency officials say the school of 1,400 pupils “is at risk of dangerous flooding, in excess of 1.5m . . . a depth that poses a risk to life”. A county council report says it would cost £16 million to repair.

Sian Griffiths, Ademola Bello www.thetimes.co.uk (Extract)

……Since last spring, the government has chosen 100 schools to be rebuilt. Just over a quarter are in Tory marginals or target seats with a majority of 10 per cent or less, and nearly a fifth (18) are in Tory marginals or target seats with a majority of 5 per cent or less, according to analysis by The Sunday Times.

Adam Wishart, the convenor of Fund Our Tivvy High, said: “This is one of the safest Conservative seats in the country. But people feel let down.

“They have been promised this school would be fixed for more than 15 years. It is rated a ‘good’ school but the buildings are 60 years old and not fit for purpose.”

Wishart, a documentary maker, has two children at primary school who he wants to send to Tiverton High. He added: “We want a school fit for our kids. I am worried about sending mine here because of the Environment Agency warnings.

“The government has agreed to fund 100 schools for rebuilds since February 2021. Only four are in the southwest.”

Christian Wakeford, the former Tory MP who defected to Labour, has said that he was warned when he was a Conservative MP that funding for a new school in his Bury South constituency would be scrapped if he voted against the government.

Wishart added: “Even if you take his [Wakeford’s] testimony with a pinch of salt, we have been concerned that Tiverton and Honiton is being left behind because we aren’t a red wall marginal, and we have a solid Conservative majority. So now we are asking . . . can the Conservative candidate [Helen Hurford] secure a commitment from government to promise the money to rebuild the school before Thursday’s election. Then we can decide how to vote.”

The Liberal Democrat candidate, Richard Foord, 44, a former army major and father of three who lives locally, has made school repairs one of his top priorities, along with reducing ambulance waiting times, forcing water companies to reduce sewage in rivers and cutting VAT by 2.5 per cent.

He says he has a “mountain to climb” to win the seat but many expect the Conservative majority to be slashed. “While it is regarded as a safe seat it does not get the funding it needs,” he said. “The levelling-up money goes to the Midlands and north where the Tories are chasing votes. The southwest is neglected — that is what folk here tell me.”

At hustings in the school with all the by-election candidates on Thursday last week, Hurford said she had told Boris Johnson when he visited Devon to help her to canvass that she backed the school rebuild “100 thousand trillion percent”. When she refused to reveal the prime minister’s response but said his pledges were “honest”, the audience jeered.

Photos dating back to the 1960s show how the problems with the school buildings have escalated. One shows Parish standing next to the head teacher. He is holding a bucket to catch water coming through the roof next to a sign that says ‘Caution: wet floor’.

Kyle Alves, a university lecturer whose daughter Enelle, 11, is in her first year at the school, said: “We can see areas where the roof has leaked, where there has been water damage, there is paint peeling and damp behind walls. This is all noted even in recent surveys.” He fears the “left-behind” and “dingy” buildings will dampen students’ academic aspirations.

Built in 1959, the school, part of a federation of three run by the local authority, was identified as in need of a new building in 2009. A year later, Michael Gove, then education secretary in the new coalition government, scrapped the existing building programme for schools which had been established by Labour in 2006.

School representatives have since met ministers in London several times to beg for help. Once they were told to “sell off school playing fields” to pay for the work.

“I thought, have they read the papers, do they understand it is on a flood plain — who would build houses here?” Sowden said.

Head teachers across the country have had to ask parents to dip into their pockets to repair schools. In one London school, parents recently chipped in to refurbish the staff room; in another, parents held an art auction with postcard-sized works by artists including Tracey Emin to pay for a photographic studio.

But that approach relies on parents with the wherewithal to help. At Tiverton High, Sammy Crook, the head teacher, says parents cannot afford the millions of pounds required. The average salary in Tiverton is about £23,000. In some rural schools, head teachers have volunteered their DIY skills.

Crook is “disappointed and frustrated”. Most head teachers of crumbling schools stay quiet for fear of deterring parents. While private schools embark on ambitious programmes to create state-of-the-art theatres, swimming pools and classrooms, she would be happy with a school that does not leak or flood.

“I accept I am not going to have an Olympic-size swimming pool in a state school. What I don’t accept is that our young people don’t deserve the inspiring facilities any young person should experience, irrespective of whether they go to a private or state school.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “School rebuilding is directed solely by data on the condition of the estate, both from schools themselves and one of the largest, most comprehensive datasets in Europe. The safety of pupils and staff is paramount, and buildings where there is a risk to health and safety will always be prioritised. We have allocated over £13 billion since 2015 to improve their condition, including £1.8 billion this financial year. Our school rebuilding programme will also transform 500 schools over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition or with potential safety issues.”

Devon County Council has now launched an independent investigation.

However, “Alison Hernandez, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, was unavailable for comment.” – how unusual for her, too busy taking selfies perhaps?

Are Devon and Cornwall Police still in denial? – Owl

By David Parsley inews.co.uk

Devon County Council has launched an independent investigation after admitting it made mistakes in its handling of allegations of child rape against the former mayor of Exmouth.

John Humphreys, who was also a Conservative councillor on East Devon District Council until May 2019, was permitted to continue to mix freely with children for seven years before his eventual conviction despite a warning to county council officials from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in 2014.

The Conservative-run county council has now conceded that it should have shared the referral from the child protection charity regarding Humphreys more widely.

Humphreys, who also served as a primary school governor in Exmouth, was eventually convicted in August last year, and received a sentence of 21 years for raping two boys in the 90s and 2000s. The victims were aged between 12 and 15.

In a letter seen by i, Cllr Andrew Leadbetter, Devon’s cabinet member for children’s services and schools, confirmed the NSPCC’s concerns around Humphreys’ behaviour after Independent county councillor Jess Bailey raised questions about the case.

Cllr Leadbetter wrote: “I can confirm that the Local Authority Designated Officer (Lado) received a referral via the NSPCC in 2014.

“As part of the Lado process, our officers discussed the case with the police. The police were already aware of the individual and allegations that had been made and advised us that there was not enough evidence to investigate further, and it was agreed that no further action would be taken.”

Cllr Leadbetter added that the council had “evaluated the response” to the NSPCC referral and had concluded that “we should have held a multiagency meeting to share information and consider what if any next steps could be taken”.

A spokesman for Devon County Council said: “We are reviewing the decisions that the council made at that time, and will be undertaking an independent review to ensure that our service is robust and effective, implementing learning arising from that review.”

While the NSPCC was unable to comment on its referral to the council regarding Humphreys on confidentiality grounds, i understands it related to the councillor having continued access to schools despite the allegations made against him to police and council officials years earlier.

Referrals from the NSPPC are made when it believes the information given to it should receive further assessment from an external agency, such as the police or a local authority.

Paul Arnott, the elected leader of East Devon District Council (EDDC) who compared Humphreys’ modus operandi to prolific predatory sex offender Jimmy Savile, said: “I have done as much as I can to ensure that the victims have a voice.

“One has informed me now that he alerted the NSPCC in 2014 to the ongoing risk of Humphreys’ access to minors at local educational establishments.

“It is my understanding that this was the nature of the NSPCC referral made to Devon County Council.”

Cllr Arnott previously told i that Humphreys’ behaviour bore a worrying similarity to that of paedophile Jimmy Savile.

In May, i revealed that at least one unelected official at EDDC had also been made aware of the child sexual assault allegations made against him in in 2016.

Despite this information, the district council continued to permit Humphreys to serve as a councillor, attend civic events where children were present, and awarded him its highest accolade of Alderman in December 2019, just two months before his case was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Asked if district council officials were also aware of the NSPCC referral regarding Humphreys to the county council in 2014, EDDC declined to comment.

Mr Arnott, who became EDDC leader after an independent, Liberal Democrat and Green alliance took control of the council after 45 years of Conservative control, added: “Since Humphreys’ historic 21-year sentence 10 months ago, the local and national Conservative Party, Simon Jupp MP, the police and the County Council have adopted a blood-from-a-stone communications strategy.

“What right-minded person would not now see this as a conspiracy of silence involving different entities over two decades? Why did they not make a clean breast of their various involvements and what they knew on the day Humphreys was jailed?”

Devon and Cornwall Police has also been accused by one of Humphreys’ victims of not taking his allegations against his abuser – which were first made in 2004 – seriously.

In a written statement the victim, who was sent by his school to work at Humphreys’ gardening business in 1999, wrote: “My mum took me to Exmouth Police Station where I made a full signed statement,” he said.

“Then I heard nothing at all, except I was regularly harassed by local police officers afterwards. In 2005 they just said that the case had been dropped.”

When the crimes of Jimmy Savile emerged in 2012, the victim says he decided to call the police again. However, it was not until a second victim came forward to police in 2015 that the investigation was re-opened.

Asked if Devon and Cornwall Police would launch its own investigation into its handling of the case, a spokesman said: “There are no current matters of police conduct that would require referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.”

However, the police added that its approach to investigating sexual offences, both current and historical, “is all but unrecognisable from the early 2000s, both in how we approach investigations through to how victims are supported.”

Ms Bailey suggested Devon County Council’s failure to review its handling of the case until now could lead accusations of a cover-up.

“A very worrying pattern is emerging. Now we have Conservative run Devon County Council apparently failing in its safeguarding response to Humphreys in 2014, then also failing to examine its actions in the ten months since his conviction,” said Ms Bailey.

“Surely, when there were so many red flags as there were in the Humphreys case you would have expected Devon County Council to have reviewed its response.

“Instead, it remained silent and only provided information and initiated a review when they were forced to do so by my direct questions. This silence will lead many people to wonder whether there has been some kind of cover-up.”

“We still do not know how Humphreys, whilst under criminal investigation for very serious offences against children, was allowed to continue being a Conservative councillor.”

Alison Hernandez, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, was unavailable for comment.