The “Magic Sauce,” the “Catchup Ketchup” is not working.

Are we surprised? – Owl

The gap in public spending between London and the North has doubled since Boris Johnson came to power, despite his pledge to “level up” the country, new figures reveal.

Rob Merrick www.independent.co.uk 

The capital has surged ahead of England’s poorest region in terms of cash handed out by the government – proving that “the money simply didn’t follow the rhetoric”, according to the think tank behind the analysis.

The data also shows that, three years after the prime minister stood outside No 10 and vowed to level up the nation, public spending in the North has now fallen behind the average for England.

Labour said the findings were “scandalous”, but the UK’s regional inequalities have barely featured in the Conservative leadership contest, which has instead been dominated by discussion of tax cuts and hardline policies on immigration.

IPPR North, which carried out the study, warned Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak that “votes lent to their party” at the 2019 election cannot be taken for granted if the levelling up promise is allowed to fail.

“If candidates hope to serve for longer than their recent predecessors, they should listen to the North and make unlocking the region’s significant potential their personal priority,” said Ryan Swift, a researcher for the think tank.

A spokesperson for the Northern Research Group (NRG) of Conservative MPs said the analysis highlighted “the biggest issue facing our new prime minister”.

“We were elected with a mandate to level up the entire UK, and this is what we must deliver,” the influential group said. “The NRG are pleased that both candidates have signed up to our pledges, meaning both are fully committed to a levelling-up fund, a minister for the North, and greater devolution.”

Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary, said: “These figures are scandalous. For all the Tory promises to people in the North, regional inequality has got worse since Boris Johnson became prime minister. And now the two continuity candidates scrapping to replace him are vying for the mantle of Margaret Thatcher.”

And Clive Betts, the chair of the Commons levelling up committee, said: “I’m very disappointed but not surprised by these figures. The problem is that there is no real commitment to spending the money that is needed in the areas that need levelling up.”

In 2019, the North received £13,884 per person, above the England average of £13,648, according to IPPR North’s analysis of data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

But by 2021, its spending per head of £16,223 had slipped below the England average of £16,309 – despite Mr Johnson’s high-profile pledge to rescue left-behind areas.

Meanwhile, London’s share of the pot leapt from £15,397 to £19,231, widening the spending gap from £1,513 per person to £3,008, the figures show.

“On public spending, the money simply didn’t follow the levelling-up rhetoric,” said Marcus Johns, another researcher at IPPR North, a branch of the Institute for Public Policy Research.

The criticism will fuel fears that levelling up is floundering even before its champion leaves No 10 in September, forced out by Partygate and the Chris Pincher groping scandal.

It was undermined by the Treasury’s refusal to commit to any extra spending despite the number of ‘red wall’ Tories in vulnerable marginal seats in the North and Midlands.

Meanwhile, as The Independent revealed, at least £2bn has been slashed from development funding in poorer areas as a result of the government breaking its pledge to match EU spending lost because of Brexit.

Starved of extra funding, the then levelling up secretary Michael Gove unveiled 12 “missions”, which were criticised for being vague, unambitious, or impossible to measure, although the bill to “enshrine” them in law was hailed as proof that the targets – to improve pay, jobs, transport connectivity and other indicators in less prosperous areas – had real teeth.

It then emerged that Mr Gove was quietly affording his department the power to abandon the key tests of whether the strategy was working if he was able to argue that they were “no longer appropriate”.

Now IPPR North has analysed the ONS data, covering expenditure on both services and investment, to uncover the true spending picture since Mr Johnson made his pledge.

The “North” covers three regions – the North East, the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber – which are seen as the focus of the pledge to level up. Over the two-year period from 2019 to 2021, per-person public spending in the North went from being £246 higher than the England average to £86 below it.

The lowest percentage increase was in the North East (16 per cent), while the lowest per-person public spending in 2021 was in Yorkshire and the Humber (£15,540).

IPPR North also stripped out the huge amounts spent on tackling the Covid pandemic from its analysis, but discovered that the picture remained largely the same.

On that measure, the gap between the North and London grew by almost 80 per cent, from £1,081 per person to £1,937.

Mr Johns added: “Although an increase in public spending on 2019 was welcome and absolutely essential, spending is lower and grew slower in the North than in other parts of the country. At the same time, the country became more centralised and inequalities widened. This is because power is not distributed fairly in this country.”

Mr Swift added: “Our analysis suggests that levelling up was, in many ways, business as usual. But that has to change.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “We do not recognise these figures and are pressing full steam ahead with levelling up the North.”

A beach in Devon remains closed after a double rockfall missed a member of the public by a matter of minutes.

ITV News www.itv.com 

Two rockfalls happened within minutes of each other on East Beach in Sidmouth at around 12.40pm on Monday 25 July.

Glyn Warren was nearby at the time and said he spotted a “cloud of dust” caused by the first rock fall.

He said: “The effect of the first rockfall generated a second, equally as big, rockfall – they both came from the high part of the cliff.”

East Beach has been closed for years due to the unstable cliff face – but locals say people are regularly spotted using it.

“It was so strange to see that in the picture people don’t seem at all phased by the rockfall,” Glyn told ITV News West Country.

Sharing a photo of the recent fall online, Jurrasic Paddle Sports said it acts as “another reminder to stay off” the beach.

“Lifeguards have been advising all summer so far to stay off that beach,” they said. “Please take note of the signs and follow the advice of the lifeguards”.

Not a description of Boris Johnson this time but of Rishi Sunak according to “Team Truss”.

Unbecoming all round, but that’s Tories for you! – Owl

Anger over the Partygate scandal has been reignited after Scotland Yard confirmed that it did not send questionnaires to Boris Johnson before deciding against fining him for attending two Downing Street lockdown gatherings.

Ben Quinn www.theguardian.com 

Fines were issued to other attenders at the gatherings in 2020, including one at No 10 on 13 November, where the prime minister gave a leaving speech for his departing director of communications, Lee Cain, and another in the Cabinet Office on 17 December.

Downing Street has previously briefed that Johnson did not receive police questionnaires relating to some lockdown events. But the revelation on Monday is thought to be the first time the Metropolitan police has admitted this, under details released as part of a legal challenge.

The Good Law Project (GLP), a non-profit campaign group that has brought a judicial review over accusations that the Met failed to fully investigate Johnson’s presence at parties, said: “The Met’s actions have raised grave concerns about the deferential way in which they are policing those in power.

“We don’t think the Met’s response is consistent with their legal duty of candour. And we certainly don’t think it’s consistent with what the Met has elsewhere conceded is their public duty to maintain public confidence in policing.”

The group is taking action in concert with Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat peer and former senior police officer.

In a document summarising the Met’s response to the challenge, released by the GLP, the force said it could confirm no questionnaire was sent to Johnson for the two 2020 gatherings. It confirmed it sent one in relation to a gathering held on 14 January 2021.

Johnson received a single £50 fine in April for breaking Covid laws at a birthday party thrown for him in June 2020.

In its response to the GLP, Scotland Yard said investigating officers had examined hundreds of documents including emails, diary entries, witness statements and CCTV images.

Questionnaires were a useful part of the investigation, but if answers were clear from other evidence, “there was little to be gained” from sending one to a particular person simply for them to confirm what was already known, and there was no duty to send one, it was said.

The Met said Operation Hillman, the probe into Partygate, had concluded and that it would not comment on the steps taken in the course of the investigation.

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There was an angry reaction from former officials embroiled in the police inquiry, included one who pointed out that Rishi Sunak received a fixed-penalty notice for his presence at the end of Johnson’s birthday party, which the then chancellor was said to have wandered into as he prepared for another meeting.

Jo Maugham, director of the GLP, said: “Johnson isn’t going to be prime minister for much longer. But, for me, this continues to be about what it was always about: trust in policing and the rule of law. Seventy-two per cent of voters think there is one law for the rich and another for the poor. Why won’t the Met address that perception? Why won’t they just say what happened?”

No 10 declined to comment, referring queries to Scotland Yard.

Dear Owl

I really do resent having to suffer media hysteria about the Tory leadership panto from now until September. What’s the point – it’s nothing to do with me or anyone I know. It just bigs up the 160,000 Tory party faithful who will choose one or other right wing ideologue to be the next Prime Minister that all the rest of us have to endure. These voters represent 0.25% (a quarter of one per cent) of the population. Most of these people (79% of them) are still convinced that Brexit was a success – which alone tells you what sort of grasp of reality prevails among them. There are even some – the walking dead of their number – who want Boris back on the ballot form with Truss and Sunac as the ultimate continuity candidate. It’s barking mad that these people will decide who runs this country. And now we must contemplate endless baloney from the Tory press about how significant it is – all of it confected to represent yet more of the same desperately inadequate government as “A New Beginning”. It’s worth at least a minute’s silence, is it not, for “The Will Of The People”… 

Sunac makes fewer gaffes than Truss, and is probably less of a public idiot, but as there’s no need for ‘balance’, I hope all food banks will play this clip on a loop to amuse those queuing for rapidly diminishing resources. The cheese gag will absolutely split their sides.  For all of them it’s only bread and circuses on offer, and probably without the bread.

Regards 

Worzelist

Tory MP blasts Nadine Dorries for tweet criticising Rishi Sunak’s £3,500 suit.

“Dame Nads” shoots from the lip again! What fun!

After all, what’s £3,500 to Richy? – Owl

Emily Ferguson inews.co.uk 

Bitter Tory leadership infighting has already broken into the open after Boris Johnson ally Nadine Dorries prompted fury for mocking Rishi Sunak for wearing an expensive suit.

The Culture Secretary, who is backing Liz Truss to be the next Tory leader and prime minister, compared the former Chancellor’s pricey suit to the Foreign Secretary’s £4.50 earrings.

It is the latest sign that the race to replace Mr Johnson is becoming a toxic, highly personal battle.

Ms Dorries shared an article on Twitter that reports that Mr Sunak has been pictured wearing a £3,500 suit and £490 Prada shoes.

In a bid to promote Ms Truss over her rival, she claimed that the Foreign Secretary is more likely to be seen in a pair of earrings from high street chain Claire’s.

She said: “Liz Truss will be travelling the country wearing her earrings which cost circa £4.50 from Claire Accessories. Meanwhile…

“Rishi visits Teeside in Prada shoes worth £450 and sported £3,500 bespoke suit as he prepared for crunch leadership vote.”

The tweet, posted just before 8am on Monday, has been heavily criticised by the public, political commentators and even a Tory MP.

Guildford MP Angela Richardson, a supporter of Mr Sunak, shot back: “FFS (for f***’s sake) Nadine! Muted.”

Meanwhile, tory MP Johnny Mercer, called on the party to “raise standards”.

He said: “Back in Whitehall today – perhaps only a few weeks to make a difference. Probably worth remembering that on current trajectory we are out of power in two years time. The puerile nature of this leadership contest is embarrassing. Time to raise the standards.”

Dominique Samuels, a broadcaster, suggested such comments were unhelpful and damage the Tory party.

“Personal attacks like this on fellow colleagues is bizarre and actually harms the Conservatives rather than helps them. Nads should give this a rest,” she said.

Former Labour MP and Cabinet minister Jacqui Smith tweeted: “This is a nasty, silly, trivial tweet Nadine.

“I think we need a bit better from Cabinet Ministers and potential future PMs than a vision of you two pointing and sneering at Rishi’s outfit whilst comparing notes on cheap earrings. #MeanGirls”

David Linden, the SNP MP for Glasgow East, said: “Opposition MPs right now as we watch the Conservatives knock seven shades of excrement out of each-other for all to see.

“Fitting that the most dramatic performance should come from the Culture Secretary.”

Another SNP colleague, Stephen Flynn tweeted a popcorn and laughing emoji and said “they’ve barely even started”.

The Labour Party has branded the comments as “pathetic” and suggested Government ministers should be focusing their efforts on issues the electorate care about.

“The country is in the middle of a cost of living crisis,” a spokesperson said.

“But rather than get on with sorting out the mess they have created, Tory Government ministers are spending their days attacking each other on Twitter. Pathetic.”

The argument has been seen as a public example of reported blue-on-blue attacks as the Tory leadership contest gets increasingly bitter.

“They’re fighting each other,” one member of the public observed. “Nothing like seeing piranhas tear each other apart for power,” said another.

Mr Sunak and Ms Truss face their first live head-to-head TV debate on Monday evening as they both try to convince the Conservative Party grassroots that they are the right person to become the next Prime Minister.

The tory Tory leadership hopefuls will pitch their bids in front of a live audience of about 100 on Monday night as bitter clashes erupted over the weekend.

Pledges on immigration, China and tax cuts have seen the two candidates get personal, as they made attacks on the other’s respective policies.

The infighting, which comes after Tory MPs raised concerns that the earlier campaign debates were shedding too much light on blue-on-blue attacks, has led to calls from within the party to tone it down.

The boss of a water company with one of the worst pollution records in England has been handed more than £1m in pay and bonuses.

Rewarding failure, something we excel in! – Owl

Alex Lawson www.theguardian.com 

Anglian Water chief executive Peter Simpson faces criticism after he landed a “substantial” £337,651 bonus as part of a £1.3m pay package.

The reward comes despite English water firms overseeing such shocking levels of pollution that the Environment Agency has said water company bosses should be jailed for serious offences.

Anglian Water recorded nearly a quarter of all serious pollution incidents in 2021, according to the agency. It had the third-highest rate of total pollution incidents per 10,000 square kilometres with 34, behind Southern Water with 94 and South West Water with 87.

Anglian was given two stars out of five in the EA’s performance rating, meaning it requires significant improvement.

Anglian Water Services’ annual report now shows Simpson and chief financial officer Steve Buck saw their maximum bonuses cut by 45% after missing customer delivery targets, which included goals on pollution and flooding. Simpson saw 5% of his 2019 bonus clawed back too.

Simpson’s base salary rose to £531,365 in 2021-22, up from £505,277 a year earlier. Buck received a £919,253 pay package including a £228,243 bonus.

Rival utility company Thames Water is also facing heat for handing its chief executive, Sarah Bentley, £727,000 worth of bonuses despite its own poor performance on pollution.

The bulk of Bentley’s bonus will be distributed as part of a £3.1m “golden handshake” sign-on payment that is reportedly to be distributed to her within days of the EA report’s release. The agency also gave Thames Water a two-star rating.

Natalie Ceeney, chair of Anglian’s remuneration committee and an experienced former civil servant, said: “Our environmental performance in 2021-22, including on pollution and flooding, haven’t reached the levels our customers, stakeholders and regulators expect from us.

“We are very clear that poor performance should not be rewarded. As such, our underperformance in these key areas cancels out strong performance in other areas such as leakage.

“This means the performance measures element of the bonus scheme will not pay out at all this year.”

Simpson’s overall package, which was benchmarked against his peers’, fell 37% from £2.1m the year before. However, pay campaigners said the curbs did not go far enough.

Andrew Speke of the High Pay Centre thinktank said: “When the Environment Agency is calling for water company bosses to be jailed over their record on pollution, boards of the worst offending companies should be taking serious action to improve the management of their companies.

“So for Anglian Water, one of the worst offenders, to be awarding their CEO a substantial bonus shows that the rot goes deep in this sector.

“It’s time for the government to intervene and either increase regulation or bring the sector into public ownership, because the current model is failing people and the environment.”

Anglian Water Services has proposed a final dividend of £169m which was reduced by £9m to “reflect the outcome delivery incentives penalty in the period”. The firm expects to pay a £8.3m penalty after missing targets including on pollution, flooding and burst mains.

Nearly £92m of the dividend will be paid to the company’s ultimate owners – a collection of pension and infrastructure funds in the UK, Australia and Canada as well as an investment group based in Luxembourg and owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Anglian said its shareholders had not received a dividend payment since 2017 and had invested over £1.1bn into the business.

The company has also set up an “escaped sewage cell” – a dedicated team tackling pollution using “military planning methods”.

Councillors agreed the new terms and conditions this week as part of the process to replace outgoing CEO Dr Phil Norrey, who is retiring after 16 years.

While DCC faces going bust with a £40M overspend! – Owl

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

He is entitled to around £175,000 a year but currently earns just over £160,000 after taking a reduced salary and declining pay rises for a number of years.

A council report concluded a pay rate of “circa £200,000 would be required to attract and retain” Dr Norrey’s replacement, explaining that “salaries generally within the council have not kept pace with others in the public sector.”

It explained the pay rate is now “substantially out of kilter” to chief executives of similar sized local authorities.

Several councils pay more than £200,000, including Surrey, Hampshire and Gloucestershire. Neighbouring Somerset County Council this week appointed a new CEO on £195,000 a year.

But senior Liberal Democrat councillor Alan Connett, leader of the opposition until earlier this year, criticised the Devon increase at this week’s full council meeting – calling it the “wrong thing to do”.

“As we all know, there is a cost-of-living crisis out there. My view is that the chief officer on £175,000 is probably quite well….able to cope with life,” he said.

However, most councillors voted for the rise despite several opposition members from the Lib Dems, Labour, Green Party and Independents voting against.

Justifying the increase, the council report added: “Recruitment and retention is an increasing challenge for all authorities, and, at a senior level, there is a relatively small pool of appropriately qualified and experienced individuals.”

Dr Norrey is retiring at the end of August. Former county solicitor Jan Spicer will become interim chief executive until a permanent replacement is appointed.

The new pay package does not include the interim role.

• General purpose agricultural livestock building Upton Ley Farm Payhembury EX14 3JFRef. No: 22/1569/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of agricultural use to allotments, wild flower meadow, tree planting and additional car parking for allotment holders Millfield Colyton Allotments ColytonRef. No: 22/1563/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1 and T2, lime – re-pollard to previous pollard points. Reason – to continue previous management of the trees. T3 Large Pittosporum – remove long limb at approximately 2m over drive and shorten upper growth over drive by 1.5m. To allow vehicular access. T4 small Pittosproum – remove low stem over drive at 1.5m and shorten back remainder over drive by 1m. To allow vehicular access. Halwell West Park Road Sidmouth EX10 9DHRef. No: 22/1557/TRE | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a single storey rear extension, loft extension including a rear hip to gable roof extension and new side extension to provide an entrance porch 32 Willow Avenue Exmouth EX8 4QSRef. No: 22/1556/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Turkey Oak : remove first order branch at approximately 4m on N side; shorten back second and third order branches over the garden and neighbouring property by approximately 2m; shorten back over roof by approximately 2m to a natural pruning position. 9 Sidmount Gardens Sidmouth EX10 8XQRef. No: 22/1558/TRE | Validated: Wed 13 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a single storey side extension to provide enlarged kitchen, utility room and a ground floor W.C. 19 Garratt Close Exmouth EX8 5PJRef. No: 22/1555/FUL | Validated: Wed 13 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T7, Pine : Fell. Reason: Tree grown substantially causing excessive shade resulting in plants and grass not growing. Tree leans and concern it could fail. 5 Garrett Close Seaton Devon EX12 2FERef. No: 22/1554/TRE | Validated: Wed 13 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Static Home to provide managers accommodation Turbury Farm Stamps Coaches Dunkeswell EX14 4QNRef. No: 22/1547/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey side extension 20 Upper Stoneborough Lane Budleigh Salterton EX9 6SZRef. No: 22/1544/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey front, side, and rear extensions (with remodelling and alteration to fenestration) and erection of detached garage. (Partial demolition of existing house and garage.) Dene Lower Broad Oak Road West Hill EX11 1XHRef. No: 22/1543/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Extension to existing balcony to front elevation Merlea East Walk Seaton EX12 2NWRef. No: 22/1533/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Holm Oak (1) : Raise crown to 5m above ground level; reduce crown on North and East sides by 2 to 2.5m and clear roof by 1.5m Holm Oak (2) : Remove 2 lowest 4″ diameter branches on South side to effectively raise crown to 5.5m. Shorten branches above on South side by 2m Turkey Oak (3) : Remove the 2 lowest 6″ diameter branches on South side at approximately 8m above ground level; shorten branches in mid crown above on South side by 2m Horse Chestnut (4) : Reduce main stem and side stem on South side by 4m in height; thin out crown by 15% Reason: Appropriate arb management. The Stables Oakhayes Road Woodbury Devon EX5 1JTRef. No: 22/1531/TRE | Validated: Mon 11 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1 beech dbh 600mm, located in West corner of property by red brick wall, on western side over driveways raise crown to 5.5m pruning cuts of no more than 75mm on North side prune back to trunk 1 x first order branch approximately 130mm in diameter, to allow vehicles to get to property’s without hitting Tree branches. T2 Oak dbh 1400mm, located next to T1 on on SW side of property, raise crown on SW side only over shared driveway to 5.5m pruning cuts of no more than 75mm to allow vehicles access to property’s without hitting any branches. Longbridge Boughmore Road Sidmouth EX10 8SHRef. No: 22/1528/TRE | Validated: Mon 11 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of front facing conservatory and replacing with conventional extension largely on the same footprint. 2 Wells Avenue Feniton Honiton EX14 3DLRef. No: 22/1519/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of existing garage with replacement of garage Withen Farmhouse Withen Lane Aylesbeare EX5 2JQRef. No: 22/1511/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a two storey side and single storey rear extension to existing dwelling, first floor extension and proposed revised detached garage Anglesea Maer Lane Exmouth Devon EX8 2DDRef. No: 22/1517/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Removal of existing tennis courts, provision of underground swimming pool, gym and associated exercise space, laying out of terraced areas and provision of pergola, remodelling of some of the existing topography and provision of new hard and soft landscaping including significant tree planting to reflect historical landscape design here. East House Rousdon Lyme Regis DT7 3XRRef. No: 22/1515/LBC | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Removal of existing tennis courts, provision of underground swimming pool, gym and associated exercise space, laying out of terraced areas and provision of pergola, remodelling of some of the existing topography and provision of new hard and soft landscaping including significant tree planting to reflect historical landscape design here. East House Rousdon Lyme Regis DT7 3XRRef. No: 22/1514/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a jump tower (retrospective) Devon Cliffs Holiday Centre Sandy Bay Exmouth EX8 5BTRef. No: 22/1512/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of a single story rear extension in green oak. Penhenver Tip Hill Ottery St Mary EX11 1BERef. No: 22/1508/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• T1, Blue Cedar – Crown reduction to retain a tree with a finished height of 12 metres and an approximate crown radius of 4 metres in line with previous application 15/0934/TRE. Reason: to maintain tree to appropriate size for location. Heathers Knowle Drive Sidmouth Devon EX10 8HWRef. No: 22/1493/TRE | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T5, Oak : Crown lift to no more than 4m above ground level by end tipping; maximum diameter of cuts (MDC) no more than 50mm; reduce lateral crown growing to the west by no more than 1.5m to ensure clearance of between 1 to 1.5m from the garage as per the attached photograph; MDC 50mm. Electricity Sub Station 4206 Church Road Lympstone EX8 5JTRef. No: 22/1485/TCA | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of kitchen and bathroom showroom area adjacent to Withycombe Road; removal of internal mezzanine floor . Internal alterations for form new sales area with formation of new customer entrance doors, removal of fibre cement sheeting and recladding external walls / roof. Installation of photovoltaic panels to roof Jewson Ltd Withycombe Village Road Exmouth EX8 3BERef. No: 22/1468/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• First floor side extension. 41 Fleming Avenue Sidmouth EX10 9NHRef. No: 22/1467/FUL | Validated: Mon 11 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of 4 no. 2 bed apartments, 2 no. 1 bed apartments and 1 no. 2 bed dwelling with associated hard and soft landscaping, access and parking. Land Adjacent Regis House Lyme Road Uplyme DT7 3TJRef. No: 22/1409/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Variation of condition 2 (approved plans) of planning permission 21/1674/FUL (3 dwellings) to allow revised drainage scheme Upexe Farm Upexe EX5 5NDRef. No: 22/1402/VAR | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of a pedestrian bridge 6 Longbrook Lane Lympstone EX8 5LJRef. No: 22/1394/FUL | Validated: Mon 11 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Temporary siting of mobile home (to facilitate construction of replacement dwelling) Site Of Spillers Cottage Shute EX13 7QGRef. No: 22/1377/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of lawfulness for conversion of games room to a studio roomBlacksmiths Arms Plymtree EX15 2JURef. No: 22/1316/CPL | Validated: Mon 11 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

Former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who resigned earlier this month, said that the government was not on track to deliver its manifesto commitment to increase the number of GPs in England by 6,000.

And the candidates to be the next PM want to cut taxes and shrink the state!

Do the Tories know how to govern? – Owl

The large number of unfilled NHS job vacancies is posing a serious risk to patient safety, a report by MPs says.

Jim Reed Health reporter www.bbc.co.uk

It found England is now short of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives, calling this the worst workforce crisis in NHS history.

It said a reluctance to decisively plug the staffing gap could threaten plans to tackle the Covid treatment backlog.

The government said the workforce is growing and NHS England is drawing up long-term plans to recruit more staff.

Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who chairs the Commons health and social care select committee that produced the report, said tackling the shortage must be a “top priority” for the new prime minister when they take over in September.

“Persistent understaffing in the NHS poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety, a situation compounded by the absence of a long-term plan by the government to tackle it,” he said.

The cross-party committee saw evidence that, on current projections, almost a million new jobs will need to be filled in health and social care by the early part of the next decade.

Extra staff would be needed to keep up with rising demand as the population gets older and healthcare becomes more complex and technologically advanced.

The health services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have faced similar staffing pressures.

A ‘national scandal’

The committee also heard evidence from former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who resigned earlier this month, that the government was not on track to deliver its manifesto commitment to increase the number of GPs in England by 6,000.

There was concern about maternity services, with more than 500 midwives leaving the health service between March 2021 and March 2022.

The committee described a situation where NHS pensions arrangements meant some senior doctors were better off retiring or reducing their working hours as a “national scandal” and called for swift action to change the rules.

It said conditions were “regrettably worse” in social care, with 95% of care providers struggling to hire staff and 75% finding it difficult to retain existing workers.

“Without the creation of meaningful professional development structures, and better contracts with improved pay and training, social care will remain a career of limited attraction, even when it is desperately needed,” the report said.

It called for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to be more proactive in enforcing the minimum wage, amid concerns that 17,000 care workers were paid below the legal rate of £9.50 an hour.

Miriam Deakin, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers which represents hospitals, mental health trusts and ambulance services, said that many staff were facing “unsustainable” workloads in the face of “ever-growing demand”.

“The answer is staring everyone in the face: The government must come up with a fully-funded, long-term workforce plan for the NHS,” she said.

Patricia Marquis, England director at the Royal College of Nursing, said the risk to staff and patients from low staffing levels should “shock ministers into action”.

“On pay the committee was very clear, saying it is unacceptable that some NHS nurses are struggling to feed their families, pay their rent, and travel to work,” she said.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting accused the government of having “utterly failed” to address the crisis.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said the number of people employed in healthcare was now growing and NHS England had been asked to develop a long-term plan to recruit and retain more staff.

“As we continue to deliver on our commitment to recruit 50,000 more nurses by 2024, we are also running a £95m recruitment drive for maternity services and providing £500m to develop our valued social care workforce,” he said.

The UK’s biggest care home chains saw their profit margins jump by 18% on average during the pandemic, new research shows, while the highest paid director’s salary surged to £2.3m.

Shanti Das www.theguardian.com

Amid a social care staffing crisis, and warnings from medical leaders that the system is “deeply flawed” and in need of urgent reform, analysis seen by the Observer lays bare the financial successes of major providers caring for elderly and disabled people.

The research – by the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity at Surrey University and Trinava Consulting with the trade union Unison – found that six of the 10 biggest adult social care providers for whom data was available saw their underlying profit margins widen between 2019 and 2020, the first year of the pandemic.

The biggest rise was at Runwood Homes, where the underlying profit margin widened by 37% in 2020, and which reported a profit before tax of £25.4m, up from £15m the year before, according to the research. A quarter of its homes are rated as requiring improvement by the Care Quality Commission.

The highest margin – 41.7% – was at Avery Healthcare, up from 39.8% in 2019 and 32.5% in 2015. The company, which runs 56 care homes in the UK, was recently acquired by the Reuben Brothers, named as Britain’s second richest family with an estimated fortune of £21.5bn, in the company’s first investment in the senior care sector. A press release in March said the deal – a joint venture with US real estate investment trust Welltower Inc – was expected to “generate significant future growth opportunities”.

The​ findings will fuel concerns about profiteering by private providers despite the pressures of Covid, and come amid reports of cost-cutting at some chains, and continued low pay for many staff.

Vivek Kotecha, public policy consultant and director of Trinava, which carried out the analysis, said: “During the pandemic there was a sense of national solidarity and sacrifice that was needed. I think people will be surprised to see that some companies actually appear to have done really well out of the pandemic.”

He added: “What it shows is that these businesses have high expectations for maintaining profitability, and workers and residents are feeling the brunt of this pressure.”

As well as widening profit margins, some providers also increased pay for their top executives during the pandemic, despite Covid pressures and the staffing crisis in social care, according to the research.

Runwood’s multimillionaire owner Gordon Sanders received an extra £2m in dividends in 2020, taking £3m that year compared with £1m in 2019. The company accepted £2m in taxpayer-funded furlough pay and Covid grants over the same period, according to Companies House records.

The highest-paid director across the providers, at Barchester Healthcare, was paid £2.27m in 2020 – up from £2.02m in 2019 and £699,000 in 2015. Posts for care workers at Barchester, which is owned by Jersey-based Grove Limited, were last week being advertised for £9.90 an hour, just above minimum wage.

The findings come amid warnings that the social care sector is in crisis. The British Medical Association warned in June of a “ticking timebomb” and said years of chronic underfunding, severe staffing shortages and a growing elderly population meant that many in the future, particularly the most deprived, would not get the care they need. “This situation has been exacerbated by the pandemic, and government proposals to shape the future of social care have fallen significantly short of what is needed,” it said.

Last month, a report by Unison highlighted the growing role of private equity in the sector, finding that more than one in nine (12%) care beds in the UK were now in the hands of investment firms. It also revealed cost-cutting at several unnamed firms, including allegations of food and cleaning products being replaced with cheaper substitutes and residents’ meals being reduced from three to two a day.

Christina McAnea, the Unison general secretary, said: “The sector is on its knees, staff are leaving in their droves and those who rely on care are getting a raw deal. Yet many care home owners continue to see their financial fortunes soar amid this crisis. Root-and-branch reform is needed now with profiteering removed from social care.”

Avery Healthcare and Runwood Homes declined to comment.

Barchester Healthcare said that it was investing in care homes and that staff received regular pay rises and loyalty bonuses. “In the six years from 2015 to 2020 inclusive, we invested a total of some £56m in capital expenditure on property and improvements of our services, to ensure that residents are living and staff are working in the best possible conditions,” it said. It added that the £2.3m figure given in company accounts for the highest paid director included a “non-recurring payment related to a long-term incentive plan”, and not just salary.

Only now he is running for PM, not while he was Chancellor!

What’s changed?

Have the: “We got the Big Calls Right” Tories, really crashed the economy, as some of us fear? – Owl

www.bloomberg.com  (Extract)

Rishi Sunak has said that he would put the UK on a “crisis footing” from his first day as prime minister, as he and Liz Truss bid to woo the Tory grassroots as the leadership contest continues…

….The former chancellor tells The Times that the UK needs to be on a “crisis footing” to deal with inflation and a host of other challenges.

“They’re challenges that are staring us in the face and a business-as-usual mentality isn’t going to cut it in dealing with them. So from day one of being in office I’m going to put us on a crisis footing.

“Having been inside government I think the system just isn’t working as well as it should,” he is quoted as saying.

“And the challenges that I’m talking about, they’re not abstract, they’re not things that are coming long down the track.”

Mr Sunak also hits out at again at the proposed tax cuts lauded by Ms Truss, warning that it could lead to inflation becoming “entrenched” in the British economy.

He said: “What I worry about is the inflation we’re seeing now becoming entrenched for longer.

“That’s the risk we need to guard against. If that happens, it will be incredibly damaging for millions across the UK. The cost for families is going to be enormous.”

He also suggests that the Foreign Secretary’s plans could see interest rates rise, while rejecting the suggestion he is running a so-called “project fear”.

He added: “Imagine what that’s going to do to people’s mortgage rates.

“If we get this wrong, interest rates [will] have to go up even more because of a government that borrowed too much and made the situation worse.

“Anyone who doesn’t take really seriously the fact that inflation is running at the level it is is being hugely complacent about the challenge that is facing this country.

“That’s not project fear, that’s being honest with the country about what is happening and being responsible in saying this is a pressing priority that the government needs to help resolve and not make worse….

No S106 money to help provide health services, guess who controls Harborough District Council? Conservatives 22, Lib Dems 11, Labour 1 – Owl

Dave Owen www.leicestermercury.co.uk

Leicester’s hospitals have launched proceedings in the High Court over a massive, 2,750-home development planned for a swathe of land outside Lutterworth. The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust is seeking a judicial review of a decision made by Harborough District Council in relation to the scheme.

Health bosses are unhappy with the authority after it turned down an application for just under a million pounds towards health services for future occupants of the development. The NHS Trust which runs the city’s three main hospitals had requested the money to mitigate the impact of residents’ healthcare needs.

The planning application, submitted by Leicestershire County Council, was approved by the district council in May this year. The new homes will be built on a 550-acre area of land just off Junction 20 of the M1.

Companies behind major developments are required to provide money towards the local community and infrastructure, such as health services, schools and leisure facilities. Such contributions, known as section 106 agreements, are legally binding and enforceable.

Opponents of the housing scheme claimed it would put undue pressure on local services in the town, which has a population of 9,500. However, council leaders had assured residents that the new homes would bring in “as much as £1 billion” in investment, including new schools a parks. They also said it would create new opportunities for businesses and create an estimated 2,500 new jobs in the town.

Provision of those aspects of a development are frequently funded via section 106 agreements, with the planning authority setting out what it requires a developer to agree to fund before it will issue planning permission.

But in this case, the district council approved the Lutterworth development without asking the developer to pay the money to fund health services which had been requested by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. Now the Trust has asked for that decision to be reviewed by the High Court.

The Trust claims that such a large housing scheme will place a huge burden on existing health services, including Leicester Royal Infirmary. It says that the homes will create an extra 3,487 people who will rely on health services it provides – and it needs the money to help pay for it.

Richard Mitchell, chief executive at Leicester’s Hospitals, said: “We have sought a judicial review to support our aim in making sure the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland have timely and safe access to health care services.”

Patient campaigner Zuffar Haq said he understood why the hospital trust had resorted to taking legal action against the district council. Speaking to Harborough FM, he said: “This is very rare. Ideally, they should have been able to get the money from the 106 agreement but they’ve obviously failed.”

A map of the Lutterworth East site

“We’re talking about a million pounds, and it is going to affect hospital services in Leicestershire. That million pounds is sorely needed I’m sure,” he added. “The reality is, if there is going to be over 2,000 new houses, the hospitals are going to have more people coming in from that area.

“They need the funds and the infrastructure to deal with that. I think the hospitals will struggle, and are struggling, for finances and have every right to be asking for that money and making sure that it gets delivered, because otherwise it’s going to affect the patients.”

The judicial review process will see a judge decide if the planning authority acted lawfully in making its decision.

A spokesperson for Harborough District Council said: “We can confirm that the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust has issued judicial review proceedings against the council.

“The claim relates to Leicestershire County Council’s planning application at Lutterworth East, which was approved in May 2022. It is therefore inappropriate for us to comment while the case is ongoing.”

A Leicesteshire County Council spokesperson said: “We are aware that the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust is challenging Harborough District Council’s decision to grant planning permission for the Lutterworth East scheme.

“As both landowner and applicant, Leicestershire County Council is an interested party in the proceedings and will not be commenting further whilst proceedings are ongoing.”

Tory grandees who served in Margaret Thatcher’s final cabinet have warned that the former prime minister would never have approved of Liz Truss’s plan to slash £30bn off taxes funded by borrowing, as Rishi Sunak denounced his opponent’s plans as “immoral”.

Michael Savage www.theguardian.com 

With a bitter row over tax emerging as the defining issue in the race to succeed Boris Johnson, three members of Thatcher’s cabinet told the Observer that she would have taken a dim view of slashing taxes at a time of high inflation.This follows repeated claims that Truss has attempted to model herself on Thatcher in her attempt to win the leadership, which she has denied.

Chris Patten, Norman Lamont and Malcolm Rifkind all said that the former Tory leader would not have supported the tax-cutting plans. Patten said: “Margaret Thatcher was a fiscal Conservative who did not cut tax until we had reduced inflation. She was honest and did not believe in nonsense.”

Norman Lamont, a senior Treasury minister under Thatcher, said: “Mrs Thatcher strongly believed that cutting the deficit came before cutting taxes. She also believed that deficits were simply deferred taxation.” Malcolm Rifkind said that he was as “certain as I can be that she would be very unimpressed by funding tax cuts through increased borrowing, even if it wasn’t at a time of high inflation – but certainly when it is”.

“She believed that tax cuts should be funded either by economic growth that was already producing more revenue, or by cuts in public spending,” he said. “That’s what Thatcherism means. I think every single Tory, as well as lots of other people, believe in the desirability of tax cuts. But no Conservative would ever see it as an ideological imperative.”

Sunak, the former chancellor battling to defeat Truss in the race to become prime minister, described Truss’s plans as “immoral” on Saturday, warning that they would push up inflation, increase mortgage rates and damage the economy. He has also pledged tax cuts, but only after inflation has been reduced.

“Not only do I think it’s the wrong thing for the economy, I also believe that it’s immoral because there is nothing noble or good about racking up bills on the country’s credit card that we pass on to our children and grandchildren,” he said.

A spokesperson for Truss said: “Liz’s plans for tax cuts will reward people for their hard work and effort, allowing them to keep more of their hard-earned money. You cannot tax your way to growth.”

However, there are already concerns that the domination of tax cuts and plans to reduce the size of the state will see the Tories failing to hold together the coalition of traditional Tories and new “red wall” voters that secured the party an 80-strong majority at the last election.

Rachel Wolf, co-author of the 2019 Tory manifesto, said the leadership candidates needed to start talking about the agenda promised to voters in newly won seats to ensure the gains made at the last elections were not squandered. “This 2019 offer won by a landslide,” she said. “Every single focus group that we’ve done on myriad areas has confirmed that this offer is what people look for. I think when they make a judgment at the next election, it will in part be on the ability to deliver beyond the tax cuts in 2022, 2023 or 2024. I think they need to start talking about this.”

Wolf pointed to a new report by her Public First consultancy and the Health Foundation thinktank, which showed that voters were aware of the health inequalities that Johnson vowed to tackle as part of his levelling up agenda. The research found that 37% of 2019 Conservative voters would be less likely to support the Conservatives at the next election if health equalities, including lower life expectancy in poorer areas, worsened.

Wolf said that a failure to follow through on such commitments risked fostering populism on the right. “My fear is that if we don’t start showing an ability to understand and deliver on the kinds of issues that this report talks about, then voters who were very frustrated because they wanted change and who are feeling poor right now will feel rightly, desperately disappointed. It makes them much more open to populist arguments. I think there is a very high risk of a new right wing resurgence of [Nigel] Farage or potentially worse.”

The latest Opinium poll for the Observer found that Sunak is seen as slightly more likely to be a “good prime minister” by the general public than is Liz Truss, although the number who have no opinion of Truss is twice as high – suggesting that she remains unknown to many voters.

The poll found that 43% backed Sunak as a good prime minister, while 45% said he would be bad. Only 36% said Truss would be good, while 41% said she would be bad. Among 2019 Tory voters, 59% said Sunak would be good; 35% said he’d be bad while, 55% said Truss would be good; 29% said bad.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) has submitted an Investment Plan to secure UK Shared Prosperity Funds to help level up the local economy and support local communities.

Dan Wilkins www.midweekherald.co.uk 

Following EDDC Cabinet approval on July 13, the plan will unlock East Devon’s allocation of £1,796,363 to be spent over three years.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) replaces the European structural funds, with spending now being determined locally to more effectively address local needs.

The Investment Plan sets out twelve separate themes, to be delivered either locally or collaboratively with other local authorities in Devon:

• Action on Poverty Fund
• Active Travel Fund
• Business Support Programme
• Disability Employment Support Programme
• East Devon Council for Voluntary Service
• East Devon Culture Programme
• East Devon Leisure Programme
• East Devon Towns Feasibility Work
• NEET Employment Support Programme
• Net Zero Innovation Fund
• Retrofit Programme
• Sustainable Tourism Fund

A local partnership group of stakeholders has played a key role in reviewing and advising on actions to be included in the Investment Plan and a panel of East Devon councillors will provide guidance and oversight on how these are delivered

Local authorities from across Devon are exploring ways to work collaboratively and align their Investment Plans. This will help achieve improved results across a wider geography with better value for money.

Cllr Paul Hayward, EDDCs portfolio holder for economy and assets, said: “The Investment Plan will unlock essential funds for our local residents and businesses, enabling a range of initiatives across East Devon. The Plan reflects local needs and opportunities as well as addressing key priorities such as supporting the transition to a low carbon economy.    

“I would like to thank local businesses, community groups and other stakeholders and partners who have helped to shape and develop the Investment Plan. Local support and buy-in is key to ensuring the funds will have the maximum impact on the ground.”

We look forward to receiving Government approval later in the year so we can start delivering this extensive package of initiatives.  

A decision is expected by October 2022.

 “If Rishi Sunak thinks NHS waiting lists are an emergency, why didn’t he do anything about it as chancellor?

“He says he wants to put the NHS onto a ‘war footing’, but the Conservatives have spent years disarming it.” Wes Streeting, shadow health secretary.

Ashley Cowburn www.independent.co.uk 

Rishi Sunak is set to warn that the NHS will “break” without a “war footing” plan to tackle the backlog of patients, as he attempts to move away from the debate about tax that has dominated the Tory leadership race.

The former chancellor will insist on Saturday that the public “shouldn’t have to make a choice with a gun to their head”, saying people are turning to private care and using money “they can’t really afford” as a result of NHS delays.

In his first major speech since reaching the final stage of the leadership contest, Mr Sunak will also describe the backlog facing the NHS as the “biggest public service emergency” the country faces.

Figures from May showed that 6.6 million patients were waiting for planned care. Sajid Javid, the former health secretary, warned earlier this year that NHS waiting lists would continue to rise until at least 2024.

Under existing plans, the government and NHS England are aiming to eliminate all waits exceeding a year by March 2025.

Setting out his proposals, Mr Sunak will pledge to eliminate one-year waits six months earlier than planned, by September 2024, and to ensure that overall numbers are falling by 2023. He will also aim to ensure that everyone waiting for more than 18 weeks is contacted by an NHS trust within 100 days.

The former chancellor will also pledge to establish a vaccines-style taskforce on “day one” if he wins the race to succeed Boris Johnson in No 10 against his rival, foreign secretary Liz Truss.

Mr Sunak will say on Saturday that creating a “backlogs taskforce” with independent leadership will cut bureaucracy and waste and “take the best of our experience from Covid”.

But his pledges come just days after experts told The Independent that a £2bn cut to NHS budgets, caused by the government’s unfunded pay deal for staff, will hit cancer backlogs and patient care.

The shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, asked: “If Rishi Sunak thinks NHS waiting lists are an emergency, why didn’t he do anything about it as chancellor?

“He says he wants to put the NHS onto a ‘war footing’, but the Conservatives have spent years disarming it.”

Danny Mortimer, the deputy chief executive of the NHS Confederation, welcomed Mr Sunak’s focus on the backlog, but told The Independent that the plan “cannot honestly be described as putting the NHS on a war footing”.

He stressed that the ability to tackle the waiting list is being undermined by a growing shortage of staff, along with “crumbling infrastructure and estates, and the knock-on impact of a crisis in social care”.

Mr Mortimer added: “These risks are heightened by the government’s refusal to fund in full the new pay deal. Despite these challenges, the NHS in England is facing its first real-terms cut in funding this year since 1997, due to unexpected cost pressures and soaring inflation. This reality is not addressed in Mr Sunak’s plan.

“If either of the Tory leadership candidates truly intend to improve the care patients have every right to expect, they must commit to giving the NHS the capital investment it desperately needs.

“Both candidates must commit to a fully funded plan for expanding the number of health and care staff. How can any prime minister claim the NHS is on a war footing without giving it the troops that it needs on the front line?”

Addressing the matter of the backlogs, Mr Sunak will say on Saturday: “Millions of people are waiting for life-saving cancer screening, major surgeries and consultations.

“Already people are using money they can’t really afford to go private. That is privatisation by the back door, and it’s wrong. People shouldn’t have to make a choice with a gun to their head.

“If we do not immediately set in train a radically different approach, the NHS will come under unsustainable pressure and break… and so from day one I will make tackling the NHS backlog my No 1 public service priority.”

Mr Sunak will also say that the NHS App and NHS 111 will be expanded to be the first port of call for patients, allowing them to “input their symptoms and then be directed to who is best placed to help”.

And he will back a plan to expand the number of community diagnostic hubs by repurposing 58,000 vacant high-street shops, with the aim of boosting the number of these hubs to 200 by March 2024.

An £11.2million bid for ‘levelling up’ cash to boost the Axe Valley and improve Seaton seafront has won the backing of newly-elected MP for Tiverton and Honiton Richard Foord.

Local Democracy Reporter eastdevonnews.co.uk 

Mr Foord says Government funding for major infrastructure projects could help ‘spruce up’ the East Devon town and ‘create a swathe of new office and industrial space for local businesses’.

Liberal Democrat Mr Foord has also backed a bid for a planned Cullompton relief road in Mid Devon that could cost £28million.

Respective district councils in both areas are behind the schemes and have bid for Whitehall money.

East Devon’s £11.2million project aims to develop the Axe Valley, with specific focus on improving Seaton seafront and the development of new office and work spaces.

If successful, the council will contribute a further £4million towards the total estimated cost of £15.5 million.

Mr Foord said: “The proposals put forward will build the much-needed Cullompton relief road, spruce up the seafront at Seaton, and create a swathe of new office and industrial space for local businesses.”

He added: “Our communities have been taken for granted for too long and are crying out for investment.

“You cannot level up the UK without investing in rural areas.

“That’s why I am pleased to give my full backing to both East Devon and Mid Devon’s bids for levelling up funding.”

The Conservatives have previously rejected claims of underfunding, saying the Government is ‘delivering for people in Tiverton and Honiton and across the whole South West’.

Tory East Devon MP Simon Jupp is supporting a separate levelling-up bid to extend Exmouth’s Dinan Way – a project being led by Devon County Council.

The Government is expected to announce the successful bids in October.

The outgoing chief executive of Devon County Council says local authorities should be given more powers.

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

Dr Phil Norrey is retiring after more than 16 years at the helm, making him the longest-serving chief executive in the council’s history.

Addressing members for the final time at a full council meeting on Thursday [21 July], Dr Norrey predicted that despite the current “state of flux,” local government will resume its “right and proper place in the commonwealth of this country.”

His departure comes as negotiations continue between the government and Devon’s councils – including Torbay and Plymouth – about gaining greater powers from Westminster.

Leader John Hart (Conservative, Bickleigh and Wembury) provided an update on the talks at the meeting, saying that a ‘Great South West’ partnership could be formed involving Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset councils.

An exploratory meeting will be held next week but Cllr Hart suggested the government is still keen on devolution bids to involve new regional mayors – something Devon has flatly rejected.

Discussing how local politicians should be entrusted with more powers, Dr Norrey added: “I firmly believe that people should determine what happens to their communities, how resources are allocated, what the priorities are with a mandate given to them by the local electorate.”

“And actually, the role for central government in this country since the second world war has been one of aggregating powers unto itself and that process really needs to change. The world’s changed, it’s much more dynamic now, and all politics is local at the end of the day, isn’t it?

“But what I do know is that when that day comes; the culture, the foundation of this place will enable Devon County Council really to take advantage of that and to be the true leader it deserves to be. It is a leader but it’s got its hands tied behind its back at the moment.

He urged people listening who hold positions nationally to “unfetter people in local democratic positions and allow them to make the choices … because, to be honest, it’s not worked terribly well doing it the other way around, has it?”

“That’s not a party-political point. I’m talking over decades here, that central government doesn’t know best, does make mistakes, does duplicate, does overcomplicate, and doesn’t necessarily connect in the way that local government does. You [councillors] have got a direct connection!”

Dr Norrey described his time at county hall as a “privilege and a pleasure” during what he believed to be his 100th full council meeting as a senior officer.

“I’m hoping I’m going to retire 100 not out,” he quipped. “Some of you may think he’s retired hurt, but I don’t at all feel hurt. It’s been a very enjoyable innings. There have been some periods of stroke play but there’s been a lot of solid defence required, especially over the past few years.”

Among the several councillors to pay tribute was Cllr Hart, who has been leader for 13 years – working closely with Dr Norrey throughout.

“The last 13 years have been exemplary for me, because not only has this council run very smoothly, but it’s been [due to] your help to me and to the councillors.”

“All councillors owe you a lot, for your help, your persistence, your reliability, and also your knowledge and support – locally and nationally,” he added.

Dr Norrey is retiring at the end of August. Former county solicitor Jan Spicer (nee Shadbolt) will become interim chief executive until a permanent replacement is appointed.

From a Correspondent:

It is good news that the bats in Beer Quarry and Caves will now have their protected habitat status recognised by the planning officers in East Devon District Council. Even the East Devon Area of Natural Beauty is getting in on the act in their latest e-newsletter.

Cllr Jess Bailey (Ind, West Hill and Aylesbeare) wants to see even more action, including for bat protection to be included in every planning application. See Radio Exe News www.radioexe.co.uk 

Why is all this necessary? There are laws to protect these species, if the LPA follow the directives and adhere to legislation, permission should be denied. It seems surprising that this should need to be formally recognised when bats are already protected.

Well, the residents of East Budleigh would agree to the need for more formal procedures in planning.  

At the same time as the Beer Quarry project, supported amongst others by Clinton Devon Estates (CDE), was being actively promoted, the bats of East Budleigh were threatened by a planning application, with consent given in 2019.

CDE submitted a planning application to demolish the barn behind the Pound which was believed to house 14 different species of bats. (A dead horseshoe bat was found in the area). Despite heroic efforts by residents the barn was allowed to be demolished and a dwelling built.  Despite “mitigation”, trees and hedges were removed, and a retrospective application allowed considerable light pollution from the new property. At a stroke the flight lines and foraging areas that the bats are so dependent upon were removed.

Both Cllrs Jess Bailey and Geoff Jung mentioned the need to protect “pinch points” flight routes in urban areas.

See: The fight to protect East Budleigh bats but no need to fight in beer

A former Tory council has voted to end the mass outsourcing of frontline services, bringing most back in-house and ending one of the most controversial local government policies in recent years.

Amelia Hill www.theguardian.com 

Barnet council, in north London, called itself the country’s first “easyCouncil” in 2013 when it announced it would provide only the legal minimum of services, outsourcing everything else from disabilities and highways to planning and procurement through contractors Capita.

Bringing in the private sector at a cost of £500m over 10 years would, councillors claimed, allow them to reduce the number of direct employees from 3,200 to just 322 and ensure better public services for less money.

But the council, whose Finchley constituency was famously represented by Margaret Thatcher but which turned to Labour for the first time in the May local elections, has now voted to end that policy.

Damning the years of outsourcing as a “failed experiment” and the “death knell of the council outsourcing experiment”, the leader of Barnet council, Barry Rawlings, said: “This model of governance guaranteed savings only if other councils also came onboard: Barnet was going to be a shop window. Instead, the council has paid £229m more for Capita core contract services than was originally contracted.”

Services had already begun to be brought back in-house under the previous Conservative administration after a series of disasters. In 2017, the council was forced to admit its finances were in such a state that the regulator fined Capita, while the poor state of the borough’s roads became a big issue in the local elections.

In 2018, a Capita employee working for Barnet was jailed for 62 instances of fraud worth a total of £2m after his crimes were spotted – although the loss was not noticed by Capita or the council itself but by the employee’s own bank. Capita was forced to underwrite the financial loss to the council.

That same year, the council admitted it would have to axe services after revealing a financial black hole of £62m: precisely the fate that its outsourcing plan had claimed to safeguard against.

Problems have continued. The resident and blogger John Dix reviewed the invoices submitted by Capita. According to Dix, a parent phoning the library to check if a Harry Potter is in stock is charged by Capita at £8 a call while training for senior officers is charged at £1,200 a session.

By next year, however, most of the services outsourced by the previous Conservative administration will be back under direct council control. Rawlings said this will save taxpayers money and return 370 staff to direct employment by the council. The remaining Capita contract will close by 2026.

The decision has been condemned by Cllr Dan Thomas, leader of the local Conservative group. “Barnet Labour have taken an ideological decision to bring back in-house the services currently run by Capita, despite the fact that this decision will hit Barnet taxpayers’ bank accounts,” he claimed. “It is clear that this decision is simply politics.”

Rawlings disputed this, pointing to a report by Barnet council’s policy and resources committee that found little difference – and a potential benefit of £204,000 a year – financially between extending the contract for these services and returning them in-house.

A Capita spokesperson said: “We will provide further value for money for local taxpayers as we work with the council to continue to deliver top-quality services that make the borough a better place to live, work and study for all.”