If this conduct lies within the code, then the code needs changing. – Owl

Donna Jones faced a complaints panel on Friday (May 19).

She stood accused of breaking the code of conduct and oath of impartiality by endorsing candidates in north Hampshire in this month’s elections.

Natalia Forero www.portsmouth.co.uk 

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Panel Complaints Sub-Committee received three complaints on April 11 from three individuals who wanted to remain anonymous, against the commissioner.

They took exception to videos she made during purdah, the pre-election period, when she was campaigning in the Hart district.

The videos played at the crime panel showed Ms Jones supporting Annette Whibley from Crookham East, Spencer Farmer from Hartley Wintney, Roy Fang from Fleet Central and Jennifer Copeland from Hook.

Some comments were: ‘Please, please do support Annette on May 4 in the local elections’, ‘Here in Hart, you will be getting a new police station or a building, which I will buy, which will make sure that we have front counter access for you, the people of this local area’ and ‘Please do support Roy in the local elections’.

Of the four videos, two were posted on Facebook at the ‘Hart Conservative’ profile and Crookham’s profile.

The PCC talked about problems in Hart, such as the specialist operation Op Chromium – set up to tackle unauthorised car meets – anti-social behaviour and the importance of quality CCTV cameras.

The complainants claimed that the PCC had broken the code of conduct and the oath of impartiality required to perform her duty as a public representative.

One complaint said: ‘I am truly outraged that this is allowed to happen and deepens the perception that the police are heavily influenced by politics for their own game. The PCC role should not be a political one.’

Another said: ‘I refer you to the APPC guidance – “Whether or not police and crime commissioners have a particular allegiance to a political party, it is recognised that this is a political role, but in seeking re-election themselves or supporting other individuals seeking election, police and crime commissioners are acting in a personal capacity and should not use their public office to influence the outcome of the PCC Elections”.’

The complainants’ aim was that the PCC remove the social media posts, apologise for the ‘political propaganda’, stop using her office to campaign, and distance themselves from ‘any candidate or party that attempts to use her office/name for their own promotion’.

Peter Baulf, city solicitor and monitoring officer from Portsmouth City Council, said that according to the Code of Conduct of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire, there were ‘two potentially legally applicable’ aspects .

‘Point 2.1.4 Act in a manner which could not reasonably be regarded as bringing the office into disrepute. And 2.1.7 Not use resources improperly for political purposes (including party political purposes).’

Mrs Jones sent a letter to the panel to defend herself. This read: ‘I am aware and always cognisant to the duty placed upon me by statute of law, to act impartially when representing the public. It is worth pointing out that I’m not responsible for the publications of others, and the posts included in the complaint are for third-party social media channels and not mine.

‘But in any case, if the post were on my social media channels, this is not a breach of the legislation or the guidance.

‘Finally I have provided for the panel, some examples of images of PCCs from the two political parties represented by PCCs from across the country, campaigning in the last few weeks, supporting their politically aligned colleagues. This information is meant to assure the committee that my activity is normal and in accordance with the law and with the guidance.’

Conservative Cllr Sean Woodward said: ‘We agreed that the code was engaged because she attended as a police and crime commissioner.

‘The police and crime commissioner is elected as a politician; it is a politician. Much like a government minister who will carry on his duty in an impartial fashion, engage with all parties, and then go out and campaign for their own party. It is the same for a council leader, executive member, police and crime commissioner or government minister; that is what they do.

“I don’t think there is evidence whatsoever of any use of the resources for political purposes.’

Labour councillor Tony Jones said: ‘From my perspective, we agree it hasn’t been a breach. I’m not happy with the way it is laid down – [just] as much as if it [were] a Labour crime commissioner or anybody else. But they are politicians trying to promote their people; it might be very biased, but that’s politics, I’m afraid.

‘Therefore, there is nowhere to go. It is not good for the public, in my view, as they might see it from a different perspective.’

The panel resolved that no action would be taken since there was no breach of the code.

Afterwards Mrs Jones said: ‘I am pleased to have been exonerated unanimously by the panel. Unfortunately, as an elected individual, when you’re doing a good job and being effective, you become the focus of attacks from those who don’t support the cause. This has been a clear case of people trying to discredit me as a Police and Crime Commissioner in spite of the overwhelming public support that I have.

‘I will continue to do a good job to make communities safer, working alongside our new chief constable, and place on record my thanks to the panel for coming to the right decision in a timely manner.’

Publicly-elected police and crime commissioners were introduced in 2012. Hampshire’s first was an independent, Simon Hayes, who held the post from 2012 to 2016. He was followed by Conservative Michael Lane up to 2021, and Mrs Jones, a former Tory leader of Portsmouth City Council, has had the role since.

East Devon District Council, (EDDC), wont be cutting some grass verges in the county this summer – to allow wildlife and flowers to grow.

Adam Manning www.midweekherald.co.uk

Some selected sites across East Devon will be left alone to flourish between April and September These will be signposted. While others will still be maintained to allow for safety, sport, recreation, and amenity purposes.

EDDC say that: “Letting the grass grow at their selected sites means less CO2 emissions caused by mowing, and more habitats for insects and wildlife. Enabling vegetation to flower provides essential nectar for bees and pollinators, aiding nature and biodiversity.”

Future plans will see Streetscene expand the list of re-natured areas further, following consultation with local residents. Machinery has been invested in, that will help to cut and scarify these spaces, transforming them from long grass to wildflower areas in the future.

Tom Wood, Streetscene Operations Manager, said: “I’m delighted that we are expanding the number of areas within our greenspaces that we leave uncut for nature and wildlife during the mowing season. These critical habitats provide nature recovery corridors for insects and pollinators to thrive and survive. Over time we will develop these areas into wildflower meadows, providing stunning displays and boosting biodiversity”

Residents and visitors are encouraged to look out for longer vegetation in East Devon’s greenspaces and see what wildlife they can spot such as the Meadow Brown Butterfly, Blue Tit, and Common Field Grasshopper. Look out for new ‘let it grow’ signs with bees on, which identify nature recovery areas, and for more information, visit our webpages.

Ministers were warned about the dangers of private equity taking over the water industry in a briefing that has been kept secret for 20 years, the Guardian can reveal.

Sandra Laville www.theguardian.com 

Details of the analysis are still being withheld as sewage pollution and the failure of water companies to invest in infrastructure are under national scrutiny.

On Thursday the water industry – after more than three decades running a privatised model – apologised for its failures to properly manage and invest in water, and for the scale of raw sewage discharges that have fuelled huge public anger.

It promised to triple funding in pipes, treatment works and infrastructure over the next decade to £10bn and apologised for polluting beaches and rivers with raw sewage. But all of this will be paid for by increased customer bills.

The report being withheld from publication predicted the state of the privatised water industry today, and warned against private equity being allowed to move into water firms.

It was prepared for the Competition Commission (now the Competition and Markets Authority, CMA) in 2002 and has never been published in full. It should have been released under the 20-year rule last summer, but despite repeated attempts to have it published it is being kept secret.

Today, as private equity dominates ownership of the water sector in England, bringing with it high levels of debt and underinvestment leading to sewage pollution, water shortages and leaks, the author of the report has called for full disclosure of his warning two decades ago.

Chris Goodall, who wrote the report for the Competition Commission investigation into a proposed takeover of Southern Water, said: “My real concern was about the financial structure of the proposed deal. In my view the transaction created an entity which would prove impossible to regulate.

“Large external private equity shareholders would load the company with debt and Ofwat inevitably would lose any regulatory control. For example, it would prove extremely difficult to ensure that water companies invested enough in sewage control.

“This report should be published in full now because it helps to show why the last 20 years of increasing private equity dominance of the water industry has proved so disastrous.”

This year the chief executive of Thames Water, Sarah Bentley, admitted high levels of pollution in rivers were the result of “decades of underinvestment” by the privatised water company. New data from the Financial Times shows the 10 biggest water companies more than doubled their dividend payments to shareholders in 2022 to £1.4bn, despite an outcry over sewage pollution in rivers and a failure to invest in infrastructure.

The CMA said the report, written in September 2002, had been passed for publication. But eight months on from the date it should have been published, it has not been released.

The CMA has warned it would be exempt from releasing the report under freedom of information laws if a request to do so was submitted. The authority said: “Without wanting to prejudge the outcome of any request you may make under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I wanted to refer you to the exemption at s.22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

“This exemption provides that information intended for future publication is exempt from release provided the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in release.”

The economist Dieter Helm has warned that the high levels of debt that the privately owned water companies have leveraged risk the stability of the companies.

Asked by the Guardian why the Goodall report and the full investigation it was part of had not been released under the 20-year rule, the CMA said: “As the statement is now over 20 years old, it has been reviewed by our records management team in line with the above process … however, there are a significant amount of documents which make up this matter which are yet to be reviewed. Further, the CMA, consistent with normal processes, will transfer these records with other records which have reached the 20-year mark and which have also been selected for transfer. This process will be completed over the course of this year.”

Water companies ‘apologise’ to their customers – cartoon