Monthly Archives: July 2023

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18 Jul 2023

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Stay of execution for library vans

Book loans went down after vehicles halved

The decision to scrap Devon’s mobile library service is being challenged by opposition councillors.

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

Last week the county council’s ruling Conservative cabinet voted to close the service after hearing user numbers are down and three of its four mobile libraries are coming to the end of their “serviceable lives.”

But several opposition councillors criticised the plans, urging the cabinet to delay a decision, and now the Liberal Democrats have ‘called-in’ the move for further examination.

It means no decision will be taken until October. Before then, the council’s scrutiny committee will consider the plans in further detail and could call on the council’s leadership to change its mind.

Explaining why the service was closing last week, Devon’s cabinet member for communities, Cllr Roger Croad (Conservative, Ivybridge), admitted it was a “sad day” but “inevitable,” explaining that it would cost between £600,000 and £800,000 to replace the three vehicles.

In the last decade, the number of books being borrowed has also fallen, although the fleet has been reduced from eight to four vehicles in this time. It led the council to conclude mobile libraries are no longer “cost-effective” and “not sustainable.”

The annual £217,000 cost of providing the mobile service would go to Libraries Unlimited, a charity that runs the library service across Devon and Torbay, to help sustain existing services amid cost increases in recent months.

A one-off £25,000 for “transition support” would also be spent by the council so that current mobile library users can access alternative library services.

However, Cllr Alan Connett (Lib Dem, Exminster & Haldon), who spoke against the cuts when the cabinet met last Wednesday [12 July], has questioned the authority’s decision-making process.

“A key part of the decision to axe the libraries was that the cabinet said the council could not afford the costs of buying four new vans, said to be up to £800,000. We highlighted that the council could have looked at leasing vans which may have been cheaper,” he said.

“Then council officers announced they had considered that, but there was no mention of it in the report. So how could the cabinet have considered all the options? They did not have all the facts in front of them.

“There is an appearance that a decision had been made to axe the mobile libraries and the arguments then marshalled in favour of that outcome.

“We have called in the decision because we believe there are several aspects of the information used in the decision making which need further examination and scrutiny,” said Cllr Connett, whose group thinks the £25,000 support fund is “too vague.”

A petition calling for a rethink on the plans was also presented to cabinet by Torridge district councillor Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin (Lib Dem), who said more marketing and sponsorship would help keep it going.

Green councillor Henry Gent (Broadclyst) was critical too, calling it a “strange decision when the whole economy is moving towards mobile delivery-based services.”

But speaking at the meeting, cabinet member Andrew Saywell (Conservative, Torrington Rural), said: “The trend is very clear, unfortunately, that less and less people are using this service. And so, we have to look at how we deliver this differently.”

Meanwhile, fellow cabinet member Rufus Gilbert (Conservative, Salcombe) said it was an “incredibly expensive subsidy per head,” adding: “It’d be better to buy the books and post them to them, quite frankly.”

The council says ending the mobile library service is a “reasonable solution to reducing costs” and “will help to secure the wider sustainability of library services in Devon.”

The last journeys by Devon’s mobile libraries are currently expected to be made at the end of December.

Devon’s corporate infrastructure and regulatory services scrutiny committee will examine the closure plans on Thursday 28 September.

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Candidate’s broadcasts broke election rules

Devon oldies’ station didn’t understand regulations

A Devon radio station breached broadcasting rules when it allowed a presenter to go on the airwaves whilst standing as a candidate in a Plymouth City Council by-election.

Alison Stephenson, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

The ruling follows a complaint from a listener about the Gavin Marshall Show on DevonAir Gold, during the run-up to a local election in January.

Mr Marshall, an independent candidate for Moor View, submitted his nomination on 13 December last year and, under rules to ensure fairness in elections, wasn’t permitted to broadcast until voting closed a month later.

Following a complaint by a listener, Ofcom concluded that although Mr Marshall’s show was music based with no political coverage or mention that he was standing for council, the broadcast itself disadvantaged other candidates.

The regulator said the rule exists: “to help secure the integrity of the democratic process, and the public’s trust in that integrity, by preventing any unfair electoral advantage being afforded to a particular candidate.”

East Devon Radio, a community station in Exmouth that runs DevonAir Gold as a commercial station broadcasting in Exeter and online, defended its programme by saying “nobody in the ward in Plymouth could hear the presenter on a licensed transmitted radio signal” some 40 miles away from the broadcast area.

The company claimed the rules are “ambiguous” and claimed it had not appreciated that a candidate “was unable to act as a presenter in any part of the UK while in an election period.” It suggested Ofcom should change the wording in its rules because it isn’t clear that the phrase “Candidates in UK elections” covered people standing in local elections.

It had previously breached the same rule in 2013 when a Devon County Councillor presented programmes on its Exmouth station. At the time it said it had “overlooked the rules” and its breach was “an unfortunate error….a hard lesson learned and a mistake we will ensure will not happen again.”

This time round, Ofcom said it had taken into account that Mr Marshall was standing in an election in a different area, explaining: ‘It may have mitigated the potential for harm to an extent, though it did not preclude the possibility of electors in the relevant ward hearing the programme.”

East Devon Radio highlighted the presenter’s experience as a broadcaster and said that he had taken care not to refer to his candidacy in this by-election, or to elections more generally, while broadcasting during the election period, and that he had avoided discussion of political matters and had not referred to Plymouth. It was confident that no material which could have inappropriately influenced UK voters was broadcast.

It explained that to avoid a recurrence, they had put in place additional training and briefed the programme controller and all presenters about the rules on elections in the Broadcast Code.

Ofcom acknowledged that community radio stations faced challenges preparing themselves for broadcasting, but that they have responsibility to ensure they have an adequate understanding of the code.

After being unsuccessful in the January by-election for Moor View, Mr Marshall stood again at the local election in May, where he came third out of five candidates. At the time, he announced that he wasn’t a politican.  “I really struggle with the party political fighting,” he said. “Hence why I feel the time is right to stand as an independent candidate. Locally, and nationally, the party system isn’t working.

“Being independent, I wouldn’t have to take any party line. I will take my constituent’s line. As neither main parties have a main Plymouth right now, the election of just one additional independent councillor will mean that the Independent Alliance can influence meaningful change from next Friday.”

East Devon Radio has been contacted for comment.

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17 Jul 2023

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Planning Applications validated by EDDC for week beginning 3 July

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Police patrolling ‘as and when they can’ 

Remember about 12% of your council tax goes on the police, 7% on EDDC and 4% on town and parish.

Seaside towns, like Budleigh, get three EDDC street scene rubbish collections a day during the tourist season. The “benefits” of Alison Henandez 6% hike in council tax this year may not be seen before her next tax hike. – Owl

Adam Manning www.exmouthjournal.co.uk 

Exmouth police say they will be patrolling Budleigh ‘as and when they can’ after the town saw a rise in anti-social behaviour from children.

Police say they are currently aware of ongoing problems of anti-social behaviour in Budleigh town centre and the immediate surrounding area.

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: “We have liaised with the Child Centred Policing Team at Exmouth Police Station about the issues raised and they have placed a bid with our partners at Devon County Council’s Youth Outreach Team hopefully to meet and engage with the youth of the town.

“Meanwhile the Neighbourhood Policing Team will patrol Budleigh as and when we can.”

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Refreshing council priorities and resources better to support residents in challenging times

Agenda item – Motion: Actions to provide the strong, united and informed managerial and political leadership

EDDC council meeting 6.00 pm, Wednesday 19th July

Another week another interesting debate. – Owl

democracy.eastdevon.gov.uk

Council believes that the start of a four-year term with a controlling partnership of councillors with an increased mandate from the people of East Devon provides the opportunity to refresh the whole council both in terms of its priorities and the way it assembles all its resources to deal with the complex issues faced by its residents in challenging times.

To that end council commits to the following actions to provide the strong, united and informed managerial and political leadership that is required:

In the short term, to work with Local Government Association and other parts of the local government family to:

1. Undertake a skills and knowledge audit of all Cabinet Members and key councillors to ensure that they are fully equipped to undertake their roles in the challenging times in which we find ourselves. This will lead to individual support for those members including specific mentoring and placement on appropriate courses and conferences; and

2. Work to bring together the Cabinet and Senior Management to become a unified team which, whilst respecting the different roles of officers and members, can move forward as one body in dealing with the issues faced by the council and its partners. In the first instance this would involve a facilitated Cabinet/SLT awayday and such work as may flow from that.

In the medium term, to:

3. Ask the LGA to undertake a Corporate Peer Challenge in September using leading and respected officers and members from other councils to look at the core of the council and recommend ways forward with a particular emphasis on:

i) Reviewing the member/officer protocol.

ii) Reviewing the Council’s communications strategy in the light of experiences gained with Covid.

iii) Reviewing the procedural standing orders as part of a constitutional review and make all parts of the constitution become clearer, both to the public and members, and encourage more members to participate in discussions & decisions around both the development, and the scrutiny, of those strategies.

iv) Reviewing all safeguarding strategies to ensure the continued protection of our vulnerable residents.

v) Reviewing the relationships between the District Council, the County Council and town & parish councils to ensure appropriate place-based working and the joining up of the public sector and partners to deliver cost-effective and locally relevant services.

4. Ask the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny to conduct, as soon as is practicable, a review of the scrutiny processes to ensure that:

i) The Cabinet and Officers continue to cooperate in the preparation of strategies to ensure that the undoubted professionalism of our staff is supported by the undoubted skills and knowledge of all local councillors from across the political spectrum in the development of those strategies from the outset.

ii) A suite of performance indicators are put in place to ensure that service delivery can be scrutinised by both Councillors and the public and to ensure that modifications can made to service delivery by a due process of review.

5. Ask SW Employers to undertake a review of the training and support needs of the SLT and the methodologies by which the SLT functions as a coherent team.

6. Ask the Council’s S151 officer, in conjunction with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets, to prepare a report outlining the likely costs to the Council of these recommendations  and to ascertain any risks associated with them, both financially and reputationally.

7. Establish a working Group (composed of the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council, the Chair of the Council and other Group Leaders) to support this programme of action and to monitor it and move the improvement agenda forward within the Council in cooperation with the Council’s SMT.

Proposed by Councillor Paul Hayward

Seconded by Councillor Todd Olive

Supported by Councillors John Health, Paul Arnott, Tim Dumper and Geoff Jung

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Homelessness prevention fund could be scrapped

Devon County Council’s deputy leader says authority “can’t afford” the grants

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

At a Devon County Council cabinet meeting this week, Cllr James McInnes (Conservative, Hatherleigh & Chagford), who’s responsible for adult services,  was probed about the plan to scrap Devon’s £1.5 million contribution to projects which prevent people becoming homeless.

The council insists no decision will be made until a special cabinet meeting scheduled for next month, but Cllr McInnes appeared to suggest there is unlikely to be a change of heart.

“The county council works with the district [and] city councils but we’re not statutorily obliged to deal with homelessness,” he said in response to a question from Labour group leader Carol Whitton.

“[It’s] money that we can’t afford,” Cllr McInnes added. “The only way we could afford it would be [to] take it away from the statutory services which we have a responsibility for. And as cabinet member for adult services I’m not prepared to do that, so I’m very clear.”

The £1.5 million currently pays for contracts with five providers who support around 250 people at any one time.

Their services are provided in multiple occupancy hostels in Exeter, East Devon, Torridge and North Devon, as well as through a countywide support service. None of the money pays for accommodation.

Local charities have hit out at the potential funding cut. YMCA Exeter, which receives £150,000 from the council, says “the consequences for vulnerable young adults will be huge,” while St Petrock’s, a charity in Exeter, warned it could lead to a “homelessness crisis” in the city.

They believe it will end up costing other services such as district councils, the police, NHS and social care “significantly more in the medium to long term.”

Meanwhile, Cllr McInnes also admits “there is a risk that hostels may close,” in a further written answer to Cllr Whitton, “but that is not an inevitability.”

He adds: “Although we do not fund accommodation, in identifying the risk of hostels closing, we have subsequently had informed conversations about how that risk can be averted or managed, including finding alternative funding options, or repurposing or reconfigure existing provision.”

When the proposal was first announced, a spokesperson for Devon County Council also said it can no longer afford the money, diverting it instead towards spending in other areas that support vulnerable children, young people and adults.

A decision is expected to be made at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday 23 August.

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16 Jul 2023

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Groundbreaking report shows chronic increase in rural homelessness – CPRE

“Urban local authorities received £7.15 per homeless person, compared to just £2.50 per homeless person paid to rural local authorities.”

www.cpre.org.uk

The countryside is beset by a ‘hidden homelessness’ crisis driven by soaring housing costs and a gaping shortfall in local authority funding, a new report shows.

The true scale of the crisis is likely to be far higher than the official statistics. The year-long study, which included a survey of 157 frontline support workers, service providers, NGOs, and shelters, found a large majority thought rural homelessness was a serious problem that was getting worse. Key findings include:

  • 91% of respondents in rural areas have seen homelessness increase in the past five years.
  • 83% of respondents in rural areas said their job had become harder in the past five years.
  • 81% of respondents believe that rough sleeping is experienced differently in rural areas compared to urban areas.

Underfunded local authorities

The study was conducted by academics at the University of Kent and the University of Southampton. It was commissioned by English Rural and co-funded by a coalition of rural charities and housing associations (including CPRE). It shows that rural areas receive a fraction of what they need to tackle homelessness in their communities.

Overall, rural local authorities are receiving 65% less in funding per capita through the Homelessness Prevention Grant than urban areas, who are themselves chronically underfunded. Statistics released by the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities show a sharp difference in financial aid. For example, urban local authorities received £7.15 per homeless person, compared to just £2.50 per homeless person paid to rural local authorities.

Life and health in jeopardy

Interviews with more than 40 people, including people who sleep rough and outreach workers in four rural locations, paint a striking picture of isolation and resilience.

People who experience homelessness in rural areas often sleep rough in farmland or woodland. This makes them much harder for outreach workers to find and support, and puts their life and health in jeopardy. Real life stories shared with researchers were harrowing. They included people digging trenches in the snow to sleep, going several days without food, being spat on, their tents set on fire, and muggings that resulted in brain injuries and teeth being knocked out.

The study found that isolation also made the problem far worse. Limited transport options and a lack of support placed those facing rural homelessness at greater risk. Those with physical or mental health needs were found to be most vulnerable.

Growing rural crisis

Martin Collett, chief executive of English Rural and co-chair of the research project, said:

‘This research shines a spotlight on a growing rural crisis hidden in plain sight. You see here the brutal reality beyond the insufficient official statistics. People who have no chance of affording a basic standard of living through no fault of their own. You don’t tend to see people sleeping rough in rural areas. But they’re there, normally hidden in agricultural buildings, outhouses, sleeping rough on farmland or condemned to an insecure life of sofa surfing. Because funding is so inadequate, many people are moving to urban centres for much needed support. It is in all our interests to fix this crisis.

‘Rural homelessness is a significant problem, and a lack of support and funding for affordable homes and services in these areas puts vulnerable households at a distinct disadvantage. The findings of this research should drive a step change in our approach to the issue. Local and national leaders must come together to say clearly that ‘rural homelessness counts’.

Farmers were frequently cited as a lifeline by those experiencing rural homelessness, allowing people to pitch tents in their fields and providing clean water and cups of tea in the morning. But some farmers expressed frustration at regulations they said prevented them from allowing rough sleepers to stay on their land, for fear of criminilisation by local authorities.

A national disgrace

Tom Fyans, interim chief executive of CPRE, said:

‘Farmers caring for people sleeping rough in their fields is a shocking indictment of government indifference. This is a political choice, paid for by our most vulnerable. It shouldn’t be this way, but chronic underfunding and years of slashed budgets means there is no longer a social safety net in the countryside.

‘In many cases, the kindness of others hides the extent of the homelessness crisis in rural areas. It’s very generous, and no doubt welcome, but contributes to the true scale of the crisis going unreported.

‘Hard working people are falling through the cracks of a broken system and the government must take responsibility. We need immediate action to fix a growing affordable housing crisis that, in one of the richest countries in the world, is nothing short of a national disgrace.’

Commitment to tackle rural homelessness

The coalition is calling for local and national leaders to make a clear commitment that ‘rural homelessness counts’. They are recommending:

  • All future homelessness and rough sleeping strategies consider the needs of rural communities and ‘at risk’ residents living in them.
  • Improved processes for better counting and identifying instances of rural homelessness.
  • Delivering new homelessness support services in rural communities that address mental health and social and physical isolation.
  • Dedicated investment to fund much needed rural social housing and increasing funding through the welfare system to cover the cost of rent.

Read the full report on the English Rural website

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15 Jul 2023

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Devon devolution ‘dead duck’ says Lib Dem

A potential devolution deal for Devon is a “dead duck,” according to one senior county councillor – although the county council’s leader is continuing to back the idea.

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

Outline approval was given in March to transfer money and powers to local leaders across the whole of Devon – part of ‘levelling-up’ proposals by the government – and it is hoped a deal could be offered by the autumn.

The ‘tier two’ arrangement doesn’t need an elected mayor, nor would it change the established council structure. Instead, a combined board would be created with the leaders of Devon County, Torbay and Plymouth councils, as well as district representatives.

But speaking at a county council cabinet meeting this week, opposition leader Julian Brazil (Lib Dem, Kingsbridge), who’s also leader of South Hams District Council, poured cold water on the project.

“I think we shouldn’t be wasting our time with that. It’s a dead duck,” he said. “We’ve got a zombie government who will be very lucky if anything comes to fruition before September of next year, when we’ll probably be in the middle of a general election and it will never happen.

“I think our time would be much better spent spelling out what we see as a good devolution deal for Devon, and that certainly isn’t contained in what we’ve got on the table at the moment.

“So I think if we want to conserve resources and to prioritise, that should just drop off the list straight away.”

But council leader John Hart (Conservative, Bickleigh & Wembury), who is part of negotiations with the government, disagrees with his opposite number.

“Anything that gives us extra money and advantages is useful. It’s worth saying that the minister is actually going to be talking to Devon, Plymouth and Torbay shortly in relation to this.”

After Cornwall recently dropped out of plans to go for a ‘tier three’ devolution deal with an elected mayor, Cllr Hart said Devon’s bid is “the one that’s actually been stable throughout the whole of the conversation so far.”

And he stressed: “If Cornwall come in on a tier two, they should have no advantages that Devon hasn’t got.”

In an update last month, councillors were told any new powers are likely to include more say on housing, devolution of adult education funding and more control of public transport commissioning.

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A correspondent asks: where did they get the word “dismissed”? 

A correspondent has asked where the local press found the word “dismissed” in their reporting of the Verita report into actions following Humphreys arrest. The word does not occur in Verita’s report.

The context of the quote comes from this paragraph: 

The report concluded that a former monitoring officer became the only person to know of the police investigation when he was asked to attend a safeguarding meeting (LADO) in March 2016, but doubt was cast on this evidence when further details came out regarding a comment made in a meeting suggesting the CEO of the council might have also known. This, however, was fully investigated by Verita in a supplementary report, and dismissed, as they were unable to corroborate the statement.

Here is a bit of fact checking from Verita’s supplementary report:

New Information (from page 5)

10. In 2016 Devon County Council (DCC) held three meetings described as LADO MAS meetings. The meetings involved the DCC Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), Devon & Cornwall Police (the Police) and senior officers from DCC. The former Monitoring Officer of EDDC (referred to hereafter as the fMO) attended all those meetings. 

11. The meeting on 9 March 2016 was the first in this series and was described as the “Initial Strategy Meeting: Managing Allegations Against Adults Working with Children”.

 12. Under a section titled “General discussion”, the minutes of the meeting recorded that: “The Chief of East Devon District Council had been alerted to the situation.” 

13. This record appeared to contradict the evidence given by the fMO and the CEO of EDDC in our investigation.

[Verita were shown a copy obtained from DCC to verify this]

Conclusions 

74. We consider that the record in the minutes of the meeting on 9 March 2016 cast doubt on the evidence given by the fMO and the CEO in the course of our original investigation.

75. The statement was, however, recorded in the formal minutes of a LADO MAS meeting, and we have no evidence that it was subsequently amended. In our view it is more likely than not, on the balance of probabilities, that the comment was made in the course of that meeting.

76. Although the precise wording of the statement may be open to misinterpretation, we conclude that the reference to “The Chief” could only mean the CEO of EDDC. 

77. However, because we have been unable to corroborate this statement, we conclude that it does not constitute sufficiently reliable evidence that the CEO of EDDC was aware of the Humphreys situation.

So whilst Verita concluded this did not constitute sufficiently reliable evidence that the CEO of EDDC was aware of Humphreys situation, the minute as quoted remains on the record.

That minute has not been “dismissed”. Its meaning has yet to be explained. – Owl

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Lib Dems close polling gap in safe Tory seat in Somerset eleven days ahead of by-election

Frome rhymes with “doom” (for the Tories?) – Owl

Arriving in the Somerset village of Templecombe there are Liberal Democrat placards aplenty. The by-election specialists are at it again.

David Parsley inews.co.uk inews.co.uk 

This latest mid-term poll has been caused by the resignation of David Warburton, who was suspended from the Conservative Party over allegations of sexual misconduct.

Warburton, who denied the sex allegations but admitted to taking cocaine after drinking “incredibly potent” Japanese whisky, leaves a healthy majority of 19,213 behind him.

Usually that would be considered all but impossible impenetrable, but we do not live in normal times.

During its 40-year existence the Somerton and Frome constituency has been shared by the Tories and Lib Dems but, after 18-years as a Lib Dem seat, returned to the Conservatives in 2015 and has remained with the party ever since.

However, given the Lib Dems recent by-election successes – not least the overturning of a 24,239 Tory majority in Tiverton and Honiton just over a year ago – the bookies have the party’s candidate Sarah Dyke as odds-on favourite to give take her party’s numbers in the House of Commons to 15.

There’s a clear confidence about her, but she’s not prepared to speak to it yet. But with the Government’s inner turmoil not easing since last June, she clearly has hope.

“Well, I won my first election on the district council here in South Somerset by one vote in 2015,” she says. “I did that by going out and knocking on every door, and that’s what I’m doing now.”

Dyke, whose family has been farming land around Templecombe since 1763, is aware, however, that of the three by-elections forced by departing Tories, this is the one the Lib Dems are banking on.

As soon as Warburton announced his resignation in in mid-June, the yellow army invaded this rural idyl.

“My phone went absolutely crazy with the news that he had just resigned,” says Dyke. “So, from that moment on, it was literally let’s get on with this job.

“The HQ team came down and within 48 hours had set up our HQ offices in Frome.”

So, when she’s knocking on those doors, what are the voters telling her? They are, she says, “furious, angry, and fed up”.

“They are fed up with the wait for a GP appointment, a dentist, with the cost-of-living crisis, the state of the NHS and all public services.

“They are fed-up with 13 years of this Government and they are coming back to the Liberal Democrats.”

Dyke runs through the Lib Dem policies, such as reversing £3bn of Tory tax cuts for banks to spend on helping people with soaring mortgage costs, and a “plan to recruit 8,000 more GPs”.

While the bookies may have Dyke as the overwhelming favourite to take the seat back for her party, she has stiff opposition in Conservative candidate Faye Purbrick, an experienced and competent politician.

The first question to Purbrick is the reverse of that put to Dyke. Is she confident of protecting the enormous majority of 19,213?

In normal times the answer would be a simple one, but she’s seen the internal Lib Dem polling of 10,000 voters from last week.

That showed support for the Tories has fallen from 55.8 per cent at the December 2019 general election to 44.5 per cent. Lib Dem backing had jumped from 26.2 per cent to 36.5 per cent.

With just eleven days to go until the polls open on 20 July, Lib Dem sources are saying that gap has narrowed further, and the result is going to be “very tight”.

That’s Lib Dem for “we’ve got this in the bag”.

Purbrick’s first answer reflects that the momentum is with her rival.

“I think we should never take our electorate for granted and in the same way that I worked hard to serve the people I have as a councillor I’ll look to be able to show people my track record and why they should support me,” says Purbrick.

However, telling people on the doorstep that the Conservatives are the party to trust with the economy can be a tough task.

“We have had the fastest growth in the G7,” she adds, though others have said this may have been true in the immediate aftermath of the Covid pandemic from 2021 to 2022, but has not been true since and that when comparing quarter-on-quarter growth in 2022, the UK is among worst-performing in the G7.

“They are not figures I recognise,” says Purbrick.

As for the condition of the economy she maintains the party line that “we’ve been hit by two huge events in Covid and the war in Ukraine” and that “if we all work together we will get through this”.

Purbrick quotes the CCHQ line less when it comes to local issues, insisting she will lobby Westminster for better broadband connectivity, flood protection and “fighting hard” for cash for local schools, the NHS and other public services.

“I am working to be the MP Somerton and Frome,” she adds. “Standing up for the people in Somerton and Frome.

“Making sure that the Government is listening to what we need here. I will be an MP not a member of Government.

“I will be holding them to account in the way that an MP is supposed to, to make sure that people here have the best possible outcomes. That’s what I care about.”

While Purbrick has a chance of clinging on to this seat for the Tories, albeit a rapidly shrinking one, the likelihood that Labour can go from a poor third with just 13 per cent of the vote in December 2019 to take a seat is slim.

But that’s not putting off Neil Guild, Sir Keir Starmer’s representative in this by-election.

“A good result for Labour is winning this seat,” he says. OK, but what will you really consider a success? Forcing the Tories into a humiliating third place maybe?

“I’m always going to fight for the Labour Party,” he adds. “If, ultimately, the public decides something different than absolutely, I’ll accept that, but, yes, I do want to show progress.”

As the holiday traffic floods in, the slow going allow times to count the signs. It’s no more than anecdotal evidence, but between Frome and the bit of the A303 where the constituency ends there were 27 Liberal Democrat placards, three supporting the Conservatives and one for Labour.

Indeed, there were more Green Party signs being displayed in the front gardens of voters than there were Tory and Labour put together.

It’s hard not to believe the Lib Dems will be more disappointed not to win this one than the Tories will be to lose it.

There are eight candidates standing in the Somerton and Frome by-election. The remain five are Lorna Corke (Christian Peoples Alliance), Martin Dimery (Green Party), Bruce Evans (Reform UK), Rosie Mitchell (Independent), and Peter Richardson (UK Independence Party).

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Sewage pollution alert issued for every East Devon beach

Is, as a correspondent has pointed out, South West Water “on track to reach four stars next year”!

The Environment Agency has issued a sewage pollution alert for every beach in East Devon this morning, (Friday July 14).

Adam Manning www.sidmouthherald.co.uk

Exmouth, Ladram Bay, Sidmouth, Seaton and Lyme Regis all have warnings that ‘bathing is not advised due to the likelihood of reduced water quality.’

The warning has been issued after heavy rain fell overnight in Devon. The warning has been issued on the Surfers Against Sewage app, endorsed by the Environment Agency.

Surfers Against Sewage issues three warnings: a sewage discharge alert, which means there has been a sewage discharge from a combined sewer overflow within the past 48 hours; a pollution risk alert, which means bathing is not advised, and a pollution incident alert, which means there has been a confirmed incident at the location and bathing is not advised.  

For more information on discharges in the area, download the Surfers Against Sewage app on IOS or Android. 

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Water and sewerage companies in England: environmental performance report 2022

Wonder what Ofwat (aka the “supplier of revolving doors”) will do about this, anything? – Owl

www.gov.uk 

A summary of the environmental performance of the 9 water and sewerage companies operating in England.

1. Chair’s foreword

The performance of many of the 9 English water and sewerage companies for 2022 is very disappointing: minimal improvement in star ratings compared to 2021. The sector only achieved 23 stars out of a maximum of 36 – albeit we did tighten the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) again this year to drive improvements in standards across the sector.

The number of pollution incidents (from sewerage and water supply assets) worsened from 1,883 in 2021 to 2,026 last year. It is simply unacceptable to see a decline in this vital metric. 2022 was another missed opportunity for the companies to demonstrate they can improve their performance. Even worse, the early unconfirmed data for 2023 suggests that there has been no improvement this year either. I do hope this changes soon.

The disappointing results are surprising given that when I talk to the Chairs and CEOs of these companies, I get a real sense of their intent to do better. But why is this not happening yet? Primarily, I think, because of the time it takes for cultures to change in large organisations and because there are some deep-rooted problems which can only be solved by significant investment. Not just this year and next, but for some decades to come.

I am not universally gloomy though. Some companies are doing better and some metrics are improving. Credit to Severn Trent Water who retain a 4 star rating for the fourth year, and to United Utilities and Northumbrian Water who are not far behind. But all know they are at the top of a very poor league. We do see improvements this year in serious pollution incidents, down from 62 to 44, but nevertheless, performance is not where it should be.

Storm overflow discharges are under significant scrutiny, and rightly so. The data in this report briefly touches upon storm overflows, where we have seen some signs of improvement in 2022. But this should be expected. It was a notably dry year and storm overflows should be operated less in these conditions.

By the end of 2023, water companies will be required to monitor 100% of storm overflows, which will allow us to regulate using better evidence, and enable us to determine whether 2022’s improvements were the start of a trend. As we start our EPA review for the next period (2026 to 2030 data years) we will look to include this new information. In the interim, we will publish a spotlight report in autumn which will include more detail on the issue.

We know performance in recent years has seen trust in the water industry deteriorate. If it is to be rebuilt, we need to see profound, long-term change across the sector.

For all organisations which have a role to play in improving the water environment, this means stepping forward and taking collective responsibility. Water companies, regulators, government, NGOs and many others in general all want the same thing: better environmental outcomes, including cleaner rivers and seas.

Individually we have a clear responsibility to keep each other honest, not to allow for misinformation or to lose sight of scientific consensus. But more importantly, all organisations need to demonstrate that we can carry out our duties responsibly, and that we can work together.

First, we must treat the recent public apology from Water UK and the English water and sewerage companies as a signal of change. It is welcome and aligns with the sentiment shown through our annual performance meetings where all companies demonstrated a distinct shift in culture – towards improvement and better environmental outcomes.

Second, we must all play our respective roles to make sure we maximise the opportunities within the next 5-year price review. Together we can secure the greatest ever investment in our water environment. This will not fix all of the problems immediately, but it will enable significant long-term change and better environmental outcomes.

Third, the Environment Agency will play its part by transforming the way we regulate the sector. Over the next 2 years we will introduce additional specialist officers to focus solely on water company regulation while also introducing new tools which will turn huge quantities of monitoring information into regulatory intelligence.

This will give us the capacity to increase time spent regulating the water industry and enable our officers to focus on the highest risk sites and issues more easily. We welcome the announcement on unlimited variable monetary penalties which will also improve our enforcement powers and lead to better environmental outcomes.

The public, the environment and our waters demand change. If we can move forward together, not only will we demonstrate our individual delivery and contribution towards the government’s Plan for Water, we will also demonstrate our part in sharing collective responsibility in achieving better environmental outcomes. For people, the environment and our wildlife.

Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency

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South West Water – a rising star??

The Environment Agency recently released the  Water and sewerage companies in England: environmental performance report 2022.

This raises the performance of South West Water (SWW) from one to two stars. This still leaves SWW bumping along the bottom of the league table of nine alongside Southern Water. 

SWW  performed significantly below target (red) for the Supply Demand Balance Index metric.

A correspondent writes

The Times “Clean it up” campaign quotes, 13th July:

“Susan Davy, the chief executive of Pennon, which owns South West Water, one of the former one-star companies, said the firm was on track to reach four stars next year.”

How in the world will she achieve this in a year?

The expanding new town Cranbrook has the main sewage treatment works at Countess Wear, adjacent to the Exe SSSI. SWW data for 2021 indicates that storm water was released on 72 combined occasions over a period of 230hrs +.  This plant cannot expand due to the SSSI. A new plant is not even in view.

So where will the sewage of the latest approved development of 870 houses go on a rainy day? The overloaded Exe? Then into Lyme Bay?  

What about  Honiton? The combined 2 waste water treatment plants had 226 discharge episodes of 2646 hours and if I add the nearby village of Gittisham (2021 census population 838)  the total from the Honiton area is 283 episodes and the colossal 3252 hours of pollution. All going to the small River Otter

How is Susan going to sort these two severe pollution incidents out by next year? Let alone the chronic case of Combe Martin in North Devon.,

I have not even mentioned our beaches. Are overflow tanks storage capacity being increased? When will we  be able to bathe pollution free after we have had a downpour like we have recently had? (And are having today?)

Perhaps we should not rely on the Star rating to solve our pollution incidents. It is clearly not worth the paper it is written on.   

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Co Bikes and Co Cars collapse into administration

A bike and car hire company that serves Exeter and parts of East Devon will cease operating this week. The business has been unable to cover costs and says it has been “severely affected” by the pandemic, cost of living crisis, high fuel prices and vandalism to bikes.

Mary Stenson www.devonlive.com 

Non profit company Co Cars and Co Bikes, which offered a short-term car and bike hire service, has confirmed its collapse. In recent weeks, users have reported to DevonLive that they have noticed fewer available bikes across Exeter and East Devon.

The business was first founded in 2005 with just one car but most recently was offering a fleet of 50 electric and low-emission shared cars and over 200 electric bikes. It is reported to have had a combined membership of over 10,000 people across the region, proving popular with people looking for convenient, low emission ways to get around. The scheme is also heavily used by people working in the gig economy, mainly delivery drivers for delivery apps such as Deliveroo and Just Eat.

In October last year, the company announced that Nic Eversett would be taking over as managing director from Mark Hodgson who went on a sabbatical and was due to return to the business this year as a senior consultant.

Today (July 13), Nic has said in a statement that Co Cars and Co Bikes will cease operation from tomorrow, July 14. He says the business has suffered from a turbulent few years, including the suspension of services during the pandemic, changes in travel habits and increased costs which has meant they have spent recent months fighting for additional funding but to no avail.

He also says that vandalism of bikes and supply chain issues have made it “impossible” to keep enough of the fleet on the roads. In February, they were forced to take a Co Bike station out of use in Cranbrook due to “thoughtless acts of vandalism”.

In a full statement, Nic said: “This is to inform you of the sad news that Co Cars and Co Bikes will shortly cease trading.

“Despite everyone working extremely hard to provide shared mobility services for Exeter and the wider South West, it has been increasingly difficult to generate sufficient income to cover our costs.

“Initially, we were severely affected by the suspension of our services for long periods of time during Covid. Post-Covid, changes in travel habits, exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis and drop in demand for business travel, have significantly impacted utilisation and revenue.

“These factors have been aggravated by high fuel prices and energy costs, contributing to greatly increased internal costs. Furthermore, vandalism of the bikes and supply chain issues (especially for e-bikes) have made it impossible for us to keep enough of the fleet on the road to make the business viable.

“During the last few months, the Board and management team have focussed on seeking additional funding to allow us to make the necessary changes to our business model to safeguard its viability. Unfortunately, we have been unable to attract the level of funding needed. Sadly, this means Co Cars and Co Bikes will cease to operate car and bike services by the 14th of July 2023.

“The Board has engaged the services of insolvency experts from Milsted Langdon LLP who have assisted the Board in seeking a purchaser for all or part of the business and who will be managing the process of taking the company, Co Cars Limited, into Administration. We expect that this will happen by the end of week commencing 17th July.

“The Board and I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has supported Co Cars and Co Bikes. You have helped Exeter and the Southwest experience the many benefits of using shared mobility services. We are devastated that Co Cars Limited won’t continue but we are proud to have helped reduce pollution and congestion on our streets whilst also increasing active travel.

“To that end, we are looking for potential new providers who could keep the cars and / or the bikes operating into the future as we passionately believe these services are an essential part of a low carbon, integrated public transport network.”

Exeter MP Sir Ben Bradshaw said: “[I am] gutted by the collapse of Co Bikes and Co Cars, Exeter’s brilliant not-for-profit e-bike and e-car sharing scheme. [They have] done so much to cut pollution, congestion, boost active travel and made access to e-cars affordable. Hope another provider comes in to save this vital service.”

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Devon sex fiend remained pillar of community despite arrest

Alison Stephenson www.devonlive.com

East Devon District Council (EDDC) has vowed to tighten up its safeguarding practices after shame was brought upon it when a councillor was able to remain on the authority despite being investigated for child sex offences. Councillors voted unanimously this week to approve the independent report into its actions following the arrest of John Humphreys, who is now serving 21 years for historic sexual offences on teenage boys. It has also backed the report’s recommendations to overhaul its safeguarding procedures to mitigate such a situation never happens again.

Former EDDC Conservative councillor of 12 years and an ex-mayor of Exmouth, Humphreys was jailed in August 2021 for offences in the 1990s and 2000s. The independent investigation into the council’s actions has revealed safeguarding failures that enabled him to continue as a councillor for three years after he was arrested in March 2016 and later be given the title of honorary alderman.

A company called Verita Consulting was asked to find out who at the council knew about the Humphreys’ investigation and his arrest before it became public knowledge, the processes involved in his appointment as alderman, and to delve into the safeguarding and governance practices of the council and find ways to improve.

The report concluded that a former monitoring officer became the only person to know of the police investigation when he was asked to attend a safeguarding meeting (LADO) in March 2016, but doubt was cast on this evidence when further details came out regarding a comment made in a meeting suggesting the CEO of the council might have also known. This, however, was fully investigated by Verita in a supplementary report, and dismissed, as they were unable to corroborate the statement.

David Scott from Verita told councillors at this Tuesday’s meeting: ‘We believe that with the exception of the former monitoring officer, no one at EDDC definitively knew that John Humphreys had been under investigation for these alleged sexual offences.

“No one who participated in the investigation brought forward to us any reliable information about Humphreys’ behaviour and his alleged offending, so we considered that in view of the strict confidentiality restrictions placed on the former monitoring officer by the Devon and Cornwall police, that he was unable to make anyone else aware of what he knew – and he didn’t do so. There was no action anyone else could have taken without that knowledge.

“We believe that being the only person at EDDC who knew about the allegations put the former monitoring officer in an extremely unenviable position. He was prevented from sharing the information he had with his line manager, the chief executive, with EDDC safeguarding lead and with other councillors.”

Mr Scott said it had been “a trial” to get EDDC officers to contribute fully and participate in the investigation, as they did not wish to be interviewed face to face, but said this was a “minor bump” on a long road and “we got as much evidence as we could in the end.” He also said getting documents from Devon County Council had been difficult.

He said no formal action could have been taken against Humphreys before he was convicted, and EDDC would have been obliged to rely on presumption of his innocence while investigations were underway.

Once the council became aware of the situation, officers worked swiftly to remove the alderman honour and “handled it very well” and this did something to mitigate the reputation of EDDC, added Mr Scott.

The report suggested there was a better way to recognise long service and assessment of merit, rather than positions on the council.

It also noted the lack of any safeguarding risk assessment or mitigation plans being developed and implemented across the three-year period that Humphreys, who did not formally work with children but did come into contact with them, was being investigated.

“Someone who allegedly committed serious sexual offences went on to hold positions of authority in EDDC,” said Mr Scott.

In its early interviews, Verita found a relatively limited awareness amongst some councillors about their safeguarding responsibilities. It was pleased, however, that training had been offered to all councillors.

Cllr Joe Whibley (Independent, Exmouth) mentioned the good work being done on safeguarding at the lower level in the authority but added: “I have found this whole thing really quite upsetting and really depressing that it has gone on this long.

“The problem here is that we have practices, but those practices couldn’t be actioned.

“Safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility, absolutely everybody’s, and we cannot shirk from that responsibility. We can presume innocence until guilt is established, but safeguarding duties, because they are duties, not optional extras, demand that appropriate actions are taken and quickly.

“Criminal proceedings and safeguarding measures are two different processes that run concurrently and this is basic safeguarding and those actions have not happened here, it seems.

“We must no longer avoid taking actions that are appropriate, necessary and demanded by law and we need to ensure that every single one of us from the very top to the very bottom have the correct mindset when it comes to safeguarding.”

A call was made for enhanced DBS checking for all councillors and better recording of documents and meetings.

Cllr Peter Faithful (Independent, Ottery ST Mary) said: “It’s all very well having all this training, but councillors need to be sure that they can feel comfortable coming forward even if the information they have is quite small and trivial or seemingly so as that could be very important.”

Verita reported many of the councillors they spoke to said they found raising issues or asking questions of any nature to be difficult. Some of these councillors cited a difficult working environment marred by conflict and accusations of politically motivated behaviours.

Deputy council leader Paul Hayward (Independent, Axminster) said: “This goes beyond politics and beyond corporation of councillors. These recommendations make sure the council does the right thing and above all recognises the victims of these heinous crimes by a former councillor of this authority

“We must do the right thing as an authority to try and put it right.”

Council leader Paul Arnott (Lib Dem, Coly Valley) asked councillors to reacquaint themselves with the courage of the victim in this case: “Without the victim and his persistence between 2004 and 2021- seventeen years that destroyed his life – Humphries would be at liberty, we would not be here having this debate, we would not be reviewing our own safeguarding processes and I think it’s beholden on everyone to consider that as they go home.”

A detailed action plan following the report’s recommendations include enforcing mandatory safeguarding training, setting up a working group for training needs, designating safeguarding champions, and making sure anyone invited to a LADO meeting should not go unaccompanied, will be brought to the council’s cabinet urgently.

Additional financial support for the supplementary report of £8,000 on top of the £45,000 budgeted for the main report was approved.

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West Country is suffering from Tory neglect

The region’s beauty masks a forgotten electorate lagging behind the rest of the nation in education and social mobility.

Alice Thomson www.thetimes.co.uk (extract)

…. the 5.6 million who work in the region often feel abandoned. They are rarely mentioned in the government’s levelling-up agenda, yet by the age of 11 the children of the southwest are the furthest behind of any English region, with only 37 per cent of children from disadvantaged backgrounds reaching expected levels in reading, writing and maths. Fewer children than in any other region go on to higher-level apprenticeships or university. Instead, young adults are more likely to be in unskilled work than their peers elsewhere. In the constituency of Bridgwater and West Somerset, 42 per cent are in unskilled employment compared with 28 per cent nationally.

Last year I was asked to join the South West Social Mobility Commission, which brings together major employers, charities and public services with the University of Exeter. It was a 17-year-old girl called Bella Dash who convinced me of the need for change. Bella and her mother had been made homeless in Devon on three occasions by the time she was nine and she still couldn’t read or write as she struggled to attend classes. Now she is working as a cleaner but in lockdown, when given a computer by her school, she decided to teach herself GCSEs, discovered learning and excelled in her exams. In October she is taking up a place at Oxford to read geography. “Not all my friends want to become professors, but I don’t feel many of us are being given a chance to be anything other than hospitality and care staff or farm workers,” she said.

One of the biggest blocks on aspiration is transport. School absenteeism has increased since the pandemic to 7.9 per cent, the highest in the country, but attendance has been a problem for years as pupils struggle to reach their schools when bus routes have been eviscerated and trains are often cancelled. Transport investment stands at £308 a head compared with a national average of £474. Students living in Dulverton, on Exmoor, face a 12-hour day to reach their nearest higher-education college. Pupils run the daily risk of missed connections. The dropout rate at sixth form is 27 per cent. The area needs more accessible colleges and more inducement to get there. Under-18s in London and other cities don’t have to pay for their bus fare. They shouldn’t have to here.

Another issue is the lack of high-speed broadband, except in Johnson’s Exmoor holiday cottage where a crack team of engineers laid expensive cabling. Every rural child needs a connection for remote learning. The University of Exeter has developed a tutoring project for undergraduates to help hone the basic writing skills of 12-year-olds. Every pupil showed an improvement in accuracy. Students were given credits and gained teaching experience; pupils said it boosted their confidence and allowed them to hear about campus life. “It’s a win-win,” says Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the university.

Change can happen, but the Tories’ neglect of their far-flung shires shows in the polls. They lost Tiverton in a by-election last year and they’re about to lose Somerton and Frome. If the general election was held tomorrow, newly drawn constituencies such as Plymouth Moor View would be won by Labour with a huge swing. Electorally the West Country is up for grabs — neither Labour nor the Lib Dems are loved — but politicians of all parties need to concentrate on rolling out policy change, not just beach towels, in this idyllic but unequal land.

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Loophole lets farmers pollute UK rivers with excess manure – report

“The River Wye has basically turned into a green pea soup. It smells, and what used to be beautiful clean gravel on the riverbed is covered with green slime. The river is now very close to complete ecological collapse.”

Helena Horton www.theguardian.com 

A loophole in the UK’s pollution legislation allows farmers to pollute rivers by spreading excess manure, an investigation has found, with those acting unlawfully not facing any action in most cases.

The government introduced new farming rules for water in 2018, aimed at cleaning up England’s waterways. However, after lobbying from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), including at least two meetings with ministers, the guidance was watered down.

According to internal guidance revealed by the investigations website openDemocracy, polluting farmers may not even be informed of their rule-breaking.

Some farm businesses pollute waterways by spreading excess animal waste on their land. When it rains, this runs off into local rivers, causing nutrient pollution and in severe cases, ecosystem collapse. Natural England recently downgraded the status of the River Wye, a designated special area of conservation, due to a decline of key species. The decline is due partly to large quantities of manure being washed into the river from nearby farms.

In August 2021, the NFU met Lord Benyon, then the parliamentary undersecretary for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), to discuss the legislation. Four months later, it attended another meeting, this time with Victoria Prentis MP, then the minister of state for Defra, along with officials from the Environment Agency and the British Egg Industry Council and British Poultry Council, two trade associations representing farmers.

In response to a freedom of information request, Defra refused to release the minutes of this second meeting, claiming policymaking in this area was “still ongoing” and that releasing this information could “risk inhibiting officials from having full, frank and open discussions as part of the process of formulating policy”.

But in written evidence submitted to parliament’s environment, food and rural affairs committee, the NFU said it was decided in this meeting that an Environment Agency team tasked with implementing the legislation would have its terms of reference “rewritten” to “reflect our dialogue”.

The guidance now says: “Where a land manager has acted in accordance with the statutory guidance, we will not inform them that they are non-compliant with the FRfW (farming rules for water).” It allows manure to be spread in direct contradiction with the rules, as long as all “reasonable precautions” are taken to reduce pollution, or in circumstances when reducing manure use is not “reasonably practicable”.

“The regulations have not changed,” the document states, but goes on to say that enforcement action will not usually be taken providing farmers “can demonstrate that they are operating in accordance with the statutory guidance even if they are not compliant with regulation 4(1)(a)(i) and (ii)”.

These specific regulations are in place to limit how much poultry manure can be spread on farmland, ensuring that nutrients “[do] not exceed the soil and crop needs or give rise to a significant risk of agricultural diffuse pollution”.

Charles Watson, the founder and chairperson of River Action UK, said: “That loophole is why the soils are now overloaded several times above and beyond what they can take. It is cause and effect, black and white.

“The River Wye has basically turned into a green pea soup. It smells, and what used to be beautiful clean gravel on the riverbed is covered with green slime. The river is now very close to complete ecological collapse.”

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “The farming rules for water are one of a number of regulations we use as part of our advice-led regulatory approach with farmers, to protect water quality and nature. If we find pollution or significant risk of pollution occurring we will not hesitate to take further action – evidenced by the enforcement action being taken against 140 farms this financial year.”

The NFU deputy president, Tom Bradshaw, said: “Farmers are working hard, through a range of voluntary measures, to prevent valuable nutrients and soil from contributing to water pollution. We can and want to do more and are working with government, local authorities and regulatory bodies to find solutions to address farming’s impact, so that we can better maintain and protect the health of our rivers.

“With a growing population, there is a clear need for sustainable, affordable and environmentally friendly food. We will continue to work closely with partners and stakeholders across all sectors so that collectively we can drive improvements that benefit water quality in our rivers.”

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Sunak backs plan to lift housing construction ban despite Defra pollution concerns

Seems to confirm he is “uninterested” in the environment, maybe it doesn’t feature on the spreadsheet.

Build the houses first, the essential infrastructure such as upgrading sewage works (and schools, medical resources, transport links etc) can/may follow later.  – Owl

Rishi Sunak has given his backing to plans to lift a ban blocking the construction of tens of thousands of properties imposed by the government’s environment watchdog.

Oliver Wright, Adam Vaughan www.thetimes.co.uk 

The Times understands that the prime minister has intervened in a stand-off between Michael Gove, the housing secretary, and Thérèse Coffey, the environment secretary, over rules imposed by Natural England that have brought housing developments to a halt across large swathes of the country.

More than 70 councils have been forced to block developments of up to 120,000 new homes because of concerns about the potential additional pollution of local rivers.

Under so-called “nutrient neutrality” rules, developers can only get planning permission if they offset the impact of extra sewage from new homes by working elsewhere in the catchment area to balance out the additional pollution. That typically involves creating wetlands to strip out excess nitrogen and phosphate pollution in rivers.

In the longer term, water companies are due to upgrade their sewage treatment works to reduce the issue, but critics have warned that the government needs to take action faster to unblock developments ahead of a general election.

A senior government source said that Sunak was “minded” to support a move by Gove to change the law to allow developments to go ahead in advance of sewage treatment works being upgraded. The change is expected to be included in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill currently going through parliament.

The source said: “Exactly how the new law will work is still being worked through but, in principle, the prime minister is minded to act.”

Sunak’s intervention follows months of behind-the-scenes wrangling between Gove’s Levelling Up department, which is responsible for housing, and Coffey’s environment department, Defra.

One government source said: “It would be fair to say that Michael and Thérèse don’t see eye to eye on this.” The source said Defra did not want any breach of what it sees as “sacrosanct nutrient neutrality rules” and was worried about a “backlash from the environmental movement”.

They added: “But the reality is that unless we can come up with an allowable work-around, then we simply can’t build the homes in very large parts of the country that we’ve promised. The PM has now indicated that he is backing Michael.”

Defra is fiercely opposed to the change and The Times’ Clean it Up campaign has also urged the government to keep the rules.

Tony Juniper, the chairman of Natural England, said: “Nutrient neutrality is established in UK environmental law and has been tested in the courts. It rightly prevents wastewater from new housing developments adding to pollution in areas internationally protected because of their unique value to nature and wildlife.”

He said that scrapping the rules would endanger legal targets to turn around “terrifying declines” in species. Juniper added: “We simply cannot halt and reverse the decline in nature or improve the quality of our rivers — as the government has legally committed itself to doing and is rightly demanded by the public — if we don’t mitigate the impact of pollution sources.”

Water campaigners said that ditching the protections would be disastrous in areas already under pressure from sewage and farm pollution, with only 14 per cent of English rivers considered to be in “good” ecological condition.

James Wallace, the chief executive of River Action, a charity that supports community river groups around the country, said: “Our rivers are in crisis. Nutrient neutrality rules provide a glimmer of hope for some of our most protected rivers by ensuring development does not further add to pollution of rivers. It is absolutely absurd for the government to roll back on this.”

Professor Peter Hammond, of the environmental group Windrush Against Sewage Pollution, said that the regulations were also needed to improve monitoring of sewage spills and run-off from farms. He said that dropping the rules would be bad for “public health and biodiversity”.

However, a spokesman for the Home Builders Federation said that a failure to act would have a devastating impact on pressing housing needs, adding: “The government has allowed this situation to drag on for four years and a solution is desperately needed. Builders are going out of business and around 145,000 desperately needed homes are on hold, despite the fact their construction would have a negligible impact on river pollution.”

A government spokesperson said: “The government remains committed to delivering housing in areas impacted by nutrient neutrality and is supporting local authorities and developers. We recognise the urgency of this issue and have taken substantial steps to both unlock housing now and to address the underlying causes of nutrient pollution at source.”

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BBC report on the council debate of the Verita report

John Humphreys: Sex abuse scandal sparks child safeguarding review

A council has voted unanimously to make improvements to child safeguarding in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal.

By Ewan Murrie www.bbc.co.uk

Members of East Devon District Council voted on Tuesday on a report into the council’s handling of abuse allegations against a former councillor.

Ex-politician John Humphreys is currently serving 21 years in prison for sexually abusing two boys.

The council’s safeguarding lead was not told about the allegations when he was arrested in 2016, the report found.

This meant Humphreys stayed in office for three years while under police investigation, without a safeguarding risk assessment.

Humphreys was made an alderman by East Devon District Council while under criminal investigation

Speaking outside the meeting, council leader Paul Arnott said changes were needed.

He said: “The key issue to me is that if a report comes into this council at a senior level that a councillor has been investigated, that it isn’t confined to just one officer to deal with.

“What we have just resolved is that our safeguarding lead must be informed as a priority. For whatever reason, and we do not understand that yet, in 2016 our safeguarding lead was not told.

“For me that is unsatisfactory and there will be further internal works to look at quite how that happened.”

Humphreys, a former Conservative councillor, was jailed in 2021 for 21 years for what a judge called “shocking acts of sexual violence” against two boys before he was elected.

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  • Humphreys was first questioned by police in 2005 but police did not find sufficient evidence for a prosecution.
  • Humphreys was also an Exmouth Town Council member and became mayor of Exmouth in 2010.
  • Following a complaint by a second victim, Humphreys was arrested in 2016 before being released on bail on suspicion of sex crimes against children.
  • He continued to be an East Devon Council member until May 2019, eventually being awarded the honorary title of alderman by the council in December 2019.
  • Following his conviction in August 2021, the council removed his title and said it was to review the alderman process.
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Councillors also voted unanimously to press Devon and Cornwall Police for more information about who in the local authority was informed about the allegations.

Devon County Council, which has a statutory role in managing allegations against adults working with children, will also be invited by East Devon District Council to discuss questions about how the John Humphreys case was handled.

The report into the council’s handling of the allegations was carried out by management consultancy firm Verita.

The council has asked for government help to mend fractious relationships with its staff following its handling of the case.

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A correspondent is surprised by revelations in the debate on the Verita report

From a correspondent:

An extraordinary meeting  of East Devon District Council was held on July 11th to approve  an independent report by respected investigations company Verita,  into how pedophile John Humphreys was able to continue serving as a Tory councillor for years while under investigation by the police for the sexual abuse of two boys.

Despite the emotive content, the meeting was conducted in a generally dignified manner as requested by the Chair. The report was unanimously approved by councillors and its recommendations welcomed.

The biggest surprise of the evening was the frank admission from David Scott, one of the Verita authors, that “it was a trial for us to get information“ from Mark Williams, the CEO  and four other senior officers.

In reply to questions from a member of the public and councillors, Mr Scott revealed:

  • the CEO objected from the start to the appointment of Verita, questioning their competence to undertake the investigation, and suggesting they would  not be impartial. He told Mr Scott that he did not think proper procurement had been followed and “would intervene” by commissioning a report from external auditors, Grant Thornton.
  • Mark Williams insisted that he and his senior officers should first meet the investigators  not individually but as a group.  This surprised Verita  who considered  it “not appropriate”
  • subsequently the CEO and the other officers  declined to be interviewed face-to-face but would only reply to written questions. Mr Scott thought this “was very unusual for individuals not to accept to be interviewed” and was “frustrating for us as investigators”.

He concluded it was “odd” that it was so difficult to extract information from public bodies such as EDDC. 

Many readers of the Verita report would agree.