Daily Archives: 15 Nov 2023

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Planning applications validated by EDDC for week beginning 30 October

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15 Nov 2023

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Will Simon Jupp now reinvent himself as a “wet”

Under the headline:

Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle gamble has set up a life and death struggle with the Tory right

the political editor of the Express reports:

“There is a belief widely shared that the reshuffle was “about destroying the right of the party.”

In so doing, it was also about “abandoning the new Red Wall seats won in 2019.”

One MP noted: “All the campaign cash is going to wet MPs in the south of England. They are more worried about dealing with the Lib Dem vote.”

This would mean that after an election the party will be “dominated by lefty Lib Dem-ish wets” as one put it.”

Using 1980’s terminology, do we think Simon Jupp is a “wet”, as defined above, or one of the right wing “dries”.

One thing is certain is that Simon Jupp is clearly politically ambitious gaining his experience in “interesting” company.

 He started his political career as a SpAd to Dominic Raab, generally described as a rightwinger, even as being more rightwing on education than Thatcher.

This seemed to give him an entrée into being selected as the Tory candidate to follow Hugo Swire and he was elected an MP in 2019.

Fast forward.

In October 2022 he “united” behind Liz Truss and was rewarded by being newly promoted as a PPS to right-winger Simon Clarke when he became Secretary of State for Levelling-up, Housing and Communities. 

His old boss Simon Clarke used unsubtle sporting metaphors on Monday to make his position clear:

Source

Owl’s view is that Leopards don’t change their spots: be on the lookout for Simon trying  to “reinvent” himself as a lefty LibDemish wet.

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“Care in the community” – Does the Minister know much of it is unsustainable?

In answer to Richard Foord’s debate on the closure of the Seaton Hospital wing,  the Minister for Social Care, Helen Whately, extolled the virtue of virtual care and care in the community in place of hospital beds, saying:

“Across the country, we have achieved a lot as part of our commitment to move more care out into the community.”

However, as described in the article below, much Social Care is contracted out to public charities on an unsustainable basis, for example:

The Stroke Association, which is contracted by the NHS and local authorities to deliver stroke recovery services for tens of thousands of patients once they have been discharged from hospital, said last year it was paid just under £11m for services costing nearly £17m, with the £6m gap met through public fundraising.

What happens when this “outsourcing” dries up? – Owl

English charities ‘near insolvency’ after subsidising public sector contracts

Patrick Butler www.theguardian.com 

Charities in England are on the brink of insolvency after subsidising heavily underfunded local authority and NHS contracts to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds donated to them by the public, voluntary sector leaders have warned.

Donations, will legacies and charity shop profits are being used to prop up thousands of state-funded services in danger of closure, including care homes, homeless shelters, addiction projects and physical rehabilitation support schemes.

One charity told the Guardian it used £6m a year raised from the public and other donors to subsidise clinical and care services it provided under contract to the NHS and local authorities, a sum it described as “unsustainable”.

The refusal of local authorities, the NHS and government departments to fund the real cost of local service contracts – and the built-in assumption that voluntary sector will deliver “on the cheap” – was threatening the existence of vital local services, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) said.

“It’s potentially catastrophic for communities if these services stop,” said Sarah Vibert, the chief executive of NCVO. “Many services, like homelessness interventions and support for victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse, wouldn’t currently exist without charities.”

She added: “For too long, the goodwill of charities has been taken for granted. [Public sector contract managers] know charities will do everything possible, including subsidising public services with charitable funds, to prevent closing their door to someone. But this can’t continue.”

Although charities have been embedded in delivery of public services for years, the scale of the funding gap has pushed many charities to the edge as inflation and demand has soared, and councils and NHS bodies, many in financial crisis themselves, slash grants and refuse to uplift the value of contracts.

The Stroke Association, which is contracted by the NHS and local authorities to deliver stroke recovery services for tens of thousands of patients once they have been discharged from hospital, said last year it was paid just under £11m for services costing nearly £17m, with the £6m gap met through public fundraising.

It said the funding gap was unsustainable, meaning it would have to cut the volume and quality of services or walk away from contracts. “This will have an impact on people’s recovery from their stroke, emotionally and physically,” said Jen Garner, the Stroke Associations’s associate director in north-west England.

Charities fear more will follow in the footsteps of Leonard Cheshire, the social care charity that has been forced to shut care homes and evict vulnerable residents as a result of a financial crisis caused when its multimillion pound subsidy of hundreds of underfunded council contracts became unsustainable.

A detailed NCVO survey of its members reveals bitterness and frustration among charities who feel their focus on the needs of vulnerable beneficiaries is exploited by public bodies which routinely expect charities not to charge for the full cost of the service or to deliver it for “next to nothing”.

One respondent said: “[The local authority] see contract payments as ‘handouts to do-gooders’ instead of recognising that they are paying us to work for them because we able to do it better, cheaper, faster and with a more human and empathic approach.”

The survey of more than 330 charities found:

  • The vast majority were subsidising the cost of providing public services. Nearly half had not received an uplift in the value of the contract in the past two years, despite increasing demand and rising wage and energy costs.
  • Contracts were often only viable by freezing or cutting staff pay and conditions. One charity made a senior member of staff redundant, then took them back on as a volunteer to do their old job to keep vital services afloat.
  • A social care charity started a public fundraising campaign, and sold a building it owned, to raise the cash to maintain a service the council would only part fund. “[We are] not sure we can carry on unless something changes,” it said.

Although there is sympathy for councils and NHS bodies which are themselves in dire financial straits there is anger at public sector “double standards” that accept private contractors must make a profit while routinely expecting charities to run services at a loss, with donors picking up the tab.

A government spokesperson said: “We are backing the NHS with record funding. The NHS resource budget in England will be £165.9bn in 2024-25 – and that doesn’t include the additional £8.1bn for adult social care and discharge over two years.

“Local authorities have seen an increase in core spending power of up to £5.1bn or 9.4% in cash terms on 2022-23, with almost £60bn available for local government in England.”

“Local people helping local people” is how Nick Ralph describes the Good Neighbours network, a loose federation of 123 neighbourhood groups providing low-level informal care to vulnerable people across Hampshire in south-east England.

Its 4,000 volunteers drive isolated older citizens to hospital appointments, help them with shopping, dog walking or DIY tasks, and organise lunch clubs and other social events. It is classic preventive charity work, knitting communities together and reducing pressure on overstretched hospital and care services.

“It keeps vulnerable people independent and in their homes for longer, and out of expensive hospital beds. It’s the oil that keeps community wheels turning,” says Ralph, the executive director of the Council for Social Responsibility, a charity that supports the scheme on behalf of the Church of England diocese of Portsmouth.

The scheme costs £150,000 a year to run, but is under threat. Hampshire county council – itself facing financial “meltdown” – scrapped its grant in March and local NHS commissioners say their own £50,000 a year grant is at risk.

The charity, whose four staff ensure the countywide army of volunteers are trained, insured and security checked, will use its own funds to keep the service running until April. After that, it is unclear how many local groups will be able to continue.

Ralph understands the council’s predicament – its budget has been squeezed by government cuts – but believes the savings are shortsighted. “There will a loss of community support and as a result much more cost will be thrown on to the state,” he said.

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Alarm raised over water firm job of new environment secretary’s wife

The new State for the Environment is surely going to have to “recuse” himself from any decision regarding pollution our rivers and seas or have we not moved on one iota from recent Tory sleaze? – Owl 

Sandra Laville www.theguardian.com 

Campaigners have raised concerns over a potential conflict of interest for the new UK environment secretary, Steve Barclay, whose wife is a senior executive at Anglian Water.

Barclay took on the environment role in Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle this week. His wife, Karen Barclay, holds a senior position at the water company, as head of major infrastructure (DCO) planning and stakeholder engagement.

As secretary of state, Barclay is responsible for overseeing the regulation of water companies. He is responsible for ensuring the water firms make improvements regarding sewage pollution via the government’s storm overflow reduction plan.

Anglian Water is one of six companies under investigation by the regulator Ofwat for potential illegal dumping of raw sewage. The Environment Agency is separately in the middle of a huge criminal investigation into illegal sewage dumping by water companies involving more than 2000 water treatment works.

Water companies are pressing government and the regulator Ofwat to approve £96bn investment in infrastructure improvements to fix leaks, stop sewage discharges and build more capacity at treatment plants, which they want customers to pay for via bill rises. Many critics say the public has already paid once for the investment, and should not be made to pay again for fixing problems which put the companies in breach of their legal duties.

Tim Farron, the rural spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, said: “Ministers’ spouses do of course have the right to their own careers, but I do worry about the possible conflict of interest here for the man charged with forcing the water companies to clean up their act.

“We need to make sure the secretary of state is fully committed to doing everything in his power to stop the sewage scandal.”

This summer, Anglian Water pleaded guilty to allowing millions of litres of untreated sewage to overflow from a water recycling centre in Essex. It was fined £2.65m, the largest penalty imposed for environmental offences in the east of England region.

Ashley Smith, of Windrush Against Sewage Pollution, said there was a possible conflict of interest for the new secretary of state.

“It’s not just that the new environment secretary’s wife holds a senior post at Anglian Water, it is the fact that the water industry routinely operates outside the law, has misappropriated billions of bill payers’ money and now holds the country to ransom to hike bills to fix the mess it made and cannot be trusted to not make off with another windfall gifted by government,” said Smith.

A government spokesperson said: “All Defra ministers declare their interests in line with the ministerial code.

“There is an established regime in place for the declaration and management of interests held by ministers. This ensures that steps are taken to avoid or mitigate any potential or perceived conflicts of interest.”

Craig Bennett, the chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, who chairs Anglian Water’s independent challenge board, said: “It would prudent for him to make sure this has been declared publicly and that it is all out in the open. Then it is something that can be managed.”

Karen Barclay has been approached for a comment. Anglian Water did not comment.

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Concerns over new Health Secretary Victoria Atkins’ ‘conflict of interest’ in war on obesity as it’s revealed 47-year-old’s husband is sugar tycoon 

Conflict of interest concerns were today raised over the appointment of Victoria Atkins as Health Secretary.

This government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level. – Owl

www.dailymail.co.uk  (Extract)

Just hours after being handed a prominent role in Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle, details of Ms Atkins’ husband role as chief executive of a world-leading sugar firm circled online.

Department of Health chiefs said Ms Atkins ‘will recuse herself’ from decisions that may be impacted by ‘outside interests’ because of Paul Kenward’s role at ABF Sugar, which supplies supermarkets and food manufacturers……..

7 hidden side effects of sugar | HCF

7 hidden side effects of sugar

  • Sugar makes your organs fat. …
  • It can lead to heart disease. …
  • It plays havoc with cholesterol levels. …
  • It’s linked with Alzheimer’s disease. …
  • It turns you into an addict. …
  • It disables your appetite control. …
  • It can make you depressed.
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“Carry On with Traditional Values”

What a crowd. The new health secretary’s husband runs British Sugar, the new environment minister’s wife is an executive at water polluting Anglian Water, the PM’s wife was a non dom when he was Chancellor, and that is all we know so far ……