In 2024, South West Water discharged untreated sewage off Otter Head over 10,000 times. That’s an average of 30 times every day.

The average discharge is over 18,000 litres per event and the discharge point is just 400m from the Lime Kiln tourist beach.

And it’s not over: 1,226 Lime Kiln discharges were registered by SWW in January 2025.

Lime Kiln sewage discharges: time to see South West Water in court!

Petercrwilliams fightingpoolution.com

In 2024, SWW pumped a mix of untreated sewage and brook water off Otter head, around 10,000 times. Each time, an average of up to 18,000 litres was dumped. This is NOT normal!

As a quick glance through the posts on this web site make clear, over the last 14 months, we have been pushing for this to be resolved. These actions have included many meetings and email exchanges with local councillors, our MPs, and with SWW themselves.

Since July 2024, SWW have known exactly what the problem is, and what sewer-pipe lining is required. All we want now is a full, published plan to fix Budleigh’s broken sewage system.

The last straw was the data for January 2025: 1,226 pumped discharges last month alone – and no sign of a full plan. You can see all of the discharge data – as published by South West Water themselves, here.

Daily sewage warnings and the associated email notifications cannot continue through Summer 2025.

We’ve resisted promoting the legal action up until now. We preferred to work with the stakeholders to resolve the situation.

But now it seems the only way to force SWW to fix this issue is by Budleigh folk joining the Leigh Day class action against SWW. We urge you to check the details, and sign up today.

Read all about the legal action, and add your name here.

For those in any doubt if this is the correct plan, here’s a recap of three critical issues which South West Water continue to inflict on Budleigh.

One regular question is whether any individual could be hit with any costs. See the attached response to this question, which should help with this concern.

It’s time we got our safe beach back!

Previous ChapterNext Chapter

The EFRA Committee continued its ‘reforming the water sector’ inquiry this week, with two evidence sessions on the mornings of 25 and 26 February. 

At 10am on Tuesday 25 February, MPs questioned the leadership of South West Water. A link to the video recording can be found here. 

MP criticises water boss for ‘not facing’ media 

Bradley Gerrard, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

South West Water’s boss didn’t do interviews during parasite outbreak

Exmouth MP David Reed has criticised South West Water’s boss Susan Davy for failing to talk to the media during incidents such as Brixham’s cryptosporidium outbreak.

Mr Reed, who has focused heavily on the company’s performance since taking office in July, said it is “unacceptable” that Ms Davy didn’t address the media during incidents and that this responsibility was given to other staff.

“For me, I find it outrageous that Susan Davy doesn’t face the media and take accountability for her company’s mistakes,” Mr Reed wrote on Facebook.

“Instead, Susan lets politicians, community leader and other people do it for her.

“I have said repeatedly that this is unacceptable and Susan must be the accountable face of her company; if she can’t do this basic task then she must let someone more responsible take over.”

This week Ms Davy was asked about her engagement with the media  by Labour MP Helena Dollimore (Hastings & Rye) at the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee.

Ms Dollimore said she had heard that Ms Davy had refused to be interviewed by local media about the cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham and Kingswear last year.

“Is it correct you have turned down media interviews at times of extreme panic among your customers,” Ms Dollimore asked.

Ms Davy said she wanted to support her colleagues and communities and ensure they were getting all the information they needed.

“I wanted to speak to my customers who were on the ground,” Ms Davy said.

“What I wanted to make sure that we did was get all our information out to our customers and make sure they were very clear what was happening.

“In that instance, I had my incident director and my customer services director, who was doing that twice a day to make sure that the information was [available].”

“So your team spoke to the media, but you as chief executive would not front that media in a time of severe crisis for your customers,” Ms Dollimore added.

Ms Davy said she spent her time “on the ground” in Brixham and Kingswear, and with the control room “making sure our teams were supported in doing what they were doing every day”.

Hundreds of people fell ill and several were hospitalised after a parasite called cryptosporidium got into water supplies at Kingswear. Thousands of homes across the village and nearby Brixham were told for months to boil their water before drinking it.

Tourism businesses were badly hit as reports of the outbreak spread.

Asked if she would pledge to speak to the media in future incidents, Ms Davy said: “The best reassurances I thought I could give customers at that point was to make sure they were getting all the information they needed from our incident director and the customer service team.”

Pushed for an answer, she added: “There are things that I regret around the Brixham incident and I should have, in retrospect, perhaps it would have helped if I had spoken to the media, but at the time I thought the right thing to do was to make sure everybody had the information that they needed.”

Mr Reed has previously met Ms Davy to discuss works in Exmouth following sewage spills that closed its beaches during the height of the summer season.

In October, Mr Reed said Ms Davy and Richard Price, the company’s managing director for waste water services, understood the “magnitude of anger felt by the local community” and were “willing to bring money forward” for repairs if they could get regulatory sign-off.

In December, the firm said it had completed a scheme to replace a section of sewer in Exmouth which would “protect customers and the environment from potential pollutions.

“The team have worked hard over the last eight weeks to replace over 300 metres of sewer entering Maer Lane Wastewater Treatment works to improve services for customers, businesses and visitors to the area following issues with the network over the last 12 months,” the statement said.

An update on Monday 24 February said that following completion of the first phase on the Maer Road rising main replacement “the system has been performing as expected”.

“We are currently carrying out enabling works as we plan to start construction of Phase 2 in the spring,” it added.

Is there any evidence?

There are widespread reports that Angela Rayner’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government [MHCLG] conducted no analysis of the proposal; nor any assessment of how Somerset, Cumbria and North Yorkshire are faring in their 2023 merger. 

The only evidence available comes from a report commissioned by the County Councils Network [CCN] in the second half of 2020, at the height of the pandemic [which is probably why it escaped Owl’s notice at the time].

The County Councils commissioned this report from Price, Waterhouse, Coopers [PWC] in the expectation that the then government was preparing a White Paper on English Devolution and Local Recovery. This White Paper was delayed at least four times and finally ground to a halt. [Too politically contentious? – Owl]

PWC  2020 conclusions with caveats 

This report concluded that single unitary councils could deliver £3bn saving over five years, a saving of £126m for a mid-sized county area. And ‘maximise’ the benefits of economic growth and housing policy. [The analysis, in the report, on benefits to economic growth and housing are pretty thin. – Owl]

“Now you see it: now you don’t”

However, creating two unitary authorities in each of the 25 shire counties would reduce the potential savings by two-thirds. Any further division would result in net costs. Remember: Devon has already been divided into three with the creation of Plymouth and Torbay unitaries. So are we already on the downhill side? 

Creating multiple unitaries for each area would mean splitting up children’s social services and adult social care departments, creating a risk at a time of a funding crisis. Similarly, disaggregating care services could result in different councils competing over scarce care providers, potentially destabilising local adult social care markets. 

Creating two or more unitaries in each county could potentially create and concentrate economic disparities, with one council benefiting from higher economic activity and local tax income.

Note, the report also argued that the creation of a combined authority alongside multiple unitaries to oversee growth and transport functions would be unprecedented and has no guarantee they will perform better in this new arrangement, nor that economic growth for the county is maximised.

2025 District criticism of 2020 County report

Before a more comprehensive summary, including links, of the County Councils Network 2020 report, here is a summary of criticisms from the District Councils Network published on the Local Government Lawyer website in January.

“According to the network, the Ministry for Housing Local Government and Communities (MHCLG) relied on just one report, which the DCN described as being “out of date”, to base its policy on.

The DCN said it asked MHCLG several questions about the evidence it holds to support the 500,000 figure.

In response, the ministry cited a PWC report from 2020, commissioned by the County Councils Network, as its only source of evidence.

However, in a statement on its correspondence with MHCLG, the DCN claimed that the PWC report is “out of date”, adding: “Many councils in two-tier areas have already delivered significant efficiency savings since 2020, for example by creating shared services or shared management teams.

“The report does not reflect the potential for councils to deliver further efficiency savings within existing structures.

“And it predates much of the surge in demand for adult social care, children’s services, SEND and temporary accommodation, which is expensive for councils to meet and reduces the scope for efficiency savings overall.”

The DCN went on to claim that the Government has not commissioned independent research to support its preference for large unitary councils and has done no analysis of its own.

It also claimed that MHCLG had undertaken no post-implementation assessment of the actual upfront costs to central and local government from creating new unitary councils in Somerset, Cumbria and North Yorkshire in 2023.”

County Council summary of 2020 County commissioned report from PWC

Introduction

Today [28 August 2020] the County Councils Network (CCN) publishes new independent evidence on the implications of local government reorganisation in two-tier shire counties ahead of the publication of the government’s ‘devolution and local recovery’ white paper.

With councils in shire counties facing billions in rising costs for care services, alongside financial deficits caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, the study from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) shows merging district and county councils in each area into a single unitary council could save £2.94bn over five years nationally.

Download the report “Evaluating the importance of scale in proposals for local government reorganisation” here. 

The report concludes a single unitary in each area would reduce complexity and give communities a single unified voice to government. It would provide a clear point of contact for residents, businesses and a platform to ‘maximise’ the benefits of strategic economic growth and housing policy; integral to the ‘levelling-up’ agenda and securing devolution.

However, the report shows replacing county and districts with two unitary authorities in each area would reduce the financial benefit by two-thirds to £1bn over five years, with three unitary authorities delivering a net loss of £340m over the same period. A fourth scenario of a two-unitary and children’s trust model in each county would deliver a net five year saving of £269m.

Alongside a minimum £1.9bn in additional costs from splitting county council services, the report outlines the establishment of multiple unitary authorities in each area creates the risk of disruption to the safeguarding of vulnerable children, while ‘instability’ in care markets could impact on the quality and availability of support packages and care home placements.

The report has been covered across BBC News today. Read an online write-up here. 

On the implications of a two-unitary and trust model, PwC conclude this would lead to additional cost, complexity and potential instability in how commissioning arrangements were managed. It also suggests there is limited evidence the implementation of these types of models can lead to immediate improvements.

CCN says that the report outlines a ‘compelling’ financial case for the creation of more  single county unitaries in areas where councils seek reorganisation. This will  help ‘safeguard’ council services in the wake of the pandemic, while ensuring councils are of the necessary size to drive forward the economic recovery and devolution agendas.

But the network warned that an arbitrary population limit in the White Paper would lead to a ‘missed opportunity’ and ‘worse deal for local taxpayers’, creating ‘significant risks’ and instability in vital care services, and holding back the levelling up agenda.

The report, ‘Evaluating the importance of scale in proposals for local government reorganisation’, reveals:

• A single county unitary in each of the 25 remaining two-tier areas could generate savings of £2.94bn over the next five years, a saving of £126m for a mid-sized county area. Creating two unitary authorities in each shire county would reduce the potential savings by two-thirds to £1bn over five years; £51m for a mid-sized county area. Three unitary councils for each area would cost £340m across all 25 areas over five years, a cost of £1.6m for the mid-sized county area.
• Creating multiple unitaries for each area would mean splitting up children’s social services and adult social care departments which are currently overseen by county councils. PwC concludes this creates risks at a time when demand for both types of care will rise post-Coronavirus, and that ‘the likelihood of performance dropping is high.’
• The report finds that disaggregating care services could result in different councils competing over scarce care providers, potentially destabilising local adult social care markets already under additional strain due to Covid-19. It would also make children’s social services costlier and undermine efforts to attract and retain high calibre directors with sufficient experience.
• PwC suggests that, for the scenarios explored in the report, creating two or more unitaries in each county could potentially create and concentrate economic disparities, with one council benefiting from higher economic activity and local tax income. PwC argues that the creation of a combined authority alongside multiple unitaries to oversee growth and transport functions would be unprecedented and has no guarantee they will perform better in this new arrangement, nor that economic growth for the county is maximised.
• In conclusion, PwC summarise that the “implementation of single unitaries in each of England’s two-tier areas would deliver significantly greater benefit” and if “an alternative approach be pursued the process of disaggregating current county services does present a number of material costs, but also non-financial risks and complexities”.

Cllr David Williams, chairman of the County Councils Network, said:

“The consequences of Coronavirus for local government finances, and the need to work quickly to support the economic recovery, means more councils want to look again at how local government is structured in their area.

“This government has already signalled that it wants to see many more unitary councils created and it is important we get it right for our residents – we do not want to look back on this period as a missed opportunity.

“The findings from PwC show there is a compelling financial case for the creation of more unitary counties where councils seek reorganisation. They will provide significant savings to support frontline services and the stability needed to safeguard care services as we continue to mitigate the impact of Coronavirus. Crucially, it will create councils of the necessary size to support local economies to recover from the pandemic and drive forward the devolution and levelling up agendas.

 “In contrast, an arbitrary population threshold that limits the size of any new council will cap our areas’ ambitions and create significant risks in delivering care services. This evidence shows it would mean a worse deal for local taxpayers, create confusion, costs, and complexity, and potentially deliver a postcode lottery for local services and the economic recovery.

 “Unitary counties won’t lead to a democratic deficit. Rather, as evidenced by authorities that have already made this journey, they have the potential to bring services closer to residents, developing new ways for residents to engage and shape service provision more effectively and enhance local democratic participation with empowered town and parish councils”.

Notes to editor

• An executive summary of the report can be downloaded here. 
• 25 county councils in England are responsible for between 80-90% of local expenditure on services, including social care, highways, transport and public health. 188 District councils across these areas provide services such as planning, waste and street cleaning. The report by PwC modelled the financial implications of merging county and districts across four unitary scenarios and explored in detail the policy implications of reform across 20 lines of enquiry.
• PwC’s analysis models four different scenarios for reform in two-tier council areas. All of these options include the abolition of all district councils and the county council in each of the 25 remaining areas. The four scenarios are: one unitary per county; 2 unitary councils per county; three unitary councils per county; two unitary councils plus outsourcing children’s services to be run by a children’s trust. For a detailed financial analysis of each scenario, see page 24 of the report.

• The figures cited in this report draw on input data from all 25 two-tier county areas. Each area has been modelled, differentiating this analysis from previous studies where averages have been used. In addition, calculations have been made for an example mid-sized authority. These calculations should not be misinterpreted as being based on the average. The mid-sized authority calculations take current variations in scale across all 25 two-tier areas in England into account (there are a large number of two-tier areas which serve relatively small populations).
• The financial assumptions used to calculate benefits and costs are based on data from a representative sample of county councils, supplemented by other sources of publicly available information, alongside PwC’s own work with individual councils on reorganisation projects.
• The payback period referenced in the report is the period whereby there is a net financial saving resulting from the reorganisation. For scenario one, it is less than a year for both the total figure and for a mid-sized county; for scenario two it will be two years for the total figure and 1.8 years for a mid-sized county; for scenario three it could be eight years for the total figure and 5 years for a mid-sized county; for scenario four it would be 3.7 years for the total figure and 3 years for a mid-sized county.

Salary UP, dividends UP, water quality DOWN – Owl

Water chief quizzed by MPs about crypto outbreak

Georgina Barnes, Lisa Young www.bbc.co.uk

A parasite contamination of water in Brixham, Devon, last year was “devastating” for some households, the chief of South West Water’s (SWW) parent company, Pennon, has admitted.

Susan Davy told a committee of MPs: “I absolutely understand how devastating that incident was for that community and for the customers who were poorly… it was a really horrible time for them.”

Ms Davy said her annual salary had been increased by about £300,000, leading to a £860,000 pay package last year, which included an increase from share awards, but that she did not take her annual bonus.

The outbreak last May left some people in hospital and hundreds of others ill after contamination of the water supply by cryptosporidium, a parasite which causes sickness and diarrhoea.

Dividend payments up 265%

Ms Davy said: “I am always sorry when something happens either to our customers or to the environment.”

When asked why she did not speak publicly at the time of the outbreak, Ms Davy said she “was wanting to speak to my customers”.

“I should have, in retrospect – perhaps it would have helped if I spoke to the media,” she added.

MPs asked the chief executive whether it was appropriate in January to have announced £45m in dividend payments for 2024-5, a 265% increase from the £12m in 2022-3.

Ms Davy replied by saying that, although the dividend had been announced, it had not been paid as the company “faced significant energy costs and pressures”.

‘Going to take time’

Cornwall MP Jayne Kirkham, who represents Truro and Falmouth, told Ms Davy bathing water quality was “getting worse”.

Ms Davy replied, saying “we have got to do better to eliminate pollution” but that “it is going to take time”.

She said there were 194 individual pollution incidents across the group between 2023 and 2024.

She told the committee: “I absolutely regret and do not condone those incidents and pollutions that we had.

“We have hundreds of treatment works and thousands of pumping stations and, from time to time, things do go wrong.”

Pennon was fined £2.2m in 2023 for illegal sewage spills spanning four years across Devon and Cornwall.

South West Water provides water and sewerage services to Devon and Cornwall, plus small parts of Dorset and Somerset.

Residents in the north look to Exeter; and to Plymouth in the south

A call has been made for West Devon to be sliced in half and aligned with separate cities in the forthcoming local government reorganisation.

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

Cllr Patrick Kimber (Con, Hatherleigh) told West Devon Borough Council that Okehampton and the north of the borough looked to Exeter for health services, employment, education and shopping, while Tavistock looked to Plymouth.

The government wants to abolish county and district councils in favour of larger unitary authorities.

Plymouth wants to retain its current unitary status but needs to expand to have the number of residents the government suggests future unitaries will need.

Exeter, which is currently a district council, also wants to be a unitary body.

The government expects future unitary councils to cover around half a million residents. Both Exeter and Plymouth will need to bring in other areas to reach that size, unless the government offers them wriggle room.

It has already suggested some exceptions, such as Exeter, may be allowed.

Plymouth’s natural partners are South Hams and West Devon, with which it shares a local plan, and Tavistock is a 30-minute drive away.

District and borough councils in the county together with the unitary council of Torbay are currently in talks about how Devon could be carved up. They have to present initial plans to the government by Friday 21 March.

West Devon is the smallest of the councils with just 58,000 residents.

The government says unitary structures must prioritise high quality and sustainable public services, including health.

Cllr Kimber said it was a three-hour round trip to Plymouth from Hatherleigh in the north and residents there are referred to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, and North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple and had no connection to Plymouth.

Equally residents of West Devon’s second largest town of Okehampton look to Exeter which is just over half an hour’s drive or 40 minutes by train.

Passenger services from Okehampton to Exeter were reinstated three years ago but there is no train line to Plymouth.

Mr Kimber said if Exeter becomes a unitary council, the north of West Devon should be included or be aligned with councils in the North like Torridge to “get the best for residents.

Cllr Tony Leech (Ind, Okehampton North) said putting the Okehampton area in with Exeter did make sense, but he suspected that this would not meet the government’s criteria about taking account of existing council footprints.

He said it would also mean getting the Boundary Commission involved, which would  “complicate things”.
 

A real effect or a statistical blip? – Owl

House prices in a county where the council has introduced measures to crack down on second homes have fallen by more than 12% year-on-year, according to new figures.

Felicity Evans www.bbc.co.uk

The local authority in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, recently introduced a requirement to obtain planning permission to turn residential properties into second homes or holiday lets.

It is also one of a number of Welsh councils which charges a 150% council tax premium on such properties, having upped this from 100% in 2023.

The council, Cyngor Gwynedd, said its aim was to “increase the availability of high-quality, affordable homes for local people”.

The fall in value represents the biggest annual drop of any region in the Principality Building Society’s Wales House Price Index, external, covering residential property sales in the final three months of 2024.

The average house price in Wales has remained broadly flat year-on-year and is now £233,194, according to the building society.

Tom Williams and his family, who live in Lancashire, are struggling to sell the second home they own in Morfa Nefyn, Gwynedd.

“I have four grandchildren who had a wonderful time there every summer and it’s been great, we’ve loved it,” said Mr Williams, who has owned the house for 20 years.

Mr Williams and his wife put the house on the market in April 2024 but said they had had little interest from potential buyers, despite dropping the price by £40,000.

“I put it down to all the other properties in the village that are up for sale at the moment,” he said.

Mr Williams believes some of the interventions by the council have prompted a lot of people to sell, while also putting off potential buyers.

Cyngor Gwynedd has been trying to address the shortage of housing for local people in tourist areas and has more than doubled the council tax charge on second and holiday homes.

The council also recently introduced Article 4, which requires property owners to obtain planning permission to turn residential homes into second or holiday homes.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of families who have had homes there for generations and they’re saying the same thing – how can we carry on with this?” said Mr Williams.

North Wales estate agent Dafydd Hardy described the housing market in Gwynedd as “mixed”, with local interventions on second homes leading to “more properties coming on to the market”.

But he said the price of a second home was often “outside the affordability of the local purchaser”.

“What we need to see is balance in the market,” he said, including “more house building as far as first-time buyers are concerned”.

What’s caused the price drop?

The new figures are based on seasonally-adjusted data from the Land Registry, but a lot of different factors can affect the picture that data ends up painting.

Factors such as interest rates, regional job opportunities, interventions in the local housing market by a council and even the number of transactions can all have an impact on house prices.

It means there is some uncertainty about what caused the drop in prices in Gwynedd in the year to December.

How have house prices changed in the rest of Wales?

Pembrokeshire saw the second biggest annual fall in prices at 8.9%.

The council there recently voted to reduce the council tax premium on second homes from 200% to 150%.

By comparison, Carmarthenshire saw the biggest year-on-year increase in house prices at 9.2%.

The council there is introducing a council tax premium of 100% on second homes from April.

Iain Mansfield of the Principality Building Society said the housing market across Wales had shown “resilience” over the past 12 months.

Sales were up by 28% year-on-year, which Mr Mansfield said demonstrated “greater consumer confidence” with lower interest rates making mortgages more affordable.

“I think we’re seeing a more positive outlook for those people who want to buy a house in 2025,” said Mr Mansfield.

Locals ‘priced out’

Mr Mansfield said the “sizeable” drop in prices in Gwynedd over the past year was reflected in “some of the other coastal areas in Wales”.

He said the drop could “potentially” be explained by “some of the interventions that have been made in the area around second home ownership”.

Cyngor Gwynedd said “over 65% of Gwynedd’s population was priced out of the housing market” and tackling the housing shortage was a “key priority”.

It said it introduced Article 4 to “gain better control over the existing housing stock” and they were “continuously monitoring its effects”.

It added some of the money raised by the council tax premium was used to enable “the development of new homes, the creation of supported accommodation for those facing homelessness and grants and loans to help local people secure housing, amongst many other projects”.

His dedicated contribution to the local community has been wide ranging and this award is well deserved. – Owl

Axminster councillor awarded recognition for community work

Molly Kirk www.midweekherald.co.uk 

AN Axminster Councillor has been recognised nationally for his “exceptional contributions to the local community” through the LGA Independent Group’s, “prestigious” Clarence Barrett Award.

Paul Hayward’s service to the community spans more than a decade. He was elected to the Town Council in 2011, becoming the Town Mayor between 2016 and 2017.

He also qualified as a parish clerk, previously working for the parishes of All Saints, Chardstock, and Newton Poppleford, before finally returning to Axminster Town Council, this time as the serving Town Clerk.

In 2019, he was elected to East Devon District Council (EDDC), a separate organisation, for the neighbouring Yarty Ward.

In 2023, he was re-elected to EDDC, but this time, to represent Axminster alongside Independent Councillors Sarah Jackson and Simon Smith.

At East Devon District Council, Cllr Hayward holds the position of Deputy Leader and Cabinet member responsible for the Economy and Assets Portfolio.

A spokesperson said: “His ongoing work with East Devon’s business sector has been instrumental in helping local enterprises access vital support, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, where he chaired the funding panel at EDDC to distribute more than £13m in government support grants to help businesses recover.”

Beyond his formal duties, Paul has been involved in and supported numerous local community-led initiatives and charities.

Most notably, Paul is a founding member of Axminster Christmas Together (ACT), an initiative that has been running since 2016. ACT seeks to combat loneliness and social isolation by offering a free Christmas meal and entertainment for those who would otherwise spend the day alone.

Previously, he was also a founding member of the Axminster Christmas Lights Association (ACLA) in 2015. ACLA later became Light Up Axminster, which has given the town centre a much-needed lift through the dark winter months ever since. He is also a member of the Axminster Chamber of Commerce.

Paul has also championed the installation of Automated Emergency Defibrillators (AEDs) across Axminster and the surrounding parishes. He regularly conducts free defibrillator awareness and training sessions across the East Devon area to give as many people as possible the confidence they need to use this lifesaving equipment.

There are now 21 publicly accessible defibrillators across Axminster — potentially the highest provision per capita in the UK.

Paul was unaware he had been nominated for the award, which came as a surprise. He said: “Since 2011, I have tried my very best to improve services and amenities in the town, and across East Devon, for the collective benefit of everyone who lives in this wonderful part of the UK. I am honoured that my small contribution has been acknowledged but I know that there are a great many other unsung community heroes in Axminster who strive daily to do their bit in making the town fabulous.”

See “Devolution for dummies & shotgun weddings” for how this proposal fits within the government guidelines – Owl

A proposal about how Devon could be reshaped in the biggest overhaul of local government in 50 years looks set to suggest the county should have just three councils.

At present, the county has 11 separate councils.

Bradley Gerrard www.midweekherald.co.uk 

A so-called ‘1-5-4’ proposal is understood to have been agreed upon by several Devon councils, with details set to be announced in the coming days.

The model suggests that the ‘1’ is Plymouth, which will remain as a unitary authority but may expand its borders slightly east into the South Hams.

The ‘5’ in the proposal would be a combination of East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, Exeter and Torridge into one large council, while the ‘4’ would be South Hams, Teignbridge, West Devon and Torbay merging into another.

The proposal comes as the government looks to sweep away the two-tier model of local government where two councils have responsibility for different services within the same area; for example Devon County Council being responsible for roads, but district councils collecting household waste within the same boundary.

Instead, the government wants areas to have fewer but larger unitary councils responsible for all the services in their area. It would prefer councils to cover areas of 500,000 people, but may allow so-called ‘growth areas’ to have smaller numbers.

Councils have been given until Thursday 21 March to submit initial proposals to the government about how their areas could be reorganised to create a smaller number of bigger councils.

A source with knowledge of the talks, who did not want to be named, said seven of Devon’s district councils are collaborating on the proposal, but that Exeter – the county’s eighth district council – still had ambitions of going it alone and becoming a unitary council.

However, leaders and chief executives of the seven districts in favour of it appear to agree that the 1-5-4 model could be viable.

One of the main aspects of friction, though, appears to be how Plymouth would expand its administrative boundaries, the source said.

Some believe it would make sense for Plymouth Council to assume responsibility for Saltash, but that notion is deemed controversial because it is in Cornwall.

The more likely expansion is into the South Hams, but exactly how far is likely to be a key part of any future debate.

It is also unclear whether Devon County Council would throw its weight behind the 1-5-4 proposal, or whether it will suggest an alternative.

In this week’s article for the local press, Paul Arnott discloses that he will be standing in the County elections for Seaton & Colyton.

Worth pointing out that the Tory incumbent for Seaton & Colyton, Marcus Hartnell, was one of those who voted to postpone the May elections. The main arguments put forward were  that it would be a distraction from the County’s preparation for fast track devolution and the cost would be wasteful. Neither withstand scrutiny.

The bid to postpone May’s elections was rejected by the government. Devon County Council’s devolution bid did not meet the guidelines and we now know is not on the fast track. There are other bids in preparation including Exeter’s attempt to fly solo. So it may be some time before we know how the districts will be merged into unitary authorities.

As for the cost of maintaining the electoral role and running elections, they mostly fall on districts not county. – Owl

East Devon Council leader Paul Arnott on the Reform party

Paul Arnott 

This week’s column is a tricky one because it will inevitably be taken as baiting Reform candidates in the lead-up to the County Elections on May 1.

A cynical friend said to me, “Don’t write about Reform until after May 1, because they’re going to take votes from Conservatives and Labour, and that would be ‘good for your lot'”.

My lot being the LibDems.

Full disclosure: I am standing in the County election for Seaton & Colyton.

Maybe I’m a fool, but life seems too short for that kind of self-serving view of the world.

To me, the point of no return was the US Vice President J.D.Vance in Munich (of all places) last week, refusing to meet the German Chancellor but finding time to meet and endorse the leader of the far-right party Alice Weidel and her AfD, close pals of Nigel Farage.

With the German election looming on February 23, and AfD pressing all the usual buttons about migration, it’s as if Franklin D Roosevelt had sent one of his Vice Presidents to meet a National Socialist party functionary in the 1930s to wish them well at the ballot box.

It is that serious, especially with the historically unique phenomenon of Elon Musk getting behind the AfD too.

So what, you may ask, has this got to do with Devon?

I have written before that Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists tried very hard to take off down here, holding meetings in the 1930s across the county, finally to be gloriously rebuffed by anti-BUF marches in Exeter.

But that’s not us, the Reform party members may say.

Sorry, it is, even if you don’t know it.

Nigel Farage has consistently supported the AfD and appeared to bellicose cheers at their conferences.

A few years back he was invited to speak at a Berlin event by Beatrix von Storch, the granddaughter of Hitler’s finance minister.

He has also expressed vocal support for Marine Le Pen in France and Viktor Orban in Hungary.

I can have conversations with lovely people down this way, and suddenly one of them will say “We need Nigel” and go somewhat glassy-eyed.

I’ll be honest, I find this terrifying.

Have we learned nothing?

Boris Johnson was a populist blaggard, Nigel Farage is the same, only unlike Johnson he says the unsayable.

In an interview with London’s Evening Standard last week, he let it all hang out, overtly blaming the lack of GP provision and houses for young people on immigration.

It’s not; it’s caused by the failure of Conservative policy from austerity to almost the present day.

Most thinking politicians won’t stoop to this canard.

Trump and Vance have now opened the door for the likes of Farage to dance merrily through.

Of course, migration policy is a legitimate subject for debate, but not a toxic one.

People are free to vote for Reform if they wish.

But at least I can sleep easy that I’ve warned that parties who lie down with dogs catch fleas.

East Devon Watch has reported the failed bid extensively over the past few weeks.

According to accounts on Social Media Devon only received an increase of 2.1% from the government in its financial settlement, the lowest of any county council .(Plymouth and Torbay got 15%.)

We seem to be stuck with a Tory Council and Labour government both of which are “out of touch”. The first with the new political reality and the second with anything smelling of the countryside.

Roll on the May elections. – Owl

See these two reports:

Second homes cash helping plug gaps left by grant cut

Bradley Gerrard, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

Devon County Council’s County Hall headquarters in Exeter (Image courtesy: LDRS/Will Goddard

Millions of pounds from extra council tax levied on second homes in Devon is set to help fund services.

Councils across the county are expected to earn around £16 million when council tax doubles on second homes in some areas from April, with different amounts going to the various councils.

The county council is likely to get the lion’s share, which could be nearly £15 million if it approves a 4.99 per cent council tax increase in April.

But district councils claim it is unfair that most of the revenue will go to the county, when districts have responsibility for housing.

Councillors including Julian Brazil (Liberal Democrat, Kingsbridge) and Frank Biederman (Fremington Rural), who recently gave up his independent status to join the Lib Dems, believe because the money is levied on properties, it should be spent helping to provide affordable housing.

However Devon’s cabinet said £4 million would go to highways, £5 million to children’s services, and “more money than planned” would go to help tackle homelessness.

At Devon County Council’s cabinet meeting last week Cllr Phil Twiss (Conservative, Feniton and Honiton) noted that income from second homes helped replace more than £10 million previously coming from a rural services delivery grant, which the government cut in December.

Cllr Twiss added that the county had received the worst financial settlement from central government of the 21 county councils.

“It is not a nice statistic, and we are well below the national average,” he said.

“We are an overwhelmingly rural county and so there are additional costs to delivering services, so it is particularly disappointing that the government has removed the rural services grant.”

Devon County Council under ‘stress’ as reserves under fire

Bradley Gerrard www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

Devon County Council is heading for “increased financial stress” with its reserves shrinking.

A budget report for Devon County Council’s cabinet last week stressed that the local authority is “not at immediate risk of financial failure” but that this is a “growing threat for the medium term” if it keeps spending its reserves at the same rate as the past four years.

Councils are required by law to set balanced budgets, and while the Conservative-led administration has adopted a mantra of ‘living within our means’, it has had to lean on its savings in recent years.

It is now in last place out of the 21 county councils in England for the robustness of its reserves.

The report said three measures – reserves sustainability, level of reserves and change in reserves – have been reclassified from ‘increasing risk’ to ‘high risk’.

“In absolute cash terms, Devon now has the second lowest level of usable reserves [of the 21 county councils],” the report said.

The council had £222 million of reserves in March 2021 but this fell to £125 million at March last year.

By the end of the current financial year in April, a further £20 million of reserves is expected to be spent, mostly to support something called the safety valve scheme.

This initiative grants councils government money to help tackle overspends linked to special educational needs and disabilities (Send) budgets.

Devon’s Send deficit is estimated to hit a cumulative £132 million in the next few weeks, potentially rising to nearly £163 million by March next year.

That is in spite of the safety valve scheme awarding Devon £95 million over nine years, as long the council cuts its Send deficit and reducing costs.

The Send deficit is legally separated from its main finances, but the legislation allowing this runs out in March 2026.

Cllr Julian Brazil (Liberal Democrat, Kingsbridge) highlighted the issue of the Send deficit at the cabinet meeting.

He said that the children’s scrutiny committee had been told previously the Send deficit is expected to rise by £14 million, but that the budget papers now concede is likely to increase by £44 million.

“There’s no explanation or anything in the summary about why this has happened, and I appreciate the council thinks scrutiny is a waste of time, but I think it is going too far that the budget presented to children’s scrutiny has changed by tens of millions of pounds, and you haven’t had the courtesy to tell scrutiny what has gone on,” he said.

Angie Sinclair, the council’s finance director, said her department is still undertaking modelling to predict the financial outcome for the year.
 

Note that Jim McMahon, Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution, in his letter of 5 Feb to the Leaders of Devon councils wrote:

“Considering the efficiencies that are possible through reorganisation, we expect that areas will be able to meet transition costs over time from existing budgets, including from the flexible use of capital receipts that can support authorities in taking forward transformation and invest-to-save projects.” – Owl

Bradley Gerrard www.radioexe.co.uk 

A prediction from Mid Devon suggests reshaping Devon’s councils could cost between £30m-£50m, but other estimates believe the process could be twice as much.

A fresh estimate of the cost of reorganising Devon’s councils suggests the process could be £50 million, but some figures predict it could be even higher.

Mid Devon District Council believes the price tag for merging the county’s 11 councils into a smaller number of larger councils could be between £30 million and £50 million.

Other estimates suggest reorganisation could be double that figure. The Local Government Association said areas that have moved to unitary structures have “relied heavily on reserves” and some estimates for one-off costs range from £25 million to £100 million.

Councils are having to submit plans for reorganisation as the government undertakes the biggest overhaul of local authorities in decades.

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner wants to scrap the two-tier system which exists in Devon.

This is where two separate councils perform different services within the same area. For instance, someone living in Barnstaple has roads repaired by Devon County Council but rubbish collected by North Devon Council.

Westminster wants all councils to be unitary, responsible for all the services in their area.

Devon has 11 local councils. Plymouth and Torbay are already unitary, but the rest of Devon is covered by the county council and eight districts.

Ms Rayner wants counties to have fewer, larger councils, ideally with populations of at least 500,000.

In a report, Mid Devon’s leader Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat, Bradninch) said it is “unclear where such funding will come from”.

“Government has indicated that some limited capacity funding may be forthcoming, but there is an expectation that councils will absorb this cost from either existing budgets or from ‘exceptional’ use of capital (i.e. selling off capital assets with approval to utilise the receipts on revenue expenditure),” the report said.

Mid Devon District Council’s scrutiny committee discusses the report today. (Monday 17 February).

The LGA said the government “needs to commit to funding up front to deliver on these reforms”.

“It is imperative that any new unitary councils are financially viable, able to provide sustainable services for communities in the long term, and able to realise the benefits of the reorganisation proposals local areas themselves draw up,” it said.

“The LGA is also working with councils who want to use this opportunity to further understand the potential the [government’s] white paper offers to unpack integrated budgets and additional powers.”

Cllr Julian Brazil (Liberal Democrat, Kingsbridge) has asked Devon County Council whether it has any estimates for how much local government reorganisation would cost in Devon.

The council’s leader, Cllr James McInnes (Conservative, Hatherleigh and Chagford) said he is unable to answer Cllr Brazil’s question, given the early stage of the process.

Cllr McInnes said he is “expecting further clarification” from government soon, and would update councillors when he is able.

Jim McMahon, minister for local government and devolution, has now written to Devon’s council leaders.

He said a “record number” of councils had requested financial help from the government this year to help set their budgets, and that his plans for local government reorganisation would create “empowered, simplified, resilient and sustainable local government”.

“The public will rightly expect us to deliver on our shared responsibility to design and implement the best local government structures for efficient and high-quality public service delivery,” he said.

“We therefore expect local leaders to work collaboratively and proactively, including by sharing information, to develop robust and sustainable unitary proposals that are in the best interests of the whole area to which this invitation is issued, rather than developing competing proposals.

“This will mean making every effort to work together to develop and jointly submit one proposal for unitary local government across the whole of your area. The proposal that is developed for the whole of your area may be for one or more new unitary councils and should be complementary to devolution plans.”

Devolution is the term the government is using for its proposals to have elected mayors covering more than one of the new, larger unitary councils. These would be called mayoral strategic authorities covering around 1.5 million people.

At the EDDC cabinet meeting last week, Paul Arnott explained how all Devon’s Districts were working together to agree collectively on a solution that meets the government’s devolution demands. The press report below reveals that these discussions are making good progress.

(The video recording of the EDDC cabinet meeting of Wednesday 5 February, can be found on the EDDC Youtube channel, the relevant discussion starts 50 mins into full recording.)

As we learn more, the question that needs asking is: why did Devon County Council think that its bid was so close to implementation that it could confidently ask the government to cancel the May elections and fast track the proposals? 

On reflection, it didn’t stand a chance: it didn’t meet the guidelines and clearly didn’t have the support of the districts.

For detailed explanation of the bid and guidelines see “Local devolution for dummies – and shotgun weddings” – Owl

Councils working towards devolution solution

Guy Henderson, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Devon’s district councils are working together to come up with a solution to the county’s devolution riddle.

The government plans to reorganise local government, with district councils being swept aside in favour of creating larger unitary councils covering greater areas.

District councils around Devon came up with differing ideas when the plans were announced, but all were adamant that they don’t want to be swallowed up by a single Devon authority which they claim would simply be a more dominant version of the current county council.

Now Teignbridge Council leader Richard Keeling (Lib Dem, Chudleigh) has revealed that the leaders of the seven councils are making good progress with a combined response to the devolution proposals.

He told a meeting of his council’s executive committee: “We have been asked to come forward with a plan by 21 March, but we are well in advance of that.”

Cllr Keeling did not give any details of the talks that had been spread out over ‘many meetings’.

But, he said: “I can assure you that we will be using what is best for Teignbridge and best for Devon.

“The process is ongoing, and quite in depth.”

The seven district councils involved in the discussions are Teignbridge, South Hams, West Devon, Mid Devon, Torridge, North Devon and East Devon. Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council are already unitaries, while Exeter City Council says it wants to become one.

Owl is struggling to understand what Labour’s devolution policy means. 

In brief, Angela Rayner wants to strip out a tier from our two tier local government system and replace it by…………a two tier system. 

Everything Owl reads seems to lack clarity in a jumble of words and confusing terminology.

This is an extract from the latest instruction to the leaders of all Devon Local Authorities of 5th February. It seems a long winded way of saying pretty much any proposal can be considered as long as it combines at least two districts:

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, in exercise of his powers under Part 1 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (‘the 2007 Act’), hereby invites any principal authority in the area of the county of Devon, to submit a proposal for a single tier of local government.

This may be one of the following types of proposal as set out in the 2007 Act:

•Type A – a single tier of local authority covering the whole of the county concerned

•Type B – a single tier of local authority covering an area that is currently a district, or two or more districts

•Type C – a single tier of local authority covering the whole of the county concerned, or one or more districts in the county; and one or more relevant adjoining areas

•Combined proposal – a proposal that consists of two or more Type B proposals, two or more Type C proposals, or one or more Type B proposals and one or more Type C proposals.

But these instructions are far from conveying the whole story.

Here is Owl’s take on the current situation. Any corrections or further observations are always welcome.

Single tier Principal Authorities

The government wants to eliminate one tier from the current two tier county and district arrangement creating single authorities covering populations of around 500K. These will become “Principal Authorities” and may or may not have mayors. 

Devon, including Plymouth and Torbay, has a population of around 1.2M and is therefore too big to meet the Government guidelines as originally set.

Plymouth, labour controlled, is already a unitary authority and is bidding to be a stand alone principal authority. Though only having a population of 265K, half the guideline, there is a feeling that the government, faced with the reality of population distributions in rural areas being different from the industrial North, might lower the guideline to encompass 300K to 500K. Plymouth can probably increase its population by expanding into its surrounding “free trade zone” territory.

Exeter, population 130K, has also signalled that it wants to follow Plymouth and bid to stand alone. This will test the elasticity of the guidelines even further.

Like Plymouth, Torbay, has been a unitary authority but has now decided to join Devon and become a Devon and Torbay combined authority. With a population of just under a million a combined Devon and Torbay is still too big to meet the guidelines. So will the guidelines be flexed further or will “combined” Devon and Torbay have to be split?

Nothing “on the table” from Devon fits within the White Paper guidelines.

Strategic Authorities (reinventing a second tier) 

To make matters even more complicated and confusing, the government wants to “fill the devolution gap” by creating Strategic Authorities on top of the new “single tier” principal authorities to deal with devolution funding. Strategic authorities should cover populations of at least 1,5M and be run by elected mayors. The significance of these is that strategic authorities will get devolution funding, principal authorities will not. 

Individual local authorities will not be eligible for mayoral devolution so the new unitary authorities will need to join with neighbouring areas to form mayoral strategic authorities across one or several historic county areas.

This needs to be set against a backdrop of insufficient funding to meet the level of local services people expect.

No new money has been announced.

How might a Strategic Mayoral Authority work

The nearest experience of a mayor that most of us have probably come across is the ceremonial Lord Mayor of Exeter sitting in the front row of an event. Elected annually by city councillors, the mayor’s role is to represent, support and promote the businesses and the people of Exeter. 

The mayors of mayoral authorities are a different kettle of fish.

 In existing mayor authorities, mayors are generally elected directly and have different levels of decision making powers. Under most deals, mayors form a cabinet from the leaders of subordinate authorities and their spending decisions can be rejected by cabinet members on a two-thirds majority.

There are indications that this may not be the case in Strategic Authorities because of the breadth of their envisaged responsibilities. The government now intends to enable mayors to appoint and remunerate ‘commissioners’ to lead on key functions. At present, members of existing combined authority boards are typically asked to lead on portfolios for the region, with no remuneration and alongside their day job as council leaders. 

You can see where all this comes from.

John Major, in 1994, set up regional government offices. These were rebranded as regional development agencies by David Cameron in 1999 tasked with leading the development of a sustainable economy in the region and investing to unlock the region’s business potential. They were abolished by the coalition in 2012 and replaced by business (often developer) led Local Enterprise Partnerships. The Strategic Mayoral Authority is an attempt to do this in a way more directly accountable to the electorate.

These previous attempts at developing the regions have not been successful. They lacked ideas, money and any real power.

The Cornish Problem

Cornwall councillors, supported by their MPs have made it clear that they will not join in any deal with Devon and want to go it alone. Devon authorities on their own cannot assemble the population to become a strategic authority. Neither can Cornwall (population 578K).  For geographical Devon or any of its constituent parts to gain access to strategic funds they must become partners in a wider community. If this is not to be the obvious choice, Cornwall, then it will have to be with neighbours Somerset and Dorset. But Somerset and Dorset have already made a formal “Heart of Wessex combined authority” proposal jointly with: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP); and Wiltshire.

Potentially, this leaves Cornwall with no access to strategic funds. So will they be forced into a shotgun marriage?

Demanding Timescales (Old adage – marry in haste, repent at leisure)

The English Devolution White Paper was published just before Christmas on 16 December. The decision that no proposals put forward by councils in the South West would be on the government’s priority programme for devolution was announced on 5 February. On the same day a letter was sent to all council leaders in Devon “to formally invite you to work with other council leaders in your area to develop a proposal for local government reorganisation, and to set out further detail on the criteria, guidance for the development of proposals, and the timeline for this process.”

It also contained this statement:

“Considering the efficiencies that are possible through reorganisation, we expect that areas will be able to meet transition costs over time from existing budgets, including from the flexible use of capital receipts that can support authorities in taking forward transformation and invest-to-save projects.”

[Note Somerset has yet to find these efficiency savings, no fewer bins to empty or children to educate – Owl]

Interim plan to be submitted on or before 21 March 2025.

Full proposal to be submitted by 28 November.

The aim is to move to elections to new ‘shadow’ unitary councils as soon as possible.

Good Luck with that! – Owl

PS For those wanting more, a good place to start is by listening to last week’s EDDC briefing and debate on the subject – EDDC Cabinet, also coincidentally on Wednesday 5 February, (starting 50 mins into full recording). The initial briefing from Andrew Wood, Director of Place, is particularly helpful.

Local councillors and MPs give their views

Local politicians have reacted to Devon’s failed bid to postpone its elections.

Bradley Gerrard, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

Councils with elections planned for this May were given the opportunity to apply to postpone them for a year as part of the government’s wide-ranging plans to overhaul how councils operate.

Devon County Council last month voted to seek to delay the elections until May 2026, and submitted a request to ministers.

The Conservative administration argued that delaying the poll would give the council the time and space needed to create a viable plan for reorganisation.

Opponents claimed that such a move would represent “democracy denied”, adding that a new crop of councillors could bring fresh thinking to the challenge of reorganisation.

But deputy prime minister Angela Rayner on Wednesday turned down Devon’s request to delay the elections, meaning they will go ahead on Thursday 1 May.

Cllr Jess Bailey (Independent, Otter Valley) thinks the government’s decision is right. “It’s important that democracy plays its part as normal and that people can exercise their right to vote and choose their elected member,” she said.

“I don’t think it’s nonsensical to have the elections as I think it will be crucial to have newly elected members fully engaged and who can have a say in the future of Devon and its democracy.

“The role of councillor is probably more important in the coming year or so than it has been in the past given we’re undergoing the biggest shake-up in local government and I think we need newly elected members who can shape that.”

North Devon MP Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat) said it is “only right” that voters head to the ballot box this May.

“It was very clear that Conservative councillors were trying to dodge facing the voters again after their dismal results in the last general election,” he said.

“I’m glad that the government appears to have seen through this. We Lib Dems will keep pushing forward to try to deliver the local change people need – bring on the elections.”

Diana Moore, leader of Exeter City Council’s Green Party, said greater collaboration between the county council and the districts was needed.

“Devon County Council and the districts need to work in the interests of local communities and the environment to work out how we can more effectively ensure that local government remains local and works well for our communities,” she said.

She added that one of the arguments for delaying the elections – that more experienced councillors could remain in situ for longer to help decide what shape local councils could take in Devon in the future – is “the weakest argument”.

“New people can bring fresh ideas and will have experience in other areas that they can bring to ensure effective services at Devon County Council,” she said.

“Devon can do much better in many areas, not least of all children’s services, so there needs to be cross-party discussions about the future.”

She added that Devon was one of the largest counties in the country, and so having one unitary council for the whole county was “not going to work well in terms of meeting local needs”.

Cllr Paul Arnott (Liberal Democrat) leader of East Devon District Council, said the people in Devon “should be relieved that the attempt by Devon County Council to [postpone] the election has been squashed”.

“I hope the electorate remember that the Conservatives voted, on the record with their names, to cancel the elections they will now be standing in,” he said.

Cllr Arnott added that he believed the arguments put forward in favour of delaying the elections were “completely false”.

Devon County Council had claimed that trying to run an election at the same time as creating a plan for the county’s administrative reorganisation would overstretch staff.

But Cllr Arnott said local elections – even county council ones – are predominantly run by the district councils anyway.

He also felt the argument that experienced councillors should stay in post for another year because new members could find it challenging to plan Devon’s reorganisation alongside learning about their new role was “shameful”.

Devon County Council leader James McInnes (Conservative, Hatherleigh and Chagford) said: “I am disappointed that the government has rejected our proposal to postpone May’s elections so we could concentrate fully on developing our plans for local government reorganisation in Devon.

“However, we will still continue to work on our proposals for local government reorganisation that best meet the needs and aspirations of all Devon’s communities.”

The government wants to abolish two-tier systems, such as that in Devon, where two councils perform different services in the same geographic area.

The aim is to have fewer, larger councils which are unitary in style, meaning that all services are looked after by one council.

Devon has 11 councils in all; Torbay and Plymouth are unitary, but the rest of Devon is overseen by the county council and eight district councils.

Residents outside Torbay and Plymouth have some services provided by the county council – such as those related to highways or social care – and others by their local district council, such as refuse collection and planning.

Early predictions suggest Devon could have anywhere between two and four councils under the government’s local government reorganisation proposals.
 

Five years ago, having lost their majority,  the Tories in East Devon used the pretext of lockdown to cancel the annual May meeting in East Devon in order to frustrate the transfer of power. They ultimately failed. See indefensible decision made in East Devon District Council.

Looks like history is repeating itself at County. – Owl

Devon’s county council elections to go ahead in May

Bradley Gerrard, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

DCC’s bid to have this year’s local elections postponed rejected

Devon’s county council elections will go ahead in May after the government rejected a request to postpone them.

The county council’s ruling Conservatives wanted to delay the elections for a year as plans for an overhaul of local government become clearer.

But deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has only agreed to “half the requests” by councils across England, noting that the government’s starting point is “for all elections to go ahead unless there was a strong reason for postponement”.

Ms Rayner says all areas with a two-tier structure of local government , which includes Devon, will be invited to submit proposals for new unitary councils.

Last month a majority of Devon’s county councillors voted to apply to the government to postpone local elections scheduled for Thursday 1 May.

However, Liberal Democrat councillors objected to the idea.

[You can find out how your councillor voted in this list of recorded votes. – Owl]

Martin Wrigley, Lib Dem MP for Newton Abbot, said: “It isn’t difficult to see why they were trying to avoid facing the electorate again after their disastrous general election results.

“Thankfully the government has clearly seen through this thinly veiled attempt to silence the voices of over a million voters. They have made the right decision in allowing voters to go to the ballot boxes this May.

“After years of chaotic Conservative control, it is time for change and across the county, Liberal Democrats are working hard to be that change locally, as we have been in Westminster.”

Ministers want to abolish the two-tier system of local government, whereby different services in the same area are carried out by separate councils.

The government wants to create larger councils that oversee populations of at least 500,000 people, and it wants them to be unitary in style, meaning that all services are conducted by one council.

It has indicated some exceptions to that size may be allowed. Exeter City Council could be one of those that applies to be a unitary authority.

Devon alreadcy has two unitaries, Torbay and Plymouth, but in the rest of Devon, the county council is responsible for largers services, such highways, education, and social services, while district councils are responsible for other functions, such as recycling and planning.

Elsewhere, Ms Rayner named six areas where devolution would begin to progress. Devolution in this context is the idea of an elected mayor overseeing more than one of the new larger unitary councils in something likely to be called a mayoral strategic authority.

Ms Rayner the outcome of such a process was “simple”.

“It will mean more money in people’s pockets, and quicker, better, cheaper transport designed with local people in mind, and politics back in the service of working people,” she said.

She named Devon and Torbay as having “foundational” devolution, in that Devon County Council and Torbay Council have created a combined county authority (CCA).

This CCA is designed to give the area greater control over certain aspects, such as transport, but did not involve electing a mayor.

There are some calls for Devon to combine with Cornwall to form a strategic authority, under the leadership of an elected mayor.  Cornwall Council is set against the very notice. Response across Devon has been more nuanced.

It is likely to be some time before the situation becomes clear.
 

Paul Arnott 

Many readers may have been bemused by the disruptor antics of Donald Trump unleashing Elon Musk on the American public. Not a day passes without the two defunding international charities or implementing international trade tariffs on the world’s economy.

How is this relevant to East Devon, some irate readers may ask? Because, coming from another part of the political agenda in the United Kingdom, the current government is also wreaking havoc, not in the name of disruption, but out of inexperience, ignorance, and that age-old friend of the shiny-eyed left, arrogance.

I offer two examples. The first is in Planning. As the local authority, East Devon has been sweating blood trying to ensure that new homes built in the district meet the wishes of local people. This is a thankless task, because most people faced with the possibility of a new development in their locality simply don’t want it at all.

Nevertheless, the council has a legal duty to plan for this and make decisions in accord with planning policy while doing its best to maintain standards. But by setting a fire under the National Planning Policy Framework under the false flag of building 370,408 homes in the UK every year – that’s more than 92,000 every quarter – Labour has handed the whole scenario lock stock and barrel to the major developers.

I was genuinely shocked to hear Rachel Reeves laughing about removing protection for bats, for example, in the name of unfettered growth. The new “maths”, if it deserves that name at all, now forces councils to prove not a 4 but a 6-year housing land supply and if they can’t any developer will steam in demanding to be allowed to build just about anywhere.

With sharp-elbowed insouciance, a Labour wannabe county councillor in Broadclyst has been trying to float a motion of no confidence in East Devon around planning issues, for his own electoral advantage. That victim-blaming arrogance is running amok in some Labour quarters; it’s the poor relation of Muskism.

Elsewhere, Devon councils are being forced into a process of local government reorganisation which would lead eventually to – perhaps – a single mayor for Devon and Cornwall. Government should not be wrecking local democratic structures but properly reforming and funding adult and children social care and NHS structures in Devon, which in total need about a billion of urgent input just to stand still. Only yesterday, the government announced the amount of funding for these new mayoral authorities. £0.

Trump and Musk do what they do because they are filthy rich egomaniacs and because they can. The Labour government is doing it with a happy clappy zeal, the disruption of local government being overseen by a defunded national civil service in meltdown.

In the last few months, Labour promised councils the dates of key white papers or urgent advisory correspondence – the latest one “by the end of January” – which turns up late and then hopelessly light on detail. Many local football fans will know one of the politer chants directed at referees having an off day. “You don’t know what you’re doing”. They don’t.

A victory for democracy.

Devon County Council elections will go ahead this year.

Only the following councils have been granted the exceptional authority to postpone their elections this year:

• East Sussex
• West Sussex
• Essex
• Thurrock
• Hampshire
• Isle of Wight
• Norfolk
• Suffolk
• Surrey

More on this breaking news in due course. – Owl

Alison Hernandez thinks it’s ‘obnoxious’ that she’s not included in the conversations about devolving powers from Westminster, considering her remit covers the whole of the region in question. See report below.

Her job could be swallowed up by an elected mayor who will sit at the head of a  large strategic authority covering around 1.5 million residents – if the government approves the concept of a combined Devon and Cornwall authority, one of a number of devolution proposals.

Despite this protestation, who might be in a prime position to argue and promote her case to become that Mayor?  – Just musing, Owl.

PS the case for delaying May’s county council elections is predicated on there being an “oven ready” (to quote a favoured political phrase) devolution plan – not several plans.

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

Police commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Alison Hernandez is miffed that she has been left out of discussions about making the south west a superpower authority.

And she fears that the Isles of Scilly will get neglected if Devon and Cornwall take the lead in a large strategic body.

She’s told the panel that scrutinises her work that she finds it “obnoxious” that she’s not included in the conversations about devolving powers from Westminster, considering her remit covers the whole of the region in question.

The police and crime commissioner’s role is to hold the chief constable to account for the performance of the force, and includes driving initiatives, pushing for funding and setting the police budget.

But the commissioner’s job in the future could be swallowed up by an elected mayor who will sit at the head of a  large strategic authority covering around 1.5 million residents – if the government approves the concept.

Cornwall, however, has made it clear it will resist merging with Devon and wants to retain its identity.

Devon’s biggest authorities, by contrast, including the county council, and Plymouth and Torbay unitary councils, are generally for it, although not all councillors are on board. The eight smaller districts don’t much like the idea of being abolished.

Ms Hernandez told the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel on Friday that her office had made representations to the government, pointing out that she might be the person who knew the most about Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

She said councillors on the panel might also want to take that thought back to their leaders.

“I also want to say that the Isles of Scilly is a place, and everyone who is talking about a mayor for Devon and Cornwall needs to be respecting the Isles of Scilly.

“I police it with the chief constable operationally, and I make sure we have the right resources in place – and one of the things for me is I am worried about the neglect of the Isles of Scilly in the conversations.”

She said she is “quite excited” by the government pressing ahead quickly with local government reorganisation, but the public has to be aware there would be cost implications as “governance costs money”.

“As someone who covers that whole area, having less people to have to speak to to get something done would be an efficiency and would make it more effective,” she said.

She praised Cornwall which she said is “such a joy and a pleasure to work with because it is “so proactive”.

“They are on my case every five minutes. The one next to that which is very vocal is Plymouth. Everyone else is much more silent,” she said.

Devolution transfer powers, funding and decisions normally held by central government to local authorities.

Plymouth City Council leader Cllr Tudor Evans (Lab, Ham) said it makes sense to have a south west peninsula authority, as the two counties share many of the same issues and responsibilities, and would be ” a strong voice” in Westminster.

Millions face council tax rise of more than 5%

Millions of households in England are facing council tax rises above the normal limit, after the government allowed six areas to bypass a 5% cap on increases.

Sam Francis www.bbc.co.uk

Usually local authorities with social care duties can only raise council tax every year by up to 4.99% without a referendum, while others can increase it by up to 2.99%.

But Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has confirmed that Bradford Council will be allowed an increase of 10%, while Newham and Windsor and Maidenhead will all be allowed a 9% rise – Birmingham, Somerset and Trafford can increase their bills by 7.5%.

Rayner said the increases were crucial to “prevent these councils falling further into financial distress”.

She said: “We recognise the importance of limited increases in helping to prevent these councils falling further into financial distress – but we have been clear this must be balanced with the interests of taxpayers.”

The government blocked several councils from raising taxes above 4.99%, including Hampshire, which had asked to be allowed a 15% increase.

A statement on local government funding, external also confirmed that councils will have access to more than £69bn this year – a 6.8% increase in cash terms compared to 2024-25.

The agreement means no council will see a reduction in core spending power.

More than £2bn of this will come from direct grant funding above revenue received from council tax.

The announcement also confirmed councils will get extra money to manage the cost of increases to employer National Insurance contributions.

The top-up brings additional funding for next year to around £2bn, on top of £1.3bn announced at October’s Budget.

Specific allocations to mayoral combined authorities remain at zero, meaning they are expected to generate funding through other means.

Local Government Association chair Louise Gittins said council finances remain “extremely challenging” and the extra money next year “still falls short of what is desperately needed”.

She said: “This financial year therefore remains extremely challenging for councils of all types who now face having to increase council tax bills to bring in desperately needed funding next year yet could still be forced to make further cuts to services”.

She called for a “more sustainable future funding system” as well as “significant and sustained increases in overall funding” for councils in the upcoming spending review.

We will all need to save a few more coppers to pay for our coppers and the near doubling of  the cost of the office of the police and crime commissioner over the past eight years. Not to mention the “One for the price of Three” Chief Constables.

Despite trousering a fair bit of the second home windfall tax that Owl thinks should have been used to provide social housing.

Panel agree 4.99 per cent increase

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

Residents of Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will pay an extra £13.70 on their council tax bills for policing for the next year.

The Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel supported a 4.99 per cent in the police precept – the element of the council tax which part-funds the service.

It means that Band D households will pay £28.82 a month from April 2025 over 10 months instead of £27.45.

The budget for policing is being boosted by £6 million from additional council tax of second homes, some of which will be used to tackle anti-social behaviour and extend a ‘street focus’ campaign in Torquay.

Police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez told the panel on Friday that taxpayers’ money and the council tax windfall would stop the force cutting services, with police officer numbers maintained at the highest ever level of 3,610, extra patrols under a ‘hot spot policing’ initiative continuing, and more enquiry offices opening in Ivybridge, Tavistock, Exeter and Liskeard.

Her police and crime plan has a focus on tackling burglary and shoplifting, and reducing violence and anti-social behaviour.

Ms Hernandez said the force needs to save £6.5 million in the next financial year, a third of which is expected to be made by reducing senior roles to put more bobbies on the beat.

Interim chief constable James Vaughan, who is heading the service whilst chief constable Will Kerr remains suspended announced plans to put at least 60 constables back on the frontline across the two counties as he believes the force is “top heavy.”

It is to be subject to a “rank review”.

The force could also get additional officers as the government doubles national funding for neighbourhood policing.

Mr Vaughan said visible policing is strong in Devon and Cornwall and he is determine to build on it.

He said he will drive urgent performance improvements to enable the force to come out of “enhanced monitoring” by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services

Whilst the force has improved call handling and how it manages violent and sexual offenders, it is in special measures for the way it records crime and its standards of investigations.

A salary allowance of around £55,000 has been kept in the budget for  a deputy police and crime commissioner. Ms Hernandez hasn’t decided whether to reappoint someone into the role, following the resignation of Mark Kingscote in December after just five months into the job.

She said the force is facing challenges from staff pay rises and from not having all the forthcoming employers’ national insurance increase funded by the government.

Starting salaries for police officers have risen from £19,000 to £30,000 since she was first elected in 2016.

And she told the panel that the cost of paying three chief constables is “an eyewatering” £70,000 a month.

As well the main postholder Will Kerr, who was suspended in July 2023 over allegations of sexual offences in Northern Ireland, which he strongly denies, acting chief constable Jim Colwell was suspended in November over claims that he used his work mobile phone for personal messages.

He is being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for alleged breaches of professional standards.

Former Dorset chief constable JamesVaughan was hired to lead the force shortly after.

Both Mr Colwell and Mr Kerr continue to receive full pay of roughly £180,000 a year each.

Ms Hernandez is looking into whether Mr Colwell can revert to his substantive post of deputy chief constable, now Mr Vaughan is in post, to save on payments.

She told the panel that policing “remained unaffected by the turbulence” but good work such as the victim support service and improvements in call handling had been overshadowed by “unprecedented times” and the absence of police leadership.

Panel members questioned whether the second homes windfall should have been used to reduce the amount people pay for policing in their council tax, and why the costs of the office of the police and crime commissioner had just about doubled from £1.6 million to £3 million annually in eight years.

Cllr Chris Penberthy (Lab, St Peter and the Waterfront, Plymouth) said the office takes taxpayers’ money that could be used on policing.

Ms Hernandez said more rules around police misconduct panels were costly and this accounted for an extra £200,000 in her office budget for next year.