Author Archives: East Devon Watch

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19 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Art and Culture, Austerity cuts, Economy, EDDC, Knowle/Honiton/Exmouth relocation, Local Enterprise Partnership, NHS (local), Scrutiny

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Council 2018-2019 budget – many elephants in the room!

Recent comment on “pay to pee” article (below):

“Notice the contradiction here: one councillor says the idea is not being looked at, another group of councillors say town and … [quote from original article]

Might I suggest that there is fake news (or misdirection).

Instead of concentrating on the big savings – the biggest costs/budgets under management, we are being misdirected to something we actually understand (don’t forget the seaside towns are over endowed with the elderly, whose needs include lavatories) so that we can gain a small ‘win’ by demanding the facilities, so that we forget the elephants in the room. And there are several of them.

A gallery that only Councillor’s want.
A move of headquarters that only Councillors want.
A drastic reduction in healthcare services, that only Councillors want.
Seafront developments that only Councillors want.

William of Occam would say I have over-made the point.

Do you suppose there is a picture developing here?

I could add the absolutely fantastic budget demand coming from a Police body that has a management cost out of all proportion to its actual size. You could make significant savings by firing the bosses and not lose any quality of service?

And what about getting rid of the LLP [LEP] which, in my view, has achieved precisely nothing since it was created (except increase the salaries of the leaders although they have yet to achieve any results). That would make some tidy savings.

Maybe we can afford a health service after all!”

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19 Jan 2018

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Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local), Privatisation

Save our Hospital Services NHS rally – 3 February 2018, Exeter, 11 am

“REGIONAL PROTEST: RALLY IN EXETER: Saturday 3rd Feb. 2018

Aiming to attend the local regional rally? Please make sure you, your family, friends and contacts are in

EXETER on

Saturday 3rd February 2018

This will be a protest about hospital bed and ward closures across Devon and will demonstrate our solidarity with the national day of action called by HealthCampaignsTogether and the Peoples Assembly.

SOHS placards ‘JOIN THE FIGHT TO DEFEND OUR NHS’ will be available from the SOHS stall located in Bedford Square. We are receiving pledges of support for the RALLY from individuals and organisations across all areas of Devon, from Trade Councils, campaign and community groups, and political parties. Campaigners from Save Our Hospital Services, Keep our NHS Public, and HealthCampaignsTogether will be their in force.

On the day, do bring your organisation’s banners and campaign stalls, and mobilise all your members who can to join and stand with us. A massive show of solidarity in Exeter with the demonstrations being held in London , and other major cities, towns and villages around the country will send a powerful message to Theresa May and her government. This is a critical time, and everyone needs to step up to DEFEND OUR NHS.

RALLY DETAILS:
Sat.: 3rd Feb: RALLY in EXETER

NHS IN CRISIS: FIX IT NOW!

STOP THE CUTS TO BEDS & WARDS IN DEVON’S HOSPITALS

Assemble: 11am – Bedford Square, Exeter EX1 1LR

SPEAKERS – CAMPAIGN STALLS – BRING YOUR BANNERS AND PLACARDS
MEDIA invited, join the photo shoot.
ALL are welcome, bring the whole family, friends and your campaign contacts
Plan now to be there, spread the word – supporters are coming from all across DEVON
Org. by SOHS – TSD

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19 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Accountable Care Organisation, Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local), Privatisation, Scrutiny, Transparency

Hunt asked to pause Accountable Care Organisations – but will he?

“Thank you for signing the petition STOP the new plans to dismantle our NHS, please share this!

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-the-plans-to-dismantle-our-nhs

Great news! Sarah Wollaston MP, Chair of the Health Committee has written to Jeremy Hunt asking him to “delay the introduction of the new contract for Accountable Care Organisations until after the Health Committee has taken the opportunity to hear evidence on the issues around the introduction of accountable care models to the NHS”

People are beginning to wake up to the possibility that the NHS is about to be privatised and are not happy about it. Has something worried Sarah Wollaston enough to take this step?

The Judge giving permission for the 999 Call for the NHS into the lawfulness of the Accountable Care Organisation contract to be heard and setting capped costs because of the importance and huge public interest, gave us all a sense of hope. Their case is due to be heard in Leeds in April and they are still crowdfunding for that.

The doctors and academic’s Judicial Review with regard to lack of public consultation and Parliamentary scrutiny which was joined by physicist Stephen Hawking created more publicity.

Now this news published today (Friday). We believe Accountable Care Organisations have huge implications for patients.

Let’s share the petition and make it huge. Together we can win this.”

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-the-plans-to-dismantle-our-nhs

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19 Jan 2018

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Austerity cuts, DCC, Stuart Hughes, Transport (local)

Many of Devon’s roads and bridges “sub-standard” and percentage higher than national average

Transport supremo Stuart Hughes will need to burn the midnight oil …

BRIDGES

“More than 2,500 bridges in England are not fit to support the heaviest lorries, a study has found.
The RAC Foundation discovered 2,512 council-maintained bridges are not suitable for 44 tonne vehicles.
Devon County Council has the highest number of substandard bridges with 249, followed by Somerset (210) and Essex (160). …”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39222319

ROADS

“Nearly one in four minor roads in Devon are in a state of “considerable deterioration” and need attention within the next year.

The latest figures from the Department for Transport have revealed that 23% of the minor road network in the county was put into the ‘red’ category by inspectors in 2016-17.

This means that when these roads were surveyed they were found to have a wide range of surface damage and deterioration and were expected to need maintenance within the next 12 months.

The minor road network – or “unclassified” – includes any public local roads that are not classed as A, B or C, and which are not residential streets or agricultural tracks.

It makes up more than half of the total road network in Devon in terms of length.

In comparison, across England only 17% of the unclassified road network was considered to potentially need maintenance.

Meanwhile, a further 13% of B and C roads and 3% of the A road network in Devon is also considered to be in a state of serious deterioration.

In terms of the state of B and C roads, that’s higher than the national average – across the country, just 6% of the B and C network and 3% of all principal roads are in this condition.”

http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/one-four-minor-roads-devon-1087274

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19 Jan 2018

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East Devon Alliance Councillor says “pay to pee” is “a backward step for civilisation”

Notice the contradiction here: one councillor says the idea is not being looked at, another group of councillors say town and parish councils have been asked to look at “other uses” for toilets!  Left hand and right hand perhaps need an introduction.

And a £100,000 subsidy for Honiton’s Thelma Hulbert Gallery!  Owl will be digging its talons into that one!

 

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19 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Developers/ Development, East Devon Alliance, EDDC, Independent Councillors, Planning System, Villages BUAB, Woodbury

Greendale Business Park lose legal case for Planning Approval

Press release from Councillor Geoff Jung, East Devon Alliance Independent, Raleigh Ward:

“”In a recent Planning Application, the owners of Greendale Business Park claimed that because an agricultural field has been used for open industrial storage for more than ten years they were entitled to continue that use under a little used clause in the Town and Country Planning Act, known as a “Certificate of Lawfulness”.

However, the Act stipulates it is not the length of use, but the length of a “breach in planning control”. As Laing Utilities occupied this area in association with the laying of the gas pipeline between 2006 and July 2009 and Utility companies are permitted to occupy and use locations as depots for the construction of pipelines or cables the use up to July 2009 could not be claimed to be a breach in planning control.

East Devon District Council as the (LPA) Local Planning Authority had to take legal advice and concluded that the company had not been able to demonstrate that there has been a “Breach of Planning Control for 10 years” and therefore the Application 17/2441/CPE has been refused.
Company can Appeal

The applicant however is entitled to appeal to the Secretary of State within six months of the notification of the refusal.

Enforcement Notice

The Report by East Devon District Council recommends that an Enforcement Notice is served requiring the owners to:

1. Permanently cease the use of the area shown on the plan for the storage of items not connected with agriculture and remove any such items
2. Permanently remove the perimeter and internal fencing and all hardstanding
3. Permanently remove the concrete, hardcore and drainage used to construct the
entrances.
4. Permanently remove all debris and paraphernalia from the area outlined in Red and return this site to an agricultural field clear of such items.

Location of are to be returned to agricultural use outlined in red above.

Greendale Extension East

This Planning Refusal comes only a month after another case at Greendale Business Park had an Enforcement Appeal upheld by the Secretary of State. This was after a Planning Appeal Inspector agreed with the Local Authority and again required the site to be removed of all industrial activities and returned to agricultural use. (Planning Application 15/2592/MOUT).

The Owners of Greendale have now appealed to the High Court for a Judicial Review on this Enforcement Appeal.

Retrospective Planning Applications.

Both cases were the result of the owners of Greendale constructing concrete roads and yards together with security fencing, drainage, lighting and industrial buildings prior to planning permission being obtained. This is known as Retrospective Planning Permission

Village Plan

The Woodbury Salterton Residents Association, a group of residents in the small rural village next to the business park have campaigned for more clarity and a clear understanding on a defined area where Industrial use and employment is permitted and what is classed as “open countryside.”

For 5 years the team of local people have worked tirelessly, working with local Parish Councils, District Councillors and the Planning Authorities to put a halt on the unplanned unlawful development at the Business Park.

The Local Development Plan approved in January 2016 gave some guidance and clarity and the recent unsuccessful application on Hogsbrook Hill and the extension East of the main Business Park are the result of following the guidance and principles laid down in the Local Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework.

However, the local plan stated that a further planning document will follow on from the Local Plan known as the “Villages Plan” giving further guidance and clarity to the 14 largest villages in East Devon and the business parks of Greendale and Hill Barton.

This document is very nearly to the stage of adoption, with 2 public consultations and a public hearing by the Planning Inspectorate.

The final draft was submitted in December for a final public consultation with the final date for people to have a say the 2nd February.

East Devon Alliance Independent Councillor Geoff Jung, who is the Councillor for Raleigh Ward which includes the village of Woodbury Salterton and Greendale Business Park says:

“I have worked with the Planning Policy Department officers and all other Councillors at East Devon District Council and attended every Council meeting when the Village Plan has been debated and attended the public hearings. This has been to ensure that the Village Plan and especially the guidance and controls on these 2 Business Parks went through correctly and democratically.

The Planning Inspector’s proposals for the Business Parks will provide the owners of the business parks, residents and the planning authority absolute certainty of where development will be permitted and where planning will be refused.

However, at the very last Council meeting in December an amendment to remove all mention of the business parks in the Villages Plan was proposed – this was rejected but is still supported by some District Councillors. Any changes to the Inspector’s recommendation would add ambiguity and loopholes to the planning process. I would encourage all interested parties to contact the local planning with their views by the 2nd Feb.

Email: planningpolicy@eastdevon.gov.uk
These views will be sent on to the inspector.

The following Hyperlink takes you to the EDDC Villages Plan Page
EDDC Villages Plan Consultation:

http://eastdevon.gov.uk/planning/planning-policy/villages-plan/villages-plan-2017/villages-plan-examination/

I would like to thank the Planning Inspector Mrs Beverley Doward BSc BTP MRTPI and the East Devon team in the Planning Policy Department for a Villages Plan that will help many communities in East Devon.”

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19 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Developers/ Development, Inequality, Lobbying, Sleaze

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“LANDLORD FORCING TENANTS TO PAY FOR REMOVAL OF FLAMMABLE CLADDING IS A SUPER RICH TORY DONOR”

“The Guardian has published a rip-roaring story about wealthy landlord who’s trying to get his tenants to pay for fire safety improvements needed to avoid a repeat of the Grenfell tragedy – but they’ve missed one important detail.

It reveals how the owners of a block of flats in Croydon have refused to remove and replace flammable cladding on the building until the tenants stump up the £2 million cost of the work.

That amounts to a charge of £31,300 per flat – more than a year’s salary for many of the tenants who say they are “terrified” about the cladding since Grenfell.

The owner of the block of 93 flats is Proxima GR Properties, which the Guardian points out is “owned by the family trust of the multi-millionaire property mogul Vincent Tchenguiz.”

It notes that Tchenguiz is: “Believed to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds and last year bought a new 165-foot superyacht moored in the Mediterranean called Da Vinci. He is said to own 300,000 freeholds in the UK, including 10 Hilton hotels.”

On top of all that, Scrapbook can reveal that Tchenguiz is also a Tory donor – he gave the party more than £21,000 before the 2010 general election.

His brother, Robert, has also given the Tories a five figure sum and his sister, Elizabeth, made a donation of £100,000 in 2008.

Presumably that means Vincent Tchenguiz’s contact details are hanging around Tory HQ somewhere.

So Sajid Javid should have no problem in getting in touch to sort out this absolute scandal.

If you’ve got enough money to throw some of it at the Tories, you’ve got enough money to keep your tenants safe… “

https://politicalscrapbook.net/2018/01/landlord-forcing-tenants-to-pay-for-removal-of-flammable-cladding-is-a-super-rich-tory-donor/

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18 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Privatisation, Sleaze

PFI contracts – windfall tax them says Labour MP who says companies are “legal loan sharks”

Labour MP Stella Creasy on Today programme this morning:

“What the NAO reports shows, to devastating effect, is that PFI and PF2, because the government brought in exactly the same scheme under a different name, is both too expensive to continue on with and very expensive to get out of.

Of that £10bn [the annual charge for PFI contracts] what that study also shows is that half of that is interest on charges. These companies, these type of contracts, really are the legal loan sharks of the public sector. It’s like a payday loan or a hire purchase agreement to build a school or a hospital and then run one. It’s a very expensive way to do it. And the question we all have to ask ourselves is what do we do next.

This is why I’m calling for a windfall tax on these companies. The one place where we do have leverage with them is on the tax they pay. They’ve also had a massive corporation tax bonus because corporation tax on a lot of these contracts [when they] were signed, and it was part of the deal and the reason why we went with them, was around 30%. Under this government it has now dropped to 17%. So we are estimating that some of them have saved around £190m in corporation tax payments alone. That is money that is owed to our public sector, and is money we could get back with a windfall tax.”

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18 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Hinkley C, Privatisation, Scrutiny, Sleaze

“Disgraced Carillion chief now director of firm in charge of inspections at Hinkley Point C nuclear power station”

“Carillion – the firm handed millions in contracts by the Tories – has just gone into liquidation leaving thousands of employees and small businesses facing bankruptcy and redundancy.

In July last year, the man responsible for the debacle – incompetent former Group Chief Executive of Carillion Richard Howson – stood down and seemingly disappeared on the same day the company’s disastrous finances were revealed.

But only after paying himself £1.5 million in pay and tens of thousands in bonuses and perks and leaving the firm with a massive £800 million pension deficit and debts of £1.4 billion of course:

So where is Howson now?

Locked up in a monastery somewhere, contemplating his failures and atoning for his sins?

Surprise surprise.

Here he is, hidden away as a new director of engineering and technical services company Wood Group:

https://www.woodplc.com/investors/the-board

Wood Group has just won a lucrative contract to carry out inspections at the UK government’s new Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant:

https://www.woodplc.com/news/press-releases/2017/wood-wins-hinkley-point-c-contract-worth-$16m

https://tompride.wordpress.com/2018/01/15/disgraced-carillion-chief-now-director-of-firm-in-charge-of-inspections-at-hinkley-point-c-nuclear-power-station/

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18 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Accountable Care Organisation, DCC, East Devon Alliance, Health and Social Care (local), Martin Shaw (Seaton), NHS (local)

EDA Councillor Martin Shaw on the next threat to our local NHS

PRESS RELEASE:

“Devon’s two Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are pushing ahead with far-reaching, highly controversial changes to the NHS in the County from 1st April – without alerting the public or even the public watchdog, the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee at Devon County Council.

The changes will turn the Sustainability and Transformation Plan – which itself grew out of the misnamed ‘Success Regime’ which closed our community hospital beds – into a more permanent Devon Accountable Care System. The first phase, in the first part of the financial year 2017-18, will develop integrated delivery systems, with a single ‘strategic commissioner’ for the whole county.

However the real concern is the next phase, which will lead to the establishment of Accountable Care Organisations. These will lead to services being permanently financially constrained, limiting NHS patients’ options for non-acute conditions, and pushing better-off patients even more towards private practice.

Large chunks of our NHS will be contracted out for long periods, probably to private providers. The ‘toolkit’ for this fundamental change talks about ensuring ‘that there are alternative providers available in the event of provider failure’. In the aftermath of Carillion, do we really want most of our NHS contracted out to private firms?

Devon’s public are not being consulted about this change – unlike in Cornwall where the Council has launched a public consultation – and there is no reason to believe that they want a privatised, two-tier health system.

Devon’s CCGs have pushed the change through without publicity, and it is only because I have put it on the agenda that Health Scrutiny will have a chance to discuss in advance of April 1st. I have written a 7-page paper for the Committee outlining what we know about the ACS and posing eight questions which they should ask about it.

Martin Shaw
Independent East Devon Alliance County Councillor for Seaton & Colyton”

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18 Jan 2018

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Affordable and Social Housing

“Turning offices into homes threatens affordability – study”

“LGA estimates more than 7,500 affordable homes lost in England due to conversions that do not go through planning system

More than half of all new homes in some areas have been created by allowing developers to convert offices without building any affordable homes, an impact study of the policy has revealed.

Since 2015, 30,575 housing units in England have been converted from offices to flats without having to go through the planning system, in a bid by ministers to boost housing supply. It means there has been a potential loss of more than 7,500 affordable homes, according to the study by the Local Government Association.

Such office to residential conversions under permitted development rules in place since 2013 accounted for 73% of new homes in Stevenage during 2016-17, the LGA said. In Nottingham, Basildon, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Hounslow and Harlow the figure was more than half.

Last year the Guardian revealed plans by the London borough of Barnet to transform its former head office into 254 flats, some of which are to be 40% smaller than a Travelodge bedroom and have been labelled “dog kennels” by critics.

Across England and Wales, 8% of new homes since 2015 were created by the change of use in office buildings. Councils have warned that “office space could dry up as a result, leaving businesses and startups without any premises in which to base themselves”.

Martin Tett, the LGA’s housing spokesman, said: “Permitted development is detrimental to the ability of local communities to shape the area they live in. Planning is not a barrier to housebuilding, and councils are approving nine in 10 planning applications. But it is essential that councils, which are answerable to their residents, have an oversight of local developments to ensure they are good quality and help build prosperous places. The resulting loss of office space can risk hampering local plans to grow economies and attract new businesses and jobs to high streets and town centres.”

The Department for Housing Communities and Local Government defended the policy. “We are determined to build the homes our country needs and permitted development rights play an important role in helping us deliver more properties,” said a spokesman. “We need a mix of dwelling types to meet different housing needs and over 17,500 additional properties were created by converting offices in the year to March 2017.”

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/18/turning-offices-into-homes-threatens-affordability-study

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18 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Privatisation

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“Taxpayers to foot £200bn bill for PFI contracts – audit office”

“Cost of privately financing projects ‘can be 40% higher’ than using public money

Taxpayers will be forced to hand over nearly £200bn to contractors under private finance deals for at least 25 years, according to a report by Whitehall’s spending watchdog.

In the wake of the collapse of public service provider Carillion, the National Audit Office found little evidence that government investment in more than 700 existing public-private projects has delivered financial benefits.

The cost of privately financing public projects can be 40% higher than relying solely upon government money, auditors found.

They also disclosed that the government has a £35m equity stake in one of Carillion’s major projects – public money that is now at risk. …

There are currently 716 operational private finance deals with a capital value of around £60bn, the report said.

Annual charges for these deals amounted to £10.3bn in 2016-17. Even if no new deals are entered into, future charges that continue until the 2040s amount to £199bn, it said – money that could finance the entire NHS for 20 months. …

“After 25 years of PFI, there is still little evidence that it delivers enough benefit to offset the additional costs of borrowing money privately,” she said. “Many local bodies are now shackled to inflexible PFI contracts that are exorbitantly expensive to change.

“I am concerned that [the] treasury has relaunched PFI under new branding, without doing anything about most of its underlying problems. We need more investment in our schools and hospitals but if we get the contracts wrong, taxpayers pay the price,” she said.

Research by auditors found that private investors who charge public bodies for insurance on each project, have not passed on 15 years of lower insurance costs.

“Public bodies are paying more for insurance than the actual cost, providing a gain to [private] investors,” it said. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jan/18/taxpayers-to-foot-200bn-bill-for-pfi-contracts-audit-office

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17 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Police (local)

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Police and Crime Commissioner wants our opinion on raising police precept

Sadly, she doesn’t want our opinion on the vast sum of money wasted on her and her employees which appears to be somewhere between more £1 million and up to £3 m depending on where you look (Owl is not an accountant) – with, of course, more staff to help her.

Click to access STA_REP_statement-of-account-YE-31.03.17_170929.pdf

(pages 12, 24 and 26)

“The Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez invites you to take part in a survey about increasing the precept for police funding in your area. Please click on the attached link to take part.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/G2S8QP7

Thank you.
Message Sent By
Natasha Radford (Police, Community Messaging Officer, Devon and Cornwall)”

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17 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Hugo Swire, Inequality

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Swire this week: wants less tax on internal flights and less (or no) VAT for “historic building” repairs!

Is he flying from London City Airport to Exeter these days and does he live in a “historic building” in mid-Devon? Bet a lot of his mates live in historic buildings – aka stately homes or Grade 1 mansions in London!

How about a bit if work on stratospheric local rail fare increases or perhaps a little thought about those of his “just about managing” constituents who are not able to afford basic (full VAT) repairs to their very ordinary homes?

Oral Answers to Questions – Treasury: Air Passenger Duty (16 Jan 2018)
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2018-01-16a.707.0&s=speaker%3A11265#g707.3

“Hugo Swire: May I congratulate my hon. Friend on his appointment? He has done extremely well. Airlines such as Flybe, which is based at Exeter airport in my constituency, undertake a disproportionate amount of domestic flights. As my hon. Friend will be aware, domestic flights, unlike international ones, are currently hit twice by APD—at both take-off and landing. Treasury officials, of course,…”

Oral Answers to Questions – Treasury: Topical Questions (16 Jan 2018)
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2018-01-16a.719.6&s=speaker%3A11265#g720.6

“Hugo Swire: The cost of the backlog of repairs to our historic buildings is now estimated to stand at an alarming £1.3 billion, in large part because of the changes to VAT levied on repairs. Will my right hon.
Friend show that, as a Conservative, he genuinely believes in conservation and that something will be left standing for future generations to enjoy?”

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17 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Privatisation, Scrutiny, Transparency

More questions about two more failing privatised public services

EDUCATION:

“Parents are being “left in the dark” over who really runs schools in England, according to parliament’s education committee. It has called for the government to overhaul the oversight of academy chains after a string of high-profile failures.

Robert Halfon, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, signalled to the the new education secretary, Damian Hinds, that the system of regulation had created overlaps and confusion, allowing some multi-academy trusts (Mats) to escape oversight.

“We are particularly concerned by the extent to which failing trusts are stripping assets from their schools. It is not clear to us that all schools are benefiting from joining Mats, or that trusts are providing value for money,” Halfon said in a letter to Lord Agnew, the academies minister.”

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jan/17/mps-call-for-overhaul-in-oversight-of-england-academy-school-chains

PROBATION SERVICE:

“Private probation companies responsible for supervising more than 200,000 offenders in England and Wales face total losses of more than £100m, even after a £342m “bailout” by the Ministry of Justice, MPs have been told.

Ministry of Justice officials acknowledged on Wednesday that 14 of the 21 community rehabilitation companies were expected to make losses ranging from £2.3m to £43m by 2021-22, partly due to a sharp fall in the number of offenders being sentenced to community punishments.

Details of the state of the part-privatisation of the probation service – introduced by Chris Grayling when he was justice secretary in 2015 – were revealed during a Commons public accounts committee session. MoJ officials declined to comment on whether outsourcing was “an appropriate model” for probation services when pressed by Labour MPs, saying that it was a political question.”

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/17/private-probation-companies-face-huge-losses-despite-342m-bailout

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17 Jan 2018

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Exmouth, Leisure East Devon, Regeneration

Would you like to take Exmouth Ocean “to the next level” for £50,000 per year

Has anyone seen this advertised locally? Bold type sentence is Owl’s highlighting – not the advertiser!

“Job Title General Manager
Sector
Public Sector & Leisure Trusts
Specialism Senior/General Management
Salary £50,000
Location South West

Details

Location – Exmouth, Devon Basic salary £50,000 (OTE £60,000) plus benefits Our client operates a multi-faceted hospitality venue in a prime location on the Exmouth seafront, with a turnover of over £2m. Facilities include 3 restaurants, a superb 200-seater function room with stunning views of the coast and Exe Estuary, a 12-lane ten-pin bowling alley, a large soft play zone and a SEGA amusement arcade.

The venue opened in 2015 but has yet to fulfil its potential. A dynamic, business-focused General Manager is now required to take the facility to the next level.

Reporting directly to the group CEO and Board, you will have significant autonomy and responsibility. The post will also include the oversight of a 500-seater, traditional entertainment facility with an 80-seater restaurant. Both venues are adjacent on the seafront and form the gateway to a proposed leisure redevelopment area, with works commencing in 2018.

You will provide strategic direction for all areas to achieve or exceed growth, key performance and ‘bottom line’ financial targets. You will have effective leadership skills and motivational qualities, and be ambitious, determined, goal-orientated and a team player. You will have significant experience having managed a large multi-functional hospitality or entertainment facility, or a group of facilities.

Your hours of work will be flexible, including some weekends and evenings.

http://www.strictlypeople.co.uk/opportunities_details.asp?page=&id=381

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17 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Affordable and Social Housing

“The habitable homes bill could transform lives. MPs must back it”

“This coming Friday, 19 January, a bill is to be debated in parliament that could hugely improve the lives of many people in England.

“The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill would give private and social tenants the ability to take landlords to court if their home is unsafe. Over a million homes are thought to pose a serious threat to the health or safety of the people living there. This classification, also known as a “category 1 hazard”, covers 795,000 private tenancies – one in six of the privately rented homes in the country.

The government announced support for the bill on 14 January – a relief for those of us who have campaigned for years on this. But the battle is not over yet. Even with government support, if fewer than 100 supporters show up on the day, a single MP could “talk the bill to death” – delivering a speech so long that there would be no time to vote on it.

The bill is necessary. Currently, if a landlord doesn’t respond to a request for repairs, it is up to the council to enforce the law. That entails a visit from environmental health officers to check for hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), such as mould, excess cold and fire risks. If any are found, they can compel the landlord to address them by issuing a formal enforcement notice – if flouted, prosecution awaits. …

… Incredibly, Friday’s bill proposes changes to a law that has existed since 1885. But there is one huge drawback: it is based on rent levels that haven’t been raised since 1957. So you have an option to take action only if you pay annual rent of less than £80 in London or £52 elsewhere. Average weekly rents in London are now £362 a week.

Buck’s bill would abolish the rent cap, enabling tenants to bring civil proceedings in the county court when a property is unfit for habitation under the Housing Act 2004. The landlord may even be made to pay compensation for the period for which the property was unfit.”

https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2018/jan/17/government-support-fit-homes-habitation-wont-pass-bill

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17 Jan 2018

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Misc

John Prescott calls grandiose transport plans “fraud”

Owl says: perhaps John Prescott should read our Local Enterprise Partnership’s grandiose plans for our area and see if he thinks this description applies to some or all of them!

BIG plans do not equal big actions when there is no big money coming to anything other than Brexit, vanity projects and now shoring up privatised companies with government contracts.

LEP – Local Excessive Plans!

“A wide-ranging plan to upgrade transport across northern England was branded a “bloody fraud” by Lord Prescott yesterday amid claims that it is not backed by government funding.

The former deputy prime minister stormed out of a launch event in Hull in protest as Transport for the North (TfN), a “sub-national transport body” set up by the Tories in 2015 to co-ordinate transport across northern England, unveiled a £70 billion blueprint to transform road and rail links over the next 30 years. TfN has the power to produce a transport strategy, which the government must consider when making decisions, but it has no budget.

The report proposes cutting journey times between Manchester and Leeds from 49 to 30 minutes by building a new transpennine rail line. It also suggests another line between Liverpool and the HS2 link into Manchester, which is due to be built by 2033, and upgrades to existing tracks connecting Sheffield, York, Hull and Newcastle.

Lord Prescott told the BBC: “It can talk to the Treasury along with the strategic bodies but it can’t make a decision. It doesn’t get any money.”

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/john-prescott-calls-transport-strategy-a-bloody-fraud-7rmqg2g0d

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17 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Conflict of interest, Sleaze, Spin, Transparency

“PEDIGREE CHUM”

Owl says: due diligence (lack of) and “chumocracy” – we know a LOT about that in East Devon!

“More than a week after Toby Young quit from the Office for Student Regulator, it has emerged that ministers turned down three other ‘appointable’ candidates in order to give the provocateur-journo his post. Labour MP Kevin Brennan, who got the facts in a Parliamentary answer, accuses ministers of ‘jiggery-pokery’.

Tory MP Robert Halfon said the appointment of Young “smacks of the elite” and was the “chumocracy at work”. There are concerns over the due diligence failures in the case and how more ‘suitable’ candidates were overlooked. It’s unclear when Young’s replacement will be chosen.”

Source: Huffington Post, “The Waugh Zone” online

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16 Jan 2018

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Inequality

Unemployed men with big families should have vasectomies says Tory MP tasked with increasing yourh vote

“A new Tory MP has apologised after he suggested unemployed people should have vasectomies to cut costs to the taxpayer.

Ben Bradley – who is tasked with building the Conservatives’ youth vote – made the comments in a blog post in 2012, unearthed by BuzzFeed News.

The Mansfield MP, who was made a party vice-chair in last week’s cabinet reshuffle, wrote that the UK was “drowning in a vast sea of unemployed wasters” because people on benefits were having too many children, and said he supported Iain Duncan Smith’s proposal at the time to introduce a benefit cap.

He went on: “It’s horrendous that there are families out there that can make vastly more than the average wage, (or in some cases more than a bloody good wage) just because they have 10 kids. Sorry but how many children you have is a choice; if you can’t afford them, stop having them! Vasectomies are free.

“There are hundreds of families in the UK who earn over £60,000 in benefits without lifting a finger because they have so many kids (and for the rest of us that’s a wage of over £90,000 before tax!).” …

https://t.co/F4e9uUyJzE