The cost of hubris – £11.5 million for ditched Non-Brexit coins
Category Archives: Accountability
Urban sprawl – Greater Exeter, Lesser East Devon
From a correspondent:
This correspondent had a beautiful sunny autumn drive through the villages of West Hill and Woodbury yesterday morning. Then the enthusiasm of conservative Cllr Philip Skinner for a “network of linked villages being built in the North West Quadrant area of East Devon” came to mind.
Has not East Devon sacrificed enough Grade 1 agricultural land to build Cranbrook? Were we not told that this sacrifice would be EDDC’s contribution to housing need?
Then we found that Ottery St. Mary was sacrificed.
Feniton was sacrificed.
Exmouth was sacrificed. I could go on.
And now we are told the villages of Poltimore, Huxham, Clyst St Mary, Clyst St George, Ebford, West Hill, Woodbury, Woodbury Salterton, Exton and Farringdon would be most likely to be sacrificed.
Has the ward councillors of the above villages consulted their constituents? Are the constituents of Ben Ingham and Geoff Jung happy that Woodbury will join Cllr. Skinner’s “bigger vision”?
Why aren’t our independent councillors telling Exeter that East Devon has done their bit, they do not wish urban sprawl and it is now the other surrounding councils turn?
Why do the elite want us to leave the EU?
Lib Dems stand down in Exeter to help Remain vote, but will not stand down for strongest candidate in East Devon
The decision whether to stand is apparently taken at local level. Exeter Lib Dems have agreedtheu will stand down in favour of the Green candidate.
East Devon Lib Dem candidate Eleanor Rylance has presumably refused to stand down for the strongest candidate in East Devon – Claire Wright. Far, far more likely to win than the Green in Exeter – she gained 35% of the vote in 2017.
If splitting the Remain vote leads to a Tory victory – your local Lib Dem group will be to blame.
In East Devon, if you vote Lib Dem you stand a good chance of getting a Tory.
Exeter story here:
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/lib-dems-reveal-not-contest-3511208
Fake news: a tutorial
The Tory general election launch from two perspectives – same place, same time:
If you don’t fill out this consultation you might lose out on rural broadband
“People in Somerset and Devon are being asked which areas have the biggest need for broadband, ahead of the process to appoint a new contractor.
In September Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) terminated its contract with Gigaclear as it significantly fell behind schedule.
CDS wants to establish which areas lack infrastructure and where the private sector has no future plans to invest.
A replacement contractor is likely to be in place by next November. ‘Biggest impact’ CDS is a partnership between Devon and Somerset county councils to deliver broadband to rural areas.
Responses to the consultation will help inform how the contract is shaped.
The procurement process is due to begin next month.
Devon County Council’s cabinet member, and CDS board member, Conservative, Rufus Gilbert said the consultation would help them set out the proposed areas and where to focus efforts.
Somerset County Council has added that it wanted to ensure the public funding as the biggest impact in increasing coverage.
Consultation here:
The hidden benefits of registering to vote
Do it here:
https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
“Did you know that registering to vote could help you with buying or renting a house?
Even if you don’t vote, there can be some benefits of being on the electoral register.
If you do want to vote in the general election on 12 December, the deadline to register is midnight on 26 November.
Here are some of the ways being on the electoral register (also called the electoral roll) could help you – that are nothing to do with politics.
It could help you get a bank loan
In fact, it can help you in any situation where you get a credit check – buying a car, getting a mortgage or getting a phone contract.
That’s because banks and other lenders that check credit scores look through the electoral roll.
It’s part of their checks to verify your identity – and your credit score can improve if lenders know you are who you say you are.
It can be particularly useful if you don’t have a long credit history, if for example it’s the first time you’re getting a loan or phone contract. …”
Affordable housing: cause and effect?
Do you think these two things might be linked?
CAUSE?
“Redrow hit by shareholder revolt over bosses’ bonuses and controversial new chairman”
… Former boss and founder Steve Morgan, 66, will still be entitled to bonuses, even though he has retired.
He has a 20 per cent stake in the company worth £422million.
There has also been anger at former chief executive Tutte, 63, becoming executive chairman, in breach of City rules for best practice in the boardroom.
Tutte is not considered independent enough because of his previous years at the company.
It prompted investor advisory services Glass Lewis and ISS to urge shareholders to oppose both changes. …”
EFFECT
“Affordable homes built at ‘pitiful’ rate despite increase
The number of affordable homes built in Britain has risen for the second consecutive year but analysts warned that the current level of housebuilding remained woefully inadequate.
Sixty thousand homes classed as affordable were supplied between April 2017 and March last year, according to official figures. While this is an improvement on the 43,473 built in 2015-16, it is still below the ten-year average of 62,400.
Affordable housing includes properties for social rent, shared ownership and other intermediate tenures. In 2017 the government set up a £7 billion fund to increase the supply of affordable homes by 40,000 within four years. As chancellor, Philip Hammond promised £3 billion to fund an extra 30,000 affordable homes through the scheme this year.
Scotland supplied the most affordable homes per person last year, at about 16 homes per 10,000 people.
England produced 8.5 homes per 10,000 people, although this was an improvement on six per 10,000 people in 2015-16. At 47,100, the number of affordable homes built in England last year was below the long-term average of 50,800. Wales also dragged on the long-term average, while Northern Ireland and Scotland registered growth.
The government also promised that 300,000 homes a year would be under construction by the middle of the next decade to increase affordability, but the present rate is about 220,000. Analysts have warned that the government will only hit its target if it increases funding for affordable housing because it can no longer rely on the private sector.
Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, an estate agency, said: “Just 60,000 homes delivered in a year and no change in the level of social housing in a decade is pitiful.
“Affordability is an issue not just in the London market but nationwide, and an issue that is largely exacerbated by a failure to build more homes at all levels to keep pace with a growing population and an increase in buyer demand. We must build more and this, in turn, will help boost affordability.”
Last month L&Q, one of Britain’s leading builders of affordable homes, withdrew from the market citing a “serious downturn” due to persistent uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
Source – TIMES (pay wall)
Conservation against Profit? It’s Greendale again …
From a correspondent:
A development proposal adjacent to Woodbury Common for 14 “holiday lodges” could be built on a section of the golf course created by the owners of Greendale Business Park.
The Hotel and Golf course was sold some years ago to Nigel Mansell and two years ago, sold again to a c company known as the “Club Company” which operates 13 Country Clubs in the UK, who are owned by a London Based private equity group “Epiris”
The planning application documents outlines how falling numbers of golfers across England is forcing clubs to diversify and that it is necessary to attract golfing markets, such as golf breaks, through ventures like the proposed holiday accommodation.
The developers view:
It also says that with the golfing sector under pressure with declining membership and participation forcing many clubs out of business, they must look at new ways to attract golf societies and other groups looking for golfing holidays.
One way to do this is through investing in new accommodation and the lodges would add to the existing hotel on the site.
The statement explains how the number of registered golfers has dropped eight per cent in the last four years. Adults playing golf has fallen 27 per cent between 2007 and 2016, and juniors playing golf weekly have dropped five per cent since 2014.
It adds:
“In clubs where membership is growing, clubs have taken positive steps to address the issues and are catering for a range of different needs and are developing facilities to broaden income streams and become part of the community.”
“The proposed changes at Woodbury Park Hotel and Golf Club aim to follow a similar pattern, providing further golf accommodation in order to attract more golfers from a wider national market.”
“Given the declining popularity of playing golf in England and in order to maintain the business, it is necessary to attract golfing markets, such as golf breaks, through the proposed holiday accommodation. This will allow the club to attract more golfers and more visitors to the bars, restaurant, health club and spa, to generate a vital additional income stream.”
However, the location chosen to build these lodges is next to a very important historic and environmentally important ancient “Green lane” known as Walkidons Way.
The Conservation view.
A local conservation group describes the location:
“Walkidons Way is a rare example in our locality of a green lane – most of the rest having been tarmaced. It is a public access route and runs between Hogsbrook Farm at its north-western end and Woodbury Common at Woodbury Park to the south-east. Along the way it passes beside Rockham Wood – a (private) ancient wood that is a designated County Wildlife Site.
A green lane can be defined as an un-metalled track with field boundaries on either side. These boundaries may be banks, hedges or woodland edges, often with features such as ditches – all of which can be seen along the length of Walkidons Way. The hedges and woodland edges here are particularly rich in examples of hedge-laying and coppicing of great age, and possibly also an ancient boundary trees.
In terms of bio-diversity, green lanes are mini-landscapes with their own micro-climate and ecology, due to the combination of the track and its boundary features. They may be more botanically species-rich than a single hedge, act as wildlife corridors, and their sheltered conditions are of great importance, for example, to butterfly populations.
Historically, Walkidons Way linked Greendale Barton – formerly an important farm on the site of the present Greendale Business Park – to the Common. This route adopted from at least Saxon times, as a drover road, for moving stock between Greendale and the Common.
The former agricultural land here has been much altered for leisure use, and the lane now passes between golf courses at the higher end, and fishing lakes lower down, which were both created during the 1990s. The Woodbury Park complex, which opened in 1995, was a highly controversial development at the time, but has become a generally accepted element of the modern landscape.
The track and its verges are unfortunately suffering degradation from modern vehicular traffic, but Walkidons Way offers a beautiful walk of very different character to that of most of our local lanes, to the open spaces of the Common.”
It will be interesting to see if the need of “big business” will win over the concern to preserve an ancient way.
The Planning can be viewed on the EDDC planning website under the reference 19/2145/FUL
“Boris Johnson’s Conservative party has received a surge in cash from Russian donors”
“… An OpenDemocracy investigation found that the UK Conservative party received at least £498,850 from Russian business people and their associates between November 2018 and October 2019.
This was a significant increase on the previous year when they received donations amounting to less than £350,000.
It comes despite increased pressure on the party to cut its ties to Russian oligarchs since the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury last year.
It also comes as Johnson’s chief strategist Dominic Cummings came under the spotlight for alleged Russian ties, after the Sunday Times reported claims from a whistleblower about “serious concerns” about the time he spent in Russia in the 1990s. …”
“Watchdog bans DWP’s ‘misleading’ [aka lying] universal credit adverts”
“A series of government ads extolling the virtues of universal credit and purporting to bust negative myths about the flagship Conservative welfare policy has been banned because it is “misleading”.
In an embarrassing indictment of the policy before next month’s general election, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found that a claim that people moved into work faster on universal credit (UC) than under the old system could not be substantiated.
Two other claims – that jobcentres will pay an advance to people who need it and that rent can be paid directly to landlords under UC – were also found to be unsubstantiated.
The adverts, part of a £225,000 Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) campaign to detoxify UC, appeared in print in the Metro newspaper and on its website, as well as on the MailOnline, in May and June.
They attracted 44 complaints, including from the Motor Neurone Disease Association, the Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC) and the anti-poverty charity Zacchaeus 2000 Trust (Z2K), who have called for the DWP to apologise in light of the ASA ruling.
The Z2K chief executive, Raji Hunjan, also demanded an investigation into working practices at the department.
“If it has misled the public on UC, its flagship policy, what else is it misleading us on?” Hunjan said. “The next government must engage with the compelling evidence that points to the harm UC is causing, leaving many people reliant on food banks and others destitute. Enough is enough.” …”
Swire doesn’t need to do any work but he’s still being paid
So, he’s just Joe Public.
“… Do MPs still get paid during the election period, and do they have to do any work?
MPs are no longer MPs once Parliament is dissolved. They are ordinary members of the public with no special privileges. That is because every seat in the House of Commons is now up for grabs.
However, they continue to receive their salary, currently £79,468 a year, up to and including polling day. If they have chaired a select committee, the extra payment they get for doing that job stops on the day Parliament is dissolved.
They are under no obligation to do any work during this period and their parliamentary passes are locked out. But they can keep abreast of urgent casework via parliamentary email. …”
“IFS: UK’s richest people exploiting loophole to cut tax rate”
“More than 9,000 of the richest people in the UK collected more than £1m each in capital gains last year, exploiting a loophole that could result in them paying tax at a rate as low as 10%.
Economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) thinktank said wealthy professionals often chose to form companies and partnerships to be eligible for lower capital gains tax (CGT) rates rather than collect salaries that would be subject to the top rate of income tax.
HMRC data shows 9,000 people paid just £5.1bn in tax on £33.7bn of capital gains income in the latest financial year available. That works out at an average tax rate of 14.8%, lower than than the basic rate income tax of 20% that people pay on salaries of between £12,501 and £50,000.
Andy Summers, a tax expert and assistant professor at the London School of Economics, said that despite recent changes to tax rules, private equity fund managers were still able to receive most of their remuneration in the form of “carried interest”, taxed as capital gains instead of income. Other highly paid professionals can convert their income into gains by retaining profits inside their companies as they approach retirement.
“Capital gains are highly concentrated at the very top of the income distribution; the vast majority of reported gains go to people who received more in one year than a worker on the median wage would earn in their entire lifetime,” he said at an IFS conference in London on Tuesday titled “Inequality and the very rich: what do we need to know?”
Business owners can qualify for entrepreneurs’ relief, under which they can pay just 10% CGT when they sell all or part of a company. The standard CGT rate is 20%. This compares with the 40% income tax rate on salaries of between £50,001 and £150,000.
People recording gains of more than £1m each accounted for 62% of all capital gains receipts in the 2017-18 financial year, the latest available data set.
Mike Brewer, a professor of economics at the University of Essex and expert on inequality, who chaired the debate, said: “Capital gains are not counted as income when the Office of National Statistics, Department for Work and Pensions and Institute for Fiscal Studies estimate income inequality in the UK. This means that our impression of inequality or top income shares is overlooking 9,000 people all with at least £1m of capital gains, with an average capital gain of £3.7m, and a total capital gain of £34bn.” …”
Retiring MPs like Swire getting golden goodbyes
Poor Mrs Swire is being made redundant from her “research assistant” job in her husband’s office from which she has claimed a salary of £30,000 per year for many years. Doubt we will be seeing her at her local Job Centre.
” … The MPs’ expenses body has had to request an emergency £30million to cover payouts and winding-up costs for MPs leaving Parliament.
IPSA would have needed the money at the next election but it wasn’t budgeted for this year.
It will cover loss of office payments for any MPs who stand but lose their seat – equal to double the normal redundancy payment.
It’ll also cover a winding-up payment worth two months of salary for MPs closing their office.
And it’ll cover a winding up budget worth more than £50,000 per MP to go towards office expenses and staff. …”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/general-election-7-bits-bad-20816311
“The Conservatives edited interview footage to falsely suggest Labour’s Keir Starmer was left speechless by a Brexit question”
“The Conservative party have been accused of spreading fake news, after posting footage of Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer which was edited to falsely suggest he was left speechless during an interview.
The video, which has been shared by senior government figures including the Health Secretary Matt Hancock, is an edit of a video Starmer took part in this morning on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
In the video, the Shadow Brexit Secretary is asked a series of questions about Labour’s Brexit policy, the last of which appears to leave him lost for words.
However, footage of the full interview shows that Starmer immediately answered the question put to him by the show’s hosts.
Social media users accused the party of spreading “fake news” after the misleading nature of the video was pointed out by the BBC journalist Daniel Sandford.
“I hate this stuff. I saw too much of it in Russia, and it only ends badly,” Sandford, who is the BBC’s Home Affairs correspondent, posted on Twitter.
The Conservative Party were contacted for comment.”
“Don’t sign pledges on NHS or climate, Tory HQ tells candidates” (but shooting ok)
“Conservative candidates in the general election will be told not to sign up to specific pledges on protecting the NHS from privatisation and trade deals or tackling climate change, according to a leaked internal document from party headquarters.
The 11-page briefing note explains the party’s position on nine key areas and “strongly advises” prospective Tory MPs “against signing up to any pledges” unless they have been agreed from the centre.
However, supporting shooting is allowed “as an important part of rural life”, the document says. …
The issues on which candidates have been told to avoid signing up to pledges include:
Trade deals with the NHS.
The memo warns candidates to avoid signing any pledges to “protect our NHS from trade deals with new legislation which ends privatisation”. It says this kind of pledge would “give credence to factually inaccurate smears … The NHS is not for sale.” It says candidates should focus instead on “Jeremy Corbyn’s attempt to override the British people on Brexit”.
Climate change.
Tory candidates are told that many campaigns to tackle climate change “contain unrealistic targets that would be impossible to achieve” and that it would be better to focus on “practical, reasonable steps to protect our planet while keeping bills down”. The memo claims Labour does not have a credible approach to the problem.
Women’s state pension age.
This highly charged issue could be a significant factor for women in the general election as the age for receiving a state pension rises from 60 to 65. Boris Johnson has promised to review the change, but the memo urges candidates not to engage on the issue. “Avoid signing [pledges],” it says.
“Changes to the state pension age are part of a long overdue move towards gender equality and will put the pensions system on a more sustainable footing for future generations.”
Standing up for Brexit.
The memo says it is unnecessary to pledge to stand up for Brexit because “a Conservative government with a functioning majority will immediately get Brexit done”.
Other pledges to avoid relate to private schools. Tory hopefuls are told they could say: “Labour’s plans to abolish private schools … would dramatically increase class sizes and do nothing for our children’s education.” …”
Swire insults Claire Wright, tries to sabotage her vote and says good riddance to East Devon
Hugo Swire where he belongs
If you want to read the article, find it yourself.
Owl will just offer a few quotes (with Owl comments) from it so you can see that Swire is sucking sour, sour grapes and is so happy to be quitting East Devon – where, in the last few years, he hasn’t even lived:
“Voting for an independent would not achieve anything.”
(he then goes on to suggest splitting Claire Wright’s vote between other parties to ensure she is not successful).
“Crucially, when Parliament is more important than ever, we do need people of quality.”
(Indeed, Hugo, pity we have had to wait so long for you to stand down to get within spitting distance of this).
“I will not interfere in the politics of East Devon because that would be unfair on the next MP but I will return to see friends and colleagues.”
(Well, to be fair you only came to East Devon to shake hands, schmooze and see friends so nothing changes there).
“It’s been a huge chunk of my life but, at the end of the day, I only did it because residents continued to return me.”
(Yep, he only did it so he could swan around the Middle East on the back of our votes).
Goodbye and good riddance. We await with bated breath the announcement of your replacement …
“None of pledged [200,000] starter homes built, says watchdog”
ANSWER: THERE ISN’T ONE!
The comments by developers at the end of this post, in BOLD, defy comment!
“A government plan to create 200,000 new homes in England for first-time buyers has resulted in no homes being built, the National Audit Office has found.
Announced in 2014, “starter homes” were meant to be aimed at those under the age of 40 and sold at a 20% discount.
But legislation to take the project forward was never passed.
Labour called the policy a total failure, but the government said it had a “great track record” for house building.
Former prime minister David Cameron committed to the scheme in the 2015 Conservative Party manifesto as a way of tackling the affordable housing crisis.
The project was also supposed to support the wider growth and regeneration of local areas, and some town centres.
The homes were meant to be built across the country by the end of the decade and more than £2bn was set aside for the first tranche of 60,000 dwellings.
According to the National Audit Office (NAO), between 2015-16 and 2017-18, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) spent almost £174m on acquiring and preparing sites originally intended for building starter homes.
These were in places such as Plymouth, Bury, Basildon, Stockport, Bridgwater, Cinderford and Bristol.
But the spending watchdog said the sites were all now being used for housing more generally, only some of which was affordable.
‘Dashed expectations’
It said the scheme had faltered because the necessary legislation and planning guidance had never been put through Parliament, despite expectations it would happen in 2019.
As a result, even new homes conforming to the intended specifications cannot be marketed as starter homes, which has made getting developers on board challenging.
The NAO said the government also no longer had a budget dedicated to the starter homes project. …
… David O’Leary, policy director at Home Builders Federation, said that even though starter homes had not got off the ground, the scheme had not been a total failure.
He said the engagement it had generated between local government, builders, mortgage lenders and valuers was positive.
“The difficulty in creating a workable set of rules demonstrates the importance of ensuring that proper consideration is given to the practical implementation of interventions and their market impacts as early as possible.”
“Boris Johnson criticised for selective quotes about NHS in letter to voters”
“Boris Johnson has been criticised for misleading voters over the Tories’ record on the NHS, after he sent letters to voters in swing seats that selectively quoted a charity.
The letter, sent out across marginal seats such as High Peak and Reading West, highlighted comments from various media sources and charities praising the long-term plan for the NHS, which was set out before Johnson took office.
One of the highlighted quotes, from Sarb Bajwa, the chief executive of the British Psychological Society, lauded the plan for a “clear commitment to mental health through increased spending and introducing access standards”.
But Johnson’s letter missed off subsequent parts of the quote saying that there was “still a long way to go”, though the plan showed the NHS was listening to concerns about mental health provision. It also highlighted the need for “immediate action for children and young people’s services as they have become woefully underfunded and overstretched” and for mental health provision outside the NHS to be resourced effectively. …”
“Health Secretary Matt Hancock deletes ‘1,000 more GPs’ claim after statistics watchdog censure” – real number 41
“The health secretary has deleted claims of a “terrific” increase of 1,000 GPs joining the NHS in just three months, after being censured by the government statistics watchdog.
Matt Hancock made the claim in a tweet last week and was widely criticised by doctors and health groups who said he was misleading the public, as the actual figures showed qualified doctor numbers fell.
Those figures were also drastically inflated by the new intake of junior doctors who started GP specialty training in August.
Even counting these doctors, who work under supervision but by third year are seeing patients largely unsupported, there were only an additional 41 doctors when compared to September 20 …”
East Devon Watch 