EDA County Councillor Martin Shaw gives details of the threat and the petition here:
Colyton fire station under threat of closure – petition already has over 300 signatures
Category Archives: Accountability
A final comment on the 2 May election in Seaton – from an East Grinstead voter
Many will remember the ongoing saga of the Tory election candidate – Mrs Jacquie Russell – who appeared to think it was possible to serve two councils at the same time as a member for both Seaton AND East Grinstead:
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2019/04/22/seatons-hermione-grainger-candidate-responds/
Now, somewhat belatedly, at least one voter in East Grinstead has woken up to the fact and today posted this comment to the blog:
“What a joke!
Jacquie, I live in the area you are meant to represent and the residents are not happy. You ignore attempts to make contact, refuse to aid locals and only ever show up if the newspaper photographer is nearby. You even left a meeting early when important residential issues were to be raised so that you could get home to Devon. You are not committed to East Grinstead, so stand down and move aside so that we can receive proper representation!”
Fortunately, the dilemma did not occur, as Mrs Russell was defeated by two EDA independents (Jack Rowlands and Dan Ledger) and a local Tory (Marcus Hartnell) – though the problem of having a Devon resident as a Tory councillor still remains for the voters in East Grinstead it seems.
“Air pollution: Houses on polluted street face demolition”
“Residents on one of the UK’s most polluted roads are set to be given 150% of the value of their homes to knock them down.
Recorded levels of nitrogen dioxide on the A472 at Hafodyrynys were higher than anywhere else apart from central London 2015 and 2016.
These far exceed World Health Organisation guidelines.
Next week, Caerphilly council’s cabinet will be asked to approve plans to purchase the 23 worst-affected homes.
The A472, between Newbridge and Pontypool, suffers pollution from an estimated 21,000 vehicle movements a day.
Life on Wales’ most polluted road – Hafodyrynys, Caerphilly
There have been many proposals for improving air quality, including buying and demolishing the houses and businesses, which would cost about £4.5m.
This was the Welsh Government’s preferred option. …”
“Britons between 18 and 29 have less left over after housing costs than older generations had at same age”
“In an inaugural national audit of intergenerational spending power, which is likely to reignite tensions between young and old, the Resolution Foundation thinktank concludes that today’s 18- to 29-year-olds are also spending less on shoes and clothes, hobbies and travel in real terms than those at the same age in 2001 as housing costs have soared. Compared with people the same age at the turn of the millennium they are 7% poorer in real terms, after paying rent, or if they can afford it, mortgage dues.
Meanwhile, in a story that will be familiar to the rising millions of twentysomethings who can’t afford to move out from their parents home, baby boomers have cranked up their spending on fun, laying out more on recreation, restaurants, hotels and culture, as people aged 65 and over have enjoyed a steep 37% rise in spending power compared with the same generation in 2001.
The audit is published by the Resolution Foundation’s new Intergenerational Centre, which is led by the former science minister David Willetts, and it said the findings debunked “the idea that young people are devoting growing pots [of money] to eating in restaurants and cafés (be that those that serve avocado on toast or others) or flying abroad”.
The proportion the young spent on fuel and groceries was up two percentage points while their spending on recreation and culture was down two points, the share spend on restaurants and hotels was down one point and clothing and shoes down two points. The 65s and over spent three percentage points less on groceries, two percentage points more on restaurants and hotels and three percentage points more on recreation and culture.
“The clear picture in terms of day-to-day living standards as measured through household consumption is of generational progress for older generations, and generational decline for younger ones,” the report said.
A spokesman for Generation Rent, which represents young people who have been priced out of homeownership, said in response to the report that “resentment is growing” and the founder of the Intergenerational Foundation, which promotes the interests of younger generations, accused older people of “breaking the social contract”.
Far from wasting potential housing deposits on fripperies, as suggested in 2017 by one millionaire property developer, millennials have been obliged to allocate a greater proportion of any money left over after housing costs to groceries, utilities and education. In 2018 they spent £380 a week on non-housing items on average – 7% less in real terms than they would have done at the turn of the century, analysis of official figures showed. At the same time the spending of people aged 50-64 rose 11% to £460, and pensioner spending rose to £390 a week.
The audit also assesses sharp increases in housing costs, cuts to in-work benefits, stagnant pay since the financial 2008 financial crisis and widening gaps in absolute wealth between young and old as key factors in one of the biggest social changes of this era.
Half a million more twentysomethings are living at home than would have been the case if the pre-crisis trend had not been disrupted, the report found. In 2007, half of 21- to 24-year-olds lived with their parents but by 2018 this had risen to 60%. The increase for those in their late twenties was even greater, up a third from 24% to 32%. …”
“NHS ‘must solve unfinished business’ to improve patient care”
“The ambition of improved patient care set out in the NHS long-term plan will be jeopardised without a commitment to invest in the health workforce, capital infrastructure and social care, a charity has warned.
Analysis from the Health Foundation, together with a survey of health leaders carried out by the NHS Confederation, found that overstretched services and badly maintained facilities would see the health service continue to struggle in the face of rising demand.
The budget of NHS England is to increase by over £20bn in real terms between 2018-19 and 2023-24 under the new funding settlement.
However, if NHS earnings are to keep pace with that of other sectors, the extra money will allow hospital activity to increase by 2.3% over the period – well short of the 2.7% needed to meet demand, the analysis said.
The survey of health leaders found that only one in four believed their local health system would be able to reduce growth in demand, while nine in 10 were not confident that the NHS would be able to deliver the reforms set out in the plan without a long-term financial settlement for social care.
On staffing, two-thirds doubted that health systems would be able to meet the increased demand for staff required under the plan, with the shortage of mental health staff, GPs and community nurses the most pressing concern.
The Health Foundation also warned that the decision to withhold the bulk of the new investment until 2023-24, with only modest increases planned for the next two years, ran counter to the front-loaded settlement announced last summer. This would make it hard to support a period of initial investment in care outside hospitals.
Dr Jennifer Dixon, chief executive at the Health Foundation, said there was “urgent unfinished business” if the NHS was to deliver its vision to improve patient care.
“There are mounting workforce shortages, the social care system is starved of funding, capital investment is going backwards, and public health funds cut,” she said.
“This all piles demand on the NHS and risks swallowing up the extra money and leaving far less to modernise care, reduce waiting times and prevent illness in the first place.”
She called on government to set out long-term funding for public health, capital investment, workforce training and social care and to ensure they received adequate resources to support the ambitions of the long-term plan.
Chief executive of the NHS Confederation Niall Dickson said that while NHS leaders were optimistic about the future, they also had serious concerns.
“They face crippling staff vacancies, rising demand for care, lack of investment in buildings and equipment, and the drastic cuts to social care and public health that are fuelling extra demand on A&E and other frontline NHS services,” he said.
“Failure to address this in the next spending review will put the ambitions of the NHS plan in jeopardy, and patients will not feel the full benefits of the extra £20bn of funding.”
EDDC Ceremonial roles … and naughty councillors
Leader Ben Ingham is on record as saying of his choice of Tory Stuart Hughes as Chairman of the council:
“The Tories are not in our Cabinet whatsoever. They hold the Chair because we felt we needed an experienced Chair to make sure Full Council is run properly. This is a civic appointment only.”
Apparently, there wasn’t a suitable independent (of either faction), including those who have already served for 4+ years in previous councils, that he felt would be able to take on the role of representing the council and chairing some of its meetings. So, it seems like a Catch 22 – you can’t get get the role if you don’t have experience – and you can’t get experience because it needs someone who already has experience, not even watching someone in the role for years and learning from it, so it seems the role might remain Tory forever!
But it ISN’T a purely ceremonial role – the Chairman of the Council also chairs the Standards Committee – the one that taps the wrists of naughty councillors.
Surely that isn’t a “ceremonial role”?
Or maybe now it is!
Top two Tory PM candidates are private landlords
” … Boris Johnson, Sajid Javid (ousted from contest), and Jeremy Hunt – are moonlighting as landlords, and it shows.
We’ve now had two televised debates and housing has barely had a look in. While the outgoing Prime Minister has said she considers “solving the housing crisis is the biggest domestic policy challenge of our generation”, the candidates to replace her seem unphased by it. …
There has been no mention of social housing, nobody has outlined their plan for Generation Rent, one in three of whom will be renting from cradle to grave, and our growing population of pensioner renters has received zero mentions. Listening to them, you would be forgiven for thinking house prices and rents weren’t rising faster than wages. …
Housing inequality certainly played a part in Brexit and, as Conservative think tank Onward highlighted in 2018, by the time of the next election, there will be 253 constituencies where more than 20 per cent of voters are renters. That’s an increase from just 18 at the 2001 election. And they are not voting Tory.
Coming up with a comprehensive strategy for the housing crisis and set of policies to back it up would take time but, at the very least, it would be good to see the social catastrophe that is unaffordable housing acknowledged by the men who want to be the next Prime Minister. …”
At least three of the Tory leadership contenders are moonlighting as landlords, and it shows
Swire – where has he been for the last 10 years asks voter
Letters, today’s Midweek Herald – hear, hear says Owl!
EDDC Tory chairman appointed by Independent Leader adores Boris …
Really, this council gets more and more strange! After the massive Independent surge in May when people voted to put old-guard Tories out power, we get a Tory chairman who promotes himself and his party in the local press going dotty about Boris! So, everywhere he goes as the Chairman on behalf of the Leader he will be extolling the virtues of a different party!
“… Cllr Hughes said: “I am certainly backing him and told him so. I think he’s the only candidate who will pull and unite the Conservative Party.
“I’d just finished chairing my first meeting of PATROL Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London. On the way out of the rear entrance of Church House near Westminster Abbey met Boris and his team just getting into his Range Rover. [Rear entrance … Boris having been criticised for avoiding the public and journalists]
“I was delighted he agreed to photo, and yes, feel privileged to have been one of the few to have had opportunity to speak to him prior to the BBC candidates’ hustings tonight.”
https://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/sidmouth-councillor-backs-boris-johnson-for-pm-1-6112478?
Swire’s choice for PM knocked out of ballot
Oh dear, Swire backed the wrong horse so he will have to try to suck up to Boris now if he wants a top job.
But we can hope that Swire is similarly knocked out of East Devon’s ballot so that Claire Wright can win.
“Ministers reject plans for 1p per garment levy to tackle fast fashion”
Climate crisis – what climate crisis?
“Ministers have rejected recommendations from MPs to clean up the huge environmental impact of fast fashion, which sees 300,000 tonnes of clothing burned or buried in the UK every year.
MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) said a charge of 1p for each garment was urgently needed to raise £35m a year for better clothing collection and sorting, a move supported by many in the industry. But the government’s response, published on Tuesday, failed to commit to this, stating only that it could be considered by 2025.
The MPs report, Fixing Fashion, was published in February and revealed that UK shoppers buy more new clothes than any other European country, and roughly twice as many as in Germany and Italy. It also said textile production contributes more emissions to the climate crisis than international aviation and shipping combined, consumes lake-sized volumes of fresh water and creates chemical and microplastic pollution.
The cross-party EAC said there should be a ban on incinerating or landfilling unsold clothes that can be reused or recycled. But the government said: “We believe that positive approaches are required to find outlets for waste textiles rather than simply imposing a landfill ban.”
The MPs also recommended mandatory environmental targets for fashion retailers with a turnover above £36m. However, the government said it would only “encourage the wider industry to take part in [the voluntary] Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (Scap)”. …”
“Scandal-prone beancounter KPMG fined £40m after staff cheat on ethics exams and get illegal tip-offs about inspections”
Perhaps one of the TiggerTories first scrutiny and audit and governance efforts should be to check on its own auditors, Grant Thornton, who have also had their share of scandals!
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2018/10/14/eddcs-auditors-grant-thornton-in-the-bad-news-spotlight-again/
“Tainted KPMG has been fined £40million because staff cheated on ethics exams and were given illegal tip-offs about inspections by regulators.
The accountancy firm was hit with the penalty in the US after the Securities and Exchange Commission uncovered a host of bad behaviour. Accountants at the firm shared the answers to internal training exams, the SEC said, including papers meant to grill them on ethics and integrity.
Staff also hacked the websites used to carry out the tests to make the pass score lower, allowing them to get through even if less than 25 per cent of answers were correct.
And senior employees at KPMG obtained confidential lists of audits being inspected by the American Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
This information allowed them to secretly alter reports so that the firm was less likely to be found to have carried out poor-quality work.
Jay Clayton, SEC chairman, said: ‘KPMG’s ethical failures are simply unacceptable.’
Steven Peikin, of the SEC’s enforcement division, said: ‘The breadth and seriousness of the misconduct at issue here is, frankly, astonishing.
‘This settlement reflects the need to severely punish this sort of wrongdoing while putting in place measures designed to prevent its recurrence.’ “
Exmouth Regeneration Board – who IS the chair?
Thursday, 20th June, 2019 9.30 am, Exmouth Regeneration Board
Here it is Councillor Megan Armstrong:
https://democracy.eastdevon.gov.uk/mgMeetingAttendance.aspx?ID=1262
Here it’s “new Chair” Cranbrook Councillor Kevin Bailey:
https://democracy.eastdevon.gov.uk/documents/g1262/Agenda%20frontsheet%2020th-Jun-2019%2009.30%20Exmouth%20Regeneration%20Board.pdf?T=0
Confused?
Swire’s choice for PM not doing too well at present
Guardian satirist John Crace :
“… During the night, medics must have been mainlining Dominic Raab with valium to try to control his anger. It didn’t wholly work, as his neck bulged out of his shirt and the anger vein in his forehead still pulsed, but for once he didn’t actively look like someone who was about to commit GBH. Instead, the air of menace was more latent. The reason he was going to be able to force the EU to renegotiate the withdrawal deal was because they were terrified of him. He could out-psycho anyone. He knew where the bodies were buried. Mainly because he had put them there….”
“Is it time to end our fixation with GDP and growth?”
“Why are we so fixated on economic growth?
Since the mid-20th century, economic growth has taken on a dominant position in the way practically every country arranges its affairs and priorities.
Growth has become shorthand for increasing living standards. It often means more people in work and more companies in business. Its opposite, recession, normally means bankruptcies and redundancies.
And so growth has become a holy grail for governments seeking re-election.
But some people have benefited more from growth than others, despite global gross domestic product (GDP) growing by more than 5,000% since the 1960s. Inequality has boomed in advanced economies since the 1970s, while the mounting risk of catastrophic global warming raises serious questions about the links between growth and carbon emissions.
Yet our economies have become structurally dependent on growth. Finance ministries and central banks pursue economic expansion as the primary goal, with rising GDP providing higher taxes.
Growth as a metaphor for prosperity has become deeply embedded through language. We like to see our children grow, or our gardens. Growth as a fundamentally human movement is life and progress. But there is another end of the metaphor: that growth can be cancerous. …”
Exeter Airport fire safety worries
A glimpse into the size of land banking
“Kier Group will sell its housebuilding and property businesses, cut about 1,200 jobs and suspend its dividend for at least two years in a radical overhaul designed to lower debt and stabilise the business. …
[CEO] Davies said Kier had already received expressions of interest in its housebuilding business, which built 842 units in the six months to end-December, at which time it had a landbank of 4,739 plots. …”
“Painted bike lanes are waste of money, say cycling commissioners”
“The government has wasted hundreds of millions of pounds painting pointless white lines on busy roads and calling them cycle lanes, according to Britain’s cycling and walking commissioners.
In a letter to the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, the commissioners – including the Olympic champions Chris Boardman (Greater Manchester), Dame Sarah Storey (Sheffield City region) and Will Norman (London) – say painted cycle lanes are a “gesture” and do nothing to make people feel safer on a bike. Recent studies have shown they can actually make people less safe, they argue.
“As there are currently no national minimum safety standards for walking and cycling infrastructure, these practices can and will continue wasting public money and failing to persuade people to change their travel habits,” the letter says. …”
No Tories in new EDDC Cabinet? Depends what you mean by Tory
Ian Thomas, former Leader of East Devon Tories, said when he resigned from the party after nominations had closed. This is what he had to say by way of explanation:
“… Cllr Thomas said: “With a heavy heart, I confirm my resignation from the Conservative Party on April 17, 2019.
“My decision was in no way related to the excellent case being presented by East Devon District Council Conservatives in the pre-election period. Theirs is an outstanding presentation based on the performance delivered by a capable and experienced Conservative led team.
“It rather reflects deep disappointment in the performance of the Party elsewhere. …”
https://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/ian-thomas-resigns-from-conservative-group-1-6017272
So, is he or is he not a LOCAL Tory?
Reply from EDDC Leader Ben Ingham on previous post
Councillor Ben Ingham, Leader of EDDC and the Independent Grouphas responded to the article below. He responded in red print, which Owl cannot reproduce, so his comnents are in BOLD and a
LARGER FONT
One of the reasons so many Independent councillors were elected was because they were not Tories! People had become sick of the way the district had been run for the last 45 years and demanded change. Part of that change was to see exactly what Tories had been up to in those 45 years when transparency was in short supply.
So, on 3 May, we were presented with:
31 Independents
(20 mostly eastern-based/central-based Independents,
(8 from Exmouth & Budleigh area – west)
11 mostly western-based Independent East Devon Alliance)
(Central and eastern)
19 Tories
8 Lib Dems
2 Greens
An alliance of Independents, Lib Dems and Greens would have produced 41 non-Tories – easily outnumbering 19 Tories.
36 would have been a workable maximum. Some were mutually exclusive.
What we now know happened is that eastern-based Independents (Leader Ben Ingham, Exmouth) refused to work with East Devon Alliance.
The EDA wanted to implement a Leadership Board of 6 at the annual meeting 22nd May, which was considered by the Independents as unnecessary, unworkable and definitely unconstitutional.
We assume that Lib Dems (who agreed to work with an Independent majority, but not form a coalition with them), were similarly excluded by Mr Ingham from working with his group.
The Lib Dems refused to join the cabinet or take up any part if the administration. They turned down Lead positions as well.
Instead, Mr Ingham chose to work with the 19 Tories, an ex-Tory (former Tory Leader Ian Thomas) and several so-called Independent councillors whose late-onset Independent roots had never been obvious or put to the test. He gave the job of Chairman of the Council to Stuart Hughes.
The Tories are not in our Cabinet whatsoever. They hold the Chair because we felt we needed an experienced Chair to make sure Full Council is run properly. This is a civic appointment only.
a Cabinet post to Ian Thomas, one of the jobs representing EDDC at Greater Exeter Strategic Plan meetings to Tory Philip Skinner.
that is not a GESP appointment. His influence iinsignificant (sic) or he would not be there.
and several other posts to other Tory councillors.
The outside bodies and panels are as they describe, not within the core team of the council
Owl has no idea what the two Green (Exmouth-based) councillors think of this arrangement.
They too were invited to join the cabinet or take Chairs/vice chairs. They declined everything until they are better acquainted with the Council’s functions, which is understandable.
Despite this, CEO Mark Williams presumably decided that there were NOT 31 Independents, but two kinds of totally different Independents (Independent Group, EDA).
Very foolishly, it was EDA who created the second group, without any consultation. Their leader insisted this was necessary to get the correct seat allocation. For the four previous years we were one group. EDA opted out with no discussion, therefore making the Tories the biggest group! The Independent group of 15 immediately worked to stop this by inviting the other 5 to join them, there was no choice. Otherwise the Tories would have challenged for leadership of EDDC as the largest group!
and declared Tories as the “official opposition” –
Fortunately the Independents did increase to 20, and stopped that happening, no thanks to the EDA!
in spite of them holding Cabinet and other posts.
No Tories in Cabinet
Is this constitutionally correct? How does one decide? One asks the CEO – dead end there, then!
This has led to a Tory (“official opposition”) Alan Dent, being the head of the Scrutiny Committee – the only committee that now has wide investigative powers.
The main opposition select the Chair of Scrutiny, just like we selected Roger Giles 4 years ago
The Chair of this committee can say Yes or No to requests for scrutiny of any subject – his word is the only word on what goes on an agenda (as long as the CEO agrees, of course).
So, is there any chance of the Scrutiny Committee holding the previous Tory administration to account? No, zero, zilch, nada in Owl’s view.
Your opinion, no evidence
So those Tory bodies – lying quietly tucked away for the last 45 years are almost certain to continue enjoying their slumbers.
Your opinion, no evidence
And all because some Independents can’t or won’t work with other Independents and local Lib Dems are keeping themselves well apart where, in other areas, coalitions of Independents, Greens and Lib Dems is promising real change in formerly true-blue districts.
Unfortunately the EDA leadership ruled EDA out by insisting on a leadership board and splitting the Independent Group in two. We were left on our own. The new 5 Independents would not work with the EDA.
What is so ironic about this whole story is that, in his political career, Ben Ingham has been a Tory councillor, an Independent Councillor and Leader of the East Devon Alliance!!!
And you were a die-hard socialist, but claim now to be an independent? All things must pass.
Pitiful and shameful.
East Devon Watch 