Aka Charlie Courtney c/o Powderham Castle.
Wonder what he will do for us? Still, the £300 per day just for signing in will buy a few cushions from Harrods!
Category Archives: Accountability
Devon schools lose more than 700 teachers and teaching assistants in one year
“In just one year, Devon’s schools have lost more than 700 teachers and teaching assistants.
The worrying figures, revealed in an annual school workforce census published by the government this week?, have been blamed on government cuts by unions.
The data has shown in the Devon County Council authority area there were 11,599 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in the county’s schools at the end of last year – compared to 12,229 just a year before, meaning schools lost 630 teachers.
The biggest cut was in teaching assistants, with FTE numbers falling by more than 300 from 3,623 to 3,322.
The number of FTE classroom teachers was down by 170, while the number of all teachers – including those in leadership roles – was down by 204. Support and auxiliary staff accounted for most of the rest of the fall. …
The census shows that as a result of the loss of staff – and ever-growing pupil numbers – the pupil: teacher ratio in Devon grew from 17.3 pupils for each teacher in 2016 to 18.2 pupils for each teacher by the end of 2017. …”
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/shocking-number-teachers-devon-lost-1746459
“Spike in homelessness in East Devon prompt council chiefs to take urgent action”
Just what did EDDC expect when it didn’t challenge developers’ affordable housing viability figures? And good luck with getting either of our MPs to do anything other than mouth well-rehearsed platitudes.
“… Last year, a dramatic rise in the cost of temporary accommodation meant the authority spent £296,000 on short-term accommodation against a budget of £20,000. …
The council has agreed to a number of proposed measures, including the creation of a new ‘homeless accommodation officer’, a move to increase the amount of temporary accommodation and to hold an urgent meeting with local MPs, ahead of the Government’s green paper on housing. …”
Government has “shaky grasp” of local government finance
“The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has only a “shaky grasp” of the issues facing local authority finances, the Public Accounts Committee has claimed.
A report published by the committee today noted a significant reduction in councils’ spending power had been imposed at the same time as increases in demand pressure.
Local authority spending power, comprising government funding and council tax, has fallen by 28.6% since 2010-11, while key services have come under increased pressure, the PAC said.
In the same timeframe there has been a 14.3% growth in the estimated population aged 65 and over in need of social care, while authorities have endured a 10.9% increase in the number of children being looked after.
PAC chair Meg Hillier said: “It is no secret that councils are under the cosh.
“The mystery is how central government expects their finances to improve when it has such an apparently shaky grasp of the issues.”
The committee criticised MHCLG’s lack of an agreed measure of sustainability for local government finance or a clear definition of ‘unsustainable’.
The PAC suggested that MHCLG is holding out for a favourable spending review, but noted that the review is now under greater pressure given the announcement of long-term NHS funding.
The committee report also pointed to the first year of the 2015 spending review (2016-17) in which councils with social care responsibilities overspent their service budget by over £1bn and used £858m in reserves.
Hillier said: “Central government’s view is, in effect, that it expects everything to work out in the end. We beg to differ.” …”
https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2018/07/pac-highlights-whitehalls-shaky-grasp-council-finances
“Rural areas at risk of terminal decline warn council chiefs”
Owl says: is EDDC paying too mych attention to Cranbrook and the Greater Exeter Growth Area p, leaving the rest of the district to wither on the vine?
“Unaffordable housing, an ageing population unable to access health services, slow broadband and poorly skilled workers make for a deepening divide between town and country.
The threat is exposed in the interim report of the Post-Brexit England Commission set up by the Local Government Association to examine challenges faced by non-metropolitan England.
Young people are struggling to stay in rural communities where the average house price is £320,700 – £87,000 higher than the £233,600 average of urban areas, excluding London, the report said.
Rural firms grapple with patchy mobile and broadband connections which cuts off access to new markets.
Councillor Mark Hawthorne, chairman of the LGA’s People and Places Board, said: “Rural areas face a perfect storm.
“It is increasingly difficult for people to buy a home in their local community, mobile and broadband connectivity can be patchy.
“People living within rural and deeply rural communities face increasing isolation from health services. If Britain is to make the most of a successful future outside the EU, it’s essential our future success is not confined to our cities. Unless the Government can give non-metropolitan England the powers and resources it needs, it will be left behind.”
Tom Fyans, of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “Affordable housing, public transport, high speed broadband and thriving rural economies are all interdependent.
“If our market towns and villages are to thrive once again we must make sure that rural communities are attractive places to live and prosper for people of all ages.”
“PARK AND THRIVE Councils urged to slash parking fees to £1 in a bid to rescue failing town centres”
“GREEDY councils were last night urged to slash high street parking rates to a token £1 to stop town centres turning into “ghost towns”.
A retail veteran said town halls should introduce the nominal charge for the first two hours of parking in a radical 25-point plan to revive the retail sector.
The charging regime could be backed by Government legislation.
Bill Grimsey – ex boss of Wickes and Iceland – also demanded the “broken” business rate regime be scrapped altogether as he blamed the eye-watering tax for the biggest wave of shop job losses since the credit crisis.
He called for business rates to be replaced by a 2 per cent sales tax that would cover “bricks and mortar” chains such as Tesco as well as online giants such as Amazon.
And he called for Theresa May to create a new Town Centre Commission to develop a 20-year strategy.
He said: “The first six months of 2018 have seen the highest rate of retail closures, administrations for more than a decade and there is no sign of a slowdown.
“Our cities, towns and communities are facing their greatest challenge in history, which is how to remain relevant, and economically and socially viable in the 21st century.”
Speaking at the Local Government Association today, the retail veteran will say the days of shops ‘anchoring’ high streets were now gone as shopping habits change.
And he called on Government to change planning laws to bring in more housing and offices.
Libraries and public spaces should be at the heart of each community, Mr Grimsey said. He added that the vacancy rate – or proportion of empty shops – in towns such as Morecambe was now 30 per cent.
Councils trousered a whopping £820 million-worth of profit from parking and fines in 2016-2017.
The Local Government Association claims the so-called parking charge surplus is spent on “essential transport projects”. But a report in April ranked Britain’s roads 27th worst in the world – below Chile, Cyprus and Oman.
Under Mr Grimsey’s plans, councils would charge a nominal £1 for the first two hours of parking in town centres – while introducing 30 minutes free parking in high streets.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6689229/council-bid-slash-parking-fees-town-centres/
EDDC’s recent external auditor facing fourth inquiry; regulator “feeble and timid”
“The accounting watchdog has launched an investigation into KPMG’s audit of Conviviality, the collapsed drinks and off-licence supplier.
It is the latest regulatory scrutiny into the Big Four firm, which is also under investigation over its audits of Carillion, Rolls-Royce and BNY Mellon.
The Financial Reporting Council has accused KPMG of an “unacceptable deterioration” in the quality of its audits and put its audits under special supervision. Last month it fined the firm £3.2 million for misconduct in its audits for Quindell, the insurance technology company. Pressure is increasing on KPMG and its competitors PWC, Deloitte and EY. Carillion and BHS shone a spotlight on the firms’ roles as both auditors and consultants to companies.
Conviviality, owner of the Bargain Booze and Wine Rack chains, collapsed into administration in April. It had been valued at more than £500 million in March but fell from grace after admitting that it had made an error in its forecasting and had found a £30 million tax bill due by the end of the month. It had 4,000 employees and 760 stores. Almost 2,000 jobs were saved when C&C acquired the wholesale business from the administrator. Bestway bought the retail business. The FRC is looking at financial statements for Conviviality in the year to the end of April 2017.
A spokesman for KPMG said: “We believe we conducted our audit appropriately. As reported by the company, it experienced margin weakness at the start of 2018 and also a significant payment to HMRC which had not been included within its short-term cash-flow projections, creating a short-term funding requirement.”
The FRC said that it would also investigate a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales over the preparation and approval of Conviviality’s financial statements but did not name the individual.
This investigation comes as the FRC, the ICAEW, and the industry-backed Audit Quality Forum prepare to launch a government-backed review that will consider the effectiveness of the existing model for auditing. They are looking for an independent business leader to lead the review.
Bill Michael, who took over as head of KPMG UK in September, supports a review. “The profession needs to be re-evaluated, otherwise we run the risk of eroding trust,” he told The Times . “We can’t have a profession that isn’t trusted. It has consequences for society and the capital markets. You only need one bad apple to lose trust in the system.”
KPMG UK employs 15,000 partners and staff, 3,600 of whom work in its audit practice. Its tax consulting, deal advisory, management and risk consulting practices have grown in recent years and now employ about 7,500 staff.
The FRC is the subject of a parliament-led review which is expected to overhaul how the FRC works and shake up the accountancy profession. MPs looking at Carillion’s collapse accused regulators of being “feeble and timid”.”
Source: Times (pay wall)
“A market-led school system has put finances before the needs of pupils’ “
“The economic and regulatory incentives facing state schools in England are increasingly in tension with an inclusive, broad and balanced education for pupils.
Since 2010 the government has used the language of a “self-improving school-led system” to characterise its reforms, arguing that these are “moving control to the frontline”. Our research shows that this is a partial and idealised account: while some higher-performing schools are benefiting, the system as a whole is becoming more fragmented and less equitable.
Schools have been strongly encouraged (and sometimes forced) to become academies, which are independent of local government, on the premise that they will be freed from red tape.
Yet schools and academies have faced greater regulation through national accountability, which has become more punitive. One bad Ofsted report and a school can be removed from its local governing body and handed to a multi-academy trust (MAT) – after which the school ceases to exist as a legal entity.
Fear of such a takeover and the wider consequences of being downgraded by Ofsted has led many schools to focus relentlessly on national test outcomes, to constrain teacher judgment and to narrow their curriculum. These pressures have combined with a chaotic process of centralisation. Attempting to manage thousands of academies directly from Whitehall, the government has created new regional commissioner roles, but their work can be in tension with both Ofsted and local authorities. This has left schools with minimal support as they navigate an endless churn of new policies.
Schools have also faced stronger incentives to compete for students and the funding that is linked to them. New “providers” have been encouraged to run academies and free schools on the premise they will pressure existing schools to improve. Yet school leaders can feel obliged to put the market position of their school above all else, even if this means making decisions that contradict their professional values.
We found that the school system has become more socially stratified since 2010, with schools judged by Ofsted to be “outstanding” admitting fewer children eligible for free school meals, while schools judged “requires improvement” or “inadequate” have higher concentrations of these children than previously……”
“Council cuts are putting the vulnerable at risk, Tory peer says”
“LGA chief says austerity could damage local authorities ‘beyond recognition’
Local authorities have reached the point where relentless financial cutbacks are putting the wellbeing of vulnerable adults and children at risk, the Conservative leader of the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned.
The Tory peer Lord Porter said that after eight years of austerity during which £16bn has been stripped from municipal budgets in England, councils risked being “damaged beyond recognition” and communities depleted of vital services.
An £8bn black hole in council budgets would open up by 2023 unless ministers stepped in to close the gap between spiralling demand for adult and children’s social care services and shrinking town hall incomes, he said.
“We’ve reached a point where councils will no longer be able to support our residents as they expect, including our most vulnerable,” Porter added.
As well as problems coping with demand for services for elderly and disabled adults, the LGA says councils are struggling with an explosion in the number of children in care, and a rising bill for 80,000 homeless families placed in temporary housing.
An LGA briefing on the prospects for local government states: “The failure to properly fund these services puts the wellbeing of some of the most vulnerable residents at risk, and this cannot go on.”
Porter’s intervention, ahead of the LGA annual conference, which opens in Birmingham on Tuesday, reflects councils’ increasing concern about the precariousness of local authority finances, and frustration that ministers are ignoring the escalating crisis in social care.
While the NHS last month received a five-year £20bn cash injection, the government’s plans to overhaul the funding of adult social care services, originally due in a green paper before the summer, were delayed until the autumn. Council bosses have warned that in many areas these services are on the verge of collapse.
The fragility of many individual councils’ finances has increased speculation that more local authorities could follow Northamptonshire county council into bankruptcy. In May, Tory-controlled Somerset called for an overhaul of council funding after it was warned by auditors it could go bust.
Council leaders are also worried about the political consequences of having to sacrifice popular local services such as libraries, Sure Start centres, parks and leisure centres to divert funds into core services such as social care.
Bus services in ‘crisis’ as councils cut funding, campaigners warn
Porter said: “Councils now spend less on early intervention, support for the voluntary sector has been reduced, rural bus services have been scaled back, libraries have been closed and other services have also taken a hit. More and more councils are struggling to balance their books and others are considering whether they have the funding to even deliver their statutory requirements.
“If the government allows the funding gap facing councils and local services to reach almost £8bn by the middle of the next decade, then our councils and local services will be damaged beyond recognition.”
The LGA is calling for councils’ funding problems to be addressed through a government spending review expected in spring 2019, which is likely to set out public services funding plans over the four years to 2023.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “We recognise the pressures councils are facing, so we are working with local government to develop a funding system for the future. Over the next two years, we are providing councils with £90.7bn to help them meet the needs of their residents. On top of this, we are giving them the power to retain more of the income they get from business rates so they can use it to drive further growth in their area.”
Labour’s Andrew Gwynne, the shadow communities and local government secretary, said: “This new analysis is a damning verdict on eight years of Tory austerity. Our public services are straining at the seams, whilst the government continues to cut funding.”
Greendale Business Park Tree Order – East Devon Alliance Councillor Geoff Jung instrumental in getting it passed
Well done, East Devon Alliance Councillor Jung! Others with business parks earmarked for their areas should take note! The tree order for the area around Greendale Business Park has been out for consultation and is now agreed and signed off. Let’s hope the owners of Greendale have the map – and understand it.
“Within the proposal for the 2009 extension to the business park back in 2009 there was an “agreed” landscaping proposal. However, agreements to maintain the landscaping proposals in a planning agreement do not generally extend beyond the agreed time of 5 years to maintain or replace the landscaping trees and shrubs in their first few years of growth.
Following many unauthorised tree and landscaping removals by the owners of Greendale Business Park, it was considered appropriate to instigate a review of all the trees existing surrounding the park and to include all the agreed landscaping.
The Local Authority (EDDC) following this review considered that the most appropriate way to stop further encroachment on the agreed landscape proposals would be to cover the whole area with a Tree Preservation Order.
Tree Preservation Order Proposal
The Tree Preservation Order (TPO) has been made to protect the significant individual trees and areas of newly created woodland. The TPO protects a total of 47 ‘Individual’ trees, 19 ‘Groups’ of trees, 3 ‘Areas’ of land and 17 ‘Woodland’ areas. The TPO collectively protects thousands of trees growing on and around the Greendale Business Park.
Extent of Tree Preservation Order 18/0002/TPO marked in green.
Most the trees within the TPO are contained within the landscape planting areas that were approved under the historic planning consent for the expansion of the business park (09/1195/MOUT). The extent of the business park is defined further within the adopted East Devon adopted Local plan 2013 – 2031.
Collectively the trees add to the rural character of the surrounding landscape. With the individual mature trees, their amenity is already significant. The landscape planting areas, will significantly increase in their amenity value, as the tree increase in size and develop into areas of woodland.
The protected trees and woodland areas are important in reducing the visual impact of the business park on the surrounding area and help maintain the rural character of the wider area.
Tree Preservation Order consultations
Three letters have been received requesting modifications to the provisional TPO, these modifications can be summarised as follows:
• Woodland, W2 – Request the removal of an area of land on the north-eastern corner of the woodland, as it does not contain any trees (Figure 2).
• Woodland, W8 – Request the removal the most southern end of the woodland as it is sandwiched between industrial units, is in places in contact with the buildings causing maintenance problems and it is of limited public amenity.
Area of Woodland (W2) showing absence of trees
What will this Tree Order mean?
No one can cut down, top, lop, uproot, wilfully damage or destroy a tree or cause or permit the cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, wilful damage or wilful destruction of any tree except with the written consent of the Local Authority.
This order does not restrict the management of these trees and woodland areas but if any work was to be carried out the landowner is now required to seek permission from the Local Authority.
Comment from the District Councillor
Councillor Geoff Jung (EDA Independent Councillor for Raleigh Ward which includes Greendale Business Park)
I really appreciate the work that the officers have done on this Tree Order that will in effect protect the trees and woodland in whole area surrounding the Business Park and the Rural Village of Woodbury Salterton.
I know that the Woodbury Salterton Residents Association and Woodbury Parish Council have been must concerned with industrial encroachment into the countryside within the area and important landscaping being removed prior to any planning approvals.
This TPO (Tree Preservation Order) and the shortly to be approved EDDC village development plan with its designated employment line around the business park will provide better certainty and protection to the rural landscape of Woodbury Salterton.”
Affordable housing: Housing Minister promises to, er, look into things!!!
Owl says: Since when did “addressing issues” and “looking into measures” ever count for ANYTHING? More meaningless claptrap.
“In his first major speech as housing, communities and local government secretary today, Brokenshire said communities felt let down when developers reneged on pledges to build essential local infrastructure or affordable housing.
“We’re addressing these issues head on through our consultation into reforming developer contributions,” he said in his speech to think-tank Policy Exchange.
“These will ensure that developers are left in no doubt about what’s expected of them. Local authorities will hold them to account.” …
… Brokenshire added that, in future, government would require much more transparency from developers on the pace and timing of delivery. “We’re currently looking at measures to make this reporting a compulsory requirement.”
“Democracy Week” …. why it is undemocratic
Apparently, it’s “Democracy Week” …. Owl finds it hard to believe.
Here are 4 reasons from the Electoral Reform Society why it is anything but:
1. The first-past-the-post system of voting.
2. Inequality in the minimum voting age in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
3. “A House of Cronies” aka the gerrymandered House of Lords.
4. The political gender gap.
For more information, see:
Hinkley privatised nuclear waste clean up contract cancelled and nationalised
“The UK government has been forced to take a multibillion-pound nuclear cleanup contract back into public ownership, after a botched tender to the private sector landed the taxpayer with a £122m bill.
The government will take over the decommissioning of Britain’s 12 Magnox sites, including the former nuclear power stations at Dungeness in Kent and Hinkley Point in Somerset.
The move is a response to the fallout from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) awarding a 14-year deal to the international consortium Cavendish Fluor Partnership in 2014.
Last year the government settled with two US companies that lost out on the £6.2bn contract and brought a legal challenge over the tender process.
Ministers terminated the contract early, leading to speculation over whether it would be put out to tender again to the private sector or brought back into public hands.
David Peattie, the NDA’s chief executive, told staff he understood they had faced uncertainty in recent months, as he confirmed that the private company Magnox Ltd would become a subsidiary of the NDA on 1 September. He said the change would result in “more efficient decommissioning”.
A source close to the process said: “The reason that this has been done is to remove some of the commercial complications and the large fees paid to contractors. This will ensure more money is spent directly on cleaning up these sites.”
Unions said they wanted talks with the new management regime for assurances over pay and terms.
Peter McIntosh, the Unite union’s acting national officer for energy, said: “This decision is long overdue. The 2014 contract should not have been awarded to any organisation.”
He added: “We need to ensure the taxpayer gets value for money through the transfer of the business and it is not paid for at the expense of the workforce.”
Whitehall’s spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), has strongly criticised the NDA and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy over the handling and oversight of the nuclear cleanup contract, one of the government’s biggest ever.
A review of the failings that led to the bungled process, written by the former National Grid boss Steve Holliday, is due to be published later this year.
Bringing the Magnox work back into the public sector means that about 85% of Britain’s nuclear cleanup work is in public hands, after the NDA’s takeover of the Sellafield storage and reprocessing site in 2016.
The PAC last week announced an inquiry into the NDA’s work at Sellafield, which is forecast to be £913m over budget and faces potential delays.
Magnox Ltd looks after 10 former Magnox power stations and two nuclear research sites.”
If Devon and Cornwall police merge with Dorset, who would make the best Police and Crime Commissioner?
“Martyn Underhill is the police and crime commissioner for the Dorset Police force area.
Martyn is a retired Detective Chief Inspector who served with both the Metropolitan and Sussex Police forces. He is representing and working closely with the people of Dorset to further improve policing and community safety.”
https://www.police.uk/dorset/pcc/
The same site contains no personal information about Devon and Cornwall PCC Alison Hernandez, a career Tory local politician, but the Devon site says:
“Prior to my election I predominantly worked in public service except for a four year stint running my own management consultancy, working internationally helping companies with business improvement, particularly in the housing and transport industry.
Prior to my election I predominantly worked in public service except for a four year stint running my own management consultancy, working internationally helping companies with business improvement, particularly in the housing and transport industry.”
It then goes on to talk about how wonderful she was as a Torbay councillor and lists her hobbies as Netflix and sleeping.
http://www.devonandcornwall-pcc.gov.uk/about-us/the-police-and-crime-commissioner/about-the-pcc/
“NHS chief reveals 18,000 people have been stuck in hospitals for more than three WEEKS because there are no care services in their community”
… “Challenged on whether this meant the Government would separately have to fund social care, Mr Stevens said that was the ‘obvious implication’.
Chancellor Philip Hammond has warned the NHS package means there is no money left for other priorities. …”
“More than 100 managers join Persimmon’s bonus gravy train with a £300m windfall (and, yes, most of them are men)”
Not saying this is the same, but don’t a lot of companies take out money just before they crash …BHS, Carillion …
And is this a proper time?
https://eastdevonwatch.org/2018/06/29/new-facebook-page-avoidpersimmonhomes/
“A group of 130 bosses at housebuilder Persimmon are set to share a £300 million bonus bonanza in the biggest windfall in the history of the industry.
The unprecedented payout is part of a notorious bonus scheme that is delivering £75 million to the chief executive Jeff Fairburn.
Tomorrow’s payday will hand 130 senior managers an average of £2.3 million each. The handout is the second and largest part of an incentive scheme, that will take the total for managers below the board level to £500 million.
They previously shared in a £200 million payout over Christmas which was overshadowed by the storm over Fairburn’s £50 million. …”
“Coalition education reforms ‘fuelled inequality in schools’ “
“Sweeping education reforms appear to be fuelling inequality in the schools system, according to a major analysis that shows high-performing and improving schools are accepting fewer children from poor backgrounds.
In a stark assessment of the impact of controversial measures introduced since 2010, the study warns that an original pledge to set schools free and give them more power has actually led to a system that is causing high levels of stress among teachers.
It finds the system is now pushing schools and their heads to prioritise “the interests of the school over the interests of groups of, usually more vulnerable, children”. Some schools were found to be engaged in “aggressive marketing campaigns and ‘cream skimming’ aimed at recruiting particular types of students”. …
… It warns that the system in which the involvement of councils has been stripped back, with fellow schools encouraged to help their struggling counterparts, is actually seeing the creation of a market for advice – with schools charging for their expertise on how to improve.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Thanks to our reforms and the hard work of teachers, the vast majority of pupils are in a good or outstanding school, 1.9 million more than in 2010, and an increase from 66% to 86% over that time.
“And thanks to our reforms schools that aren’t delivering for young people are being turned around, with 65 per cent of schools made into a sponsored academy seeing improvement from inadequate to good or outstanding. But there is always more to do, which is why we are investing £23bn by 2020 to create more good school places and we are targeting £72m at the areas that need it most to help improve prospects and opportunities for some of the most disadvantaged young people.”
The findings form part of a state-of-the-nation study of England’s education system, drawn up by academics at the UCL Institute of Education over four years, which will be published on Tuesday. It includes the examination of Ofsted data over a decade, a statistical analysis of the impact of multi-academy trusts (MATs), 47 detailed school case studies and a survey of almost 700 school leaders.
The reforms were largely implemented under the coalition government and championed by Michael Gove as education secretary. A plan to force all English schools to become academies was abandoned in 2016 after a backlash among Tory MPs.
The study concludes that any new autonomy handed to schools had been “more than balanced” by testing and inspections that had ensured the state remains in control from a distance. The drive to turn schools into academies, the key part of reforms since 2010, is described as “uneven and often fraught”.
“Public sector bosses are on a ‘gilded staircase’ of huge pay rises they do not deserve, MPs warn”
“Public sector bosses are on a “gilded staircase” of huge pay rises they do not deserve, the chair of the public accounts committee has warned.
Labour MP Meg Hillier has written a damning statement about the “lack of oversight” that allows parts of the public sector to inflate its executives’ salaries – at the same time as cutting staff.
She highlighted the high pay received by some heads of academy schools, which her committee has been investigating.
“The lack of oversight is worrying,” Ms Hillier said in her annual report, adding: “The rapid expansion of academies and free schools raises questions about oversight of how these new schools are managed and how they are spending their budgets. …”
More free cash machines in Parliament than in some towns
There Are More Free Cash Machines In Parliament Than On Some UK High Streets, MP Says:
“… in Parliament there are two free-to-use machines in one corridor and a further four just a couple of minutes’ walk away.
Which?’s list of areas with only fee-taking ATMs includes high streets in Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness, Birmingham, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Hull, Bristol, York, Coventry, Milton Keynes, London, Brighton, Belfast, Cardiff and Swansea.”
and
“300 Cash Machines Are Disappearing Every Month In The UK”
Two-thirds of (mainly Tory) county councils expect to be bankrupt by 2020
“… New research this week by the County Councils Network (CCN) shows that England’s largest, mainly Conservative-led, councils face a combined funding pressure of £3.2bn over the next two years; due to projected demand for services, inflation, and government cuts.
Even more worryingly, our research reveals that faced with these funding pressures, council leaders’ confidence in delivering balanced budgets – a legal requirement of councils – is dramatically falling.
Without a cash injection over the next two years, just one-third of respondents are confident of balancing their books in 2020.
Clearly, any scenario that sees a council unable to balance its budget in 2020 may seem a long way off, but it does not paint a reassuring picture for local councils nor bode well for the future of local services
In the short term, what does this all mean for local residents?
Essentially, the worst is yet to come in reductions to local services if county authorities are to balance their books over the next two years with no additional help from government.
The £3.2bn funding black hole will be filled, but substantial cutbacks will have to be made to residents’ local services.
With county authorities seeing their core government support grant reduced by 92 per cent by 2020, the room for manoeuvre is becoming increasingly small for our councils.
Having made savings in back-office, less visible, or non-essential services, our member councils tell us that they will have little choice but to now cut frontline services substantially.
Last month, our research pointed out that due to unavoidable reductions in home to school travel, some 20,000 less pupils receive free travel to local schools.
This week’s budget survey shows more of this is on the way, with at least £466m in savings being made to frontline areas – think adult social care, children’s social services, pothole filling, and bus services.
At the same time, they will have to introduce new charges for services, or significantly raise council tax to make up the shortfall.
While Liz Truss may not want ministers to make the case for extra cash now, a strong but considered voice round the cabinet table for local government – in the form of James Brokenshire – is desperately needed.
Counties want to work with government in a proactive, and constructive way; supporting the new communities secretary in his case to the Treasury for more resources for councils. Otherwise, we might see drastic changes to our local services over the next few years.”
East Devon Watch 