A public meeting is being arranged on this urgent matter to discuss the situation in Ottery St Mary on 7 October – more details to follow.
In the meantime MP for the Ottery and Sidmouth area, Hugo Swire, has apparently said this is “not the time for whipping up excitement” and, on the bright side, means more time and space for clinics:
As yet there seems to be no comment from the area’s other MP, Neil Parish (cuts at Axminster Hospital).
Axminster and Ottery St Mary hospitals are set to lose all their beds and Sidmouth hospital will lose its minor injuries unit under the cost-cutting proposals.
12 weeks consultation on these plans start today.
Full Report here:
http://www.newdevonccg.nhs.uk/get-involved/get-involved/community-services/101039
The East Devon section is here:
http://www.newdevonccg.nhs.uk/file/?rid=105273&download=true
Just one problem: none of the recommendations (which should also include doing nothing as a costed option) have ANY numbers attached to them. So, we don’t know what things cost now, we don’t know what the new recommendations will cost, so there is no idea what savings, if any, may be made.
But no doubt our District Council will come to our aid …..
Why? Well, because the computerisation might go wrong and “stakeholders” would worry about that? Who is/are these stakeholders: developers and the housing market!
Now, bear in mind when reading the extract below, that East Devon District Council is currently going ahead with a project to merge its IT systems with those of Plymouth and hasn’t the slightest worry that anything may go wrong!
“Of particular concern to us is the impact upon the operation of the property market if there are problems with the IT system being developed to support the centralised local land charges register and the transfer of data from local authorities.”
Cllr Clarke insisted that the network was not seeking the minister’s intervention for reasons of self-interest because local authorities currently maintained local land charges registers.
Instead, he said, “it is because we believe the damage that could be caused to the operation of the housing market and thus to the national economy is so substantial should there be technical problems with an as yet untried and untested IT system that the risk is too great to be acceptable.
“The DCN believes it would be failing in its public duty if it did not draw to your personal attention the consequences that could arise if technical problems occur. If you are not persuaded that the proposals should be set aside then we would urge you to at least delay implementation until you are satisfied that all technical issues have been resolved such that there will be no adverse consequences for the smooth operation of the housing market.”
Should we be calling the Minister’s attention to the EDDC/Plymouth merger for the same reasons?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-29205950
Skypark starts to make sense but only in strategic terms, not in terms of residents needs.
What is quite shocking is that, if mergers save so much money, why was the extra tier created in the first place.
One suspects the word “localism” would have been bandied about in the 70s when it was happening, but now the buzz phrase = “economic growth and efficiency” to explain why mergers are needed.
One might then conclude that you can’t have localism AND economic growth and efficiency!
Two comments on the 330% increase in car parking fees in Eastern Sidmouth have queried: whose idea was this to begin with, which councillors had input into it and where is the paper trail? Add to that: why only Sidmouth and not similar car parks elsewhere in the district?
We know from correspondents that Councillors Hughes and Newth say they have no knowledge of the matter.
So – was it an officer (who parks for free at Knowle)? A councillor who doesn’t live in Sidmouth? A councillor who does live in Sidmouth? Or, as seems most likely, the secret (no published agendas, no public minutes) Asset Management Group***? Or maybe an “embedded”officer? The CEO?
Over to you …
***
It is impossible to work out who is on the Asset Management Group on the EDDC website. However, trawling through the list of councillors, it appears to be:
Bob Buxton – Honiton
David Cox – Ottery
Paul Diviani – Yarcombe
Graham Godbeer – Coly Valley
Andrew Moulding – Axminster (? Chairman)
Ian Thomas Trinity (Axmouth)
Maybe those pursuing EDDC’s lack of transparency might want to ask for OUR Asset Management Forum’s minutes, have the request refused and ask the Information Commissioner to take a look and decide …..
But will it be enough for Sidmouth residents now facing a 330% increase in their parking charges?
It isn’t a “saving” when Cornwall Council doesn’t pay, leaving the parishes to do it. Towns and parishes don’t have some of the necessary backup (admin services, health and safety officers, machinery for cutting verges,etc) so it might actually lead to increases in parish precepts which will be added to council taxes anyway.
But, the County Council will be able to claim ITS savings so that’s ok isn’t it:
Interesting idea:
Now all we need is district council powers devolved to clusters of parishes and we have cracked it.
Oh, wait, that’s what Devon County Council wanted to do when it wanted to unitise but EDDC spent more than £250,000 to try to persuade us not to do it. And one of the first things the new government did was to cancel the project – now it’s flavour of the month!
Residents parking fees to rise 330% at Sidmouth’s York Street Residents Car Park (an area of small, terraced houses and many double yellow lines). Parking permit costs will rise to £1,800 per year or buy a three year permit for £5,400 and protect yourself against increased prices in years 2 and 3. The 58 bays will net EDDC a cool £100,000 a year. 58 lost votes there then!
And EDDC’s response? “[Our] assets need to be managed to the best possible effect. These spaces are in high demand and it therefore follows that the council should be acheiving a market rate”.
No such achievement of the market rate at the Knowle car park, where officers and councillors continue to enjoy free parking. And let us not forget they are similarly absolved of parking fees when out and about on “council business”.
Well, someone has to pay for the Skypark shag pile ….
http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/aug/16/green-spaces-park-local-tax-householders-councils
Oddly, it doesn’t suggest you should pay LESS if you live next a factory!
A widely-reported press release from Hugo Swire has met with some scepticism from at least one local newspaper:
Hard-working people in Sidmouth and across East Devon have helped to get the national economy growing again, local MP Hugo Swire has said.
Mr Swire claimed the latest figures show the British economy is now above its pre-crisis peak and is moving in the right direction again.
And welcoming the statistics, the East Devon MP paid tribute to those in Sidmouth and around his constituency in helping to boost growth.
Mr Swire heralded a “major milestone” in the long-term economic plan and pledged to deliver a prosperous future for local people.
He said: “Thanks to the hard work of people in East Devon and across Britain, the economy is now above its pre-crisis peak – a major milestone in the Conservatives’ long-term economic plan.
“It means more businesses creating more jobs so families can look forward to a brighter, more secure future.”
The MP said people in East Devon had suffered particularly during the financial crisis.
But claimed the latest figures showed that Sidmouth families could now look forward to the security of a regular pay packet and peace of mind for the future.
He added: “There is still a long way to go. The recession was one of the deepest of any major economy and cost Britain six years, hitting people in East Devon hard.
“Now we owe it to hardworking taxpayers not to repeat the mistakes of the past and instead to stick with the plan that is delivering economic security and a brighter future for all.”
Source: http://www.viewfrompublishing.co.uk/news_view/33167/12/1/sidmouth-local-people-are-boosting-national
The redoubtable councillor Eileen Wragg – in so much trouble at EDDC because she has the courage of her convictions – has spoken about yet another example of waste in local government:
EDDC’s Asset Management Group meets in secret (of course) – wonder how many buildings EDDC has sitting empty or not being used appropriately? We may never know.
This could affect many councils all over the country including Devon:
As we have already reported earlier there are problems with the DCC analyses that are being used to inform decisions on Library cuts.
The main problem with these data is double counting – for example the population of Colyton is included in the population figure for Seaton, even though Colyton has its own library. Similarly Exmouth includes Budleigh Salterton; Cullompton includes Uffculme etc. This makes a nonsense on any rankings based on loans per head of Library “catchment” areas, or population without adjustment. There are also other problems in the way in which these data are then analysed to produce rankings.
DCC proposes to divide Devon libraries into two groups: Devon Centres, whose costs will be cut by 10 – 25 per cent, and community-run libraries, whose costs will be cut by 50 per cent. So here is an interesting alternative analysis to that conducted by DCC.
The proposed community-run libraries have such small costs that the only saving will be staff costs and so those libraries will have to be run by volunteers – or be closed.
The Axminster analysis of data indicates that, instead of super libraries, DCC should be looking to save money through efficiency. A comprehensive and more equitable spread of funding would also create a library service more appropriate for the rural communities of Devon.
Under the Public Libraries and Museums Act of 1964, the council has a legal obligation to provide an efficient library service. If the consultation was really about saving money then DCC should be looking at which libraries are the most cost efficient. Efficiency can be measured by the net cost per issue. On this measure small libraries are amongst the most cost effective in terms of net cost per book issued (direct costs minus revenues).
Axminster at £0.75 per issue tops the list. Other particularly cost effective libraries include Bovey Tracey, Ottery St Mary, Braunton and Budleigh Salterton and all are on the list to be community-run. Four proposed Devon Centre, super libraries, are amongst the least ten cost efficient libraries with cost per book issued at £2.13 for Exeter. It is clear that the consultation has not yet looked at which libraries are performing well and efficiently.
If the policy was really about saving money in Devon Library Services, massive savings could be made by getting inefficient libraries to perform at the same level of efficiency as those at the top such as Axminster.
From the data provided by DCC in the consultation documents, together with Freedom of Information data on Exeter, it is known that net direct costs per year are £4.3 million and that issues are 2.8 million and that at Axminster it costs 75p per issue.
If all issues cost the same as Axminster’s 75p, then issues would be £2.1 million. That would save £2.2 million. If the rest of Devon was as efficient as Axminster, DCC would save £2.2 million.
County Councillor Andrew Moulding will be putting Axminster’s figures to DCC, see:
http://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/new_figures_boost_fight_to_save_axminster_library_1_3610759
The figures behind the Axminster analysis can be found on a spread sheet on the “Support for Axminster Library” Facebook page and is intended as a public resource.
The spread sheet attempts to remove bias using data from DCC “Tough Choices” https://new.devon.gov.uk/libraryreview/ website for the libraries in Devon on town profiles, opening hours and how these have changed over the past three years, costs, and put them on an equal footing using DCC estimates of town and ward populations.
DCC consultation continues until July 17.
