Rishi Sunak’s government is expected to accept most of a proposed new code of conduct for MPs after the Owen Paterson scandal but has rejected the idea that ministers should declare more details about free hospitality from lobbyists and companies.

Rowena Mason www.theguardian.com 

MPs will debate the proposals put forward by the standards committee on Monday, with Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons, likely to accept 18 of the 20 recommendations. Key measures include tightening the rules on lobbying to stop MPs providing paid parliamentary advice, consultancy or strategy.

However, in a move that could trigger another standards row, the government is holding out against a proposal to ask ministers to register with parliament any hospitality provided by third parties worth more than £300 within 28 days, as is required for other MPs.

Instead, they are allowed to make transparency declarations through their departments, without citing a value for hospitality received, and these are often infrequent, delayed and patchy. It is thought Mordaunt may make some alternative proposals to improve their speed and accuracy.

The government is also not accepting the idea of adding a description to the seven principles of public life saying that MPs and other public servants should exemplify non-discriminatory attitudes in their behaviour, which ministers oppose on free speech grounds.

Sunak has promised a more ethical government than under Boris Johnson, but he has so far failed to find a candidate to be the new independent adviser on ministerial interests. This means the disclosure of financial interests of new cabinet ministers is already likely to be delayed from its six-monthly publication.

However, the new administration appears to be willing to accept more proposals than Liz Truss’s government, which issued its response in September rejecting more changes. It is understood the government plans to write to all MPs on Monday setting out its position before the debate.

Chris Bryant, the chair of the Commons standards committee, said it was “bonkers” that the government was refusing tougher disclosure standards for ministers. “It must surely be in the public interest that all MPs are treated equally and that all financial interests are accessible in a timely fashion and in a single place online,” he said.

“The commissioner for standards, the Institute for Government and the 1922 Committee all agree. But oh no, the government is holding out. Penny Mordaunt promises that she will do ‘something’ about this as leader of the house ‘by next summer’. But that won’t include ending the ministerial exemption as she insists on treating ministers differently.”

He added: “It perplexes me that the government thinks it can afford another row over parliamentary standards. I don’t think that is in parliament’s interests, let alone the government’s. Traditionally, the rules of the house are not a partisan matter and MPs are meant to be able to vote freely with their conscience on house business.”

He said that any attempt to whip the Commons on an MPs’ standards matter would “feel like Owen Paterson all over again and voters may conclude that the government has learned nothing at all. Far better to have an unanimous decision by the whole house without a vote to tighten the rules and put our house in order.”

The government’s support for most of the rest of the code means the changes are likely to go ahead on a cross-party basis. This will mean MPs will be banned from providing paid advice as a parliamentary consultant, strategist or adviser – although it stops short of time or earnings limits on second jobs.

However, if they do have a second job, MPs will now have contracts that specify they cannot lobby ministers or officials on behalf of their employer.

A government spokesperson said: “We have worked closely with the standards committee to strengthen our parliamentary standards and enhance our code of conduct. This is important ongoing work and necessary for public trust in democracy.

“We support 18 of the 20 committee recommendations, but this is ultimately for the house to decide.

“With regard to parity on ministerial and parliamentary interests our objectives to achieve parity on the timing of declarations align with the committees. However we do not agree that parliamentary resource, which is there to help the MP represent their constituents, should be used to administer what is a government responsibility, nor that separation of powers and responsibilities should be blurred. We think this has serious negative implications for all MPs. We think that would be unfair to MPs who are ministers or trade envoys.”

Powerful investors, including foreign wealth funds, are trying to derail plans to prevent sewage-dumping water firms from dishing out billions of pounds in dividends. 

Luke Barr www.dailymail.co.uk 

Regulator Ofwat wants firms which illegally dump tons of waste into our rivers and seas to stop funnelling huge sums to their shareholders. Instead, the watchdog believes they should use the cash to fix the UK’s antiquated water systems. In addition to despoiling waterways, firms have also been criticised for hosepipe bans after a heatwave left water supplies dwindling. 

Analysis by The Mail on Sunday revealed water companies had already paid their backers nearly £3billion in dividends in the first part of this year alone. 

That took the total since 2010 to £20billion, benefiting investors from countries including China, Abu Dhabi and Malaysia. Critics say the cash that was siphoned into investors’ coffers should have been invested in improving Britain’s ageing water infrastructure. Ofwat wants the power to halt the vast dividends when firms fail to meet official targets. 

But its chief executive David Black told the MoS he is facing ‘strong opposition’ to the proposal. 

He said companies argue the payments are important and claim that restricting them would make the water sector ‘less attractive’ to investors. Ofwat’s latest report has found poor performance is the norm. 

Black said: ‘Too many companies are performing too poorly in too many areas.’ He took particular aim at Thames Water and Southern Water, saying: ‘They have got a combination of poor finances and really poor operational performance.’ Between them, the pair have almost £20billion worth of debt. 

Over the past three years, bosses of the UK’s biggest water firms have been paid £50million, which includes significant bonuses. ‘We think the public is very frustrated by the perception that company executives are rewarded when performance is poor,’ said Black. He wants powers to compel shareholders to invest more in infrastructure. 

Ofwat has been accused of turning a blind eye to company failures. But Black said: ‘It is very easy to criticise the regulators but ultimately it is the companies that are responsible for delivering outcomes. That’s where the focus ought to be.’

Spring bulbs and pollinator plants in their thousands have been added to Exmouth seafront in a bid to attract wildlife and insects.

Becca Gliddon eastdevonnews.co.uk 

The Beach Gardens, on Exmouth seafront, is now home to more than 2,500 herbaceous perennials and around 3,000 bulbs, that will return year after year as they have been selected to survive harsh coastal weather conditions.

The planting was carried out over five days by Exmouth in Bloom with East Devon District Council (EDDC), and the displays will make up part of the town’s Britain in Bloom UK finals entry next summer.

Councillor Geoff Jung, EDDC portfolio holder for coast, country and environment, said: “It is brilliant to again see EDDC’s Streetscene operatives and Exmouth in Bloom volunteers working in unison to improve the seafront for everyone to enjoy.

“They all work tirelessly to make our green spaces look vibrant and beautiful, as well as ensuring our local wildlife and nature can thrive.”

EDDC promises a ‘sea of colour’ in the spring when the new bulbs and plants bloom at the Beach Gardens.

Bulbs such as Alllium, Daffodils and Sicilian Honey Garlic have been planted for their tolerance to the harsh coastal environment and their benefit to wildlife.

The district council said it aims to make its gardens and open spaces ‘more environmentally friendly while looking after delicate eco-systems’.

An EDDC spokesperson said: “The extended flowering periods, blooming right through from February to October, will make the plants key in providing pollinators with a steady source of nectar and pollen, at a time when flowers are scarce.

“Seed-heads and stems will also be left over the winter as an important food source and habitat for birds and insects.”

They added: “EDDC’s Streetscene teams, along with Exmouth in Bloom volunteers, have been working hard to complete the planting designs before winter frosts arrive – putting in five long days of work.

“The scheme will be another string in the bow of Exmouth as the town prepares for the Britain in Bloom UK Finals in summer 2023.”

Jenna Corderoy www.opendemocracy.net 

The government is taking openDemocracy to court to resist having to publish its secret “lessons learnt” review of the Covid pandemic.

Chiefs at the Department of Health and Social Care only last month agreed to publish the document, following an 18-month Freedom of Information battle that ended with a disclosure order by the independent watchdog.

But we were told today that the department had lodged an appeal against the order by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). It means an information tribunal is likely to be held next year.

Layla Moran, the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus, called it a “blatant attempt by the government to gloss over its cack-handed management of the pandemic” and “an insult to the British public”.

The news coincides with the launch and publication of former health secretary Matt Hancock’s pandemic diaries as a hardback book – and the same department’s refusal to hand over his official ministerial diaries covering the same period.

openDemocracy has a strong record of winning Freedom of Information cases – our most recent being against the Cabinet Office.  

The existence of the ‘lessons learnt’ review was revealed by HuffPost UK last year. But the DHSC refused to hand it over, claiming that its release would be “likely to undermine the safe space for experts and government officials to debate live policy issues”. 

It is thought to be the work of civil servants in the DHSC conducting internal assessments of what went wrong to improve best practice.

An independent inquiry into the UK’s response to the pandemic is already under way. Officially launched in July, the inquiry will examine how well prepared the UK was for a pandemic, as well as the decisions taken by the UK government once Covid arrived.

We rely on the backing of our readers to keep going. If you think it’s important that the government release documents like this, back our work here.

Low-tech “natural” flood management such as using natural materials to slow river flow and storing flood water on meadows will play a key role in preventing future floods, according to the chief executive of the Environment Agency.

[Don’t forget the Beavers. – Owl]

Patrick Barkham www.theguardian.com 

Sixty pilot natural flood management projects have helped protect 15,000 homes and create storage for up to 1.6m cubic metres of flood water, while also helping nature recovery on 380 miles (610km) of river and on 4,000 hectares of wetlands and woodlands.

Announcing the results of the four-year natural flood management pilots, Sir James Bevan, the chief executive of the Environment Agency, said: “The warning signs of the climate crisis are stark – and sadly devastating flooding is likely to become a more familiar sight over the next century. By harnessing the power of nature alongside our traditional flood defences, we can not only help to keep communities safer, but also create wildlife havens and tackle the climate emergency.”

Natural flood management helps to slow the flow of water across the landscape via measures such as restoring meanders to canalised rivers, recreating wetlands that store flood water, and planting trees and hedges by rivers that also help absorb water.

The £15m pilot projects included Cumbrian schemes whereby farmers removed compaction in their soils to reduce water runoff, more than 100 “leaky” wooden barriers built by the Forestry Commission on streams, and a drystone wall redesigned so that it could hold water.

In Warwickshire, the community-led Shipston Area Flood Action Group built 700 leaky barriers and ponds to slow the flow of water on the River Stour during heavy rainfall, reducing the flood risk to 17 villages and towns.

In Sutton, Greater London, sustainable urban drainage systems have been installed in six schools. These systems capture rainwater runoff from surfaces like roofs, roads and pavements, preventing the drainage network from becoming overwhelmed and filtering out contaminants before the water enters drains and ultimately flows into a river.

This scheme, including planters and rain gardens built on playgrounds, is now preventing more than four hectares of hard surfaces sending rainwater into the River Wandle, helping reduce pollution in this chalk stream.

Environment minister Rebecca Pow said: “We know that flooding can have a devastating impact on people’s lives, homes and livelihoods. That is why we are investing a record £5.2bn in flood and coastal defences to ensure more communities are better prepared – and nature-based solutions are a key component of this.

“The additional benefits of natural flood management for people and wildlife are vast – helping us reach our ambitious net zero targets, providing vital new habitats and creating areas of natural beauty for people to enjoy for generations to come.”

Each natural flood management scheme in the pilot cost an average of £250,000 – far less than conventional “hard” engineering such as flood walls. “That’s on a completely different scale to most flood projects,” said Julie Foley, the director of flood risk strategy at the Environment Agency. “For the benefits, given they are so wide-ranging, that’s incredibly good value for money.”

Foley confirmed that the Environment Agency would now spend more of the £5.2bn earmarked for flood management between 2021 and 2027 on “mainstreaming” natural flood management, with a target of doubling the schemes it supports.

There were 85 partners involved in the pilot, including the Rivers Trust, Wildlife Trusts, local authorities, universities and local businesses.

The pilot project report found that involving landowners and land managers was crucial because they are responsible for maintaining the natural defences in the future.

The government’s environmental land management schemes are set to include payments to help landowners provide the “public good” of flood alleviation via such natural solutions.

Sarah Fowler, the chief executive of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, one of the pilot partners, said: “Wetlands help us mitigate and adapt to the consequences of climate change, which is why WWT is calling for the restoration and creation of 100,00 hectares of wetlands in the UK.

“This report demonstrates the power of nature, and wetlands in particular, to tackle flooding. I look forward to WWT working with the Environment Agency, using our expertise in wetland science and wetland delivery, to build natural flood management solutions at scale to manage current and future flood risk.”

Devon families with children who receive free school meals are being given a £45 supermarket voucher to help buy food over the Christmas holidays. Devon County Council (DCC) says the lump sum also covers February half-term next year.

Anita Merritt www.devonlive.com 

The council has confirmed there has been a significant rise in the number of children from low-income families in receipt of free school meals a year with numbers now almost reaching 20,000 across Devon. Before the end of the current school term, each eligible child will automatically be sent a £45 supermarket voucher to replace the meals they would have had at school during the day.

It’s the equivalent of £15 per child per week of the two school holidays during the two-week Christmas break and the half-term in February. DCC says it is being distributed in one lump sum now to allow families some flexibility on how they spend the vouchers and try to help with the additional pressure the festive period puts on household budgets.

Councillor Roger Croad, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for communities said: “With the cost of living crisis starting to bite, more families in Devon are eligible for free school meals for their children than ever before, with numbers continuing to soar to the highest levels on record. Around a further 1,000 children have become eligible for free school meals over the last year, rising to a total of approximately 19,500 pupils.

“It’s been a tough few years for some people, particularly financially with incomes changing suddenly as businesses struggle to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Food and energy prices have risen dramatically in the last few months and household budgets are stretched.

“Many people are finding it especially difficult now as we move into colder winter months, and the financial challenges faced by some families can be intensified during the school holiday because of increased costs such as food and reduced incomes due to childcare. We are concerned that some are being forced to make some very difficult decisions to put food on the table or heat their home.

“Thankfully the government’s decision to continue its household support fund, for now, means we’ve been able to buy nearly £900,000 worth of supermarket vouchers to support these families during the Christmas and February half-term holidays so their children don’t go hungry. We are continuing to work with our local government, voluntary and community sector partners to support people in Devon experiencing hardship and make sure we identify those who are struggling so we can make sure they get the help they need.”

For more details about the vouchers please visit freeschoolmeals@devon.gov.uk or call 0345 155 1019.

Hot air from Johnson a year ago. Gove takes us back to the future- Owl

Boris Jonson Cop26 Nov 2021 (Extract)

“while a red digital clock ticks down remorselessly to a detonation that will end human life as we know it

and we are in roughly the same position, my fellow global leaders, as James Bond today

except that the tragedy is that this is not a movie, and the doomsday device is real

and the clock is ticking to the furious rhythm of hundreds of billions of pistons and turbines and furnaces and engines

with which we are pumping carbon into the air faster and faster- record outputs

and quilting the earth in an invisible and suffocating blanket of CO2

raising the temperature of the planet with a speed and an abruptness that is entirely manmade

and we know what the scientists tell us and we have learned not to ignore them

2 degrees more and we jeopardise the food supply for hundreds of millions of people

as crops wither, locusts swarm

3 degrees and you can add more wildfires and cyclones – twice as many of them, five times as many droughts and 36 times as many heatwaves

4 degrees and we say goodbye to whole cities – Miami, Alexandria, Shanghai – all lost beneath the waves

and the longer we fail to act

the worse it gets and the higher the price when we are eventually forced by catastrophe to act

because humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change.

It’s one minute to midnight on that doomsday clock and we need to act now.” 

His level of shock is difficult to describe in words, pictures seem to do a better job.- Owl

And

Letters www.theguardian.com

One implication of your editorial on housing (1 December) is that greater supply would make housing more affordable. That would mean developers increasing supply to the point where they’d have to drop prices, and then keep building as prices continued to fall. They won’t do it.

Average prices have gone from 3.6 times average earnings to nine times over the last 25 years – through cheap borrowing, inherited property wealth snowballing on a rising market and, latterly, George Osborne’s help-to-buy scheme, which saddled buyers with more debt than the banks thought they could afford.

In this low-wage economy, the need is for social housing, and the new-build emphasis should be on that. But for ordinary families to have any chance of buying, the market needs puncturing by further structural change. Surcharging and requiring planning consent for the use of any dwelling other than as the main home, owned or rented, would be a start.

Negative equity? Of course there would be, though in the shorter term that’s coming anyway. But the help-to-buy element of the debt at least could eventually be written off, because with more social housing, the saving in annual housing benefit, now running at £23.4bn, would cover it.

John Worrall

Cromer, Norfolk

Hidden in the small print of the autumn statement, the government announced that housing benefit for private sector tenants will be frozen for the third successive year. In social housing, rent can still be covered by universal credit or housing benefit, if the rules permit.

This of course exacerbates the private sector rents crisis that you report (Soaring rents making life ‘unaffordable’ for private UK tenants, research shows, 1 December). The government makes a decision on housing benefit based on data supplied every September by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). The process is opaque. Nobody outside the government knows how much the VOA thinks rents have risen. Its data won’t be published until the end of January.

In Cornwall, the council has said that the private rental market has all but dried up. Emergency accommodation for the homeless is often offered in a hotel, sometimes miles away. Already the maximum housing benefit here can be £50 a month less than the VOA-recommended figure. The shortfall will be even greater now.

Philip Kerridge

Bodmin, Cornwall

While there are undoubtedly some social landlords who are providing a poor service to their tenants, one can’t help thinking that Michael Gove’s high-profile interventions in the last fortnight are designed to deflect attention from his inactivity regarding the dire state of the private rented sector. Moya Lothian-McLean’s article highlights the almost nonexistent protection from very poor quality housing, rent gouging and no-fault evictions in the private rented sector (Facing eviction, I’ve learned that relying on ‘good landlords’ is a feudal throwback, 2 December).

It’s all very well the government promising an end to the latter practice, but it’s more than three years since the original commitment was given. How cynical also that the levelling up spokesperson’s response was to pass the buck to councils, saying that it was their responsibility to ensure families are not homeless. Let’s have the same level of intervention in the private market as Gove has recently promised for social housing.

John Rigby

Much Wenlock, Shropshire

Plymouth Conservatives lose another councillor

Tory councillors are being left to defend “unpleasant” budget decisions made by “a collective few”, says Ham ward councillor Stephen Hulme who has quit the Conservative group

Carl Eve www.plymouthherald.co.uk

Plymouth City Council is once again on a political knife edge as yet another Conservative councillor has chosen to quit the group and go independent.

Cllr Stephen Hulme, who represents residents of Ham ward, took to his Facebook page last night to break the news to his constituents, saying “I have sadly had to leave the colour blue. “I am solely the voice of Ham ward and our magnificent Ocean City of Plymouth. You have the power of your votes, use it wisely”.

This follows hot on the heels of recent developments at the Conservative-led council – including the suspension of a Conservative councillor Maddi Bridgeman over alleged complaints which are being investigated, the resignations of two Conservative councillors who moved to Gloucester, and two by-elections for the vacated wards of Moor View and Plympton Chaddlewood on January 12, 2023.

As a result of the recent changes, an Independent group was formed by former Conservative leader Nick Kelly, former Conservative Terri Beer and former Labour councillor Chaz Singh.

As a result of the latest resignation, the council split is now 24 councillors apiece for the Conservatives and Labour, with the balance of power now sitting with the Independent group, two Green councillors and two independent councillors. The council was in this position in January this year with no single party holding the majority after Cllr Hulme left the Conservative group. However, this situation lasted mere hours after the Conservative group unexpectedly lifted the suspension it had placed on the then leader Nick Kelly – over comments he is alleged to have made during an interview with ITV, putting the Tories back as the majority party.

Cllr Hulme was elected for the Conservatives in May 2021 with a majority of just 285, snatching the seat from Labour. However, he left the Conservative group in January 2022 without giving exact reasons for his departure, saying only that it had been “a difficult journey since May 2021 for me as a new elected Conservative councillor”. He said at the time that he would sit as an independent councillor “holding Conservative values”.

He re-joined the Conservative group in May this year along with four other former Conservatives. The return of the five was purported to be down to the new leader of the council, Conservative group leader Richard Bingley.

At the time he won praise from Johnny Mercer, Plymouth Moor View MP who said Cllr Bingley had brought “stability” back to the Conservative group. Mr Mercer went on to state that it was “fundamental to my politics that politicians spend less time arguing amongst themselves and more time focused on delivering for the brilliant people of our city who deserve first-class leadership.”

However, in a statement released last night to PlymouthLive, councillor Stephen Hulme said: “Of late I have received many emails from the electorate, on the publication of the new plans on Armada Way, the diminishing bus services and removal of bus shelters, the increasing parking charges, the introduction of garden waste charges and the implementation of rubble charges and alike at the local tips, the two by-elections being actioned in January 2023 at a cost of around £50,000 or more to the council taxpayer.

“I get democracy – but with the cost of living crises, perhaps waiting till 2023 May would be more cost-effective to the public purse. It seems a collective few make decisions leaving others to defend the unpleasant decision, which I have found impossible.”

Cllr Hulme still has 15 months left of his council term before he must face the re-election process and he has said he will remain an independent until then. He claimed: “I don’t think the council listens to the people of Plymouth. They need to listen to the people of Plymouth.”

Reduce state intervention, free-up markets, unleash entrepreneurialism, privatise, privatise, privatise. What could possibly go wrong? – Owl 

Sandra Laville www.theguardian.com 

Serious pollution by water companies has increased in the past year, the regulator has said in a damning report on the performance of the sector in England and Wales.

Ofwat said poor performance by some firms was embedded, and named Northumbrian Water, Southern Water, South West Water, Thames Water, Welsh Water and Yorkshire Water as lagging in the way they served customers and ran the system.

The regulator also analysed the financial resilience of the water firms, after a year in which three companies have been forced to inject capital to bolster their financial strength. Ofwat is taking a tough stance with water companies after criticism that for years the firms have not been properly regulated.

The body said most companies had failed to clearly explain the link between the dividends paid to shareholders and performance for customers. They said there had been improvements on leakage by water companies but more needed to be done to reduce leaks by 50% by 2050 from 2017-8 levels.

The Guardian revealed last week that the nine main water and sewerage companies had paid out £65.9bn in dividends in the last three decades. They have also taken on debts of £54bn.

Ofwat said Northumbrian Water and Portsmouth Water had paid dividends which were significantly higher than the regulator’s expectations and the companies’ financial resilience. Northumbrian dividends in the past year were £181.5m and Portsmouth Water paid £5.1m to shareholders.

David Black, the chief executive of Ofwat, said: “In too many areas, water and wastewater companies are falling short when it comes to looking after customers, the environment and their own financial resilience. We are clear; these companies need to address this unacceptable performance as a matter of urgency.

“For some companies poor performance has become the norm. This cannot go on. We are requiring the worst performers, including Thames Water and Southern Water, to return around £120m to customers.”

The performance report on 17 water companies said serious pollution had increased. “In 2021-22 the number of serious pollution incidents increased and there was a deterioration in the compliance of treatment works. Only four companies met the performance level to reduce sewage flooding in customers homes … Companies urgently need to improve their performance on this measure. There are cases of sustained poor performance over a number of years, such as South West Water.”

The report said, despite the poor performance, companies were not investing enough into treatment plants to reduce sewage discharges and to improve drought resilience.

Sewer flooding incidents in people’s homes were also highlighted as an area of concern. Southern Water and Thames Water have been told to cut sewer flooding by 56% and 61%, respectively, to meet the target of limiting incidents to 1.34 per 10,000 properties by 2024-25.

Ofwat said: “Companies have a duty to provide and maintain a sewerage system and should plan and invest to ensure they can cope with future pressures such as population growth and climate change.

“Some companies consider that storms and prolonged rainfall throughout 2021-22 contributed to an increase in the number of incidents they experienced. It is likely that with the impacts of climate change, the UK will continue to experience extreme weather events.”

Water companies are all being investigated by Ofwat and the Environment Agency over potentially illegal sewage discharges from their treatment plants.

Christine McGourty, chief executive of the industry body Water UK, said: “This report clearly shows there’s more to do for water and wastewater companies to meet the stretching targets of the regulators, as well as the high expectations of the public. It’s good to see that nearly every company has met its target on leakage reduction with an ambitious industry-wide plan in place to cut leaks by 50% by 2050.

“Water companies will continue to work with government and the regulators to ensure we enable the levels of investment needed to improve our infrastructure and protect the environment while maintaining value for money for customers.”

A study which looked at water quality in 48 freshwater sites in the UK has revealed that the River Dart in Devon is the only site of those tested which has ‘acceptable’ levels of pollution. The two other Devon rivers included in the study were found to have above acceptable levels of at least two pollutants.

Mary Stenson www.devonlive.com

In a people-powered study of pollutant levels in UK freshwater sites, the River Dart was the only one, out of 48, to pass all five parameters. The river runs 75km from Dartmoor and into the sea at Dartmouth.

Tests were carried out to determine whether water met acceptable levels of six different pollutants: nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, total coliform, pH and heavy metals. The pollutants have varying impacts on the environment, including harm to plants, aquatic life and insects. Coliforms, in particular, are a group of faecal bacteria which can cause serious illness such as diarrhoea and gastroenteritis.

98% of sites failed to meet acceptable criteria of at least one of five pollutants, including the River Axe. The river, which runs through East Devon and parts of Dorset and Somerset, was found to have above ‘acceptable’ levels of phosphate and coliforms.

Over half, 52%, of sites failed on three or more parameters. Among these was the River Exe, which runs through Exeter, and was found to have high levels of nitrate, phosphate and coliforms.

The study, overseen by environmental organisation Planet Patrol, was performed by 57 members of the public over the summer. They were each allocated to a testing site and gathered data every other week for 12 weeks, resulting in a total of 1,229 water quality readings. The findings have been laid out in Planet Patrol’s What Lies Beneath Report 2022.

Over 90% of the sites around the UK tested positive for total coliform bacteria and nearly 70% failed in the phosphate parameter. There are varying causes of these pollutants entering the water, including sewage contamination, urban development, farming practices, increased use of increased diversity of chemicals and pharmaceuticals and transport pollution.

The latest data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) shows that no progress has been made on a pledge made four years ago to ensure 75% of rivers and other bodies of water achieve a “good” ecological status by 2027. As of 2021 the figure was at 16%, the same as it was in 2017.

The Environment Agency has reportedly planned to amend the 75% target, prompting Planet Patrol to launch a petition calling Rt Hon Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Thérèse Coffey, to reject this proposal.

Lizzie Carr MBE, founder of Planet Patrol, says: “Through our growing community of citizen scientists we’ve started to uncover what lies beneath to highlight a stark reality: the widespread, poor condition of our freshwater environments. The results have been disturbing and distressing but only by building evidence to illustrate the true scale and extent of a problem, can it be accurately understood, communicated and acted upon.

“We urge the Government to honour its pledge to ensure that 75% of rivers and other bodies of water achieve a good ecological status by 2027. This target is both a major driver of public and private investment into cleaning up our waterways and a vital tool to hold industries with permits to pollute – which include much more than just water companies – to account over water pollution.”

Planet Patrol has also made the following policy recommendations:

• DEFRA to bring forward the enforcement date for the increase in Variable Monetary Penalties for polluting water companies to 1st February 2023
• DEFRA to strengthen the effectiveness of the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan (SODRP) – specifically, reduce the maximum achievement date on all SODRP targets to 2035 versus 2050, and prohibit water companies from increasing water bills to fund the critical infrastructure investment required
• The Environmental Agency to accelerate the speed at which citizen science is integrated into formal data collection activities for developing evidenced-based policies
• Use funds raised from the increase in Variable Monetary Penalties for polluting water companies to increase the criminal prosecution rates of those who damage water quality.

Dr Thomas Stanton, a freshwater scientist from Loughborough University who analysed the data, says: “UK waterways are vulnerable to a number of societal pressures, including pollution, water abstraction, and modifications to river courses. But they are also compromised by weak policy and legislation.

“Despite its political greenwashing, the environment continues to be an issue that the UK government does not take seriously.

“Nature is in crisis, but current efforts to fully understand the extent of this are shackled by politicians whose short-sighted priorities lie elsewhere, and who fail to recognise the significance of environmental action today for the lives of those who will outlive their political tenure.”

The full What Lies Beneath Report 2022 can be found here.

Experts have urged ministers to use a 12-year-old law to ensure that homebuilders in England provide more green spaces to curb the risk of flooding and sewage pollution.

Successive ministers have resisted the move, fearing it would hinder meeting targets for homes and end a builder’s right to connect to existing sewers.

Adam Vaughan www.thetimes.co.uk 

Forty planning, engineering and environment groups have written to the prime minister, urging him to implement schedule three of the 2010 Flood and Water Management Act.

This would mean companies building and maintaining “sustainable drainage systems” (SuDs), such as ponds, planters and permeable paving, so drains were not swamped during heavy rain. “Implementation is essential to address growing surface water flood risk [and] tackling the sewage pollution problem,” the signatories, including the Royal Town Planning Institute, the Town and Country Planning Association and Water UK, the trade body, said. The government has been reviewing the issue, and a decision was initially due in October.

The Times understands the advisory group on the review is in favour of implementing schedule three.

“Backward thinking and policies mean 1.5 million homes have been built in a way that doesn’t manage water well. Climate change-driven extreme weather advances and sewers are full to overflowing,” Terry Fuller, chief executive of The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, which organised the letter, said.

The groups behind the letter say that while some developers perceive SuDs as “difficult and expensive”, that was not true and they could even be cheaper than conventional drainage.

The National Federation of Builders said: “There is a likelihood that schedule three becomes the 12th tax on industry in the last two years.”

A Defra spokesperson said: “The government is reviewing the case for implementing schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. This would introduce standards for most new drainage systems and would make it compulsory that systems gain regulatory approval before any construction work commences.”

From a correspondent:

Why is Budleigh Salterton suffering this terrible, hammering noise, I have been asked?

The old Victorian combined sewer outfall passes under the estuary at its mouth to discharge on the lee side of the Otter Head rocks. This pipe spilled RAW sewage 48 times for 433 hours in 2021 into the bay. (the latest figures available).

The swimmers  who live in the town will testify that there has been times when it would be foolish to enter the sea this summer.

This pipe is now likely to be subject to erosion when the Lower Otter Restoration Project is complete. If it is to continue to be used to discharge poo into the sea it must be replaced. This means using a hydraulic hammer to drive a new pipe horizontally under the Lime Kiln car park to the other side of the estuary mouth.

This may have been understandable if there was no money available but £2.2 billion was accessible for water companies to build wastewater infrastructure and tackle sewage being ditched in our rivers and seas. And, as Owl recently reported, South West Water is the second worst investor after Yorkshire Water spending only 39% of what it could.

 Water companies fail to splash out on improvements, especially SWW | East Devon Watch

With this money available one might have hoped that SWW would make this pipe redundant and sort out the mess at the Lime Kiln Pumping station.

Budleigh residents can now rest assured that their untreated poo can continue to be discharged at the Otter Head for the next 100 years on a weekly basis.

Second home owners in Cornwall are set to be charged twice the normal rate of council tax under a proposal to give the local authority more powers to raise income from out-of-towners.

Will Humphries, Southwest Correspondent www.thetimes.co.uk

Councils would also be given powers to charge a 100 per cent council tax premium on people who leave their properties empty for one year or more.

Cornwall council’s scrutiny committee agreed in principle to the doubling of charges for both categories on Tuesday, and that the leader of the council should write to the secretary of state asking that all English local authorities should have the ability to raise council tax on second homes even to three times the normal rate.

The move followed a request by Julian German, an independent councillor and former leader of Cornwall council, who wants to bring England in line with Wales. The Welsh government introduced a law this year that allows local authorities to set council tax premiums of up to 300 per cent on second homes and long-empty properties.

German told The Times: “If the Westminster government wants to devolve the ability for councils to raise council tax on second homes then why put a cap on it at 100 per cent; why not trust local government to decide what is right for them, be that 150 per cent or 400 per cent?”

The proposals are subject to the government’s Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill receiving royal assent. The bill gives local authorities powers to double council tax on second homes and is expected to be made law in time to apply from April 2024.

North Yorkshire county council, which has the highest concentration of second homes in England, became the first English council last month to pass a measure committing itself to doubling council tax bills on second homes.

At present Cornwall can double council tax only on homes that have been empty for two years or more.

It charges a 200 per cent premium on homes left empty for more than five years and 300 per cent for those empty for more than ten years.

A report to the committee estimated that doubling the rates of council tax on all second homes could generate an extra £27 million in revenue for the authority. According to the report, there are more than 13,000 properties in Cornwall classed as second homes on the council tax system — one of the highest levels in the country.

“Second home ownership within Cornwall is significant and is recognised to have a negative impact in terms of the supply of homes available to meet local housing need,” the report said.

It said data shows 722 properties are being charged a 100 per cent premium for being empty for more than two years, generating £854,000.

Second homes and holiday lets are blamed for an affordability crisis in Cornwall after falling stocks of housing to let led to a sharp rise in rents.

Locals have been upset over recent years by prominent second home owners, including the celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay who came down from London to spend much of lockdown at his second home on the coast.

St Petroc’s, a homelessness charity, said last week that “thousands” of local people were at “breaking point”. The council’s cabinet must vote on the proposal before a formal resolution goes to a vote of the full council.

The people of Salcombe, the Devon seaside town known as “Chelsea-on-Sea” for its wealthy visitors, became so worried about second home owners buying prime properties that they have enacted the strictest code against out of towners in the country.

South Hams district council has made it a legal requirement that all new-build homes must be sold with a Section 106 agreement stating they will be a principal residence in perpetuity.

Several other seaside towns, including St Ives, have introduced rules for new properties to be sold as principal residences but none has dictated that all should remain a principal residence.

Everyone is hard up at the moment – including the Conservative party, it seems. According to Bloomberg’s Alex Wickham, the party is raising membership fees by 56%.

Ben Bradshaw www.devonlive.com 

“I must be the only person in the country never to have watched “I’m a Celebrity” and I didn’t make an exception just because disgraced ex Health Secretary, Matt Hancock was on. Mr Hancock has now used his elevated public profile to defend his role during the Covid pandemic before the official public inquiry into it has begun.

His “Covid Diaries”, serialised in the Government-supporting Daily Mail, appear to blame everyone else for the serious errors made during the pandemic. The terrible death toll in care homes was the fault of care staff who infected patients, he claims, rather than the well documented practice of hospitals discharging infected patients to care homes, despite Ministers being warned repeatedly of the consequences of this.

The former Health Secretary says that the Conservative Peer, Baroness Mone, who is being investigated over multi-million-pound contracts for PPE that turned out to be faulty, “bullied” him into putting her company in the VIP lane for contracts during the pandemic. I thought Mr Hancock had managed to convince people he was a “toughie” during his “jungle ordeal”, yet he couldn’t stand up to the unreasonable demands of a lingerie millionairess to whom we must assume he owed nothing.

When a young constituent asked me last week if I would go on “celebrity TV”, he seemed disappointed when I said no. Indeed, I have said no, partly because it would be demeaning, but also because I have the old-fashioned view that an MP’s job is to serve their constituents.

It was against this sorry backdrop that ex-Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, published a major report on the future of Britain this week addressing the constitution, devolution and standards in public life. None of these in themselves is likely to be the hot topic of discussion for most people as they face a multitude of challenges this winter, but they are a serious attempt by a serious politician to provide some of the answers as to why Britain is failing and how to restore trust in politics.

Among the recommendations are reform of the House of Lords, banning MPs from taking most second jobs, independent enforcement of the ministerial code and eliminating foreign money from UK politics. No more Matt Hancock’s, Lady Mones’ or Russian money in Conservative coffers, just conscientious legislators doing their best.

The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, is pledging to implement most, if not all, of these recommendations as essential for the “rewiring” of our democratic system and politics if Britain is to be governed better. I won’t be around to help get such a programme through, if Labour wins the next election, but I wish my Party well and believe these reforms will contribute to making us a better and more successful country.

That change could start now if Rishi Sunak filled the vacant post of the Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ethics and gave them the powers that the Independent Commission on Standards in Public Life has called for. What is stopping him?

Simon Jupp criticises EDDC local plan proposals, now out for consultation, as being unimaginative by proposing to “dump” the majority of new development in the west quarter of the district. (See below)

“Councillors should not be allowing historic towns and villages to merge into one another, nor allow homes to be built without adequate infrastructure in place first.” He says.

But isn’t this what Cllr Phil Skinner, current Leader of the Conservative minority group in East Devon, advocated in 2019 when he said this about a proposed network of linked villages: “I am bang up for seeing this come forward in the right way.” …?

Result of 25 years of Tory “Build, build, build”

The fact is that it’s the legacy of Tory development policies over a quarter of a century in EDDC coupled with the Tory government housing targets that have left the current Council facing options, none of which are attractive. Most of East Devon outside the AONB has already been over-developed.

In the past twenty years, the local Tories have:

1. “Persuaded” the residents, through an opaque process under the leadership of Sara Randall Johnson followed by Paul Diviani, to accept the new town of Cranbrook, built on grade 1 agricultural land.  It started by aiming for a population of 2,900 in 2012 and is now projected to reach 22,000 eventually, swallowing up nearby rural villages in the process. It was claimed at the time to relieve future development pressures;
2. Produced a local plan 2013 to 2031 (adopted in 2016) based on an aggressive jobs led, “policy on” growth scenario requiring more than three times the number of houses needed to satisfy demographic and historic growth trends; 
3. and were enthusiastic supporters of the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan (GESP) seeing it as an opportunity to use the green fields of East Devon to ease Exeter’s chronic inability to find a five year land supply. One of the main GESP enthusiasts is none other than the current leader of Tories in EDDC, Cllr Phil Skinner. Those who voted to stay in the GESP can be found here. Not a single Conservative voted to leave GESP!

Who set the ground rules that EDDC have to follow in their plan?

The government you claim to be a small part of, Simon.

Right now these policies are in a state of flux because the housing requirements they impose on District Councils, like EDDC, result in just the sort of proposals you are criticising. These requirements bear little relationship to local need. I.e “to help people stay in their own communities, reduce travel to help the environment, or keep families close together” (To quote a phrase of yours).

Yet Owl cannot find any evidence that you were among the 60 rebels that have forced this U-turn on Michael Gove and the PM.

It is too early to tell what this U-turn will mean in practice but it should give EDDC an opportunity to establish the genuine local need.

This opinion article of yours looks like humbug to Owl.

Maybe you could help by working constructively with the elected Council as the MP for Tiverton and Honiton does for his constituents? 

New homes need to be built in the right places 

Simon Jupp www.sidmouthherald.co.uk

East Devon is a great place to live, work and explore. Naturally, we want our children and grandchildren to feel like they can lay down their roots here, too.

Homes to buy and for long-term rent are increasingly out of reach for people who grew up here or who work locally – including for key workers in the NHS, social care or schools.

Home ownership needs to be a reality for a new generation. That will only come about by ensuring homes are built in the right places.

Sadly, East Devon District Council’s new Local Plan is woefully unimaginative. It dumps 9,000 new homes in the far west of the district – stretching from Cranbrook to Clyst St Mary and Exmouth. That is a lot more than the 2,500 planned for the rest of East Devon.

It is not a proper plan to help people stay in their own communities, reduce travel to help the environment, or keep families close together. It’s a missed opportunity.

Ministers want decisions about homes to be driven locally. The government sets targets, councils decide where houses are built. Councils do so by producing Local Plans which help decide on planning applications and other planning related decisions.

As an MP, I have no formal role or jurisdiction in the local planning process – but I will continue to hold East Devon District Council to account. After all, councillors decide how our district is designed for generations to come. It is really important to have your say, too.

Councillors should not be allowing historic towns and villages to merge into one another, nor allow homes to be built without adequate infrastructure in place first. I am acutely aware of the concern among residents in north Exmouth and Lympstone about the alarming volume of development proposed.

The government is introducing a new Infrastructure Levy to help ensure new homes are supported by appropriate infrastructure and services. However, we do need to get the right plan in place. Make sure you have your say on the East Devon local plan by visiting eastdevon.gov.uk. The consultation closes on Sunday, January 15th 2023.

A second company that the Tory peer Michelle Mone lobbied ministers over in an attempt to secure government Covid contracts was a secret entity of her husband’s family office, the Guardian can reveal.

Henry Dyer www.theguardian.com (Extract)

Lady Mone’s lobbying on behalf of the company, LFI Diagnostics, which she tried to help secure government contracts for Covid lateral flow tests, prompted a formal rebuke from a health minister who reminded her of “the need for propriety”.

A departmental source told the Guardian that Mone was “in a class of her own in terms of the sheer aggression of her advocacy” on behalf of LFI Diagnostics.

However, it is the revelation that the company was a secret entity of the office that manages the wealth of her husband, Douglas Barrowman, that will deepen the controversy over the Tory peer and her access to ministers.

On Tuesday, Mone’s spokesperson said that she was taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords with immediate effect, adding she was doing so “in order to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her”.

Rishi Sunak has announced plans to allow the building of new onshore wind turbines, which could result in energy bill discounts for those living nearby.

Better late than never.

But Conservative green policies are inconsistent, if not bonkers. They are considering reopening a coal mine in Cumbria as a quid pro quo. This mine produces coking coal for steel making as steelmakers across Europe are moving to “green steel”, which uses renewable energy and modern techniques to avoid the need for it! – Owl

Steven Swinford, Oliver Wright www.thetimes.co.uk

Construction of turbines in England has been in effect banned since 2015 under planning restrictions introduced by David Cameron, who said people were “fed up” with them.

However, more than 50 Tory MPs, including the former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, have been pushing for an end to the ban as part of efforts to boost growth and make Britain more energy-independent.

The government will now consult on allowing turbines to be built if they have local support and as long as concerns about their impact have been “satisfactorily addressed”.

Whitehall sources said they also expected the government to approve a coalmine in Cumbria that has been opposed by environmental groups and by Alok Sharma, the Cop26 president, although a final decision has not been taken.

Environmentalists have warned that approving the mine would damage the UK’s reputation as a climate leader and make it harder to persuade countries such as China to cut their own reliance on coal.

One source said the new coalmine was a “quid pro quo” for relaxing restrictions on onshore wind, but this was denied by those close to Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary.

Under the wind plan, towns or villages that back new turbines could be given benefits such as lower energy bills. Ministers will also consider plans to make it easier to upgrade existing sites, many of which are more than 20 years old. Modern turbines are bigger and more efficient.

The consultation, which will begin this month and run until April, appeared to address the concerns of Tory MPs, whether for or against turbines. The government said it would continue to protect “important landscapes” such as areas of natural beauty and national parks.

Simon Clarke, the Tory MP and former levelling-up secretary who led the push for more turbines, said: “I am delighted that the government has come forward with what is a really sensible package designed to return decisions about new onshore wind to local communities. Onshore wind is the cheapest form of energy bar none, and it has an important role to play as part of our future energy mix, alongside oil and gas, offshore wind, solar and nuclear.

“Unlocking its potential will strengthen our domestic energy security and help us to deliver our climate commitments in the fight against climate change.”

John Hayes, a former minister who opposes the lifting of the ban, said it would still allow local authorities to veto wind farms when there was community opposition. “This is not a significant change from where we were,” he said. “It will still stop wind farms being imposed on communities against their will.” Energy experts believe the change is unlikely to lead to a significant increase in the number of wind farms in England — particularly the south — because low average wind speeds mean they are less inefficient.

The proposal is the second U-turn by the government in the space of two days on planning policy, following the decision to drop mandatory housebuilding targets for local councils.