“We got the big calls right” – Owl

The UK is set for the slowest growth of the G7 richest economies next year, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

www.bbc.co.uk 

It is predicting UK growth will fall to just 0.5% in 2023, much lower than its forecast in April of 1.2%.

The global economy has shrunk for the first time since 2020, the IMF said, hit by the Ukraine war and Covid-19.

With growth stalling in the UK, US, China and Europe, the world “may soon be teetering on the edge of a global recession”, it said.

“We know that people are feeling the impact of rising prices, caused by global economic factors, triggered by the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine,” a HM Treasury spokesperson said in a statement, adding that help for households included £400 off energy bills plus personal tax cuts worth up to £330 a year.

The IMF has cut its 2022 global growth forecast to just 3.2% and warned the slowdown risks being even more severe.

It said fast-rising prices were to blame for much of the slowdown, with households and businesses squeezed by a combination of higher prices and higher borrowing costs as policymakers raise interest rates to try to counter inflation.

“The global economy, still reeling from the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is facing an increasingly gloomy and uncertain outlook,” economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas wrote in a blog outlining the international lending body’s latest economic forecast.

“The outlook has darkened significantly” since April, the last time the IMF issued forecasts, he added.

The global economy contracted in the three months to July, which was the first decline since the pandemic hit, the IMF said.

The probability of a recession in the G7 economies – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and UK – now stands at roughly 15% – nearly four times higher than usual.

While UK growth is expected to remain relatively strong this year, Mr Gourinchas said unusually high inflation – faster than in Europe or the US – is expected to take a toll in 2023.

“If you were to look at both years together, it’s actually not very far from where the other advanced economies are,” he told the BBC. “The one thing that worries me more about the UK economy is that their inflation numbers seem to be quite high. There is a fairly high pass through from high gas prices to broader prices in the economy.

“That would signal even further monetary policy tightening by the Bank of England and that would also weigh down on growth going forward.”

The IMF now expects inflation to reach 6.6% in advanced economies and 9.5% in emerging market and developing economies – nearly a full percentage point higher than it expected in April.

“Inflation at current levels represents a clear risk for current and future macroeconomic stability and bringing it back to central bank targets should be the top priority for policymakers,” Mr Gourinchas said.

“Tighter monetary policy will inevitably have real economic costs, but delaying it will only exacerbate the hardship.”

The fallout from the war in Ukraine is being felt in pockets across the world. Soaring food and fuel prices and higher interest rates means the IMF sees more gloomy prospects for all major economies – but it’s the UK that, Russia apart, remains bottom of the pile for 2023.

Brexit may not have helped but it’s our reliance on fossil fuels – they make up 75% of our energy mix, compared to just over half of the EU’s – that’s made us particularly vulnerable to this shock. Those prices are determined on international markets but affect us all. This report comes on the day that, with the energy price cap set to top £3,000 in October, a committee of MPs warns that further government help for households may be needed.

But the IMF is among those economists who’ve noted that the UK faces more fundamental issues than the current crisis, with living standards having dropped behind many competitors over the last 15 years, something many attribute to a lack of investment in skills, equipment and infrastructure. Officials from the IMF have previously told me that one way to remedy that would be to raise, not lower taxes, to fund more investment.

The US saw the steepest downgrade of any country for 2022. The IMF cut its growth forecast for the world’s largest economy to 2.3% this year, from 3.7% previously, and to just 1% in 2023.

Meanwhile growth in China is expected to fall to 3.3% this year, the slowest rate in nearly four decades, as the country wrestles with new Covid lockdowns and a property crisis.

Questions about the reliability of Europe’s natural gas supplies from Russia, as well as political unrest generated by high food and fuel prices, are among the risks the global economy is facing in the months ahead, the IMF said.

“We can be reasonably hopeful that China might be rebound,” Mr Gourinchas said, adding that he was “much more concerned about both the inflation path and the tightening of monetary policy leading to a slowdown going ahead”.

It warned that in a “plausible” scenario, in which only some of those risks materialise, like a shutdown of Russian gas flows to Europe, global economic growth could fall to 2% next year – a pace the world has fallen below just five times since 1970.

Conservative party members should be stripped of their power to pick Britain’s next prime minister, a senior MP has said, citing concerns about the increasingly hostile public attacks by the campaigns of Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss on their rival.

Aubrey Allegretti www.theguardian.com 

Charles Walker, a former longstanding vice-chair of the 1922 Committee, which oversees the rules for internal party no-confidence votes and leadership elections, said the contest “should have got nowhere near” the 180,000 Tory grassroots activists who will decide Boris Johnson’s replacement in just over a month.

He suggested that letting the party faithful pick a new prime minister was an idea “well past its sell-by date” and added it was inevitable that the current rules would lead to “shrill and accusative” blue-on-blue attacks by the candidates.

“It’s a view shared by many of my colleagues privately who wouldn’t dare say it publicly,” Walker said. “MPs should be left to pick party leaders because we know the strength and weaknesses of the candidate far better than the membership because we serve and work with them every day in Westminster.”

Walker’s intervention came as some senior Tory figures warned of the potentially lasting damage that Sunak and Truss’s attempts to land blows on each other could do to the party and government. One MP described the slanging match by their supporters as “beyond the pale”.

Norman Fowler, the former Lord Speaker and a cabinet minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government, said the BBC showdown between Truss and Sunak had been “a bad night for the Conservatives” and substantially benefited Labour. “They’ve got enough clips from that programme to last them through to the next election,” he said.

Sunak “had authority and a better financial package, but his bedside manner is, frankly appalling”, said Fowler, who criticised the former chancellor for having repeatedly “hectored and interrupted” his opponent.

Fowler said the foreign secretary came across as “much more pleasant”, but added her economic plans “sounded a bit dodgy” and she had harked back to “project fear”.

Malcolm Rifkind, another Thatcher-era cabinet minister, said the debate had “descended into trivia”, with attacks on Sunak for his expensive suits and shoes. But he said both candidates’ offers to serve in each other’s governments were an important demonstration of unity, and that any residual bitterness by the losing camp would be wiped away at a general election.

Several Tory observers who have not backed a candidate accused Truss’s supporters in particular of unpleasant briefings and acting like “rottweilers”.

But the foreign secretary’s allies suggested Sunak had spent the Monday night debate “mansplaining” with “shouty, private school behaviour”. Simon Clarke, who is backing her, said his former boss at the Treasury had been “pretty aggressive”.

Sunak and Truss were pitted head-to-head in TalkTV’s debate on Tuesday evening, and will face each other for the final time next Thursday. While they will tour the UK during a dozen hustings hosted by the Conservative party, they are not expected to be pitted against each other but grilled separately by an interviewer and party members.

Giles Kenningham, a former director of communications in No 10 under David Cameron, said that given repeated polls put Truss ahead among Tory members’, Sunak had failed to “find a way to move the dial”.

“Truss has shown to be quite a steady performer, so he can’t just rely on her to mess up,” Kenningham said, adding that Sunak would have to “take more risks”, given members will start receiving ballots on 1 August.

Despite the Conservatives having not led in an opinion poll since December 2021, Kenningham said the party’s position was still recoverable and that Labour should have expected to be significantly further ahead.

But Shabana Mahmood, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, said the leadership race was “giving us a wealth of material”.

“We are obviously using some now and we’ll have plans for more later as the contest progresses and as we gear up for the next general election, whenever that might be,” she told HuffPost UK.

“I’ll be able to say to people on the doorstep ‘you don’t have to take my word for it any more folks, just listen to them’. The trashing of their own record, I think that you’d expect us to take advantage of that, which we will be doing so fulsomely.”

There are more than 700 health jobs needing to be filled across Devon as the NHS faces what MPs say is its worst ever staffing crisis. A search on the NHS jobs website on Monday found 713 vacancies within 30 miles of Newton Abbot, as an MP warned that a million more workers are needed in the health sector – half of those in the NHS and the rest for social care.

Edward Oldfield www.devonlive.com

There are openings in the NHS and care sector in Devon for doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants and support staff in hospitals, GP surgeries and the ambulance service. The website showed 340 health jobs within 10 miles of Plymouth, 170 in the Exeter area, 177 in Torbay, and 27 in North Devon.

Jobs posted on Monday include a training administrator at the Exeter HQ of South Western Ambulance Service earning up to £21,777. A maternity staffing coordinator is needed at Torbay Hospital in Torquay on the same salary. The hospital is also recruiting bank delivery drivers paying up to £19,918 pro rata.

Front line health care jobs being advertised include bank healthcare support workers at Torbay Hospital at £11.42 an hour. Devon Partnership NHS Trust in Exeter is looking for an adult mental health staff nurse at a salary of up to £31,534. Practice Plus Group is recruiting a healthcare assistant and nurses at Channings Wood Prison near Newton Abbot.

The website shows there are vacancies for 136 nurses and midwives within 30 miles of Exeter, which includes Torbay and Taunton. The list showed more than 40 doctor jobs paying a salary of more than £100,000, for example a GP at Channings Wood Prison advertised at up to £120,000 depending on experience.

At the other end of the pay scale, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust is looking for an improvement administrator apprentice at £8,092, and a health records modern apprentice paid £9,405 a year.

At Dawlish, a job as a phlebotomist, taking blood, is advertised at £9.53 an hour, and a healthcare assistant starts at £9.67 an hour. Admin staff at GP surgeries at Paignton and Exeter are advertised at £10 an hour. Practice Plus Group is recruiting NHS 111 advisers at Exeter at an hour rate from £10.19 to £13.11.

Persistent understaffing in the NHS is creating a serious risk to patient safety, MPs have said in a damning report. The cross-party Health and Social Care Committee said health and social care services in England face “the greatest workforce crisis in their history” and the Government has no credible strategy to make the situation better.

In a new report from the committee, research by the Nuffield Trust shows the NHS in England is short of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives. It said maternity services are “under unsustainable pressure”, while the number of full-time equivalent GPs also fell by more than 700 over three years to March 2022.

Projections suggest an extra 475,000 jobs will be needed in health and an extra 490,000 jobs in social care by the early part of the next decade. The report said: “In the face of this, the Government has shown a marked reluctance to act decisively. The workforce plan promised in the spring has not yet been published and will be a ‘framework’ with no numbers, which we are told could potentially follow in yet another report later this year.”

MPs said that while some progress has been made towards a target of recruiting 50,000 nurses, the Government is set to miss its target to recruit 6,000 more GPs, as promised in the Conservative Party manifesto. “The persistent understaffing of the NHS now poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety both for routine and emergency care. It also costs more as patients present later with more serious illness. But most depressing for many on the frontline is the absence of any credible strategy to address it.”

MPs said the Government’s “refusal” to make workforce planning data public “means that the basic question which every health and care worker is asking: are we training enough staff to meet patient need? will remain unanswered”.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, who is chair of the committee, said successive governments had failed to ensure that the NHS recruits enough doctors and nurses and the issue needs to be addressed urgently. He told GB News: “The fundamental problem that we lay bare in this report is our failure as a country to train enough doctors and nurses over many years and that is because government after government has said it doesn’t matter if we don’t quite train enough doctors because we can always import them from overseas.

“The fact is that Covid was a global pandemic. Everyone’s got their Covid backlog. There’s a shortage of two million doctors and 50 million nurses worldwide. It is just time we took a decision as a country that we have the biggest health system in the world with the NHS, we’re going to train the numbers we actually need.”

He said that the NHS and the social care system have a shortage of one million workers, split between the NHS and social care, and health workers needed to be paid more.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are growing the health and social care workforce, with over 4,000 more doctors, and 9,600 more nurses compared to last year, and over 1,400 more doctors in general practice compared to March 2019.

“As we continue to deliver on our commitment to recruit 50,000 more nurses by 2024, we are also running a £95 million recruitment drive for maternity services and providing £500 million to develop our valued social care workforce, including through training opportunities and new career pathways.

“We have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan to recruit and support NHS staff while they deliver high quality, safe care to patients and help to bust the Covid backlogs.”

A new solar farm capable of powering almost 15,000 homes is set to be built in East Devon.

Paul Jones www.midweekherald.co.uk

Lightrock Power’s plan for the 49MW energy plant at Clyst Hydon, known as Paytherden Solar Farm – was approved by East Devon District Council’s (EDDC) Planning Committee at a meeting on Tuesday morning (July 26).

The scheme, on more than 170 acres of land adjacent to Peradon Farm, had been recommended for approval by planning officers.

More than 550 people commented on the application, with more than 200 supporting the scheme, submitted by LDA Design on behalf of Lightrock Power.

Reasons for opposing the plans included the loss of farmland and potential flooding.

The Devon branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) was among those who objected to the plans.

However, the RSPB is backing the scheme, pledging to work with developer Lightrock on measures that would ‘deliver benefits for a wide range of species and will certainly be of higher ecological value than what is currently there’.

Councillors voted 10 votes in favour to two votes against to approve the plans.

After the meeting Chris Sowerbutts, co-founder of Lightrock, said: “This decision will help us to tackle climate change by decarbonising how we generate electricity.

“The decisions we must take to tackle the climate crisis aren’t always easy so we’re grateful to members of the planning committee, council officers and everyone who has engaged in this project.

“We now look forward to continuing to work with the local community, East Devon District Council and other stakeholders to move forward with our plans.”

The solar farm would sit on land near Clyst Hydon – Credit: Lightrock/Google

The solar farm will significantly benefit the environment, he said, helping barn owls to thrive and nest on site, establish otter holts and habitat, improve the banks of the River Clyst for wildlife including water voles, and improve other existing ecological corridors for reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals including brown hares and hedgehogs.

“We face an ecological crisis as well as a climate crisis so it’s so important solar farms like Paytherden benefit local wildlife as well as generating renewable energy,” Mr Sowerbutts added.

To find out more about the plans, visit http://www.paytherdensolarfarm.com.

Latest report from our Nation’s Id

Ministers and government officials played “fast and loose” when awarding £777m in Covid contracts to a healthcare firm that employed the Conservative MP Owen Paterson as a lobbyist, the head of parliament’s spending watchdog has said.

Rob Evans www.theguardian.com 

In a damning report, the House of Commons public accounts committee (PAC) concluded that the government made a series of failures, making it impossible to know if the contracts had been awarded properly to Randox.

The Department of Health and Social Care did little to deal with potential conflicts of interests despite “clear concerns” about Randox’s political connections, the cross-party committee of MPs found.

It added that officials were aware Paterson had been in direct contact with Matt Hancock, who was then the health secretary, while promoting Randox.

The MPs found that Randox made “substantial” profits after it was given the contracts to carry out Covid testing during the pandemic.

The firm’s profits in the year to June 2021 were “more than 100 times greater” than the previous year, according to the PAC, which questioned whether they were excessive.

In its latest accounts, Randox reported a profit of £177m for the year to 30 June 2021. The MPs said this compared with a profit of £1.2m that Randox reported for the 18 months up to 30 June 2020.

A Randox spokesperson accused the PAC report of being “deeply flawed and wrong in assumptions it makes and the conclusions it draws”, and added the firm had issued a legal complaint.

He said: “At no stage, either during its deliberations or in its preparation of this report, did the PAC make any contact whatsoever with Randox. Consequently many elements of its report relating to Randox are false, based as they are on wrong and unchecked assumptions about the company.”

A spokesperson for the company has previously said Randox contracts were awarded in full compliance with government procedures and protocols in place at a time of the emerging pandemic.

The PAC also concluded that the health department did not keep proper records of why it gave the contracts to Randox, nor of what happened when ministers met the company. The department was approached for comment.

The publication of the report comes after Randox and Paterson were accused of cronyism in parliamentary debates. Randox paid Paterson, then MP for North Shropshire, £100,000 a year.

The former cabinet minister was forced to resign from parliament last November after he wrongly used his parliamentary position to lobby for his clients, including Randox. Evidence of his lobbying had originally been uncovered by the Guardian.

The Liberal Democrats won the subsequent byelection, and the lobbying saga – including attempts by Boris Johnson to force his MPs to change the rules to protect Paterson – contributed to fury within the party and among voters, which ultimately led to the prime minister’s downfall this month.

Between 2010 and 2018, Randox donated £160,000 to the Conservative party. During the pandemic, Paterson directly lobbied Hancock on behalf of Randox. After Paterson’s lobbying, Hancock chased his officials, saying he was “very worried” about how his department was treating Randox and other firms.

The PAC concluded that the department’s “woeful [and] poor record-keeping means that we cannot be sure that all these contracts were awarded properly. Even allowing for the exceptional circumstances at the start of the pandemic, basic civil service practices to document contract decision-making were not followed.”

It said that the health department neglected to scrutinise obvious conflicts of interest when it awarded the contracts, even though officials knew of Paterson’s contacts with Hancock.

Between January and October 2020, Paterson and Hancock exchanged messages eight times over private email or WhatsApp while the MP promoted Randox. Hancock has said he did nothing wrong.

The MPs said officials were also aware that Hancock had received hospitality from Randox in 2019 when he stayed overnight at a country estate owned by the head of the firm. Hancock said he did not need to publicly declare this hospitality.

The health department was also criticised for failing to meet the basic rule to publicly declare meetings between ministers and outside firms. Only four out of the eight meetings between Randox and health ministers were made public as they should have been. Records of what was said at only two of these meetings were kept.

At the start of the Covid pandemic in March 2020, the health department gave the first contract, worth £133m, to Randox without allowing any other firms to bid. The government had suspended normal rules for awarding contracts as the pandemic was deemed to be an emergency.

The PAC said the award of this contract did not receive “the scrutiny we would expect from the department’s senior civil servants. The role of the department’s ministers in approving the contract was also confused and unclear.”

The MPs added: “Randox struggled to deliver the expected level of testing capacity against its first contract, which did not set out any performance measures. Yet the department still awarded Randox a contract extension worth £328m seven months later, again without competition.”

Meg Hillier, the PAC’s chair, said: “We repeatedly hear the reference to the crisis we were facing as a nation. But acting fast doesn’t mean acting fast and loose.”

She added that “much of the business was won without any competing tenders from companies who may have had better capacity to deliver”, pointing out that Randox had also been given money to pay for equipment to conduct the testing.

A spokesperson for Hancock said: “Randox was the UK’s largest testing provider. Not to work with them during this unprecedented global pandemic would have been a dereliction of duty.”

The Department of Health and Social Care said:“There is no evidence that the government’s contracts with Randox were awarded improperly, as has been concluded by the National Audit Office.

“To suggest otherwise is misleading. By building the largest testing industry in UK history from scratch and at pace, we were able to break chains of transmission and save tens of thousands of lives. Contracts with Randox and other suppliers made a significant contribution to our national response to Covid.”

The “Magic Sauce,” the “Catchup Ketchup” is not working.

Are we surprised? – Owl

The gap in public spending between London and the North has doubled since Boris Johnson came to power, despite his pledge to “level up” the country, new figures reveal.

Rob Merrick www.independent.co.uk 

The capital has surged ahead of England’s poorest region in terms of cash handed out by the government – proving that “the money simply didn’t follow the rhetoric”, according to the think tank behind the analysis.

The data also shows that, three years after the prime minister stood outside No 10 and vowed to level up the nation, public spending in the North has now fallen behind the average for England.

Labour said the findings were “scandalous”, but the UK’s regional inequalities have barely featured in the Conservative leadership contest, which has instead been dominated by discussion of tax cuts and hardline policies on immigration.

IPPR North, which carried out the study, warned Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak that “votes lent to their party” at the 2019 election cannot be taken for granted if the levelling up promise is allowed to fail.

“If candidates hope to serve for longer than their recent predecessors, they should listen to the North and make unlocking the region’s significant potential their personal priority,” said Ryan Swift, a researcher for the think tank.

A spokesperson for the Northern Research Group (NRG) of Conservative MPs said the analysis highlighted “the biggest issue facing our new prime minister”.

“We were elected with a mandate to level up the entire UK, and this is what we must deliver,” the influential group said. “The NRG are pleased that both candidates have signed up to our pledges, meaning both are fully committed to a levelling-up fund, a minister for the North, and greater devolution.”

Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary, said: “These figures are scandalous. For all the Tory promises to people in the North, regional inequality has got worse since Boris Johnson became prime minister. And now the two continuity candidates scrapping to replace him are vying for the mantle of Margaret Thatcher.”

And Clive Betts, the chair of the Commons levelling up committee, said: “I’m very disappointed but not surprised by these figures. The problem is that there is no real commitment to spending the money that is needed in the areas that need levelling up.”

In 2019, the North received £13,884 per person, above the England average of £13,648, according to IPPR North’s analysis of data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

But by 2021, its spending per head of £16,223 had slipped below the England average of £16,309 – despite Mr Johnson’s high-profile pledge to rescue left-behind areas.

Meanwhile, London’s share of the pot leapt from £15,397 to £19,231, widening the spending gap from £1,513 per person to £3,008, the figures show.

“On public spending, the money simply didn’t follow the levelling-up rhetoric,” said Marcus Johns, another researcher at IPPR North, a branch of the Institute for Public Policy Research.

The criticism will fuel fears that levelling up is floundering even before its champion leaves No 10 in September, forced out by Partygate and the Chris Pincher groping scandal.

It was undermined by the Treasury’s refusal to commit to any extra spending despite the number of ‘red wall’ Tories in vulnerable marginal seats in the North and Midlands.

Meanwhile, as The Independent revealed, at least £2bn has been slashed from development funding in poorer areas as a result of the government breaking its pledge to match EU spending lost because of Brexit.

Starved of extra funding, the then levelling up secretary Michael Gove unveiled 12 “missions”, which were criticised for being vague, unambitious, or impossible to measure, although the bill to “enshrine” them in law was hailed as proof that the targets – to improve pay, jobs, transport connectivity and other indicators in less prosperous areas – had real teeth.

It then emerged that Mr Gove was quietly affording his department the power to abandon the key tests of whether the strategy was working if he was able to argue that they were “no longer appropriate”.

Now IPPR North has analysed the ONS data, covering expenditure on both services and investment, to uncover the true spending picture since Mr Johnson made his pledge.

The “North” covers three regions – the North East, the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber – which are seen as the focus of the pledge to level up. Over the two-year period from 2019 to 2021, per-person public spending in the North went from being £246 higher than the England average to £86 below it.

The lowest percentage increase was in the North East (16 per cent), while the lowest per-person public spending in 2021 was in Yorkshire and the Humber (£15,540).

IPPR North also stripped out the huge amounts spent on tackling the Covid pandemic from its analysis, but discovered that the picture remained largely the same.

On that measure, the gap between the North and London grew by almost 80 per cent, from £1,081 per person to £1,937.

Mr Johns added: “Although an increase in public spending on 2019 was welcome and absolutely essential, spending is lower and grew slower in the North than in other parts of the country. At the same time, the country became more centralised and inequalities widened. This is because power is not distributed fairly in this country.”

Mr Swift added: “Our analysis suggests that levelling up was, in many ways, business as usual. But that has to change.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “We do not recognise these figures and are pressing full steam ahead with levelling up the North.”

A beach in Devon remains closed after a double rockfall missed a member of the public by a matter of minutes.

ITV News www.itv.com 

Two rockfalls happened within minutes of each other on East Beach in Sidmouth at around 12.40pm on Monday 25 July.

Glyn Warren was nearby at the time and said he spotted a “cloud of dust” caused by the first rock fall.

He said: “The effect of the first rockfall generated a second, equally as big, rockfall – they both came from the high part of the cliff.”

East Beach has been closed for years due to the unstable cliff face – but locals say people are regularly spotted using it.

“It was so strange to see that in the picture people don’t seem at all phased by the rockfall,” Glyn told ITV News West Country.

Sharing a photo of the recent fall online, Jurrasic Paddle Sports said it acts as “another reminder to stay off” the beach.

“Lifeguards have been advising all summer so far to stay off that beach,” they said. “Please take note of the signs and follow the advice of the lifeguards”.

Not a description of Boris Johnson this time but of Rishi Sunak according to “Team Truss”.

Unbecoming all round, but that’s Tories for you! – Owl

Anger over the Partygate scandal has been reignited after Scotland Yard confirmed that it did not send questionnaires to Boris Johnson before deciding against fining him for attending two Downing Street lockdown gatherings.

Ben Quinn www.theguardian.com 

Fines were issued to other attenders at the gatherings in 2020, including one at No 10 on 13 November, where the prime minister gave a leaving speech for his departing director of communications, Lee Cain, and another in the Cabinet Office on 17 December.

Downing Street has previously briefed that Johnson did not receive police questionnaires relating to some lockdown events. But the revelation on Monday is thought to be the first time the Metropolitan police has admitted this, under details released as part of a legal challenge.

The Good Law Project (GLP), a non-profit campaign group that has brought a judicial review over accusations that the Met failed to fully investigate Johnson’s presence at parties, said: “The Met’s actions have raised grave concerns about the deferential way in which they are policing those in power.

“We don’t think the Met’s response is consistent with their legal duty of candour. And we certainly don’t think it’s consistent with what the Met has elsewhere conceded is their public duty to maintain public confidence in policing.”

The group is taking action in concert with Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat peer and former senior police officer.

In a document summarising the Met’s response to the challenge, released by the GLP, the force said it could confirm no questionnaire was sent to Johnson for the two 2020 gatherings. It confirmed it sent one in relation to a gathering held on 14 January 2021.

Johnson received a single £50 fine in April for breaking Covid laws at a birthday party thrown for him in June 2020.

In its response to the GLP, Scotland Yard said investigating officers had examined hundreds of documents including emails, diary entries, witness statements and CCTV images.

Questionnaires were a useful part of the investigation, but if answers were clear from other evidence, “there was little to be gained” from sending one to a particular person simply for them to confirm what was already known, and there was no duty to send one, it was said.

The Met said Operation Hillman, the probe into Partygate, had concluded and that it would not comment on the steps taken in the course of the investigation.

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There was an angry reaction from former officials embroiled in the police inquiry, included one who pointed out that Rishi Sunak received a fixed-penalty notice for his presence at the end of Johnson’s birthday party, which the then chancellor was said to have wandered into as he prepared for another meeting.

Jo Maugham, director of the GLP, said: “Johnson isn’t going to be prime minister for much longer. But, for me, this continues to be about what it was always about: trust in policing and the rule of law. Seventy-two per cent of voters think there is one law for the rich and another for the poor. Why won’t the Met address that perception? Why won’t they just say what happened?”

No 10 declined to comment, referring queries to Scotland Yard.

Dear Owl

I really do resent having to suffer media hysteria about the Tory leadership panto from now until September. What’s the point – it’s nothing to do with me or anyone I know. It just bigs up the 160,000 Tory party faithful who will choose one or other right wing ideologue to be the next Prime Minister that all the rest of us have to endure. These voters represent 0.25% (a quarter of one per cent) of the population. Most of these people (79% of them) are still convinced that Brexit was a success – which alone tells you what sort of grasp of reality prevails among them. There are even some – the walking dead of their number – who want Boris back on the ballot form with Truss and Sunac as the ultimate continuity candidate. It’s barking mad that these people will decide who runs this country. And now we must contemplate endless baloney from the Tory press about how significant it is – all of it confected to represent yet more of the same desperately inadequate government as “A New Beginning”. It’s worth at least a minute’s silence, is it not, for “The Will Of The People”… 

Sunac makes fewer gaffes than Truss, and is probably less of a public idiot, but as there’s no need for ‘balance’, I hope all food banks will play this clip on a loop to amuse those queuing for rapidly diminishing resources. The cheese gag will absolutely split their sides.  For all of them it’s only bread and circuses on offer, and probably without the bread.

Regards 

Worzelist

Tory MP blasts Nadine Dorries for tweet criticising Rishi Sunak’s £3,500 suit.

“Dame Nads” shoots from the lip again! What fun!

After all, what’s £3,500 to Richy? – Owl

Emily Ferguson inews.co.uk 

Bitter Tory leadership infighting has already broken into the open after Boris Johnson ally Nadine Dorries prompted fury for mocking Rishi Sunak for wearing an expensive suit.

The Culture Secretary, who is backing Liz Truss to be the next Tory leader and prime minister, compared the former Chancellor’s pricey suit to the Foreign Secretary’s £4.50 earrings.

It is the latest sign that the race to replace Mr Johnson is becoming a toxic, highly personal battle.

Ms Dorries shared an article on Twitter that reports that Mr Sunak has been pictured wearing a £3,500 suit and £490 Prada shoes.

In a bid to promote Ms Truss over her rival, she claimed that the Foreign Secretary is more likely to be seen in a pair of earrings from high street chain Claire’s.

She said: “Liz Truss will be travelling the country wearing her earrings which cost circa £4.50 from Claire Accessories. Meanwhile…

“Rishi visits Teeside in Prada shoes worth £450 and sported £3,500 bespoke suit as he prepared for crunch leadership vote.”

The tweet, posted just before 8am on Monday, has been heavily criticised by the public, political commentators and even a Tory MP.

Guildford MP Angela Richardson, a supporter of Mr Sunak, shot back: “FFS (for f***’s sake) Nadine! Muted.”

Meanwhile, tory MP Johnny Mercer, called on the party to “raise standards”.

He said: “Back in Whitehall today – perhaps only a few weeks to make a difference. Probably worth remembering that on current trajectory we are out of power in two years time. The puerile nature of this leadership contest is embarrassing. Time to raise the standards.”

Dominique Samuels, a broadcaster, suggested such comments were unhelpful and damage the Tory party.

“Personal attacks like this on fellow colleagues is bizarre and actually harms the Conservatives rather than helps them. Nads should give this a rest,” she said.

Former Labour MP and Cabinet minister Jacqui Smith tweeted: “This is a nasty, silly, trivial tweet Nadine.

“I think we need a bit better from Cabinet Ministers and potential future PMs than a vision of you two pointing and sneering at Rishi’s outfit whilst comparing notes on cheap earrings. #MeanGirls”

David Linden, the SNP MP for Glasgow East, said: “Opposition MPs right now as we watch the Conservatives knock seven shades of excrement out of each-other for all to see.

“Fitting that the most dramatic performance should come from the Culture Secretary.”

Another SNP colleague, Stephen Flynn tweeted a popcorn and laughing emoji and said “they’ve barely even started”.

The Labour Party has branded the comments as “pathetic” and suggested Government ministers should be focusing their efforts on issues the electorate care about.

“The country is in the middle of a cost of living crisis,” a spokesperson said.

“But rather than get on with sorting out the mess they have created, Tory Government ministers are spending their days attacking each other on Twitter. Pathetic.”

The argument has been seen as a public example of reported blue-on-blue attacks as the Tory leadership contest gets increasingly bitter.

“They’re fighting each other,” one member of the public observed. “Nothing like seeing piranhas tear each other apart for power,” said another.

Mr Sunak and Ms Truss face their first live head-to-head TV debate on Monday evening as they both try to convince the Conservative Party grassroots that they are the right person to become the next Prime Minister.

The tory Tory leadership hopefuls will pitch their bids in front of a live audience of about 100 on Monday night as bitter clashes erupted over the weekend.

Pledges on immigration, China and tax cuts have seen the two candidates get personal, as they made attacks on the other’s respective policies.

The infighting, which comes after Tory MPs raised concerns that the earlier campaign debates were shedding too much light on blue-on-blue attacks, has led to calls from within the party to tone it down.

The boss of a water company with one of the worst pollution records in England has been handed more than £1m in pay and bonuses.

Rewarding failure, something we excel in! – Owl

Alex Lawson www.theguardian.com 

Anglian Water chief executive Peter Simpson faces criticism after he landed a “substantial” £337,651 bonus as part of a £1.3m pay package.

The reward comes despite English water firms overseeing such shocking levels of pollution that the Environment Agency has said water company bosses should be jailed for serious offences.

Anglian Water recorded nearly a quarter of all serious pollution incidents in 2021, according to the agency. It had the third-highest rate of total pollution incidents per 10,000 square kilometres with 34, behind Southern Water with 94 and South West Water with 87.

Anglian was given two stars out of five in the EA’s performance rating, meaning it requires significant improvement.

Anglian Water Services’ annual report now shows Simpson and chief financial officer Steve Buck saw their maximum bonuses cut by 45% after missing customer delivery targets, which included goals on pollution and flooding. Simpson saw 5% of his 2019 bonus clawed back too.

Simpson’s base salary rose to £531,365 in 2021-22, up from £505,277 a year earlier. Buck received a £919,253 pay package including a £228,243 bonus.

Rival utility company Thames Water is also facing heat for handing its chief executive, Sarah Bentley, £727,000 worth of bonuses despite its own poor performance on pollution.

The bulk of Bentley’s bonus will be distributed as part of a £3.1m “golden handshake” sign-on payment that is reportedly to be distributed to her within days of the EA report’s release. The agency also gave Thames Water a two-star rating.

Natalie Ceeney, chair of Anglian’s remuneration committee and an experienced former civil servant, said: “Our environmental performance in 2021-22, including on pollution and flooding, haven’t reached the levels our customers, stakeholders and regulators expect from us.

“We are very clear that poor performance should not be rewarded. As such, our underperformance in these key areas cancels out strong performance in other areas such as leakage.

“This means the performance measures element of the bonus scheme will not pay out at all this year.”

Simpson’s overall package, which was benchmarked against his peers’, fell 37% from £2.1m the year before. However, pay campaigners said the curbs did not go far enough.

Andrew Speke of the High Pay Centre thinktank said: “When the Environment Agency is calling for water company bosses to be jailed over their record on pollution, boards of the worst offending companies should be taking serious action to improve the management of their companies.

“So for Anglian Water, one of the worst offenders, to be awarding their CEO a substantial bonus shows that the rot goes deep in this sector.

“It’s time for the government to intervene and either increase regulation or bring the sector into public ownership, because the current model is failing people and the environment.”

Anglian Water Services has proposed a final dividend of £169m which was reduced by £9m to “reflect the outcome delivery incentives penalty in the period”. The firm expects to pay a £8.3m penalty after missing targets including on pollution, flooding and burst mains.

Nearly £92m of the dividend will be paid to the company’s ultimate owners – a collection of pension and infrastructure funds in the UK, Australia and Canada as well as an investment group based in Luxembourg and owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Anglian said its shareholders had not received a dividend payment since 2017 and had invested over £1.1bn into the business.

The company has also set up an “escaped sewage cell” – a dedicated team tackling pollution using “military planning methods”.

Councillors agreed the new terms and conditions this week as part of the process to replace outgoing CEO Dr Phil Norrey, who is retiring after 16 years.

While DCC faces going bust with a £40M overspend! – Owl

Ollie Heptinstall, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

He is entitled to around £175,000 a year but currently earns just over £160,000 after taking a reduced salary and declining pay rises for a number of years.

A council report concluded a pay rate of “circa £200,000 would be required to attract and retain” Dr Norrey’s replacement, explaining that “salaries generally within the council have not kept pace with others in the public sector.”

It explained the pay rate is now “substantially out of kilter” to chief executives of similar sized local authorities.

Several councils pay more than £200,000, including Surrey, Hampshire and Gloucestershire. Neighbouring Somerset County Council this week appointed a new CEO on £195,000 a year.

But senior Liberal Democrat councillor Alan Connett, leader of the opposition until earlier this year, criticised the Devon increase at this week’s full council meeting – calling it the “wrong thing to do”.

“As we all know, there is a cost-of-living crisis out there. My view is that the chief officer on £175,000 is probably quite well….able to cope with life,” he said.

However, most councillors voted for the rise despite several opposition members from the Lib Dems, Labour, Green Party and Independents voting against.

Justifying the increase, the council report added: “Recruitment and retention is an increasing challenge for all authorities, and, at a senior level, there is a relatively small pool of appropriately qualified and experienced individuals.”

Dr Norrey is retiring at the end of August. Former county solicitor Jan Spicer will become interim chief executive until a permanent replacement is appointed.

The new pay package does not include the interim role.

• General purpose agricultural livestock building Upton Ley Farm Payhembury EX14 3JFRef. No: 22/1569/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of agricultural use to allotments, wild flower meadow, tree planting and additional car parking for allotment holders Millfield Colyton Allotments ColytonRef. No: 22/1563/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1 and T2, lime – re-pollard to previous pollard points. Reason – to continue previous management of the trees. T3 Large Pittosporum – remove long limb at approximately 2m over drive and shorten upper growth over drive by 1.5m. To allow vehicular access. T4 small Pittosproum – remove low stem over drive at 1.5m and shorten back remainder over drive by 1m. To allow vehicular access. Halwell West Park Road Sidmouth EX10 9DHRef. No: 22/1557/TRE | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a single storey rear extension, loft extension including a rear hip to gable roof extension and new side extension to provide an entrance porch 32 Willow Avenue Exmouth EX8 4QSRef. No: 22/1556/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Turkey Oak : remove first order branch at approximately 4m on N side; shorten back second and third order branches over the garden and neighbouring property by approximately 2m; shorten back over roof by approximately 2m to a natural pruning position. 9 Sidmount Gardens Sidmouth EX10 8XQRef. No: 22/1558/TRE | Validated: Wed 13 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a single storey side extension to provide enlarged kitchen, utility room and a ground floor W.C. 19 Garratt Close Exmouth EX8 5PJRef. No: 22/1555/FUL | Validated: Wed 13 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T7, Pine : Fell. Reason: Tree grown substantially causing excessive shade resulting in plants and grass not growing. Tree leans and concern it could fail. 5 Garrett Close Seaton Devon EX12 2FERef. No: 22/1554/TRE | Validated: Wed 13 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Static Home to provide managers accommodation Turbury Farm Stamps Coaches Dunkeswell EX14 4QNRef. No: 22/1547/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey side extension 20 Upper Stoneborough Lane Budleigh Salterton EX9 6SZRef. No: 22/1544/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey front, side, and rear extensions (with remodelling and alteration to fenestration) and erection of detached garage. (Partial demolition of existing house and garage.) Dene Lower Broad Oak Road West Hill EX11 1XHRef. No: 22/1543/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Extension to existing balcony to front elevation Merlea East Walk Seaton EX12 2NWRef. No: 22/1533/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Holm Oak (1) : Raise crown to 5m above ground level; reduce crown on North and East sides by 2 to 2.5m and clear roof by 1.5m Holm Oak (2) : Remove 2 lowest 4″ diameter branches on South side to effectively raise crown to 5.5m. Shorten branches above on South side by 2m Turkey Oak (3) : Remove the 2 lowest 6″ diameter branches on South side at approximately 8m above ground level; shorten branches in mid crown above on South side by 2m Horse Chestnut (4) : Reduce main stem and side stem on South side by 4m in height; thin out crown by 15% Reason: Appropriate arb management. The Stables Oakhayes Road Woodbury Devon EX5 1JTRef. No: 22/1531/TRE | Validated: Mon 11 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1 beech dbh 600mm, located in West corner of property by red brick wall, on western side over driveways raise crown to 5.5m pruning cuts of no more than 75mm on North side prune back to trunk 1 x first order branch approximately 130mm in diameter, to allow vehicles to get to property’s without hitting Tree branches. T2 Oak dbh 1400mm, located next to T1 on on SW side of property, raise crown on SW side only over shared driveway to 5.5m pruning cuts of no more than 75mm to allow vehicles access to property’s without hitting any branches. Longbridge Boughmore Road Sidmouth EX10 8SHRef. No: 22/1528/TRE | Validated: Mon 11 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of front facing conservatory and replacing with conventional extension largely on the same footprint. 2 Wells Avenue Feniton Honiton EX14 3DLRef. No: 22/1519/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of existing garage with replacement of garage Withen Farmhouse Withen Lane Aylesbeare EX5 2JQRef. No: 22/1511/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a two storey side and single storey rear extension to existing dwelling, first floor extension and proposed revised detached garage Anglesea Maer Lane Exmouth Devon EX8 2DDRef. No: 22/1517/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Removal of existing tennis courts, provision of underground swimming pool, gym and associated exercise space, laying out of terraced areas and provision of pergola, remodelling of some of the existing topography and provision of new hard and soft landscaping including significant tree planting to reflect historical landscape design here. East House Rousdon Lyme Regis DT7 3XRRef. No: 22/1515/LBC | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Removal of existing tennis courts, provision of underground swimming pool, gym and associated exercise space, laying out of terraced areas and provision of pergola, remodelling of some of the existing topography and provision of new hard and soft landscaping including significant tree planting to reflect historical landscape design here. East House Rousdon Lyme Regis DT7 3XRRef. No: 22/1514/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a jump tower (retrospective) Devon Cliffs Holiday Centre Sandy Bay Exmouth EX8 5BTRef. No: 22/1512/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of a single story rear extension in green oak. Penhenver Tip Hill Ottery St Mary EX11 1BERef. No: 22/1508/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• T1, Blue Cedar – Crown reduction to retain a tree with a finished height of 12 metres and an approximate crown radius of 4 metres in line with previous application 15/0934/TRE. Reason: to maintain tree to appropriate size for location. Heathers Knowle Drive Sidmouth Devon EX10 8HWRef. No: 22/1493/TRE | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T5, Oak : Crown lift to no more than 4m above ground level by end tipping; maximum diameter of cuts (MDC) no more than 50mm; reduce lateral crown growing to the west by no more than 1.5m to ensure clearance of between 1 to 1.5m from the garage as per the attached photograph; MDC 50mm. Electricity Sub Station 4206 Church Road Lympstone EX8 5JTRef. No: 22/1485/TCA | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of kitchen and bathroom showroom area adjacent to Withycombe Road; removal of internal mezzanine floor . Internal alterations for form new sales area with formation of new customer entrance doors, removal of fibre cement sheeting and recladding external walls / roof. Installation of photovoltaic panels to roof Jewson Ltd Withycombe Village Road Exmouth EX8 3BERef. No: 22/1468/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• First floor side extension. 41 Fleming Avenue Sidmouth EX10 9NHRef. No: 22/1467/FUL | Validated: Mon 11 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of 4 no. 2 bed apartments, 2 no. 1 bed apartments and 1 no. 2 bed dwelling with associated hard and soft landscaping, access and parking. Land Adjacent Regis House Lyme Road Uplyme DT7 3TJRef. No: 22/1409/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Variation of condition 2 (approved plans) of planning permission 21/1674/FUL (3 dwellings) to allow revised drainage scheme Upexe Farm Upexe EX5 5NDRef. No: 22/1402/VAR | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of a pedestrian bridge 6 Longbrook Lane Lympstone EX8 5LJRef. No: 22/1394/FUL | Validated: Mon 11 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Temporary siting of mobile home (to facilitate construction of replacement dwelling) Site Of Spillers Cottage Shute EX13 7QGRef. No: 22/1377/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of lawfulness for conversion of games room to a studio roomBlacksmiths Arms Plymtree EX15 2JURef. No: 22/1316/CPL | Validated: Mon 11 Jul 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

Former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who resigned earlier this month, said that the government was not on track to deliver its manifesto commitment to increase the number of GPs in England by 6,000.

And the candidates to be the next PM want to cut taxes and shrink the state!

Do the Tories know how to govern? – Owl

The large number of unfilled NHS job vacancies is posing a serious risk to patient safety, a report by MPs says.

Jim Reed Health reporter www.bbc.co.uk

It found England is now short of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives, calling this the worst workforce crisis in NHS history.

It said a reluctance to decisively plug the staffing gap could threaten plans to tackle the Covid treatment backlog.

The government said the workforce is growing and NHS England is drawing up long-term plans to recruit more staff.

Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who chairs the Commons health and social care select committee that produced the report, said tackling the shortage must be a “top priority” for the new prime minister when they take over in September.

“Persistent understaffing in the NHS poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety, a situation compounded by the absence of a long-term plan by the government to tackle it,” he said.

The cross-party committee saw evidence that, on current projections, almost a million new jobs will need to be filled in health and social care by the early part of the next decade.

Extra staff would be needed to keep up with rising demand as the population gets older and healthcare becomes more complex and technologically advanced.

The health services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have faced similar staffing pressures.

A ‘national scandal’

The committee also heard evidence from former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who resigned earlier this month, that the government was not on track to deliver its manifesto commitment to increase the number of GPs in England by 6,000.

There was concern about maternity services, with more than 500 midwives leaving the health service between March 2021 and March 2022.

The committee described a situation where NHS pensions arrangements meant some senior doctors were better off retiring or reducing their working hours as a “national scandal” and called for swift action to change the rules.

It said conditions were “regrettably worse” in social care, with 95% of care providers struggling to hire staff and 75% finding it difficult to retain existing workers.

“Without the creation of meaningful professional development structures, and better contracts with improved pay and training, social care will remain a career of limited attraction, even when it is desperately needed,” the report said.

It called for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to be more proactive in enforcing the minimum wage, amid concerns that 17,000 care workers were paid below the legal rate of £9.50 an hour.

Miriam Deakin, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers which represents hospitals, mental health trusts and ambulance services, said that many staff were facing “unsustainable” workloads in the face of “ever-growing demand”.

“The answer is staring everyone in the face: The government must come up with a fully-funded, long-term workforce plan for the NHS,” she said.

Patricia Marquis, England director at the Royal College of Nursing, said the risk to staff and patients from low staffing levels should “shock ministers into action”.

“On pay the committee was very clear, saying it is unacceptable that some NHS nurses are struggling to feed their families, pay their rent, and travel to work,” she said.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting accused the government of having “utterly failed” to address the crisis.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said the number of people employed in healthcare was now growing and NHS England had been asked to develop a long-term plan to recruit and retain more staff.

“As we continue to deliver on our commitment to recruit 50,000 more nurses by 2024, we are also running a £95m recruitment drive for maternity services and providing £500m to develop our valued social care workforce,” he said.

The UK’s biggest care home chains saw their profit margins jump by 18% on average during the pandemic, new research shows, while the highest paid director’s salary surged to £2.3m.

Shanti Das www.theguardian.com

Amid a social care staffing crisis, and warnings from medical leaders that the system is “deeply flawed” and in need of urgent reform, analysis seen by the Observer lays bare the financial successes of major providers caring for elderly and disabled people.

The research – by the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity at Surrey University and Trinava Consulting with the trade union Unison – found that six of the 10 biggest adult social care providers for whom data was available saw their underlying profit margins widen between 2019 and 2020, the first year of the pandemic.

The biggest rise was at Runwood Homes, where the underlying profit margin widened by 37% in 2020, and which reported a profit before tax of £25.4m, up from £15m the year before, according to the research. A quarter of its homes are rated as requiring improvement by the Care Quality Commission.

The highest margin – 41.7% – was at Avery Healthcare, up from 39.8% in 2019 and 32.5% in 2015. The company, which runs 56 care homes in the UK, was recently acquired by the Reuben Brothers, named as Britain’s second richest family with an estimated fortune of £21.5bn, in the company’s first investment in the senior care sector. A press release in March said the deal – a joint venture with US real estate investment trust Welltower Inc – was expected to “generate significant future growth opportunities”.

The​ findings will fuel concerns about profiteering by private providers despite the pressures of Covid, and come amid reports of cost-cutting at some chains, and continued low pay for many staff.

Vivek Kotecha, public policy consultant and director of Trinava, which carried out the analysis, said: “During the pandemic there was a sense of national solidarity and sacrifice that was needed. I think people will be surprised to see that some companies actually appear to have done really well out of the pandemic.”

He added: “What it shows is that these businesses have high expectations for maintaining profitability, and workers and residents are feeling the brunt of this pressure.”

As well as widening profit margins, some providers also increased pay for their top executives during the pandemic, despite Covid pressures and the staffing crisis in social care, according to the research.

Runwood’s multimillionaire owner Gordon Sanders received an extra £2m in dividends in 2020, taking £3m that year compared with £1m in 2019. The company accepted £2m in taxpayer-funded furlough pay and Covid grants over the same period, according to Companies House records.

The highest-paid director across the providers, at Barchester Healthcare, was paid £2.27m in 2020 – up from £2.02m in 2019 and £699,000 in 2015. Posts for care workers at Barchester, which is owned by Jersey-based Grove Limited, were last week being advertised for £9.90 an hour, just above minimum wage.

The findings come amid warnings that the social care sector is in crisis. The British Medical Association warned in June of a “ticking timebomb” and said years of chronic underfunding, severe staffing shortages and a growing elderly population meant that many in the future, particularly the most deprived, would not get the care they need. “This situation has been exacerbated by the pandemic, and government proposals to shape the future of social care have fallen significantly short of what is needed,” it said.

Last month, a report by Unison highlighted the growing role of private equity in the sector, finding that more than one in nine (12%) care beds in the UK were now in the hands of investment firms. It also revealed cost-cutting at several unnamed firms, including allegations of food and cleaning products being replaced with cheaper substitutes and residents’ meals being reduced from three to two a day.

Christina McAnea, the Unison general secretary, said: “The sector is on its knees, staff are leaving in their droves and those who rely on care are getting a raw deal. Yet many care home owners continue to see their financial fortunes soar amid this crisis. Root-and-branch reform is needed now with profiteering removed from social care.”

Avery Healthcare and Runwood Homes declined to comment.

Barchester Healthcare said that it was investing in care homes and that staff received regular pay rises and loyalty bonuses. “In the six years from 2015 to 2020 inclusive, we invested a total of some £56m in capital expenditure on property and improvements of our services, to ensure that residents are living and staff are working in the best possible conditions,” it said. It added that the £2.3m figure given in company accounts for the highest paid director included a “non-recurring payment related to a long-term incentive plan”, and not just salary.

Only now he is running for PM, not while he was Chancellor!

What’s changed?

Have the: “We got the Big Calls Right” Tories, really crashed the economy, as some of us fear? – Owl

www.bloomberg.com  (Extract)

Rishi Sunak has said that he would put the UK on a “crisis footing” from his first day as prime minister, as he and Liz Truss bid to woo the Tory grassroots as the leadership contest continues…

….The former chancellor tells The Times that the UK needs to be on a “crisis footing” to deal with inflation and a host of other challenges.

“They’re challenges that are staring us in the face and a business-as-usual mentality isn’t going to cut it in dealing with them. So from day one of being in office I’m going to put us on a crisis footing.

“Having been inside government I think the system just isn’t working as well as it should,” he is quoted as saying.

“And the challenges that I’m talking about, they’re not abstract, they’re not things that are coming long down the track.”

Mr Sunak also hits out at again at the proposed tax cuts lauded by Ms Truss, warning that it could lead to inflation becoming “entrenched” in the British economy.

He said: “What I worry about is the inflation we’re seeing now becoming entrenched for longer.

“That’s the risk we need to guard against. If that happens, it will be incredibly damaging for millions across the UK. The cost for families is going to be enormous.”

He also suggests that the Foreign Secretary’s plans could see interest rates rise, while rejecting the suggestion he is running a so-called “project fear”.

He added: “Imagine what that’s going to do to people’s mortgage rates.

“If we get this wrong, interest rates [will] have to go up even more because of a government that borrowed too much and made the situation worse.

“Anyone who doesn’t take really seriously the fact that inflation is running at the level it is is being hugely complacent about the challenge that is facing this country.

“That’s not project fear, that’s being honest with the country about what is happening and being responsible in saying this is a pressing priority that the government needs to help resolve and not make worse….

No S106 money to help provide health services, guess who controls Harborough District Council? Conservatives 22, Lib Dems 11, Labour 1 – Owl

Dave Owen www.leicestermercury.co.uk

Leicester’s hospitals have launched proceedings in the High Court over a massive, 2,750-home development planned for a swathe of land outside Lutterworth. The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust is seeking a judicial review of a decision made by Harborough District Council in relation to the scheme.

Health bosses are unhappy with the authority after it turned down an application for just under a million pounds towards health services for future occupants of the development. The NHS Trust which runs the city’s three main hospitals had requested the money to mitigate the impact of residents’ healthcare needs.

The planning application, submitted by Leicestershire County Council, was approved by the district council in May this year. The new homes will be built on a 550-acre area of land just off Junction 20 of the M1.

Companies behind major developments are required to provide money towards the local community and infrastructure, such as health services, schools and leisure facilities. Such contributions, known as section 106 agreements, are legally binding and enforceable.

Opponents of the housing scheme claimed it would put undue pressure on local services in the town, which has a population of 9,500. However, council leaders had assured residents that the new homes would bring in “as much as £1 billion” in investment, including new schools a parks. They also said it would create new opportunities for businesses and create an estimated 2,500 new jobs in the town.

Provision of those aspects of a development are frequently funded via section 106 agreements, with the planning authority setting out what it requires a developer to agree to fund before it will issue planning permission.

But in this case, the district council approved the Lutterworth development without asking the developer to pay the money to fund health services which had been requested by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. Now the Trust has asked for that decision to be reviewed by the High Court.

The Trust claims that such a large housing scheme will place a huge burden on existing health services, including Leicester Royal Infirmary. It says that the homes will create an extra 3,487 people who will rely on health services it provides – and it needs the money to help pay for it.

Richard Mitchell, chief executive at Leicester’s Hospitals, said: “We have sought a judicial review to support our aim in making sure the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland have timely and safe access to health care services.”

Patient campaigner Zuffar Haq said he understood why the hospital trust had resorted to taking legal action against the district council. Speaking to Harborough FM, he said: “This is very rare. Ideally, they should have been able to get the money from the 106 agreement but they’ve obviously failed.”

A map of the Lutterworth East site

“We’re talking about a million pounds, and it is going to affect hospital services in Leicestershire. That million pounds is sorely needed I’m sure,” he added. “The reality is, if there is going to be over 2,000 new houses, the hospitals are going to have more people coming in from that area.

“They need the funds and the infrastructure to deal with that. I think the hospitals will struggle, and are struggling, for finances and have every right to be asking for that money and making sure that it gets delivered, because otherwise it’s going to affect the patients.”

The judicial review process will see a judge decide if the planning authority acted lawfully in making its decision.

A spokesperson for Harborough District Council said: “We can confirm that the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust has issued judicial review proceedings against the council.

“The claim relates to Leicestershire County Council’s planning application at Lutterworth East, which was approved in May 2022. It is therefore inappropriate for us to comment while the case is ongoing.”

A Leicesteshire County Council spokesperson said: “We are aware that the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust is challenging Harborough District Council’s decision to grant planning permission for the Lutterworth East scheme.

“As both landowner and applicant, Leicestershire County Council is an interested party in the proceedings and will not be commenting further whilst proceedings are ongoing.”

Tory grandees who served in Margaret Thatcher’s final cabinet have warned that the former prime minister would never have approved of Liz Truss’s plan to slash £30bn off taxes funded by borrowing, as Rishi Sunak denounced his opponent’s plans as “immoral”.

Michael Savage www.theguardian.com 

With a bitter row over tax emerging as the defining issue in the race to succeed Boris Johnson, three members of Thatcher’s cabinet told the Observer that she would have taken a dim view of slashing taxes at a time of high inflation.This follows repeated claims that Truss has attempted to model herself on Thatcher in her attempt to win the leadership, which she has denied.

Chris Patten, Norman Lamont and Malcolm Rifkind all said that the former Tory leader would not have supported the tax-cutting plans. Patten said: “Margaret Thatcher was a fiscal Conservative who did not cut tax until we had reduced inflation. She was honest and did not believe in nonsense.”

Norman Lamont, a senior Treasury minister under Thatcher, said: “Mrs Thatcher strongly believed that cutting the deficit came before cutting taxes. She also believed that deficits were simply deferred taxation.” Malcolm Rifkind said that he was as “certain as I can be that she would be very unimpressed by funding tax cuts through increased borrowing, even if it wasn’t at a time of high inflation – but certainly when it is”.

“She believed that tax cuts should be funded either by economic growth that was already producing more revenue, or by cuts in public spending,” he said. “That’s what Thatcherism means. I think every single Tory, as well as lots of other people, believe in the desirability of tax cuts. But no Conservative would ever see it as an ideological imperative.”

Sunak, the former chancellor battling to defeat Truss in the race to become prime minister, described Truss’s plans as “immoral” on Saturday, warning that they would push up inflation, increase mortgage rates and damage the economy. He has also pledged tax cuts, but only after inflation has been reduced.

“Not only do I think it’s the wrong thing for the economy, I also believe that it’s immoral because there is nothing noble or good about racking up bills on the country’s credit card that we pass on to our children and grandchildren,” he said.

A spokesperson for Truss said: “Liz’s plans for tax cuts will reward people for their hard work and effort, allowing them to keep more of their hard-earned money. You cannot tax your way to growth.”

However, there are already concerns that the domination of tax cuts and plans to reduce the size of the state will see the Tories failing to hold together the coalition of traditional Tories and new “red wall” voters that secured the party an 80-strong majority at the last election.

Rachel Wolf, co-author of the 2019 Tory manifesto, said the leadership candidates needed to start talking about the agenda promised to voters in newly won seats to ensure the gains made at the last elections were not squandered. “This 2019 offer won by a landslide,” she said. “Every single focus group that we’ve done on myriad areas has confirmed that this offer is what people look for. I think when they make a judgment at the next election, it will in part be on the ability to deliver beyond the tax cuts in 2022, 2023 or 2024. I think they need to start talking about this.”

Wolf pointed to a new report by her Public First consultancy and the Health Foundation thinktank, which showed that voters were aware of the health inequalities that Johnson vowed to tackle as part of his levelling up agenda. The research found that 37% of 2019 Conservative voters would be less likely to support the Conservatives at the next election if health equalities, including lower life expectancy in poorer areas, worsened.

Wolf said that a failure to follow through on such commitments risked fostering populism on the right. “My fear is that if we don’t start showing an ability to understand and deliver on the kinds of issues that this report talks about, then voters who were very frustrated because they wanted change and who are feeling poor right now will feel rightly, desperately disappointed. It makes them much more open to populist arguments. I think there is a very high risk of a new right wing resurgence of [Nigel] Farage or potentially worse.”

The latest Opinium poll for the Observer found that Sunak is seen as slightly more likely to be a “good prime minister” by the general public than is Liz Truss, although the number who have no opinion of Truss is twice as high – suggesting that she remains unknown to many voters.

The poll found that 43% backed Sunak as a good prime minister, while 45% said he would be bad. Only 36% said Truss would be good, while 41% said she would be bad. Among 2019 Tory voters, 59% said Sunak would be good; 35% said he’d be bad while, 55% said Truss would be good; 29% said bad.