Chancellor joins Boris Johnson in effectively being questioned under caution over alleged Covid breaches

www.independent.co.uk

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is facing questions from police investigating allegations of lockdown-breaching parties in Whitehall.

Sources close to the chancellor said he had received a questionnaire from the Metropolitan Police asking him to confirm whether he attended the events under investigation and what excuse he had for being there.

The move means that Mr Sunak is effectively being questioned under caution, and could face a fixed penalty fine of £100 or more for breaching Covid regulations.

Mr Sunak was present at an impromptu birthday party arranged for Mr Johnson in No 10’s cabinet room on 19 June 2020.

Police are understood to have been passed a picture of the event taken by an official photographer, which reportedly shows Mr Johnson holding a can of beer and Mr Sunak with a soft drink.

A Treasury source has previously said that the chancellor joined the party inadvertently after going to the cabinet room for a Covid strategy committee meeting.

Around 30 people were present at the event, where cake was served, at a time when indoor gatherings were banned under strict coronavirus legislation.

Questionnaires were sent by the Met’s Operation Hillman to 88 people including the prime minister earlier this month, asking them to provide a “lawful exception” or “reasonable excuse” for their presence at any of the 12 events under investigation.

The document states at the outset that those accused have an opportunity to provide “a written statement under caution”.

Some people to be allowed to pee for free (but not too much)

Paul Nero www.radioexe.co.uk

Torbay Council is to introduce a ‘fair-use’ policy for vulnerable people and beach hut users at its public loos.

As part of its budget for next year, the council is giving free ‘passes’ to some people in the area so they can use public lavatories without charge.

But the free-to-pee policy comes with a sting in the tail: the council may be watching so that people don’t spend a penny too often.

Torbay Council, which is run by an alliance of Liberal Democracts and local independent politicians, is putting up council tax by three per cent from April, including a one per cent uplift to improve social care for adults.

With some of the extra cash raised, it is going to invest £1 million upgrading car parks and another million on climate change initiatives.

But among its more inspiring plans is to introduce free loo passes for vulnerable people, and people who hire council beach huts.

The idea has cross-party support.

On its website, the council says: “To keep all of our toilets in a clean and a ‘home from home’ environment we have a fee paying system.” 

Currently it costs 30 pence to use a public loo in Torbay. 

The council had already announced an investment of £1.7 million for upgrading its WCs and it outsources maintenance to a private company called Healthmatic.

In a meeting to approve its new budget from April onwards, it didn’t define which vulnerable people would be eligible for loo passes, but it did point out that both they and beach hut users would be subject to a ‘fair usage policy’ when using the toilets.

It is unclear how many bowel movements or wees per day will count as fair use.

Nor has the council said how it will be monitoring the policy.

‘Fair use’ is a pricing policy often deployed by mobile phone companies selling unlimited data, but nonetheless wanting to limit the data. Torbay Council could well be a pioneer in using the strategy for public lavatories.

Free loo-use provided you don’t take the pee.

Based on the council considering it fair for a vulnerable person to use a public loo, say, three times a week, a Torbay Council loo pass could save eligible individuals £47 a year.

A family of four hiring a beach hut for three months a year and visiting, say, three times a week, with each person going to the loo twice a day, would save about £275.

Some of Torbay’s beaches have pitches for privately owned beach huts as well as some permanent chalets and cabins. Others can be hired at a cost of up £146 a week.

The free loo passes will cost the council a total of £75,000 a year. 

Other Devon councils already allow people to wee for free, but financial pressures is causing some of them to look into their toilets’ provision.

Through the local democracy reporting scheme, Radio Exe has asked Torbay Council to define ‘fair usage’ for loo use, and whether different fair usage allowances will apply to beach hut holders and vulnerable people.

By the time of publication, it hadn’t responded.

Boris Johnson has been formally reprimanded by the official statistics watchdog for the second time in a month after he misleadingly claimed that there are now more people in work in the UK than before the start of coronavirus.

Peter Walker www.theguardian.com 

The reproach from Sir David Norgrove, the head of the UK Statistics Authority, follows concerns he raised with Johnson at the start of February about an incorrect claim that crime levels were falling.

In his new letter to Johnson, Norgrove noted that at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday the PM had said there were now more people in employment than before the pandemic began.

However, Norgrove said, this was only the case if you considered only workers on payrolls, which was misleading, as it was more than offset by a drop in numbers of self-employed people – if you include them, the total is now 600,000 lower.

“If, as seems to be the case, your statement referred only to the increase in the number of people on payrolls, it would be a selective use of data that is likely to give a misleading impression of trends in the labour market, unless that distinction is carefully explained,” Norgrove told Johnson.

He added: “I hope you will agree that public trust requires a complete statement of this important measure of the economy.”

Johnson has made the same misleading claim at earlier editions of prime minister’s questions.

On 3 February, Norgrove announced that he would be writing to the offices of Johnson and Priti Patel, the home secretary, to highlight what he called a “misleading” use of crime statistics.

Speaking in the Commons, Johnson had said the government was “cutting crime by 14%”, a reference to statistics between September 2019 and September 2021, a claim echoed in a Home Office press release. However, this was only the case if the statistics excluded fraud and computer misuse, which have risen quickly over the Covid period.

“Crude” computer programs that prioritise new road building should be banned from the design of new housing because they cause billions to be diverted to roads that could be used for creating more compact communities, campaigners claim.

Robert Booth www.theguardian.com 

Traffic modelling spreadsheets that “almost always tell us that ‘computer says road’” should no longer be used by planners and more money should be spent on building places geared for walking, cycling and public transport, according to a report by the Create Streets campaign.

It has been endorsed by Rory Stewart, a former Conservative leadership candidate; Toby Lloyd, a former Downing Street housing adviser and the Royal Town Planning Institute.

The attack on “big road urbanism” argues that the Department for Transport cost-benefit modelling tools for new roads fail to “properly capture non-travel-time benefits, such as health, wellbeing and the environment … so the answer will always be to build more or bigger roads”.

The Department for Transport strongly denied any bias towards road-building in its modelling, and a spokesperson said: “The environment is at the heart of our proposed transport schemes, and we always encourage sustainable options such as public transport, cycling and walking.”

The Create Streets thinktank is led by Nicholas Boys Smith, a former adviser to George Osborne, and has worked with architects and urban designers close to Prince Charles to argue for more human-scale planning.

It believes billions in taxpayers’ money could be saved by changing decision-making on road building, with smaller sums instead spent on placing shops, gyms and other social infrastructure closer to homes linked by buses, cycle paths and walkways. The result would also be healthier and greener, it argues.

As an example of what it believes is going wrong, it is highlighting plans to spend £1.4bn building one roundabout and 10 miles of new road near Bedford.

The 2km-wide Black Cat interchange covers a space bigger than York city centre, which is one of the UK’s most walkable cities. But transport planners say the project will relieve heavy congestion and save drivers an hour and a half on their journeys every week.

Traffic delays in England were at close to their highest level since 2015 just before the pandemic, but almost halved during the first lockdown. They have since been rising again towards peak levels. The government is pressing ahead with a £24bn road-building and renewal plan announced in 2020.

Several road projects were announced last year as recipients of the £1.7bn “levelling up fund”. Road building is already the single biggest annual outlay for councils, which last year allocated £7.5bn, or 29%, of their total capital expenditure to highways and transport services. They spent ​​£6.1bn on housing.

Create Streets highlights how scores of streets and squares in a popular medieval city like Siena in Tuscany can fit into the space taken by a motorway interchange in Houston, Texas.

“Instead of spending tens of millions of pounds on one junction or on widening a few miles of road, we should instead design better places where more journeys are by foot, bike or public transport,” said David Milner, Create Streets’ deputy director. “We can do this by siting amenities we want to visit in the heart of new developments, not their perimeters.”

Planners and developers have for decades used computer models to determine transport plans that tend to put the needs of rush hour traffic first. The impact of the pandemic, which has led to widespread remote working, and the pressing need to slash carbon emissions from domestic transport, which emits 27% of all of the UK’s CO₂, are increasing calls for change.

“We are seeing e-bikes being a car killer,” he added. “They increase the range and the frequency of bike riding.”

The study is also being endorsed by CPRE, the countryside charity, and warns that good design principles for new and regenerated communities are being “cast aside”.

“We are told the ‘infrastructure won’t cope’ or ‘the junction can’t take it’,” said Milner. “Almost every traffic model tells us that ‘computer says road’.”

Andrew Taylor, the planning director of Countryside Properties, one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, is also backing the call for change.

“This is not about avoiding investing in necessary junctions and improvements but about trying to refocus our energies and money on placemaking, 15-minute communities and foot and cycle connectivity within developments to reduce the need for these other physical interventions,” he said

A DfT spokesperson said: “Our modelling works alongside our £5bn transport decarbonisation plan, £2bn of which is specifically invested to encourage active travel.”

Concerns have been raised that unregulated pro-Moscow lobbyists at the heart of Westminster are using their links to Tory MPs to gain influence and respectability.

Seth Thévoz www.opendemocracy.net 

A group formerly known as the Conservative Friends of Russia (CRF) is advertising its first in-person conference for two years next week, despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday.

Now called the Westminster Russia Forum (WRF), the group’s British organisers often appear on the Russian state broadcaster, RT. The WRF, which loudly echoes official lines from Moscow, has links with numerous Conservative MPs and other senior UK political figures.

The WRF did not respond to openDemocracy’s questions on whether the event on March 4 would still go ahead.

Sue Hawley, the director of Spotlight on Corruption, told openDemocracy: “It’s somewhat chilling that as the UK strikes a tough posture in relation to Russia it could leave such a blindspot at home.”

The WRF is one of a number of so-called Conservative ‘friends of’ groups that have tried to draw in high-profile MPs. The groups act as a conduit between the party and certain countries or regions.

It has existed in some form for a decade, yet is not required to register as a lobbyist, sparking fears that pro-Putin interests could be influencing opinion unchecked. Although the WRF calls itself a ‘think tank’, there is no record of any research ever published by the group.

Hawley added: “Friends of’ groups of political parties are alarmingly unregulated, and provide a back door for unofficial lobbying, access and paid influence. It is high time that these groups were brought out of the shadows, properly regulated, and that the public are able to have far greater insight into how they operate and who is behind them.”

The WRF has hosted events with Tory MPs such as Daniel Kawczynski, Caroline Nokes, John Redwood and John Whittingdale, as well as Labour’s former foreign secretary Jack Straw. Event attendees have included Carrie Johnson, the Conservative Party’s former head of communications and now the prime minister’s wife.

In just over a week, the group says it will hold a ‘Multilateral Relations Conference’ aimed at strengthening links between Russia and the UK. At previous such events, dozens of speakers have urged stronger ties to the Putin government.

Edward Lucas, a foreign policy expert on Russia, told openDemocracy: “This is about as badly timed as possible, to be relaunching their events just as the invasion of Ukraine starts.”

Lucas, a journalist who was involved in calls to dissolve the Conservative Friends of Russia in 2013, has called its return “a mushroom sprouting on top of a compost heap”.

But, he said: “This is the Monty Python end of Russian influence operations. The real problem is the Russian influence operation in the serious think tanks, [in] the City of London, and [in] the large amounts of money being made by bankers, lawyers and accountants who focus on pushing the Russian regime, including by donating large amounts of money to political parties.”

The forum’s organisers are overwhelmingly London-based, with business interests in Russia. Its chair, Nicholas Cobb, runs an energy communications firm focused on Russia and former Soviet republics, who has appeared on Russia Today as a pro-Moscow pundit.

Ben Wells, described by WRF as its ‘in-house counsel’, is a solicitor whose London law firm specialises in work for “Russian-speaking clients”. Ernest Reid, billed on the WRF website as its ambassador at large, has provided commentary for Russia Today and the WRF sympathetic to Russian foreign ministry objectives.

Debate in the WRF seems to be heavily one-sided. Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski – dubbed a “Putin apologist” by other MPs – addressed the group in 2016, complaining “There is very little debate in the House of Commons about Russia.”

Under its original name, the Conservative Friends of Russia, the group facilitated a ten-day, all-expenses-paid junket to Russia in 2012, paid for by the Russian tourist government agency, Rossotrudnichestvo. Guests included Conservative activists such as future Vote Leave chief Matthew Elliott.

The controversial trip attracted significant adverse coverage and, after a further string of scandals, a number of Tory MPs who had been patrons all resigned, including Robert Buckland, Nigel Evans and former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind. One Conservative Party guest on the Russia trip told openDemocracy that the forum’s current setup had “no meaningful connection“ to CFR – but despite its rebrand to WFR, the group today still refers to itself as having been founded in 2012.

openDemocracy has also obtained emails showing that in 2013, during the Tory coalition with the Liberal Democrats, Russian diplomat Sergey Nalobin attempted to organise a similar trip to Russia for senior Lib Dems. It is unclear whether the trip went ahead.

Nalobin, the son of a high-ranking spy for Russia’s Federal Security Service, was subsequently removed from the UK by the Home Office in 2015 in a spying row.

A new target

With MPs less likely to speak at the group in recent years, the WRF has turned its focus to working on public opinion. It has an active Twitter feed, echoing official lines from Kremlin-funded organisations – although it has been uncharacteristically silent since Putin’s movement this week of recognising the separatist ‘People’s Republics’ of Donetsk and Luhansk in the east of Ukraine, and since the start of today’s invasion.

Its last activity was a retweet of a report by Russian Foreign Ministry-owned broadcaster Russia Today on 20 February, stating that de-escalation of military tensions in Ukraine was underway.

Back in 2012, the Foreign Policy journal noted that “the website’s news feed…continued to feature only state-owned or state-subsidised outlets”. The CFR said this was “entirely coincidental”.

The government has announced the closure of the Tier 1 ‘golden visa’ scheme used by a number of oligarchs from Russian and former Soviet-bloc countries to relocate to Britain, as well as imposing sanctions against five Russian banks and three Russian oligarchs. openDemocracy this week revealed that more than 200 Russian millionaires had been given ‘golden visas’, despite an earlier government pledge to ‘clamp down’ on the practice.

The WRF’s ‘multilateral forum’ events have grown from 50 attendees at the first in 2015 to 170 in 2020, which drew 47 speakers on UK-Russia relations, and was overwhelmingly effusive on the need for strong ties with the Putin regime.

UPDATE: Following the publication of this story, the Westminster Russia Forum put out an overnight statement disassociating itself from the invasion of Ukraine and saying it had “suspended all planned events until further notice”. 

Its chair Nicholas Cobb subsequently provided openDemocracy with a comment, stressing that the group was member-funded and volunteer-run. “We are in no way funded by either government,” he said, “receive no other support or direction, and are solely interested in promoting stronger trade, cultural and people to people ties.”

He also stressed that the forum was now non-partisan despite its Conservative roots, and said: “We rarely meet anyone from Parliament, our civil service or other political institutions, and have for some years now focused on promoting trade and softer areas of cooperation – none of which requires lobbying.”

The statement concludes: “We are aware that to some our views on promoting dialogue may appear strange but we are committed to doing what we can to promoting grassroots understanding and peace.”

UPDATE (9 March 2022): This article has been amended at the request of Ernest Reid to clarify his role within the WRF.

More than 1,600 care home beds have been lost in just six months, as worsening staff shortages and the financial strain after two years of the Covid pandemic have caused a net loss of 134 homes in England.

[According to this article, there are, currently, only five places available in Cornwall with about 200 people needing them,  including those awaiting discharge from hospital.]

Robert Booth www.theguardian.com 

The deregistrations, which were not outweighed by new openings, came as staff shortages almost doubled, to 11% of the workforce, from August to the end of January, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Care Quality Commission.

Three-quarters of care homes that responded to a survey also told the regulator they had been unable to recruit staff, the biggest problem being the mandatory Covid-19 vaccine policy, which was scrapped at the start of February. Obligatory double vaccination for social care staff was introduced on 11 November 2021 and about 40,000 staff left their jobs, sparking anger among care home operators who said the staff had been unfairly singled out for the mandate.

Two-fifths of care homes now believe a lack of staff is having a negative impact on care. CQC figures show there was also a surge in incidents affecting the health, safety and welfare of residents in December, which were caused by staffing issues. The area with the biggest reduction in care home registrations was south-east England.

The crisis in staffing has been compounded by Covid outbreaks in care homes, which have forced the organisations to stop admitting new residents. It has increased pressure on homecare services, which are also struggling with their own acute workforce crisis.

In Cornwall the family of a man with advanced multiple sclerosis urgently seeking a care home place was told this week by officials that there were only five places available in the county and that about 200 people needed them, including those awaiting discharge from hospital.

Shelagh Young said her brother, Bob Young, had been left for periods sitting in urine and excrement at his home, and was waiting for a respite care placement. The 58-year-old had wanted to stay at home, previously declining a move to a home. He had had sporadic help from community nurses and a volunteer charity but on Monday told his sister this was “no kind of life”.

She said she sympathised with the county officials who were trying to get him help, but they told her the shortages were linked to a deficit of care workers. Cornwall county council was contacted for comment.

Vic Rayner, the chief executive of the National Care Forum, which represents not-for-profit care operators, said the CQC figures had to be a wake-up call. “We have been warning about this staffing shortage for months now and this data may be the tip of the iceberg. Our members have been telling us that it is proving harder and harder to recruit staff, which is exacerbating the workforce pressures,” she said.

“There is an urgent need to think strategically about the social care needed within communities, and to plan and resource the social care workforce in a way that ensures that people can exercise their right to high-quality social care when and where they need it.”

Kate Terroni, the CQC chief inspector of adult social care, told the CQC board that after nearly 1,900 inspections since the start of December, the area in need of most improvement was found to be infection control.

Families of care home residents are now also concerned that lateral flow tests for visitors to the establishments will no longer be free of charge. The Rights for Residents campaign group described the change as an immoral “pay per view” policy and are demanding reinstatement of the free tests.

CQC reported that it also investigated allegations of blanket visiting bans at 82 homes in recent months, in breach of government guidelines.

A police officer interrupted a Christmas party at Downing Street last year after revellers accidentally set off an alarm, Scotland Yard has confirmed.

“‘Ello, ‘Ello, ‘Ello… now what ‘ave we got ‘ere, eh?” – Owl

George Grylls, Fiona Hamilton www.thetimes.co.uk (Extract of salient new material)

Sir Stephen House, the deputy commissioner of the Met, said that an officer witnessed the gathering on December 18, 2020 attended by about 50 people and was speaking to detectives investigating Downing Street parties.

The revelation came after the Met sent questionnaires to 88 people, including the prime minister, accused of attending lockdown gatherings

House told City Hall’s police and crime committee that the officer had already given evidence to Sue Gray, the senior civil servant tasked with investigating lockdown gatherings.

House said: “One officer was involved in responding with a civilian custodian, who works for No 10, to a silent alarm which we believe had been pressed in error. That officer was spoken to by Sue Gray and will be spoken to by ourselves.”

House rejected criticisms, however, that officers turned a blind eye to gatherings in No 10 and said their duty was to prevent a terrorism attack.

“I think maybe people have the idea that there’s tipsy revellers walking down Whitehall with Christmas hats on and blowing poppers, carrying bottles of clanking wine,” he said.

“Many of the circumstances that we’re investigating were events that took place at the end of the working day or as an adjunct to the working day for people who were already in the building and had been there since 7am or 8am.

“Armed officers do not routinely walk through the Cabinet Office or No 10.”

However, he added that if officers knew what was happening and should have intervened “we will follow up on that”.

House said that the investigation was “operating at pace” and was still expected to take weeks rather than months.

He said that detectives could send out fresh questionnaires if new suspects emerged in the answers they received.

Some alleged partygoers have already sent their questionnaires back and their “reasonable excuse” is being reviewed. House said the Met would start issuing fines if the excuse did not stack up.

Boris Johnson has become the first British prime minister to be questioned under caution by the police, a leaked form appeared to confirm last night.

The Met is sending questionnaires to 88 people accused of attending lockdown gatherings as part of a criminal investigation into a dozen Downing Street parties in 2020 and last year.

In the forms, which are equivalent to a police interview, people are asked to explain and justify their presence at gatherings….

“If they think corrupt elites are threatening our national security they cannot just sweep this under the carpet.” Chris Bryant MP

Reds under the bed or in the bed? – Owl

Martin Williams www.opendemocracy.net

More than 200 Russian millionaires bought their way into the UK with controversial “golden visas” in the seven years since the government pledged to stop corrupt oligarchs exploiting the system, openDemocracy can reveal.

The scheme was finally closed altogether last week, as diplomatic relations with Russia reached breaking point. It had allowed 13,000 wealthy elites to jump the immigration queue if they promised to invest millions into British companies.

Home secretary Priti Patel said ending the golden visa scheme would help stop “corrupt elites who threaten our national security and push dirty money around our cities”.

But analysis by openDemocracy shows large numbers of Russian oligarchs continued to use the scheme even after the government claimed to have cleaned it up in April 2015.

Since then, only seven Russian applicants have been rejected, while golden visas have been handed out to 202 Russian elites, each with at least £2m of investments in UK companies.

More than 250 of their family members and dependents were also given visas and can now live in the UK.

Labour MP Chris Bryant, who chairs a parliamentary group on Russia, called on the government to review “each and every” visa issued under the scheme.

“If they think corrupt elites are threatening our national security they cannot just sweep this under the carpet,” he told openDemocracy.

“Exploitation” of the golden visa scheme has led the UK to become a “particularly favourable destination for Russian oligarchs and their money,” according to a landmark report on Russia by the Intelligence and Security Committee in 2020.

“The UK welcomed Russian money, and few questions – if any – were asked about the provenance of this considerable wealth,” it said.

A Chatham House report into kleptocracy also described the golden visas as a “national embarrassment”, adding that “serious flaws and loopholes” remained in the system after the 2015 reforms.

It warned: “The UK has a long road ahead to address the risks from its servicing of post-Soviet elites and the suspicious capital that flows into the country in its billions.”

Russian nationals are the second largest group to have benefited from the golden visa scheme, with about 900 Russian applicants and 1,700 of their dependents being successful. The largest group is Chinese nationals and their families, of whom 4,247 successfully applied for golden visas.

The scheme allows them to circumvent a punishing and tortuous immigration process, as they are seen as “high value” individuals.

In a statement last week, the government said the scheme had been “under constant review” because “some cases had given rise to security concerns, including people acquiring their wealth illegitimately and being associated with wider corruption”.

But more than 200 golden visas were issued last year alone – including 22 to Russian millionaires.

“We are still in the dark about the true extent of abuse of the golden visa scheme,” said Rachel Davies, head of advocacy at Transparency International. “Individuals and their families from high-corruption risk countries were welcomed with open arms and no checks on the source of their wealth, but only a handful of names have ever been made public.”

She added: “Media investigations have shown how some of the visa recipients funded their lavish lifestyles with the proceeds of corruption.”

A review of visas issued under the scheme is due to be published “in the near future”, but opposition MPs have criticised the government for not acting sooner.

Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “For years the Conservatives failed to stamp out the influence of Russian money in the UK” adding that it had “taken international condemnation of our failures… for the home secretary to act”.

A government spokesperson told openDemocracy: “We keep all visas under review and should any individual be found to have breached their conditions, then we will take action.”

South West construction giant Midas has left debts of more than £22m after going into administration – with dozens of creditors unlikely to be paid.

William Telford www.business-live.co.uk

A report by administrators at global business advisory firm Teneo Financial Advisory Ltd reveals a total of £22,091,980 is owed by companies in the Midas group.

And the administrators said: “We do not think that the companies have sufficient property to enable a distribution to be made to unsecured creditors.”

Exeter-headquartered Midas Group Ltd and its subsidiaries Midas Construction Ltd, Midas Retail Ltd, Mi-Space (UK) Ltd, Mi-Space Property Services Ltd, Midas Commercial Developments Ltd and Falmouth Developments Ltd all fell into administration in January 2022.

Work stopped at construction sites across the South West and 303 staff were made redundant. Teneo has now revealed that Midas Construction has left debts of £19,265,284, spread between dozens of creditors.

Mi-Space (UK) Ltd, the group’s housebuilding arm, owes £2,542,533, with Midas Retail owing £22,494 and the overall Midas Group Ltd owing £261,669.

Founded in Devon in 1976, the Midas Group was one of the UK’s largest independent construction and property services providers.

The group delivered a complete range of construction related services, from seven regional offices across the South West and Wales, across numerous sectors including residential, leisure, education, industrial and healthcare.

Midas was recently ranked as the ninth largest private sector firm in the South West, by the Western Morning News Annual Business Guide 2021, with a reported turnover of £291,267,008.

But rumours had been circulating in recent weeks that the company was in financial trouble, after it announced a £2m loss in 2021 – its first deficit in 40 years of trading.

In January, Midas staff were told by calls and emails that the business was going into administration and there would be job losses.

Steve Hindley, group chairman, put the blame on disruption and supply chain price hikes caused by the Covid pandemic, which, he said, caused contracts to be delayed or scrapped.

He said the disruption and supply chain inflation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a number of critical contracts being postponed or cancelled and the resultant impact on the group’s working capital led to severe liquidity pressure and meant the group was no longer able to operate.

Mi-space’s property services arm was sold to the Bell Group in January, bolstering its already strong presence in the South West and Wales, and is therefore not part of the administration process. Airdrie-headquartered Bell is a market leader in the sector and already has offices across the South West in Plymouth, Taunton, Bristol, and South Wales, with plans to open up an office in Exeter in 2022.

Exmouth’s Queen’s Drive is to be spruced up over the next month with new picnic benches and lights as well as repair works to sun shelters. 

Owl understands that other communities have been offered benches or planters as part of this “Welcome Back Fund”.

Joe Ives, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

New bike racks and gates may also be put in if there is enough time to organise the works.

The investment will paid for by money East Devon District Council (EDDC) has left from the EU’s European Regional Development Fund

The UK government received £56 million from the kitty, some of which it paid to councils as part of a ‘Welcome Back Fund’ to help local authorities recover from the pandemic.

The Queen’s Drive updates must be paid by the end of March otherwise the council will lose the money.

It forms a continuation of work done last year which saw the boardwalks, staging and some badly rotten seating replaced.

The seating areas in better condition were left in, but a year on they are now in a poor state and need to be replaced. The new benches will be made of recycled composite which will last longer and require less maintenance than the old timber seating.

Speaking at a meeting of the Exmouth Queen’s Drive delivery group at EDDC, a council officer said the area’s light bulbs “are all full of water, basically” and need to be replaced. The new lights will be more energy efficient.

The sun shelters will be repaired and tidied up. Parts of Queen’s Drive will also receive a fresh lick of paint.

Downing Street staff have been asked by police to provide a “lawful exception” or “reasonable excuse” for parties which took place during lockdown, a partygate questionnaire leaked to ITV News has shown.

www.itv.com 

The questionnaires – sent to those suspected of breaking Covid regulations by attending gatherings at the height of the pandemic – form part of the evidence the Metropolitan Police is gathering as part of its investigation into potential law-breaking on Downing Street. The prime minister has already returned his copy and the document gives the first insight into the kind of questions he is likely to have been asked.

Police make clear to recipients that people are filling out the questionnaire under caution and Boris Johnson is understood to be the first prime minister subject to that level of police questioning.

The document states at the outset that those accused have an opportunity to provide “a written statement under caution”.

It then goes on to ask around a dozen questions, including:

• “Did you participate in a gathering on a specific date”
• “What was the purpose of your participation in that gathering”
• “Did you interact with, or undertake any activity with, other persons present at the gathering. If yes, please provide details”

The questionnaire asks for timings of the person’s attendance at the party and how many others were present.

Importantly, it also provides them with a chance to justify their actions, asking: “What, if any, lawful exception applied to the gathering and/or what reasonable excuse did you have for participating in the gathering?”

The Metropolitan Police says there are three ways to respond to the questionnaire:

• Remain silent and answer no questions
• Provide an answer to the written questions in the attached document
• Provide a prepared statement in your own words

The questionnaires were tailored to each individual being investigated, meaning they are likely to have been different for each person but this document gives a flavour of the questions Mr Johnson may have been asked.

A No 10 spokesperson said: “We have confirmed the prime minister has been contacted by the Metropolitan Police. We will not be commenting further while the investigation is ongoing.”

The leaked questionnaire.

Criminal law barrister Andrew Keogh told ITV News the questionnaire “suggests that this is not a thorough investigation”.

He said the questions posed are “as basic as you can possibly imagine them to be”.

“It just suggests that there’s no effort going into any real investigation of ascertaining who did what when and where and why.”

“This is anything but a rigorous investigation, it’s the direct opposite,” he said, “there’s just no effort gone into this at all”.

The prime minister is known to have taken legal advice before submitting his response last week, and is expected to argue that he did not violate the rules by attending several gatherings because Number 10 is both his place of work and his home.

More junior members of staff have told ITV News that they are concerned they won’t be able to afford the same standard of legal advice, potentially meaning that they are more likely to be fined than the prime minister.

Anyone who receives a questionnaire has seven days to respond, with the latest batch sent out yesterday, meaning the police investigation still has at least a week left to run.

Some of the questions visible in the leaked document. Credit: ITV News

Former Met Police Chief Superintendent Dal Babu told ITV News the questions were “pretty bland” and that a “lawyer would perhaps give you a ‘get out of jail card’ in response to all of those questions”.

“That’s why it doesn’t seem to be a particularly effective way of investigating the parties that have happened at Downing Street.”

“What you would expect is somebody to sit down with the individual, go through the questions,” he added.

Last week ITV News revealed that those under police investigation would be allowed to view the responses they gave in interviews with civil servant Sue Gray before they respond to the police questionnaire.

Ms Gray – who conducted the original internal investigation before passing police evidence which pushed them into announcing their own criminal probe – said people would only be able to view their own answers and no one else’s.

Among the package of evidence passed to police by Ms Gray was 300 photographs relevant to the partygate investigation – one of which allegedly shows the PM holding a beer.

But those photographs may never be made public after ITV News revealed the Cabinet Office had asked police to confirm that they would not be published.

The request emerged after ITV News was leaked a document sent by the Cabinet Office to the more than 50 staff being investigated, providing an update on the inquiry into 12 allegedly rule-breaking gatherings.

The document said: “The Met has said it has been handed more than 300 photographs as part of its investigation.

“Consistent with its indication that it will not publish the identities of anyone issued a FPN (fixed penalty notice), we would not expect the Met to publish photographs. The Liaison Unit has asked the Met to confirm this.”

The Met has confirmed that in line with policy it would not reveal the people who are issued with FPNs, however Number 10 has said it would be made public if the prime minister is fined.

Fines start at £100 for the first offence, growing to £200 for the second offence before doubling for each repeat offence before hitting the cap of £6,400.

Any individual is entitled to appeal their fine, which could see the appellant appear in court.

The prime minister has said he will have “a lot more to say” on the allegations against him after police conclude their investigation.

Boris Johnson has been a man in a hurry as he removed the remaining Covid restrictions in England. He is right about one thing: we do need to “learn to live with this virus”. Yet the prime minister’s haste has been driven not by a desire to set people “free” but to throw “red meat” to hungry Conservative backbenchers.

Editorial www.independent.co.uk 

Some of his critics are on the libertarian wing of the party and for them, lifting the curbs cannot come a moment too soon. His living with Covid plan is part of a ploy to persuade Tory MPs to live with Mr Johnson, whatever their verdict on the final outcome of the Partygate investigations by the Metropolitan Police and senior civil servant Sue Gray.

Mr Johnson gave the game away when he preannounced at Prime Minister’s Questions on 9 February that he intended to end restrictions a month earlier than the originally planned date of 24 March – before any real debate with his cabinet or scientific advisers.

Yet his attempt to exploit what he calls “this moment of pride” for the country, as it lifts curbs ahead of many of its European counterparts, has not gone according to plan. The unwelcome news that the Queen has Covid is a reminder that the virus is still very much with us and cannot be waved away by a magic prime ministerial wand.

Then a cabinet meeting on Monday which had been expected to rubber stamp the changes was delayed by a dispute between the chancellor Rishi Sunak and health secretary Sajid Javid over future funding for testing. As the cabinet struggled to agree on how we should “live with Covid”, it hardly inspired public confidence. In the event, Mr Javid appears to have failed to win the extra £5bn he requested and will have to find the money from his already stretched budget.

The provision of free universal tests to the public will end on 1 April after Mr Sunak baulked at the cost, which peaked at £2bn in January and will reach £15.7bn in the current financial year. This change is premature, at least while case numbers remain at their current level. An estimated 4 million people take regular Covid tests; those taking two a week could face a bill estimated at £500 a year.

The move might well prove a false economy because testing is one way of limiting the spread of the virus; the economy will hardly be helped if sick people pass on the disease to their work colleagues. Ministers might hope that employers pick up the tab for tests but many are struggling as we emerge from the pandemic and, like their employees, they will have higher national insurance contributions to pay from April. Maintaining widespread testing would also keep up the country’s guard against the new variants that are inevitable.

The decision to end from Thursday the legal requirement to self-isolate after testing positive is another worrying step. The absence of adequate statutory sick pay – at £96.35 a week, the UK’s level is amongst the lowest in Europe – means that many workers, already facing a cost-of-living crisis, will simply not be able to afford to stay at home.

Although Mr Johnson conceded in his Commons statement that “the pandemic is not over” and that “Covid will not suddenly disappear”, there is a real danger his triumphalist approach sends the wrong signal and, crucially, gives people a false sense of security.

The time when he could claim to be “following the science” or “the data” has long since passed; he is following his instincts on how to survive in his job and to appeal to the Tory MPs who will decide his fate.

Mr Johnson wants to move from “government restrictions to personal responsibility”. However, in prematurely sweeping away some of the vital measures that enable people to protect themselves and others, his government has failed to live up to its own responsibility to protect public health.

[From Boris’ lecture on exercising personal responsibility – Owl]

www.indy100.com 

Boris Johnson suggests Britons should learn from Germany and stay off work …

Boris Johnson had everyone shouting at their television screens during his coronavirus press briefing last night.

While discussing his new ‘Living with Covid’ strategy, the PM triggered raised eyebrows when discussing work culture and sick pay, encouraging people to not go into work when they are ill by praising the culture in Germany.

He said: “In this country, I’ve often heard it said over the last couple of years, we have a habit of going back to work or going into work when we’re not well. People contrast that with Germany, for instance, where I’m told, they are much more disciplined about not going to work if you’re sick.

“I am just suggesting that might be something we could learn.”

His comments came in response to a question from ITV’s Robert Peston about the government’s plan to stop people being automatically eligible to statutory sick pay in the event that they fall ill from Covid. From 24 March, people will only be able to claim pay from day four of being off work and the £500 self-isolation support payment will also end.

The cut has been criticised by trade unions and the Labour Party who said they will “hit the lowest paid and the most insecure workers”.

Meanwhile, statutory sick pay is £96.35 a week in the UK, while in Germany people receive 100 per cent of their wages during the first six weeks of sickness.

People were quick to point this out on Twitter:

Speaking about the cuts to pay, Starmer said: “These are decisions which will hit the lowest paid and the most insecure workers the hardest, including care workers who got us through the toughest parts of the pandemic.

“It’s all very well advising workers to self isolate, but that won’t work unless all workers have security of knowing that they can afford to do so.”

Dan Shears, the GMB union’s national health and safety director, said the “nonsensical announcement guarantees workers will attend the workplace with Covid”.

He added: “This will prolong the pandemic with more outbreaks. Asking people to exercise responsibility whilst taking away a key workplace provision for them to do that just shows how incompetent this Government is.

“The UK’s poverty Statutory Sick Pay rates, among the lowest in Europe, are a public health hazard as workers cannot afford to stay home when they are ill.

“The situation will be made even worse in April when SSP is cut in real terms against a backdrop of rampant inflation.

“Restoring the three day limit is an act of national self-sabotage. It’s time for wholesale reform of Statutory Sick Pay rate.”

Ofwat, the water regulator, has noticed that the industry it oversees in England and Wales has been in the news recently.

Nils Pratley www.theguardian.com 

So it has been. Discharges of raw sewage into rivers and coastal waters are a scandal happening in plain sight, and each set of data feels more shocking than the last. A highly critical report from MPs on the environmental audit committee in January made a strong case that Ofwat itself, plus the Environment Agency, should be more assertive.

And here comes a regulatory response of a sort to the “current high level of scrutiny” of the sector: a letter from David Black, Ofwat’s interim chief executive, to the chairs of remuneration committees of the water firms suggesting, in a roundabout way, that bosses’ bonuses should be cut if the pollution record is poor.

The letter is the first of its kind and acts on one of the MPs’ suggestions, but one cannot call it strongly worded. Performance-related pay should show “a substantial link” to delivery for customers, including on “environmental commitments and obligations”, wrote Black, which is hardly laying down the law. There was a reminder to boards that they are allowed to recognise shortfalls “whatever the initial framework for [pay] incentives”, which is just a statement of something the directors should know already: bonuses are always discretionary.

One could say, generously, that Ofwat is merely at the preliminary stage of issuing a high-level warning and that tougher tactics could follow. The problem with that interpretation, though, is that Black didn’t specify what penalties would be imposed if his appeal for good behaviour on pay and bonuses is ignored, which must be a possibility.

In recent press interviews, he has hinted at fines or changes to licence conditions, but the letter itself only said Ofwat would be “assessing your company’s approach” and did not describe possible sanctions.

Maybe the pay-setters will come cleanly, as it were. But Ofwat, which is under scrutiny as much as the companies, would help itself if it laid out specific examples of unacceptable pay practices. Curbing boardroom bonuses for polluters is a good idea. But the policy requires the regulator to be stronger than it currently sounds.

Water bosses’ pay and bonuses in 2020-21 from www.thetimes.co.uk 

• Susan Davy, chief executive of Pennon, the parent company of South West Water, was paid £1.7 million, including £1.2 million in bonuses

• Steve Mogford, the chief executive of United Utilities, was paid £2.9 million, including £2 million in bonuses.

• Liv Garfield, the chief executive of Severn Trent Water, was paid £2.8 million, including £1.9 million in bonuses

• Sarah Bentley, the chief executive of Thames Water, was paid £1.2 million, including a £273,000 bonus.

• Ian McAulay, the chief executive of Southern Water, was paid £1 million, including £550,000 in bonuses.

While Korea makes consumer electronics and Germany makes cars, Britain churns out buy-to-let landlords. There’s little to envy in such “success”.

Editorial www.theguardian.com 

The average wage of the top 1% in Britain rose to £13,770 a month in December. Jeevun Sandher, an economist at King’s College London, points out the very richest saw their incomes rise the fastest during the pandemic. This group were also likely to have been able to save the most while Covid raged. Where do the very wealthiest spend their cash? One place is housing, for which there is a low level of stock being released on to the market. The result is rising house prices. Over the past 12 months, asking prices have gone up by 9.5%.

This has a knock-on effect for renters. UK rents rose by 8.3% in the last three months of 2021. For would-be first-time buyers, the situation is as bad if not worse, with the current average price of £277,000 nearly £25,000 higher than just a year ago. Those looking to have a roof to live under will find little solace in official figures. These record an 11% drop in the number of total homes added in 2021 compared with the year before. The number of new affordable houses that began being built dropped 16% year-on-year. Shortages of labour and materials, as well as planning delays, will make it harder for the 11th Tory housing minister since 2010 to meet government targets for new homes.

Britain’s housing stock is being turned into an asset class as a consequence of the excessive financialisation of the UK economy. For those who own their homes, these buildings serve a dual purpose: they provide shelter, and function as investments. For around 2.5 million landlords, who between them accounted for 18% of all property purchases in 2019, they are only investments.

If the underlying problem is a lack of homes, then one solution may be to build more. But if the problem is landlords, and the fact that property owners are incentivised by rising prices, as well as their desire for more space (a desire that may have been augmented by the switch to home working), to buy as much of it as they can, then building more homes won’t help. It could even make matters worse, by creating more opportunities to extract exorbitant rents from those who have an income but lack the capital for a deposit, or the confidence to take on a huge debt.

Over recent decades, ballooning property prices have served home owners well, especially in the south of England. The form of inequality this has created currently appears to be generational. Older people are more likely to own their homes than younger ones. City firms are ploughing billions of pension savings in “build-to-rent” developments that could see a transfer of wealth as younger people end up paying the pensions of older people.

The Labour party could be bolder in dealing with the property haves and have-nots. Its housing policy is for first-time buyers to get priority in new housing developments and to ban foreign owners buying up new properties. But hoarding by commercial landlords that hurts young renters and many homeowners needs tackling. One suggestion by housing barrister David Renton is for “right to buy” to be extended to the private sector – say to where landlords own a minimum of five properties. There may be outrage from those who regard rent as economic growth. This surely must change. While Korea makes consumer electronics and Germany makes cars, Britain churns out buy-to-let landlords. There’s little to envy in such “success”.

Looks like this ban is getting closer, which will be bad news for Cranbrook – Owl

Chris Harper www.birminghammail.co.uk 

Drivers could be banned from parking on pavements under radical new change introduced by the Government. The consultation which took place in 2020 is expected to be published this year.

The original consultation, which ended on October 2020, has yet to published its results. However, the results of the consultation could come in the coming weeks.

According to the summary, the findings are expected to be coming out very soon. The new rules could mean drivers could face a fine for parking on pavements.

Current rules in the UK do not ban drivers from parking on pavements expect if they are obstructing access. New rules could see them banned out right from parking on pavements.

The consultations offered three proposals and the results will indicate what the Government will go towards. Option one and two would see improvements to the existing system or give local authorities extra powers to deal with obstructions.

Option three would introduce a nationwide pavement parking prohibition which would see the practice banned across the UK. Fines could also be introduced.

The Department for Transport (DfT) previously admitted a ban would be “the most significant change to English parking law in several decades.”

The Government agency also said local authorities would need to undertake a “substantial amount of work to prepare for it.” They warned a ban would require a “significant implementation period” which would be “time consuming and expensive.”

The DfT has also warned a national ban may be “inappropriate” in rural areas where some pavement parking “may be safer.” It also said , some local areas said they “depend on pavement parking to preserve traffic flow.”

In 2021, the Scottish Parliament passed a bill that will outlawed pavement parking across the country. Stuart Hay, director of lead campaign group Living Streets Scotland, said: “This is the first nationwide ban put in place in the UK and represents the culmination of over a decade of campaigning.

“People in wheelchairs, parents with pushchairs and older adults who are currently forced into oncoming traffic when faced with vehicles blocking their path will now be able to enjoy a new freedom.

“Practical plans and resources, including the proposed national publicity campaign, should now be put in place to ensure the bill is enacted efficiently. England and Wales should look to take a lead from today’s monumental decision.”

The DfT has been contacted for comment from BirminghamLive.

A planned month-long road closure in Sidbury for gas pipe work has been replaced with smaller and shorter closures. 

Philippa Davies www.sidmouthherald.co.uk

Cotford Road was due to close between Cotford Bridge and Chelsea Cottage from Monday, February 28 until Friday, March 25. 

But local residents and the district councillor for Sidmouth Rural Ward, John Loudoun, contacted Wales & West Utilities to raise concerns about the disruption this would cause, and the company has now changed its plans.  

Buckley Road will be closed at its junction with A375 Cotford Road with a diversion in place until Wednesday, February 23. 

From Friday, February 28 until  Friday, March 4, Cotford Road will be closed from Cotford Bridge to Roncombe Lane – including the first 100m of Roncombe Lane. A diversion route will be clearly signposted. Barring any engineering difficulties, Cotford Road will reopen on March 4. 

From Monday, March 7 until Monday 14, the first 100m of Roncombe Lane will remain closed. Access to Cotford Road will be maintained for homes on Roncombe Lane. 

From March 14, three-way traffic lights will be in place on Cotford Road at Cotford Bridge and Buckley Lane. Barring engineering difficulties, these lights are expected to be in place for one week.

The overall work is expected to finish by the end of March. 

Wales & West Utilities’ Jake Sami is managing the gas pipe upgrade work. He said: “We’re pleased that we’ve been able to update our plans to act on the views of the local community. We’re committed to working alongside local people to make sure we can do our essential work while keeping disruption to a minimum.” 

Cllr Loudoun said: “These are clearly essential works. I’m grateful to Wales & West Utilities for having reacted positively, and swiftly, to the concerns that I, and some residents, raised about the length of time and the impact on the flow of traffic along the A375, and through the village, that these works, as originally planned, would have had. 

“Residents will be pleased that the disruption that these works will bring has now been significantly reduced. I am pleased to have been able to work constructively with Wales & West Utilities on behalf of the village.” 

The company’s Customer Service Team can be contacted on freephone 0800 912 2999, via Twitter @WWUtilities or Facebook.com/WWUtilities. 

That is what Boris Johnson told everyone in his statement last night announcing the scrapping of all Covid legal restrictions from Thursday.

Since when has Boris Johnson, himself, exercised “personal responsibility”?

Another example of: “don’t do what I do, do what I say”? – Owl 

• Install replacement windows to property 5 Bowd Court Bowd Sidmouth EX10 0NDRef. No: 22/0325/FUL | Validated: Fri 11 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a general purpose outbuilding to replace 2 no. existing polytunnels Little Thatch Monkton Honiton EX14 9NPRef. No: 22/0321/FUL | Validated: Fri 11 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Install replacement windows to property. 5 Bowd Court Bowd Sidmouth EX10 0NDRef. No: 22/0326/LBC | Validated: Fri 11 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of home office/annexe with alteration to fenestration and 2 roof lights. Brook Hayes Venn Ottery Road Newton Poppleford Sidmouth EX10 0BURef. No: 22/0305/FUL | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Retrospective permission for new driveway and associated landscaping. 14 School Lane Newton Poppleford Sidmouth EX10 0EJRef. No: 22/0304/FUL | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of single storey rear extension measuring 4.33m beyond original rear wall, 2.79m to the eaves and 3.16m in total height Broad Oaks Rockbeare Hill Rockbeare Exeter EX5 2EZRef. No: 22/0314/GPD | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of home office/annexe with alteration to fenestration and 2 roof lights. Brook Hayes Venn Ottery Road Newton Poppleford Sidmouth EX10 0BURef. No: 22/0306/LBC | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Conversion of roof space to habitable use to include a side dormer. 19 The Chase Honiton EX14 1QBRef. No: 22/0309/FUL | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Two storey side extension. 11 Coleridge Road Ottery St Mary EX11 1TDRef. No: 22/0312/FUL | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed canopy over outside animal holding area at Hogsbrook Farm. Hogsbrook Farm Woodbury Salterton Exeter EX5 1PYRef. No: 22/0303/FUL | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Construction of single storey rear and side extensions 73 Thorne Farm Way Ottery St Mary EX11 1GURef. No: 22/0294/FUL | Validated: Wed 09 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey side extension, addition of north gable window, raising of chimney stacks, re-rendering and re-thatching. Middle Slewton Talaton Road Whimple Exeter EX5 2QLRef. No: 22/0289/FUL | Validated: Wed 09 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Magnolia grandiflora : prune side growth away from wall and neighbours’ house by approximately 2m to a suitable side branch; reduce height to leave an approximate height of 4 metres and a radial spread of 3 metres, with pruning cuts up to 50 mm in diameter. Watering Farm Fore Street Otterton Budleigh Salterton EX9 7HBRef. No: 22/0292/TCA | Validated: Wed 09 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey side extension, addition of north gable window, raising of chimney stacks, re-rendering and re-thatching. Middle Slewton Talaton Road Whimple Exeter EX5 2QLRef. No: 22/0290/LBC | Validated: Wed 09 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Conversion of roof space to habitable use to include a front dormer and two front roof lights. 2 Corefields Sidford Sidmouth EX10 9SGRef. No: 22/0293/FUL | Validated: Wed 09 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed extension to the front, east, elevation and a porch to the side, north, elevation. The Barn Churchill Axminster EX13 7LZRef. No: 22/0284/FUL | Validated: Wed 09 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1 Holm Oak, DBH 30inches Re-Pollard back to historic pruning points to gain more light to garden and lawn T2 Cork Oak DBH 30inches Re-Pollard back to historic pruning points to gain moren light to garden and lawn T3 Yew DBH 20inches Thin Crown by 10%,maximum pruning cuts of no more than 75mm, to gain more light to garden and lawn T4 Yew DBH 36inches Thin Crown by 10%,maximum pruning cuts of no more than 75mm, to gain more light to garden and lawn T5 Yew DBH 34inchesThin Crown by 10% Maximum pruning cuts of no more than 75mm, to gain more light to garden and lawn Balfour Manor Station Road Sidmouth EX10 8XWRef. No: 22/0288/TRE | Validated: Wed 09 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Application for the approval of reserved matters (landscaping) pursuant to outline planning permission 18/1681/MOUT (erection of 10no. dwellings and associated access, parking and bin cycle store) West Street Car Park AxminsterRef. No: 22/0268/MRES | Validated: Fri 11 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of front and side extensions, alterations to roof including provision of front and rear dormer windows, extended terrace and provision of cladding. 11 Mount Pleasant Avenue Exmouth EX8 4QDRef. No: 22/0278/FUL | Validated: Tue 08 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T2, Copper Beech : Fell. Reason: Extensive dieback on south-western aspect, open cavity at 5 metres. Due to the tree’s decline in vigour, decay has advanced to the point where the upper crown above the wound is at risk of failure, because of lack of sound wood Raleigh Manor Care Home 13 Drakes Avenue Exmouth EX8 4ABRef. No: 22/0275/TRE | Validated: Tue 08 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Erection of a detached dwelling. Land Adjacent Crosslyn Exeter Road Honiton EX14 1AURef. No: 22/0269/FUL | Validated: Tue 08 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed demolition of existing rear single storey structure and construction of new rear single storey extension & alterations. 14 Armytage Road Budleigh Salterton EX9 6SDRef. No: 22/0266/FUL | Validated: Tue 08 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a single-storey flat roof rear extension with alteration to fenestration. 10 Vision Hill Road Budleigh Salterton EX9 6EERef. No: 22/0267/FUL | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of oak framed 4 bay 3 open single storey garage on footprint of ruined building Langmoor Farm Hawkchurch Axminster EX13 5UDRef. No: 22/0263/FUL | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey side/front extension and infill porch extension. The Cottage Exmouth Road Exton EX3 0PLRef. No: 22/0260/FUL | Validated: Wed 09 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Conversion of workshop to dwelling. Single storey front extension and alterations. Orchard Barn Bushy Park Knowle Hill Budleigh Salterton EX9 7ALRef. No: 22/0257/FUL | Validated: Wed 09 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey rear extension, single storey side extension and creation of rear patio. Cranmere Musbury Road Axminster EX13 5JSRef. No: 22/0254/FUL | Validated: Wed 09 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Removal of conservatory and erection of lean-to sun room at rear of house with alteration to fenestration Cherrybrook Payhembury Honiton EX14 3EZRef. No: 22/0242/FUL | Validated: Tue 08 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use of building for annexe and holiday accommodation purposes Heatherdale Cooks Lane Axminster EX13 5SQRef. No: 22/0261/FUL | Validated: Mon 07 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1 – Yew. Crown Reduce by approximately 1.5 metres. Cut size 30 – 40 mm. T2 – Yew. Crown Reduce by approximately 1 metre. Cut size 20 – 30mm. T3 – Holm Oak. Crown Reduce by 2 – 3 metres. Cut size 30 – 50mm. Reason: Appropriate arboricultural works to help reduce shading and in the interests of health and safety. Flat 1 Montpellier Court Montpellier Road Exmouth EX8 1JPRef. No: 22/0247/TRE | Validated: Mon 07 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Use of the existing building and external yard area for steel fabrication and associated storage (Use Class B2). Yard is used for storage of materials, ancillary to the main use. Foxbeare Farm Southleigh Colyton EX24 6RYRef. No: 22/0246/CPE | Validated: Mon 07 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Creation of off road parking within existing front garden Stanzita King Edward Road Axminster EX13 5PPRef. No: 22/0262/FUL | Validated: Fri 11 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single Storey Side Extension Moonstone Exton Lane Exton Exeter EX3 0PNRef. No: 22/0259/FUL | Validated: Fri 11 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of agricultural barn. Great Trill Farm Musbury Axminster EX13 8TURef. No: 22/0258/AGR | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of single storey detached dwelling and erection of a two storey 3-bed detached dwelling. Ty Croeso Offwell Honiton EX14 9RYRef. No: 22/0253/FUL | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Raising of roof of kitchen and lean-to extension, creation of rear roof dormer with associated works and alterations to fenestration. Lower Tale Cottage Payhembury Honiton EX14 3HLRef. No: 22/0245/LBC | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Raising of roof of kitchen and lean-to extension, creation of rear roof dormer with associated works and alterations to fenestration. Lower Tale Cottage Payhembury Honiton EX14 3HLRef. No: 22/0244/FUL | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Reserved matters application seeking approval of appearance (pursuant to outline planning permission 18/1094/MOUT – Outline application accompanied by an Environmental Statement (with scale and appearance reserved) for the change of use of agricultural land to employment land (B1, B8 and D1 uses) to provide 8,445 sqm of new floorspace, new highway access, cycle and footway, improvements to flood attenuation, building layout and road layout, new hedgerow planting and associated infrastructure.) Land East Of Two Bridges Two Bridges Road SidfordRef. No: 22/0249/MRES | Validated: Tue 08 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1 (sycamore) T2 (cherry) T4 (Yew) – pruning of lower limbs to ensure 6m clearance from the road for HGVs etc. T3 Ash – removal due to signs of Ash die back and danger to road. T5 – (Alder) reduction by approximately 3 m leaving the tree approximately 12m tall pruning in accordance to BS 3998 to an inner crown removing extending limbs. Pruning cuts up to 80mm Coly House Swan Hill Road Colyford Colyton EX24 6HERef. No: 22/0237/TCA | Validated: Mon 07 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• 2 Holm Oaks along the boundary between Prospect House and Uplands. The reason for the work is that the trees are taking away substantial light from Uplands and causing much shading of the house. Prune the western canopies to upright growth close to the boundary. It may be necessary to make pruning cuts to either side of the boundary line to allow proper placement of target pruning cuts Uplands 2 Upper West Terrace Budleigh Salterton EX9 6NZRef. No: 22/0238/TCA | Validated: Mon 07 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Variation of condition 2 (approved plans) of planning permission 20/2747/FUL (Demolition of existing bungalow and construction of replacement dwelling and detached garage and annexe building and associated external operations (revised scheme to planning permission ref. 16/2531/FUL)) to incorporate revisions to north elevation of replacement main dwelling and addition of photovoltaic panels to rear elevation of replacement main dwelling and detached garage and annexe building. Sunset Cottage East Hill Sidmouth EX10 0LRRef. No: 22/0222/VAR | Validated: Tue 08 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single storey side extension, single storey front extension with alteration to fenestration The Gables Ice House Lane Sidmouth EX10 9DSRef. No: 22/0219/FUL | Validated: Tue 08 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of garage, construction of two storey side extension and new roof over front door and bay window. 39 Sidford High Street Sidford Sidmouth EX10 9SHRef. No: 22/0218/FUL | Validated: Tue 08 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of Lawful development for a change of roof from pitch to flat roof with alteration to fenestration.21 George Street Exmouth EX8 1LLRef. No: 22/0212/CPL | Validated: Mon 07 Feb 2022 | Status: Withdrawn
• Proposed erection of single storey rear extension to dwellinghouse 4 Old Home Farm Rousdon Lyme Regis DT7 3YLRef. No: 22/0213/FUL | Validated: Mon 07 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Replacement of turnised roof slates with new natural slate to 4 roofs. Littlecourt House Seafield Road Sidmouth EX10 8HFRef. No: 22/0176/LBC | Validated: Fri 11 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a replacement two storey 4-bed detached dwelling. Brake View Rockbeare Hill Rockbeare Exeter EX5 2EZRef. No: 22/0173/FUL | Validated: Fri 11 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of glamping pod Riverwood Farm Glamping Riverwood Farm Talaton Exeter EX5 2RURef. No: 22/0165/FUL | Validated: Fri 11 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of one shed for storage of dry wood and erection of second shed for storage of forestry equipment, a composting toilet and sink facility for beverages. Lower Coombe Wood Upper Seaway Lane Tipton St JohnRef. No: 22/0168/AGR | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Alteration to interior of listed building to include replacement staircase and installation of new ceiling in (double height) kitchen, dining/living space Flat Bridge Mill Cottage Bridge Hill Topsham Exeter EX3 0QQRef. No: 22/0123/LBC | Validated: Mon 07 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

• Replace 1no. door and repair 4no. pillars and 2no. pilasters on front south elevation Old Toll House Salcombe Road Sidmouth EX10 8PRRef. No: 22/0105/LBC | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Additional access point to the property, Reinstatement of pedestrian gateway, Installation of summerhouse/office, Removal of existing greenhouse and installation of a new greenhouse. Cottles Farm Woodbury Exeter EX5 1EDRef. No: 22/0082/LBC | Validated: Fri 11 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Additional access point to the property, Reinstatement of pedestrian gateway, Installation of summerhouse/office, Removal of existing greenhouse and installation of a new greenhouse. Cottles Farm Woodbury Exeter EX5 1EDRef. No: 22/0081/FUL | Validated: Fri 11 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of agricultural building Paynes Place Farm Axminster EX13 5SERef. No: 21/3358/FUL | Validated: Thu 10 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Re-slate front and rear elevations, internal repairs and reinforcement to include replacing failing internal joists and install purlin(s) 3 – 4 Fortfield Terrace Sidmouth EX10 8NTRef. No: 21/3353/LBC | Validated: Mon 07 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Reserved matters application pursuant to 06/3300/MOUT for the approval of access, external appearance, landscaping, layout, and scale for the construction of 35 industrial units and a commercial unit; the discharge of conditions 2, 10, 14, 15, 29, 31, 34, 35, 36, 45 and 47 of planning permission 06/3300/MOUT relating to plot 16 Land East Of Spitfire Way Clyst Honiton Exeter EX5 2BDRef. No: 21/3125/MRES | Validated: Wed 09 Feb 2022 | Status: Awaiting decision

A further 18 companies were given so-called “VIP lane” access in the rush to supply the UK with an adequate amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the first Covid-19 wave, according to a campaign group.

www.thelondoneconomic.com

The Good Law Project said it had been leaked information which suggested the additional firms, which are on top of the 50 acknowledged by the Government, were awarded contracts worth almost £1 billion without competition.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner called for ministers to “come clean” and declare whether they had “misled Parliament” over the additional 18 contracts that Good Law says it has uncovered.

Advisory board

It comes as last summer the Financial Times revealed existence of the “advisory board” through which the most generous Tory donors gained access to ministers “a hitherto unknown group of elite donors who enjoy frequent and direct access to the most powerful people in government”

Now the Times, have gained access to leaked docs reveal Tory donors given access to Boris Johnson’s top team during pandemic as part of secret ‘advisory board’ They included ex-Putin minister’s wife, alleged rapist invited after police interview, four billionaires.

In return for a £250,000 donation to the Conservatives, multimillionaires are being ushered into the heart of government as part of a secret ‘advisory board’

The article by Gabrel Pogrund and Henry Zeffman will send shockwaves through Westminster.

The Sunday Times reports that property tycoons, hedge fund managers, and a Russian banker are among a secret club of donors to be given access to government.

The board has 14 regular members, most of whom have given at least £250,000 to the Tory Party as part of a supposedly “transactional arrangement”, the newspaper says.

The members of the board have a combined wealth of at least £30 billion when their companies and families are taken into account.

In total the group, which includes four billionaires, have donated £22 million to the Tory Party, £10 million of which came under Mr Johnson’s leadership.

Anneliese Dodds, chair of the Labour Party, said: “These revelations raise serious national security questions about the cash-for-access culture that Boris Johnson has created at the heart of government.

“Boris Johnson must explain what donors with links to Putin’s Russia got in return for their six-figure annual membership fee and clarify whether these meetings had any impact on government policy at the height of the pandemic.”

Pipa Crerar tweeted the article and wrote: “They suggest donors got more than ‘just’ access but contact details of ministers that some used to lobby directly on Covid strategy/ procurement help and advice applying for public appointments lucrative public contracts approved by ministers and honours signed off by PM.”