A game of bureaucratic and accounting  musical chairs or will this provide real benefits and unlock more funds and staff? – Owl

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

An end to operating theatres so small “it’s like playing musical chairs” and more efficient services are just some of the benefits on the way for North Devon District Hospital Trust (NDDHT).

Senior NHS members held a meeting recently with members of North Devon Council (NDC) to discuss the future of North Devon’s hospital.

Top of the agenda was looming plans to merge the Royal Devon and Exeter (RD&E) NHS Trust with North Devon Healthcare NHS Trust. The two have been collaborating since 2018 but will be formally combining to form a new trust in April. 

Speaking at a Torridge District Council external overview and scrutiny committee, Katherine Allen, director of strategy at the current RD&E Trust, said: “North Devon will benefit from the strengths of a bigger trust – whether that’s access to resources, to research, resilience of small teams joining together to make more resilient services – but equally RD&E will benefit from a small hospital, being really agile, getting things done quickly.” 

Ms Allen said the merger would help to address the problems with staff shortages at North Devon District Hospital and save money for both organisations. 

She added: “The most important thing is that staff and patients see very little difference. This is a corporate merger. The services will stay the same. North Devon patients will still access services in North Devon.

“That is the whole aim of this merger: to make sure that local access is maintained.”

One of the early plans of the new trust is to collate patient records between the RD&E and North Devon on a new digital platform. This is expected to go ahead in July.

The name of the new organisation has not yet been announced but has been decided. It will reflect the “history and provenance of both trusts,” Ms Allen assured the meeting.

A merger between North Devon District Hospital and the RD&E was proposed in 2003 but fell through. “What’s different about this time”, said Ms Allen, “is the clinicians are 100 per cent behind this, they understand the benefits, they can see the benefits of this merger for the patients.”

She warned that if the merger didn’t happen “we would lose momentum” and that NDDHT would be back in the same situation it was in 2017 with a worsening financial position and deteriorating quality of care.

RD&E have run some services in North Devon for decades, providing treatments for cancer as well as ear nose, throat and dental services.

In 2018 North Devon was struggling to provide some key services and asked for help. RD&E stepped up its role and the two trusts have shared many of the leadership positions with each other since then. “That has really stabilised local service provision and started the resolution of quite a number of our challenges”, said the strategy director. 

At several points in the meeting between councillors and health bosses, the  NHS representatives referred to the challenges posed by North Devon being relatively ‘“remote”, something that irked one councillor.

Councillor Christ Leather (Independent, Northam) said: “To me it’s been a managed decline of that [North Devon Healthcare] Trust over the years and I do hear about the remoteness of the hospital in North Devon. It’s not remote to the 180,000 people who live in the area. It might be a bit distant from Exeter but then the RD&E is remote for us in North Devon, so don’t keep on about how remote we are as if we’re at the end of the world.”

Cllr Leather also raised questions over just how much services would improve under the new trust given that the two organisations had been working together since 2018 yet North Devon District Hospital still received a critical report from the Care Quality Commission in November last year. The report said the hospital ‘requires improvement.’

Ms Allen argued the biggest problem is staff supply, which would be helped by the new merger.

She added: “The essence of our plan is we need support. North Devon needs the support of a larger partner and all the resources that brings and sharing of expertise to start to address some of the risks that are so publicly recognised in the CQC report.”

Another problem facing North Devon District Hospital is its ageing buildings, constructed in the 1970s. Zahara Hyde, a programme director at the NHS, told councillors of staff struggling with surgical theatres 40 per cent smaller than their modern equivalents.

Ms Hyde said: “It’s like playing musical chairs in there – not good and certainly not what we want.”

These theatres are due to be replaced as part of multi-million-pound redevelopments to North Devon District Hospital over the coming years. Works are set to take place between 2025 and 2027. 

The NHS boss described the redevelopment as “a big chunk of new coupled with a lot of refurbishment of the old.”

“We’re adding to the hospital is the best way to describe it. What we’re adding is new build but we’re using some of the investment to redesign some of what we’ve got left behind. 

“So it won’t have a whole new hospital, we’ll have a redeveloped site and the site will look very different.”

Owl gives a few helpful suggestions:

The good old standby: “It was not a party but a work related gathering”

“It is my judgement that all the rules were followed, and I make the rules”

“These rules weren’t rules but only guidance, and a statement that: ‘all guidance was followed completely in No 10’; has been made in the House and elsewhere”. (See full list below)

“I was just passing the open door and popped my head in for a moment”

“I was in my garden relaxing when it was gatecrashed by a rowdy group”

“I don’t run No 10, so not my job to say: ‘drink up and go home immediately, this is against the rules’”

“I believed implicitly that this was a work event, but with hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside.” 

“An Englishman’s home is his Barnard Castle”

“Hard to tell where the office ends and my flat begins”

“It was just a child minding group in the flat”

“This is an opportunity for the Met to apply its discretion, wasn’t the whole country relieved when Dominic walked out?”

“Like fraud, it’s not really a crime”

Always worthwhile consulting Nadine Dorries, but whatever you do, don’t consult card carrying members of the “Law and Order” party, they are increasingly unhappy.

Seven occasions when Boris Johnson denied No 10 broke Covid rules

 Here are the moments Johnson denied rules were broken.

1 December – House of Commons

After the Mirror’s first story broke about Christmas parties in Downing Street:

“What I can tell the right hon and learned gentleman is that all guidance was followed completely in No 10.”

2 December – Sky News

Asked why he would not explain his account of the allegations, Johnson said:

“Because I have told you and what I want to repeat … that the guidance is there and I am very, very keen that people understand this.”

7 December – BBC News

When asked about Downing Street Parties in December, the prime minister said:

“All the guidelines were observed.”

8 December – House of Commons

After the Allegra Stratton video is released by ITV News:

“I apologise for the impression that has been given that staff in Downing Street take this less than seriously. I am sickened myself and furious about that, but I repeat what I have said to him: I have been repeatedly assured that the rules were not broken. I repeat that I have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken.”

8 December – Downing Street press conference

Asked why he had not extended the No10 inquiry:

“ … all the evidence I can see, people in this building have stayed within the rules … if that turns out not to be the case … and people wish to bring allegations to my attention or to the police … then of course there will be proper sanctions …”

Johnson giving a Downing Street press conference

13 December – Sky News

Asked again about Downing Street parties:

“I can tell you once again that I certainly broke no rules … all that is being looked into.”

20 December – BBC News

After the Guardian reveals pictures of people, including the prime minister, at No 10 drinks in the garden on 15 May 2020

“Those were people at work, talking about work. I have said what I have to say about that.”

Paul Arnott www.exmouthjournal.co.uk 

I’d like to take you back this week, to 2010. 

How many of you remember what you were doing that year? 

To me, family photos reveal it as the year before I was unwell and had a full head of brown hair rather than today’s wisps of grey.

At a national level, some other hints may help. A new programme stormed the ITV schedules, Downton Abbey. A young couple, Prince William and Ms Kate Middleton, became engaged. 

And we had a new PM, David Cameron. 2010 – does that ring a few bells now?

At a more prosaic level, 2010 was the last time that East Devon District Council changed the charges to use its car parks. Twelve years ago.

Moreover, in the intervening time, a high rate of VAT has been applied to those charges, so now a good chunk of the takings does not even reach the council, but ends up in the Chancellor’s coffers.

This Conservative strategy, together with artificially suppressing council tax for a full half decade, pleased their national masters – look, they said, we can provide services in a low tax setting. 

The problem is that the laws of mathematics cannot be influenced by political hubris. And now the pigeons have come home to roost.

Therefore, over the last few years, EDDC has been reviewing our car park charges. We have found that compared to the rest of the south west they are very low and now another memorable year in history has made that completely unsustainable – 2020: the Year of Covid.

The effects of 2020 on what is a very well-run council have been many and devastating. 

Take just one example. The positive news has been the extraordinary rise in people coming to our great resorts to visit, both as staycationers, and for day trips. 

The bad news is, for example, that fish and chips these days are not wrapped in old newspaper, but in cardboard boxes the size of a large handbag.

The cost to us in frantically emptying our overflowing seafront bins has been huge and, as I have written before, our debt to our Streetscene workers, in a pandemic and short of labour post-Brexit, has also been huge. As have been the costs! 

So, in 2022, your council can no longer afford to pull the wool over our residents’ eyes. The car parks need to pay their way.

Therefore, for a small selection of prime seaside car parks, the hourly charge will rise to £2 per hour (subject to full council’s approval) but with a maximum tariff so a family can come down from Exeter for a day trip to Exmouth, Beer, Budleigh Salterton, Seaton or Sidmouth for a day out with safe parking for £8. 

The tourism economy will not suffer.

Crucially, and forgive me if I try to really stress this repeatedly, council tax payers (i.e. locals) can park all day and all night, for £120 per year. Getting on for 5,000 of you already take advantage of this, and we will promote the idea further. 

This really does need stressing, because while Facebook feeds will resound with ‘the b***dy council wants to rob us of £2 per hour’, the reality is that local people can park for £2.31 PER WEEK. 

A valued council colleague described this as ‘cheap as chips’, and having looked at all the charges across the south west, this is the case.

Other charges in prime or busy locations will go to £1.50 per hour, again with a maximum of £8 per day. And again, permits are available to keep the maximum cost at £120 per year, and we are busily introducing the software to enable people to buy for £10 per individual month. It’s already a popular and inexpensive (relative to other motoring costs) scheme.

We don’t expect thanks for all this, but this it is the long overdue and honest thing to do.

More than half the £1.7bn paid by the government to politically connected “VIP” companies to supply PPE in the pandemic was spent on equipment that has not been used, according to new figures.

David Conn www.theguardian.com 

The total value of unused PPE was £2.8bn for 1.9bn items, according to newly released figures from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

The DHSC did not explain why the PPE was unused but it was not all defective. Last week the department revealed that PPE worth £750m was never deployed because it had passed its safe use-by date. Huge quantities were stockpiled after the government over-ordered in the pandemic.

The proportion of unused PPE is significantly higher for contracts processed through the a so-called VIP lane – 59% of the £1.7bn ordered from them – than for other firms awarded contracts through the standard procurement route. Of the £10.4bn committed to non-VIP companies for PPE, 17% or £1.8bn has not been used.

DHSC released the figures and the names of companies whose PPE has gone unused in response to a freedom of information request pursued by Spotlight on Corruption. In June last year, 1.9bn PPE items were described by a minister as having been put in the “‘do not supply’ [to the NHS] category” but it is possible that some has since been cleared for use.

The department’s list includes 552,100 unused items, costing £8.5m, supplied by Meller Designs. The firm, which was awarded a total of £164m in PPE contracts, was co-owned at the time by David Meller, who has donated nearly £60,000 to the Conservative party since 2009 including £3,250 to support Michael Gove’s party leadership bid in 2016, a campaign on which Meller worked as chair of finance.

In November the DHSC revealed that Gove’s office had referred Meller’s company as a potential PPE supplier, and it was then processed through the VIP “high priority lane” for companies referred by Tory MPs, ministers, peers or health officials. On Friday the company declined to comment.

Another firm on the unused PPE supplier list is PPE Medpro. It was awarded two contracts worth a total £203m after the Tory peer Michelle Mone initially referred the company in May 2020 to her fellow Tory peer Theodore Agnew, then a Cabinet Office minister responsible for procurement.

The DHSC’s newly released list says that 25.5m items ordered from PPE Medpro, worth £124.7m, have not been supplied to the NHS, which appears to include the 25m sterile surgical gowns ordered in June 2020 for £122m. PPE Medpro have insisted that they supplied the gowns to the technical specification required. The DHSC has said it is in dispute with the company that it is seeking to resolve via mediation.

SG Recruitment, referred by the Conservative peer Peter Gummer who is a director of its parent company Sumner Group Holdings, told the Guardian that its PPE, 2.4m items costing £26m, was on the list because it had been awaiting checks but had now been cleared for use in the NHS.

PPE costing £1bn in total stated not to have been passed to the NHS – 476m items such as face masks, gowns and other vital equipment – was supplied by 25 companies whose contracts were processed via the VIP lane, Spotlight on Corruption’s analysis of the DHSC’s list has revealed.

The high priority given to these companies, some newly formed or with no track record in medical products, meant they were given a more attentive personal service at the start of the procurement process, previous reporting has found.

The DHSC publication follows a statement in parliament by the then health minister, James Bethell, in September that as of 10 June last year, “1.9bn items of [PPE] stock were in the ‘do not supply’ category”.

Bethell was replying to a parliamentary question from crossbench peer David Alton, who has pressed in the Lords for details of the waste associated with PPE procurement.

The VIP process was ruled unlawful in the high court last month following a challenge by the Good Law Project; Mrs Justice O’Farrell ruled that the government had failed to give equal treatment to all companies offering to supply PPE.

Jackie Weaver has given her support to government proposals in the levelling up white paper that could lead to an increase in the number of parish councils.

www.room151.co.uk 

Weaver, who gained overnight fame in February 2021 when her attempt to control an unruly online meeting of Handforth Parish Council went viral, told Room151 that, as larger local authorities contract, “there is only one thing that can fill the gap – and that is parish councils”.

She described parish and town councils as “hyper-localism”, adding: “It’s your parish council that really understands what is happening locally. I don’t think that happens at district or county level. It’s your parish council that will know what the interests are within that area.”

The levelling up white paper promises a review of neighbourhood governance in England that will examine the roles and functions of parish councils in England and discuss how to make them quicker and easier to establish.

Weaver, chief officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, will be discussing the issue of levelling up at Room151’s Local Authority Treasurers Investment Forum (LATIF) North conference taking place in Leeds on 22 March.

The footage from the Handforth meeting did not present a flattering picture of the lowest tier of local government, so why does Weaver think there should there be more parish councils?

“Most people will recognise that one of the reasons that went viral was because it is exceptional. If you saw something like that every month at your parish council meeting, would you even give it two seconds of your time? The criticism of most council sessions wouldn’t be that they are violent and aggressive, but they are dull.

“If you think that you have ineffective and dull council meetings, then do something about it. That is the beauty of your town or parish council. It is the intimacy and the immediacy of it. If you don’t like it, get in there and change it.”

A report last year from the centre-right thinktank Onward said that every neighbourhood should have a parish or town council. It estimated that currently 63% of England does not have this type of governance and called for automatic ballots of voters in these areas to test the views of local people.

Weaver said she had doubts about going this far. “I would prefer this to be community-led. The difficulty is if you create a parish council and there is really no appetite for it locally, then you are just creating another level of bureaucracy that probably isn’t going to be terribly effective.”

She said she wanted to use her unexpected fame to widen the general public’s knowledge and awareness of local government. The day before Weaver spoke to Room151, she had appeared on Good Morning Britain and the weekend before had come second in Celebrity Mastermind and taken part in two live comedy shows.

“I’m trying to find different ways of raising the subject because we have to reach a different audience. The things we have done before – newsletters, websites – are managing to hit the same targets as we have always hit. I want to break out of that and engage with different people.”

The Metropolitan police decided initially to not investigate allegations of lockdown-breaching parties in and around Downing Street in part because no one had admitted taking part and there was no social media footage, a legal document has shown.

And: “Downing Street… have already stated that Covid rules were followed”

Politics Live

In a response by legal campaign group the Good Law Project for a judicial review about the Met’s decision in early December to not launch an inquiry, the police force’s lawyers pointed to guidelines saying it did not investigate Covid breaches retrospectively, given their relatively minor nature and limited resources.

At the time the first decision was made, any details about the gatherings were “fairly vague”, the document said, detailing the reasons given by a senior officer, whose named has been redacted.

The officer, it said:

…. observed that the press reports did not identify who had been at the gatherings, no one had come forward to admit presence at any of the gatherings, and there was no evidence from social media showing these gatherings taking place, and from which those present could be identified.

It followed that if these events had taken place, the organisers could not be identified from the material available to the police at that time and nor could [the officer] draw any conclusions as to whether the gatherings breached the Covid regulations, and if so, whether those present at the gatherings had no reasonable excuse for their presence at the gatherings.

The force changed its mind last month, and is investigating the claims. But Jo Maugham, director of the Good Law Project, said the reasons were “profoundly troubling”.

He said:

It points to a Met that does not want to investigate potential criminality in government or is excessively deferential to those in power.

Revealed: why the Met chose not to investigate Partygate – Good Law Project

goodlawproject.org 

We are today publishing our Grounds for seeking a judicial review of the Metropolitan Police’s initial refusal to investigate the Downing Street lockdown parties, and the Met’s response. The Met had previously insisted that some of the contents of these documents be kept confidential, but we are now publishing them.

We can reveal that the Met had an unpublished policy of not “normally” investigating retrospective lockdown breaches. However, where “not investigating… would significantly undermine the legitimacy of the law” that would point towards investigating.

The Met’s decision not to investigate is difficult to understand. It is hard to avoid concluding that the Met decided it didn’t want to investigate, and then scrambled to reverse engineer a justification for this.

Their justification is itself remarkable. It includes reference to the fact that:

• “Downing Street… have already stated that Covid rules were followed”
• “anyone who was at the gathering would be entitled to refuse to answer questions because of the privilege against self-incrimination”
• because the Cabinet Office was looking into possible breaches there was no need for the Met to investigate as well.

These are extraordinary points. They create a different set of laws for those in high office.

The Met would not accept your assurance that you hadn’t committed a crime. It would not refuse to ask you questions because of the privilege against self-incrimination. And it would certainly not decline to investigate you because you had appointed a subordinate to look into the matter instead. Yet these are all allowances gifted to the Government. 

Moreover, as the policy itself highlights, some reported breaches of the law potentially undermine the legitimacy of the law itself. It is difficult to imagine a clearer example of this than government officials, potentially including the Prime Minister, breaching the rules.

All of this is profoundly troubling. It points to a Met that does not want to investigate potential criminality in Government, or to a police force that is excessively deferential to those in power. It is a policy which dramatically undermines the rule of law.

Good Law Project is considering whether or not to continue with the judicial review. We wanted the Met to reconsider its decision not to investigate and, after we issued judicial review proceedings, the Met did just that. We believe it is in the public interest to have real transparency over the Met’s decision making, and the publication of those pleadings with this blog serves that end. 

We will make a final decision shortly.

The fee would have to be paid by anyone staying in a hotel, self catered apartment or campsite overnight

Ruth Mosalski www.walesonline.co.uk

Plans for a tourism tax for people staying overnight in Wales have taken a step forward.

The Welsh Government has confirmed a consultation will be launched this autumn when details will be released.

The fee would have to be paid by those staying in a council area overnight and would be up to councils to set. The Welsh Government says a tourism tax would raise money for councils to manage services and infrastructure in tourist hotspots.

It is part of Welsh Government policy, agreed through their co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru. Some details had already been detailed by First Minister Mark Drakeford.

Finance and local government minister Rebecca Evans said: “Visitor levies are a common feature in tourist destinations internationally. They are an opportunity for visitors to make an investment in local infrastructure and services, which in turn make tourism a success.

“Without such a levy, local communities face an undue burden to fund local services and provisions on which tourists rely. From keeping the beaches and pavements clean, through to maintaining local parks, toilets and footpaths – the critical infrastructure that supports tourism should be supported by all those that rely on it.

“The introduction and subsequent use of such a levy would enable destinations in Wales to be enjoyed for generations to come and encourage a more sustainable approach to tourism.

“The levy would be proportionate by design, and powers to raise the levy would be discretionary for local authorities. This would enable decisions to be taken locally, according to the needs of our communities. The levy will apply to those paying to stay overnight within a local authority area. Opportunities for wider contributions on the cost impact of other types of visitor activities on local infrastructure will be offered as part of the consultation on the levy.”

Plaid Cymru’s designated member Cefin Campbell MS said: “Giving local people the power to introduce a tourism levy will make a difference to communities across the country, many of which attract a significant number of tourists. It will give local people and their representatives more power and resources to invest and deliver in their areas.

“Councils will be able to ask tourists to contribute in a small way to the areas they are visiting and the local services they use.

“This measure will help support a sustainable rather than an extractive tourism sector, which will help bring the greatest benefit to communities and the local economy.

“Such levies – often known as tourism taxes – are commonplace in countries across Europe and beyond. This is about mutual respect between our communities and the visitors they welcome. It is a new policy which is the fruit of a Welsh co-operative spirit.”

A rare example where development without planning permission has not got through the “retrospective approval” route much exploited in East Devon – Owl

Steven Morris http://www.theguardian.com 

A Cornish beachside hotel that built nine meeting rooms without planning permission claiming they were needed for the G7 summit has been ordered to demolish them because they have caused “very significant harm” to the landscape.

The Carbis Bay hotel built the rooms in three single-storey buildings before hosting last summer’s meeting of world leaders. It said it had pressed ahead without planning permission because of the urgency of the project.

The development led to protest marches on the beach with objectors pointing out that precious habitats and views had been ruined.

There was also anger that the hotel claimed the rooms were needed to provide space to host bilateral G7 talks when the UK government said it had not asked for extra work to be carried out.

The planning inspector Peter Jarratt highlighted objectors’ argument that the development “flew in the face” of the G7’s claimed green credentials.

He said: “There has been a significant public response to the unauthorised development and to the submitted retrospective planning application for reasons including the inappropriateness of the development and to the failure of the applicant to follow the due planning process. Many representations – some 350 to 400 – were received by the council.”

The National Trust, the South West Coast Path Association, the Cornwall branch of the Countryside Charity (CPRE) and the Cornwall Wildlife Trust all submitted objections.

“The construction of the meeting rooms in three single-storey buildings … has significantly and adversely affected the character and appearance of the area,” Jarratt said.

“I have found very significant harm to the character and appearance of the landscape. Although it is to the hotel’s considerable credit that it has hosted the G7 summit and now wishes to adapt the meeting rooms to holiday accommodation, the economic benefits arising from the development, despite attracting significant weight, are insufficient to outweigh the harm to the landscape.”

He upheld an enforcement notice from Cornwall council ordering the development to be removed. It is expected that the bill for the demolition work and restoration of the landscape will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The hotel declined to comment.

Half- term verdict on Simon Jupp: “Simon needs to try harder” ? – Owl

Steve Houghton www.devonlive.com 

Almost one-and-a-half billion fewer pints were sold in British pubs in 2021 than in 2019, according to data from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).

The BBPA said pub beer sales were down 38 per cent in 2021 and there was an on-trade loss of £5.7 billion from beer sales alone – equivalent to 1.4 billion pints.

In 2020, trading was down 55 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels.

BBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin said: “Every unsold pint is a stark reminder of the dislocating effect Covid restrictions had on our sector and the communities our pubs sit at the heart of.”

The BBPA also said there had been a shift in consumer consumption patterns. Between March 2020 and October 2021, beer receipts dropped 11 per cent while receipts for wine and spirits rose eight per cent and 13 per cent.

The BBPA attributes the shift to long periods of restriction pub trading, where beer is the most popular drink, and a rise in at-home drinking.

Ms McClarkin said the BBPA backed planned reforms to the alcohol duty system to “incentivise lower-strength products” and “differentiate beer from stronger wine and spirits”.

“I invested because I am sick and tired of [the environment secretary’s] complete refusal to make any decisions which deviate from ‘business as usual’ when we are facing a devastating climate crisis that will lead to the death of millions if we don’t take immediate action.”

[George Eustice survived the reshuffle – Owl]

Helena Horton www.theguardian.com 

The constituency office of the environment secretary, George Eustice, has been bought by supporters of Insulate Britain, who have donated his rent to a legal fund for activists.

Supporters of the group, which made headlines last year by obstructing major roads and calling on the government to retrofit all British homes to make them energy efficient, formed a coalition of investors.

They acquired the property at 13 Commercial Street, Camborne, Cornwall, last October for £51,000. Since then their company, Cawton Ltd, has received £2,820 in rent from the House of Commons, which has been donated to help pay the legal costs of Insulate Britain defendants in court cases.

Cawton Ltd is an anagram of Act Now – one of the Extinction Rebellion protest group’s three key demands.

Sally Wright, from St Day, in the MP’s Camborne, Redruth and Hayle constituency, said: “I invested because I am sick and tired of [the environment secretary’s] complete refusal to make any decisions which deviate from ‘business as usual’ when we are facing a devastating climate crisis that will lead to the death of millions if we don’t take immediate action.

“I’m glad we are using his rent to pay the fines of the people who are risking their livelihoods, reputations and personal safety to give the rest of us hope that change is possible.”

Insulate Britain said Eustice had taken many actions recently that they disagreed with, including authorising the use of a bee-killing pesticide, and encouraging MPs to vote against an amendment to the environment bill that would have forced water companies to end the practice of dumping untreated sewage into rivers and seas. The government was later forced to U-turn on this after public outrage.

Eustice has previously spoken out against the activists, calling them “highly irresponsible”, and welcomed the powers sought by the Home Office to allow police to act pre-emptively to stop the protests happening.

Since November last year, Insulate Britain says, 28 supporters have been charged with contempt of court for defying injunctions banning their protest blockades during a campaign of civil disobedience last autumn, according to the campaign group. Of these, 25 have been found guilty and 13 have been jailed, with 12 receiving suspended prison sentences. So far, they say, the courts have awarded costs of £84,000 against Insulate Britain defendants, with a further claim of £159,216 from lawyers acting for the government due to be decided next week.

Another investor, Brenda Shrewsbury, 65, from Budock Water, Cornwall, said: “The rent from George’s gaff is tiny compared with the costs faced by the individuals that have been persecuted by the government for demanding action on home insulation, but I hope that this move will inspire others to do what they can. We need to come together and act now on the climate emergency.”

The group has decided to donate future rent money to local food banks and community initiatives to help people hit by the cost of living crisis and facing the choice of whether to heat their homes or eat.

A spokesperson for Eustice said: “We live in a free country and investors are free to invest in property irrespective of their political views. There is no law that requires a landlord and tenant to share the same political opinions.”

An exclusive weekly piece from our top climate crisis correspondents, as well as a digest of the biggest environment stories – plus the good news, the not-so-good news, and everything else you need to know.

We thought you should know this newsletter may also contain information about Guardian products, services and chosen charities or online advertisements.

They’re the only ones to offer it in Devon

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

Teignbridge’s council tax support scheme, in which those in greatest hardship pay nothing, is set to continue next year.

The district council is one of only 20 per cent of local authorities in the country to offer eligible residents a full discount on their bill, and the only one in Devon.

Councillor Richard Keeling (Lib Dem, Chudleigh), member for corporate resources, this week told a meeting of the council’s ruling executive that it was “not the time to consider cutting support or making other changes to the scheme.”

“Our residents need some stability, and certainly as we emerge from the covid crisis we need the time and a more sustainable baseline to carry out a review of our scheme’s performance, before determining whether we need to make any changes for the future.”

In approving the policy, which will need to be ratified by full council, the executive also agreed to adjust the thresholds to ensure those on the lowest levels of benefits don’t lose out because of an upcoming rise in welfare payments.

A council report explaining the policy stated there were 5,716 working age council tax reduction claimants in December, a slight drop from a peak of almost 6,000 last April.

The cost of the scheme – around £10 million per year – is shared between Teignbridge and the three other major recipients of the council tax: Devon County Council, police and the fire service. Teignbridge contributes just under nine per cent.

It was changed in 2020, introducing an income-based scheme, with overall household income and size used to determine how much discount they are eligible for.

Cllr Keeling said it is “easier for our customers to understand, quicker for our council tax team to administer and better able to cope with minor fluctuations in universal credit entitlement.”

Council leader Alan Connett (Lib Dem, Starcross & Kenton) said he hadn’t realised Teignbridge were “unique in Devon” in still offering the full discount to some households.

He added: “Looking ahead, with the bills that are going to come into people with power, utilities and all rest of it, [the scheme] is going to be a real help.”

When asked how it is promoted to people, an officer said there was more information online and those who phone up the council struggling to pay their bill are also made aware of the help on offer.

In total, directors were paid £1,869,000 during the 18 months to the end of October 2020, with £53,000 paid in pension contributions. Steve Hindley, Midas Chairman, is also Chairman of The Great South West, the “powerhouse” brand which promotes the local enterprise partnership (LEP) areas of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Heart of the South West and Dorset. In 2019, he stepped down as chair of the Heart of the South West LEP, after holding the position since November 2013. 

William Telford www.devonlive.com

A boss at collapsed South West construction giant Midas Group Plc was paid more than half a million pounds while the company was making huge losses, it has emerged.

Accounts for the stricken firm, which is now in administration with the loss of 303 jobs, show the highest-paid director trousered £504,000 in the 18 months to the end of October 2020.

This sum does not include pension contributions so it is likely the director benefited further.

The payment was made in the same 18 months when the company made an after-tax loss of more than £2m.

The highest paid director also pocketed £443,000 in 2019, the group’s annual report and financial statements reveal.

In total, directors were paid £1,869,000 during the 18 months to the end of October 2020, with £53,000 paid in pension contributions.

At the time the directors were chairman Steve Hindley, chief executive Alan Hope, Mike Hocking, and chief commercial officer Scott Poulter, plus finance director Duncan Rogerson, who resigned in July 2019 and was replaced by Michael Ready.

Mr Ready left the company in March 2021 to move to Australia and was replaced by Peter Skoulding.)

Mr Poulter left the company on December 21, 2021, the same day another former finance director, Mr Hocking, also left.

Mr Hocking had been a key figure at Midas since 1998 when he and Mr Hindley, now aged 72, purchased the company in a management buy-in.

Mr Hindley, who led that buy-in, was chairman of the Midas Group up until its administration and is among the most high-profile business figures in the South West.

He is a chartered civil engineer, a fellow of both the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Chartered Institute of Building and a member of RICS.

He was awarded the CBE in the 2006 New Years Honours List for services to the construction industry and appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Devon in 2009.

Mr Hindley graduated from Salford University in 1971, but also received an honorary doctorate of engineering from the University of Exeter in 2011 and an honorary doctorate in business from the University of Plymouth in 2015.

He is the chairman of The Great South West, the “powerhouse” brand which promotes the local enterprise partnership (LEP) areas of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Heart of the South West and Dorset.

The organisation, led by an alliance of business leaders, LEPs, universities, colleges and local government, aims to deliver £45bn of economic benefit and become the leading region for the green and blue economy.

Mr Hindley, who has blamed the Covid pandemic for Midas’ collapse, is also a member of and former chairman of the CBI Construction Council and the SW Regional Council.

In 2019, he stepped down as chair of the Heart of the South West LEP, after holding the position since November 2013.

Mr Hindley, an aficionado of classic cars, has served as a trustee and chairman for the Devon Community Foundation, a trustee of Children’s Hospice South West and was formally on the board of governors at the City of Bristol College.

Midas Group’s chief executive Alan Hope was credited on the firm’s website, before it was shut down by administrators, as having “led Midas’ growth to a £250m-plus pa revenue business” since joining in 2004.

The company said he had driven the group’s restructuring into five “customer facing companies” – Midas Construction Ltd, Midas Retail Ltd, Mi-Space (UK) Ltd, Mi-Space Property Services Ltd, Midas Commercial Developments Ltd, all now in administration – overseen a brand refresh, and launched the new company vision “Leaders in Customer Service and Performance.”

Peter Skoulding, chief finance officer at the time of the firm’s administration, is chartered accountant and was described on the Midas website as having “a track record of sustained strategic, commercial and technical success across diverse sectors”.

Mr Skoulding spent 15 years at Mitie from 2003, holding a variety of finance positions. He left as director of finance planning in early 2018 and held a range of senior finance roles at the publicly listed Smiths News before joining Midas.

Apparently she has one – Owl

HOLD the front pages. It turns out there is something which Boris Johnson could do to make even his most voracious defender turn against him.

The Jouker www.thenational.scot 

But what could possibly be so bad as to make even Nadine Dorries turn on her benevolent leader?

What infraction could be so beyond the pale as to make even the over-promoted beyond belief Dorries throw away her ministerial career for good?

Could it be attending a “bring your own booze” party mid-lockdown?

Could it be lying to parliament about it, as reports have claimed Johnson did?

Could it be having the police investigate the Prime Minister while in office for breaking his own laws?

Could it be breaking manifesto pledge after manifesto pledge, leaving pensioners, nurses, and the world’s most vulnerable people to pick up the pieces?

No. Dorries has stood by Johnson through all of that.

What’s more, Dorries said she would support Johnson even if police found he had been “criminally negligent”.

But what she would not stand for is kicking a dog. That would be a step too far. That would be enough to see even Dorries hang up her ministerial boots.

At least that’s what the Culture Secretary told CNN.

Should that actually come to pass, it seems more likely Dorries would deny there ever was a dog.

Look at her track record. In that same CNN interview Dorries was confronted with the Sue Gray update (the full report is still due).

The host highlighted how Gray had “condemned a failure of leadership in Boris Johnson’s government”.

Dorries replied: “No, she didn’t. She didn’t express a failure of leadership in Boris Johnson’s government at all.”

Mmmmm.

To quote the Sue Gray report: “There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office.”

Which way is up? Dorries will have to check with the Prime Minister before answering that.

“Midas was Teignbridge District Council’s main contractor and also had contracts to build nine affordable homes in Paignton and improve a school in Torquay.”

Business leaders react to Midas closure

Philip Churm, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Business leaders in Devon have been reacting to the news that one of the UK’s biggest privately owned construction companies has gone out of business – affecting a number of public sector projects in the county.

Midas Group Limited has offices across south west England and Wales including in Exeter in Newton Abbot.  

A contract with Torbay Council to build an £11 million Premier Inn is now threatened but the council said it will work with stakeholders to make sure it is delivered.

Over 300 people are expected to lose their jobs with the closure of Midas Construction, although its housing division Mi-Space has been acquired by commercial decorating firm Bell Group, saving 46 jobs.

Midas had a turnover of almost £300 million last year, with many smaller firms around Devon being subcontractors and suppliers for the group. 

CEO of Devon and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce Stuart Elford said it is very sad news.

“The Midas group, Midas construction and Mi-Space, are large companies that have been around in this region for a long time and been a staple part of the economy,” he said.

“It’s very sad also that over 300 redundancies have been announced, although the positive news for those poor people who’ve been made redundant is that the jobs market is incredibly buoyant and there are massive shortages in the construction industry. 

“So I’m confident that with the support of the local authorities and chambers of commerce, they will find other employment.”

But Mr Elford explained that many small companies in Devon would also be hit by the closure.  

He said: “One of the major concerns will be about the supply chain because this will have a knock on effect, especially to small businesses that were supplying products or contracts into Midas. 

“And so the knock on effects of this could go on for some time.”   

The company recently posted a loss of over £2 million for its last financial year, blaming its troubles on the pandemic, ongoing shortages of materials and labour, and a significant rise in costs because of inflation.

Mr Elford said there were many factors which led to the company’s collapse. 

“It’s not really a shock in some ways that Midas is going under in that we’ve seen huge price rises.

“The effect of Brexit and the pandemic have caused the price of raw materials, of construction materials, to go through the roof. And so where large contracts may have been taken on on a fixed price basis, they just couldn’t be delivered for the sort of price that may have been quoted.

“I’m not saying that’s definitely what’s happened here, but you can see how supply chain difficulties, costs of materials for buildings and labour shortages – increased prices across the range – will, of course, have a dramatic effect, and sadly, I suspect it won’t be the last we’ll see.

Mr Elford explained that large sections of the construction industry have reported significant increases in costs. 

“And this is a sector, a business, that has been struggling with the effects of the pandemic; unable to operate fully, staff shortages, shortage of raw materials and so forth, exacerbated by the Brexit situation where again, more staff who were perhaps EU citizens have returned home and raw materials have been difficult to get hold of,” he said. 

“So sadly, this has been a bit of a perfect storm. 

“Businesses that have borrowed to survive the pandemic are now having to pay that borrowing back. And if there are cash flow shortages, that will mean they don’t have the reserves to survive. 

“So I unfortunately think we will see further firms going under.”

However, Mr Elford said that workers who had lost their jobs because of the closure of Midas should not lose hope.

“You know, I really feel for those people who’ve been made redundant and they must be concerned, of course.

“But my message to them is there are loads and loads of companies recruiting, who’re doing well, who are desperate for good talent. 

“So don’t lose heart. You will be employed because business is desperate for good people.”

Earlier this month the Liberal Democrat leaders of Torbay, Teignbridge and North Devon Councils wrote to Michael Gove, asking for help.  

Midas was Teignbridge District Council’s main contractor and also had contracts to build nine affordable homes in Paignton and improve a school in Torquay.

Whether Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer or someone else is at the helm, the government is going to face some unenviable and unpalatable choices. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has told The Independent the country must choose between higher taxes for the next 20 years or cutting back the welfare state because it faces a spending black hole of £60bn each year.

www.independent.co.uk 

He said an ageing population would force politicians to choose between the approach of other western European countries – increasing taxes by another 2-3 per cent of national income – or paring back basic education, health and social care services.

A rise in national insurance contributions, together with increasing energy and council tax bills, will provide a “triple whammy” for many already hard-pressed households in April. The word “crisis” is overused by politicians and the media, but on this occasion it is no exaggeration: the cost-of-living crisis looks set to become the dominant political issue of this year.

Almost two in three workers expect their pay to rise by less than the cost of living this year, according to a Britain Thinks poll for the TUC published today. Three in 10 do not believe their wages will increase at all and only one in 10 expects a rise that will exceed living costs.

As if the government did not have enough on its plate, the British Chambers of Commerce is warning the Treasury of a “cost of doing business crisis”. Its survey of more than 1,000 businesses found that 73 per cent say they are raising prices in response to increasing costs, which the organisation warned would fuel the cost-of-living crisis for households. 

These short-term pressures will require a more proactive and generous response than the government has managed to date; spreading the rise in gas and electricity prices over five years will bring only small comfort, and bills could rise again in the autumn.

In the medium term, the pressures on households and business from higher taxes are likely to grow. The IFS’ warning is underlined by a study today by the Resolution Foundation think tank which suggests demographic pressures will add £24bn to state pension spending, and rising health costs a further £52bn to the health budget by 2030. The transition to net zero could cost another £12bn. Overall, the size of the state could rise from 42 per cent to 44 per cent by the end of this decade.

Such gloomy but realistic predictions should act as a reality check when Mr Johnson dangles the prospect of tax cuts before the next general election in front of Tory MPs as part of his struggle to hang on to his job. And when Mr Sunak plays along, knowing he might soon be contesting a Tory leadership election in which he would parade his credentials as a fiscal conservative and instinctive tax-cutter despite his recent actions. Whatever the state of the public finances, the Tories seem to have foolishly locked themselves into pre-election income tax cuts in an attempt to wrong-foot Labour.

The political debate on tax is dishonest. National insurance has shouldered the burden of tax rises since 2000 and has more than doubled as a share of GDP since the Second World War. At the same time, Tory and Labour governments have announced headline-grabbing cuts in income tax, knowing that voters are more willing to support higher national insurance for health and social care because of its original contributory principle.

Given the inevitable demands on vital public services in future, it would be fairer to raise income tax for higher earners than to increase the burden of national insurance, which starts to bite when workers earn £9,568 a year.

Alternatively, politicians should be ready to raise more from taxes on wealth, which has grown from three to almost eight times the value of national income in the past 40 years. Labour has dipped a toe in this water but is wary of Tory attacks on a single “wealth tax”. However, if the UK is to have the public services it needs and to avoid deeply damaging, regressive cuts to the welfare state, it is a route down which politicians of all hues will probably need to go sooner or later.

The headlines (this is from the Times) say it all.

As Tory MPs return to their constituencies for a half term break, away from all the plotting, this story refuses to fade.

Why wasn’t this spotted before? – Owl

The new photograph shows the prime minister with three members of staff around a table with what appears to be an open bottle of champagne and crisps. One staff member has a garland of tinsel round his neck, while another is sporting a red and white Santa hat. Source www.independent.co.uk .

Downing Street previously said the quiz, held on 15 December 2020, took place virtually but with some members of staff taking part in the office.

It took place during a period when indoor social mixing was banned in London, which was under tier two Covid restrictions.

Official guidance also stated: “You must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where that is a primarily social activity and is not otherwise permitted by the rules in your tier.”

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi previously suggested no rules were broken because “no alcohol” was consumed.

“He’s on a virtual call, no alcohol, thanking his staff for 10 minutes before he goes back to work, is that really a terrible crime?” the minister asked in a TV interview last December.

And the prime minister himself said at the time: “I can tell you once again that I certainly broke no rules.” [Owl’s emphasis]

“Back to Blighty where Boris Johnson, money launderer to the Tsars, clings to his position as Rishi Sunak’s house-sitter.”

How the other side of the world sees Boris Johnson, his government and ultimately us. – Owl

See Tweet here. [Full text reproduced below for clarity.]

Text reads:

Letter from London

from Our Own Correspondent

Back to Blighty where Boris Johnson, money launderer to the Tsars, clings to his position as Rishi Sunak’s house-sitter.

The natives are as oblivious to the never-ending decline of this erstwhile superpower as they were when they first watched Zulu. But since Partygate, it has begun to dawn that electing a rococo gigolo to guide them through a pandemic, imminent world war, economic crisis and environmental systems collapse, was not the smart move the metric-averse once thought it to be.

Some of Johnson’s henchmen are buckling too. When 8-bit shaman Dominic Cummings invoked the sacrament of moral conscience, several MPs who hitherto had been labouring to disenfranchise refugees, disability claimants and the working poor, suddenly felt unable to follow a nonce-bantering PM and began the brutal defenestration rite of licking Basildon Bond envelopes and giving them to Graham Brady.

Only the hardcore remain: those for whom employment in another Cabinet would be inconceivable, the likes of Nadine, Grant/Michael, and Jacob, counsellors to a man who has never known friendship, a gang of acolytes so sycophantic as to make Mugabe blush. These bunker girls and boys speak only in platitudes, severing words from meanings and reciting cliched phrases in the hope that nobody will notice how stupid they are. In such a climate ‘vaccine rollout’ becomes ‘your living costs are going through the roof’, ‘levelling up’ means ‘we partied while you watched your mum die on Zoom’ and ‘sorry’ translates as ‘fuck you’. The great classicist needs them. But they may prove to be his Achilles elbow.

Downing Street, where near-hourly resignations are spun as decisive leadership, is giving off strong Downfall energy. It seems increasingly likely that unless they can lure him out with a crate of Estrella, Boris Munchhausen will be supergluing himself to the Lulu Lytle wallpaper before anyone is found with the special skills needed to convince him to go quietly. That’s OK though. Rishi can afford to redecorate.

Just how many fridges to chill drinks in No 10 meeting rooms are there?

Are they clearly labelled “For Wine Time Friday” and “Official Use Only” depending on how they were funded? – Owl

www.independent.co.uk

Downing Street bought a fridge for a meeting room with taxpayers’ money around the time No 10 was hosting “wine time Fridays” and other parties, The Independent can reveal.

Boris Johnson was urged to “come clean” about how much public money had been spent on the lockdown bashes – a fact which is yet to have been established about the rule-breaking gatherings.

No 10 insisted that the publicly-funded fridge was not involved in the festivities but shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry told The Independent that the government had questions to answer about any potential “misuse of public funds”.

The Daily Mirror reported last month that a wine fridge had been “smuggled” into No 10 through the backdoor to hold bottles for the regular gatherings – prompting anger at a time when indoor socialising was supposed to be banned.

The regular “wine times” sit alongside the 16 events investigated by top civil servant by Sue Gray, which all took place during May 2020 and April 2021.

The government confirmed that the taxpayer-funded fridge had been purchased at some point between April 2020 and April 2021, though did not specify on which date. The fridge apparently expanded the chilled drinks holding capacity in a meeting room in No 10.

Labour’s Ms Thornberry said: “We all know that Covid rules were repeatedly broken in Downing Street during lockdown, but we don’t yet know what taxpayers’ money was spent in the process.

“Rather than have the answer to that question dragged out of them one pizza delivery or wine fridge at a time, I would urge Cabinet Office ministers simply to disclose any misuse of public funds they have discovered related to the Downing Street parties, and tell us what action has been taken as a result.”

The government was last month asked by Ms Thornberry to disclose how much public money was spent on refrigerators for No 10 – but dragged its feet on responding.

In its eventual response, Paymaster General Michael Ellis said in a written answer that two fridges had been purchased during the period, one to replace and existing fridge and one apparently to expand the capacity to store drinks in a meeting room.

“Downing Street is a working building, including catering facilities and offices for staff; as is common in workplaces including the House of Commons, refrigerators are provided for general staff use,” he said.

“One refrigerator was purchased in the financial year for a Downing Street meeting room, and one to replace an existing refrigerator that had reached the end of its working operation.

“Notwithstanding, I can confirm that no such public expenditure was accrued in relation to the matters considered in the investigations by the Second Permanent Secretary or connected with associated media reports on this matter.”

Sue Gray’s report found that “failures of leadership and judgement” and excessive drinking at work against the backdrop of the pandemic led to events that “should not have been allowed to take place”. She said that other events “should not have been allowed to develop as they did”.

The prime minister faced calls to resign following the report, including from within his own party. No 10 is now subject to an investigation by the Metropolitan Police, which could levy fines under Covid-19 regulations.

Police reportedly have a photograph of Boris Johnson holding a can of beer at one event, a lockdown birthday party allegedly instigate by his wife Carrie in June 2020. The picture is thought to be one of 300 submitted the Met by Ms Gray’s inquiry – which was asked not to publish details of the events so that it did not prejudice the ongoing police investigation.

But full details of the parties may never be released because the prime minister will ultimately control whether evidence submitted by the second permanent secretary ever sees the light of day.

One of the South West’s largest employers, Midas has gone into administration.

Within hours, however,  it was announced that Bell Group had swooped to purchase Mi-space (UK) Ltd, the property services division which is part of the Midas Group.

The acquisition grows Bell’s already strong presence in the South West and Wales and protects an estimated 110 direct and indirect jobs.

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 a new office in Exeter in 2022.

The deal to purchase the Mi-space business and certain of its assets out of administration secures economic activity valued at up to £20m annually to the local economy, significant supply chain links and indirect employment.

Mi-space has worked for many years in communities across the South West and Wales on a wide range of property improvement, energy efficiency upgrades and retrofitting to homes, benefiting thousands of families and supporting clients which currently include: Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cornwall Housing Association, Curo Places Ltd, Bristol City Council, Exeter City Council, Ovo Energy and Sanctuary.

Mi-space has been contracted to EDDC in the past.

Midas goes into administration

Lili Stebbings www.devonlive.com

The £290million turnover company reportedly filed a court notice of its intention to appoint an administrator for itself and its main subsidiary Midas Construction Limited on January 29.

But this afternoon, February 8, the Exeter-based construction giant fell into administration with 303 staff being made redundant as a result, according to Construction Enquirer.

It is understood Midas chief executive Alan Hope and chairman Steve Hindley notified staff via teams calls and email on Tuesday afternoon.

Administrators from Teneon are now in charge of the construction group.

It follows the halt on three major hotel builds worth more than £40 million in Torbay following “constant discussions” with Midas Construction, who were the main contractors for the projects.

In Torquay work has stopped completely on Torbay Council’s £11m Premier Inn at The Terrace and the Fragrance Group, which is investing in excess of £30 million in the two hotel builds on Paignton Esplanade also confirmed it is “increasingly concerned” about the lack of progress over the last three months and now says it is “reviewing its options”.

A spokesperson for Midas told DevonLive: “As is well known in the industry there are issues relating to Brexit, Covid, ongoing shortages of materials and labour, and significant cost inflation, which are providing challenges to project delivery and timescales.

“We are working closely with all our stakeholders to resolve the situation.”

Midas won the contract from Torbay Council to build the £11m 120-bedroom Premier Inn on part of The Terrace car park in Torquay.

It was scheduled to open in late 2022 and bring 30 new permanent jobs to the town – with over 150 jobs during the construction and hopes of attracting an annual extra £3.3m tourism spend to the resort.

Torbay Council said it worked hard to ensure that the construction contract with Midas included requirements to employ local companies and apprentices.

A Torbay Council spokesperson said: “We are working with Midas to identify any issues which may be affecting the site and any required solutions. The council remains committed to the scheme which will not only generate new employment opportunities but will complement existing hotel accommodation in Torquay that will attract thousands of guests each year, boosting our local tourism economy by more than £3 million.”

Last year Midas, one of the UK’s largest privately-owned construction and property services companies, posted a trading loss for the first time in it’s 40 year history.

Midas is one of the region’s largest employers, supporting more than 10,000 jobs in supply chains.

The impact of Covid-19 was blamed for the post-tax loss of £2m.