“I have written to Ofwat’s chief executive to call on the regulator to open enforcement action and consider criminal actions and fines against South West Water for this failure.” Simon Jupp.

Pollution alert after ‘catastrophic’ sewage pipe failure as MP calls for probe

A Devon MP has called on the water regulator to open a criminal investigation into South West Water after i revealed the water company had discharged millions of litres of untreated sewage into the sea.

David Parsley inews.co.uk

The demand from Simon Jupp, the Conservative MP for East Devon, came as the Environment Agency (EA) urged bathers not to enter the sea in Exmouth after it was alerted to a failed pumping station just 200 metres from the two-mile stretch of sandy beach.

Since 11 December, the water firm has been dealing with two major pipe bursts in the town, which has led to untreated sewage being taken by a convoy of trucks to the Maer Road Sewage Pumping Station, just 200 metres from Exmouth’s two miles of sandy beach.

Despite initially denying its Maer Road Pumping Station had failed, a spokesman for South West Water subsequently confirmed one pump at the site had failed only after being presented with photo evidence by i. However, it denied untreated sewage was being discharged into the sea.

On Friday i revealed that South West Water had been accused of dumping millions of litres of raw sewage into the popular Devon beach resort.

A spokesman for the water firm said: “At Maer Road, we have a duty pump with sufficient capacity to pump storm flows. We also have a permanently installed second standby pump should the duty pump fail.

“Because this is a critical site, we have a third pump (a standby for the standby) which we keep on site for emergencies.

“The operational pump was running normally but there was an issue with the standby and it was this standby that was being replaced. At no time was the pumping station unable to pump to full capacity.”

Despite South West Water’s insistence that the pumping station was working at “full capacity” the Environment Agency later confirmed that the site had failed.

A spokeswoman for the EA told i: “We are aware of this issue and currently investigating what has happened.

“Officers have attended the site in question and are closely monitoring activity, as well as working with South West Water to ensure their failed pumping station is back in operation as quickly as possible.”

As late as Friday evening South West Water continued to insist its emergency works were not causing a pollution incident.

In video posted on social media, John Halsall, South West Water’s chief operating officer, told residents that the firm was not pumping raw sewage into the sea.

He said: “So there’s been a lot of suggestion in social media that we are polluting, you’re on a sort of an ongoing basis. The tanking operation is making the situation worse. That is incorrect.

“On no occasion have we have we created additional environmental impact as a result of the tankering.”

However, on Saturday morning the EA urged people not to enter the waters in Exmouth due to sewage pollution the following morning.

Mr Jupp said: “South West Water have failed the people of Exmouth with more potentially illegal sewage discharges into our beautiful East Devon coastline.

“South West Water’s infrastructure suffered a catastrophic failure this week due to their lack of proper investment into the town.

“I have written to Ofwat’s chief executive to call on the regulator to open enforcement action and consider criminal actions and fines against South West Water for this failure.”

Geoff Crawford, the founder of Escape – End Sewage Convoys And Pollution Exmouth – claims that South West Water should have taken the sewage to a treatment works less than a mile away and its decision not to “indicates that they knew the sewage would go almost straight into the sea and didn’t care”.

Mr Crawford said: “They appear to have willfully polluted the sea with millions of litres of untreated sewage.”

Also on Saturday, South West Water delivered more bad news to local residents as it posted a letter through their doors.

The letter said that that while repairs to the pipes in a local park had been successfully completed there had been another failure around 600 metres away from the original burst. Local campaigners attributed this failure to South West Water’s decision to increase the pressure in the pipe that the old network could not withstand.

The letter, which apologised for the inconvenience to locals, added: “Yesterday, we successfully fitted the overland pipe which would take flows around the bursts, and allow the removal of tankers and clearing of the site ready for repair.

“Unfortunately, after setting it up, when we put flows back into the sewer, the build-up of pressure caused another burst further up the sewer.

“Our teams worked through the night yesterday and repaired this related burst. We have laid concrete around it today which will help further secure it.

“This concrete needs 2-3 days to dry fully. Once the concrete is dry, we will be able to introduce flows back into the sewer. Unfortunately, we will have to continue tankering until this is complete.”

A spokesman for South West Water said: “If an investigation is opened, we will work collaboratively with Ofwat and provide necessary information as requested by the regulator.”

Regarding the pollution highlighted by the EA the water company claimed this was due to “permitted storm overflow activation because of extensive rainfall”.

Work to fix a burst sewer in a Devon town has been delayed again, South West Water (SWW) has said.

Jonathan Morris BBC News South West

The utility company had been expected to fix the problem in Exmouth by Saturday, but said work was continuing after another burst.

The sewer burst on 30 December and sewage tankers have been passing through the town to a pumping station while repairs continue.

The Environment Agency has advised swimmers against going in the sea at Exmouth due to sewage pollution since the incident started.

A SWW spokesperson thanked local people for their patience.

“We successfully fitted the overland pipe which would take flows around the bursts, and allow the removal of tankers and clearing of the site ready for repair,” they said.

“Unfortunately, after setting it up, when we put flows back into the sewer, the build-up of pressure caused another burst further up the sewer.”

The repair had been fixed but would take two to three days for the concrete to dry.

“Once the concrete is dry, we will be able to introduce flows back into the sewer,” they said.

“Unfortunately, we will have to continue tankering until this is complete.”

Accountancy firm Grant Thornton has been cut from the industry watchdog’s top tier of audit supervision after removing a number of high-profile clients.

Lars Mucklejohn www.cityam.com 

The Financial Reporting Council demoted the firm from “tier one” to “tier two” status last year, according to regulatory filings from July, which were first reported by the Financial Times today.

Firms in the lower tier are subject to inspections of their “public interest entity” (PIE) audits every three years, rather than annually.

Grant Thornton, the UK’s sixth-largest accountancy firm, removed more than 70 per cent of “public interest” clients between 2016 and 2022, including listed companies and insurers.

It audited 20 PIEs in 2022, while rival BDO had 217 PIE clients in the same period.

Grant Thornton has received several regulatory fines for audit failings in recent years, including £2.34m over collapsed café chain Patisserie Valerie.

Sarah Rapson, the FRC’s executive director for supervision, told the Financial Times that the firm’s demotion did not reflect audit quality but rather a “smaller share of the PIE market”. The regulator’s most recent audit quality report for Grant Thornton noted improvements.

Grant Thornton told the paper: “We are extremely proud of our quality results over the last three years and respect the regulator’s decision to include our firm in its ‘Tier 2’ category of supervision.

“The decision by the FRC has no impact on our audit strategy and our continual investment in audit quality.”

Big Four firms Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC, as well as plus BDO and Mazars remain the only “tier one” firms after Grant Thornton’s demotion.

Raising challenger firms’ share of PIEs is a major part of the government’s long-delayed promises to boost competition in the industry.

City A.M. contacted Grant Thornton for comment.

From an East Devon Correspondent:-

‘The Only One’!

This is a recommendation for East Devon Watch readers who have not yet viewed the ITV drama, ‘Mr. Bates –vs- The Post Office’, to add this 4-part series and the accompanying 1-hour factual documentary (…The Real Story) to their ‘must watch’ list for 2024.

This series aims to, again, draw public attention to one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history, by focusing on the lives of a handful of sub-postmasters who were key players in bringing the ongoing Post Office Horizon IT scandal to light.

Alan Bates, a north Wales sub-postmaster, established the Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance after being repeatedly told by Post Office officials/regulators that he was ‘The Only One’ having problems with a newly installed Post Office Fujitsu IT system. Despite this, a handful of sub-postmasters throughout the country contacted each other and quickly found that they were NOT ‘the only ones’! Witness statements presented to the public enquiry (not due to be the finalised until 2025!) repeat the same phrases over and over again – i.e. ‘I was told that I was the only one that had this problem with the Post Office IT system!’

This persisted for almost two decades, from 1999 to 2015, engulfing the lives of over 700 sub-postmasters, who were prosecuted for theft, false accounting and fraud, resulting in unjust losses of their livelihoods, termination of their contracts and businesses, bankruptcy, wrongful imprisonment, suicide and serious mental health issues at the hands of an organisation who, seemingly, paid no attention to their voices, professional opinions or pleas for assistance, preferring to continuously endorse and favour a faulty Fujitsu IT system.

Many sub-postmasters were so traumatised that they remained anonymous and some, (around 50) having now seen this week’s mass media reaction, are coming forward to add to the numbers whose lives were ruined by this shocking injustice. Such miscarriages of justice seem to take a lifetime to be fully rectified and many sub-postmasters have died never having ‘cleared their names’ or been proved not guilty.

By insisting that these Post Office employees were ‘the only ones’ to have IT problems created feelings of isolation, shame, loneliness and hopelessness for these victims, making them reluctant to publicly speak out, which contributed to the prolonged torment of this scandal for so many years. Some were stigmatised within their local communities, labelled as criminals being afraid to venture out and be confronted by finger-pointing and abuse. Those who attempted to defend themselves and fight the false accusations found it impossible to access information and evidence that could prove their innocence, leaving them with no choice but to plead guilty to ‘soften the blow’!

The public believed that The Post Office was a national trusted brand, being a prestigious company with a high reputation – but within its senior management teams there was a flawed culture that the Post Office systems were infallible, making any criticism unwelcome. In 2021 when the Court of Appeal cleared some former sub-postmasters, the Lord Justice stated that the Post Office “effectively steamrolled over any sub-postmaster who sought to challenge its accuracy”.

It seems disrespectful (even offensive) to liken or compare such a massive miscarriage of justice to any other failures experienced by the general public – but sadly too many ordinary people regularly encounter similar arrogance and lack of empathy when communicating with management teams within large powerful corporations or national and local government regulatory authorities, who, like the Post Office, are organisations that are (rightly or wrongly) nationally trusted and revered by the public.

The lessons that must be learned from this dreadful Post Office scandal are that those who hold the power to make decisions do not always get everything correct and professionals and politicians alike would do well to listen to the people in their communities who can offer sound judgments. There are volumes of community associations throughout our country who have formed to offer well-founded counsel and advice for the benefit of local communities – but too often they are rebuffed by those purporting to represent their views.

Many hundreds of local residents have lost count of the times that they have heard the phrase “You are the only one objecting to this matter”, when they have contacted organisations like their local authority environmental and planning professionals, local politicians of varying colours, the Environment Agency and South West Water regarding serious planning and environmental issues that if not addressed could have serious detrimental effects on their communities.

However, despite warnings from local communities of the consequences of building on permeable green fields in the light of future climate change, local businesses and homes are suffering devastating flooding, wading through raw sewage in their streets and homes. The privatised water authorities have failed to invest adequately in vital infrastructure to protect our homes, our communities, our beaches and our waterways, preferring to pay excessive salaries to senior managements and shareholders! Electricity power outages halt the effectiveness of the critical pumps that can barely control the flooding from excessive over-development that was granted planning permission for economic benefits, whilst disregarding the voices of the people who pointed out the fallacy of ignoring the environmental warnings.

Over a 10 year period many local environmentalists have been repeatedly ignored by regulatory authorities looking to flatter their own green credentials. When locals have recommended caution in controlling the excessive development of massive, industrial bio-digester facilities near to residential homes, they are met with the phrase ‘You are the only one who has complained’ whilst the stinking odours and intolerable noises that have blighted hundreds of residents’ lives continue unabated – but apparently decision-makers concur that the economic gains and benefits for a few local landed- gentry outweigh the detrimental social and environmental effects on the communities.

This ITV drama has certainly created a vehicle to channel public outrage, which might, hopefully, bring this dreadful sub-postmaster scandal to a hasty resolution for so many victims.

The final words are dedicated to Alan Bates and the hundreds of sub-postmasters affected by this despicable scandal and there is no doubt that local communities up and down this entire country will want to send their support, in the hope that all the victims will find comfort in knowing that they are NOT ‘The Only One’!

“The planning system encourages and incentivises folly,” 

“We must not incentivise any more building of houses in high-risk flood plain areas.” Local authorities responsible for those areas “must be given a pass”, rather than house-building targets which encouraged them to do “very foolish things”.

James Tapper www.theguardian.com 

People affected by this month’s floods will face the same problems in future because their communities cannot access government support, campaigners have warned.

Small towns and villages affected by floods in England and Wales can ask for flood defences and mitigation through their council or the Environment Agency (EA), but are being turned down because they cannot make a business case, according to the National Flood Forum.

Heather Shepherd, director of operations at the NFF, a charity which supports flood victims, said: “There’s a lady who’s been flooded three times in the past year in Shrewsbury. The EA and the council can’t access help for her because they have to apply for funding – and they don’t qualify.

“I just spoke to Worcestershire council and Shropshire council yesterday. They have people that flood over and over and over again, but they have no hope, because they don’t add up to make a good business case to be able to mitigate the flooding. So it goes on and on. It’s utterly crazy.”

The woman in Shrewsbury already has extensive flood mitigation measures in her home but these were not enough to cope with last week’s downpours, Shepherd said. Storm Henk soaked countryside that had already absorbed heavy rainfall from storms Babet and Ciarán in the past three months. More than 200 flood warnings across the country remained active on Saturday afternoon.

Nottinghamshire county council urged people in 10 towns and villages in the northern part of the county to consider evacuating as the River Trent was at risk of flooding.

“The River Trent has now reached a record peak at the Torksey Lock gauge in Nottinghamshire, with rising waters surpassing the historic levels set in 2000,” it warned. “This means that your communities are at an increased risk of flooding.”

David Walters, who has run Cresslands Touring Park in south Lincolnshire for the past 11 years, said it would cost £20,000 to repair flood damage caused last week. “Debris off the fields that the water has washed through is completely strewn all over everything and everything stinks to high heaven. Because there’s no running water, I can’t clean or mop anything.”

The EA warned there is also a risk of significant river flooding from the Severn around Gloucester and the Thames in Oxfordshire because of the prolonged wet weather and intense rainfall. About 1,800 properties have been flooded so far during Storm Henk.

Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, defended government action on flooding after a National Audit Office reported that 500 of 2,000 new flood defence projects had been dropped, and the number of properties that will receive better protection from flooding by 2027 had been cut by 40%.

He said that flood protection was “a priority” and that since 2015 the government had protected nearly 400,000 homes.

“The reason the National Audit Office say that is because of the impact of inflation, and that is why our number one priority is to bring down inflation,” he said, since inflation had made projects more expensive.

Katharine Smith, flood duty manager at the EA, said that teams had been out operating flood defences and clearing watercourses. “So far, more than 45,000 properties have been protected in the last few days,” she said. “We also urge people not to drive through flood water and follow advice of local emergency services on the roads – flood water is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.”

The government’s policy for people affected by floods focuses on resilience, which means transforming homes so that they can recover from flooding more quickly. That means installing flood-resistant doors, replacing plasterwork, having solid floors without carpets, and raising boilers and electrical devices above the high water line.

People wanting to build resilience measures can apply for a one-off grant of £5,000, or for up to £10,000 through the Flood Re government-backed insurance scheme. Shepherd said that homeowners often needed to spend as much as £70,000.

“We’re going to see this more and more, bigger and harsher floods,” said Shepherd. “Climate change is throwing up ever increasing challenges. The government is eager to tell us that investment is larger than in the past, but flooding is clearly underfunded.”

Shepherd said the NFF helpline was getting increasing numbers of calls from people who had been flooded for the first time and blamed the disaster on new housing estates built nearby.

In 2020, the thinktank Bright Blue estimated that 70,000 homes had been built in high-risk areas since 2008 and others have estimated that 5,000 to 9,000 homes a year are approved on flood zone three areas at the highest risk.

Jonathan Werran, the chief executive of Localis, a thinktank focused on local affairs, said that no single agency was responsible for addressing flooding.

“The planning system encourages and incentivises folly,” he said. “We must not incentivise any more building of houses in high-risk flood plain areas.” Local authorities responsible for those areas “must be given a pass”, he said, rather than house-building targets which encouraged them to do “very foolish things”.

On Monday all “good and faithful” Conservative MPs will troop into the lobby to vote for “Maxing Out”  N Sea Oil & Gas.

Just what do they think they will be conserving? – Owl

Hydrologist Hannah Cloke has a straightforward description of the inundation that has just struck Britain. “Our decorations may have come down but the flood warning map is currently lit up like a Christmas tree.”

Robin McKie www.theguardian.com 

And the immediate cause of this mayhem is clear. A sequence of storms this autumn and winter – Babet, Ciarán, Debi, Elin, Fergus and Gerrit – have turned Britain into “a sopping wet sponge”, as the Reading University researcher put it.

Then came Storm Henk last week. Its intense rainfall had nowhere to go except to pour into our rivers, which burst their banks spectacularly across the country. More than 1,000 homes in England were flooded and some villages totally cut off, with Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire worst affected.

This interpretation is supported by figures from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, which last week revealed that the period between July and December in 2023 was the wettest on record for the UK. As to the reason, there is a simple explanation.

“Climate change is warming the atmosphere,” said Linda Speight of Oxford University. “A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture so that when it rains, the rainfall is heavier and more likely to lead to flooding. In particular, we know that climate change is leading to warmer and wetter winters in the UK. We will unfortunately experience more winters like this one in the future.”

Apart from triggering increases in our atmosphere’s moisture content, other human-induced effects are contributing to increases in flooding, said Christian Dunn of Bangor University. “Nature provided us with an answer to flooding – wetlands. Marshes, bogs and fens act like giant sponges, soaking up vast amounts of rainwater during wetter months and releasing it during drier periods.”

However, Britain has dug up its peatland, drained its marshes and built on its flood plains. As a result, the nation has lost much of its natural protection from the effects of flooding. “We need to manage and conserve our country’s existing wetlands and we need to create more of them,” added Dunn.

As to the future, meteorologists say there is more – much more – to come. “Continued human-induced climate warming in future is likely to result in further increases in peak river flows, which will cause more severe flooding and impacts on people, property and public services,” said Steve Turner of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

This point was backed by Kevin Collins of the Open University. “When it comes to planning our infrastructure, we need to do less of what we’ve always done,” he said. “We now need to be thinking about the systemic risks to our communities and economy and act to build resilience to these kinds of floods by accepting and adapting with the new normal of climate change.”

Trevor Hoey, professor of river science at Brunel University London, added: “There are parallels here with the national response to Covid-19. It is to be hoped the government is listening carefully to what the inquiry is revealing about risk preparedness.”

…who then posted on “X”:

“Water firm drives 240 truckloads of sewage a day through town ‘to pump into sea’.”

Yep, you read that correctly.

Geoff Crawford  of End Sewage Convoys And Poollution Exmouth (ESCAPE) added a little bit more background for Feargal on the “cause and effect” of the burst sewer and the need for trucks dumping sewage into the nearest storm overflow at Maer 24/7 in case SWW might be a little “economical with the facts”:

“He’s not admitting to the fact that adding a new higher volume pump at Phear Park increased the pressure and burst the sewer. He’s also not saying that the reason they do that was to increase the sewage flow to Sandy Bay treatment works and to allow more overflows to sea. Hence the new £14m pipe line they are installing between Maer Lane and Sandy Bay. There’s a lot he’s not telling you.”

The Environment Agency shows where it’s all being dumped [In case readers really can’t believe that sewage is dumped so close to the beach – and not just at ebbing tides either!]

South West Water – it’s time for “Full Disclosure” !

Swimmers and surfers have reported falling ill after going into the sea on the Sussex coast, where there has been an ongoing sewage spill for eight days.

“Naturally the intense rainfall of recent storms hitting the south coast has led to the storm overflow system operating — it’s designed to protect homes, schools and businesses from flooding.” Southern Water’s bathing water “lead”.

How well is that working? – Owl

Adam Vaughan www.thetimes.co.uk

The spill at Shoreham harbour from a storm overflow run by Southern Water began on December 28 and is still ongoing, as days of heavy rainfall overwhelm sewer capacity.

However, the water company blamed local houseboat toilets for any pollution in the harbour. It said that the firms’ modelling suggested that the overflow was not affecting water quality.

Rob Woodward, a member of a local kitesurfing club, said he had surfed at Shoreham on New Year’s Eve and suffered diarrhoea and vomiting for three days. Emma Kate, a local swimmer, said she swam in the water on the same day and experienced the same symptoms.

“I’m a school teacher which forced me to struggle through my first days back, and my wife and I had a baby due on January 4, so the sickness added to the worry of the C-section,” said Woodward, who lives in Lancing.

He added: “Our south coast could be an absolute hub for water sports, and it’s hindered by poor water quality.”

Campaigners rejected the company’s explanation. Ed Acteson, a campaigner at SOS Whitstable, which has highlighted spills around the Southern Water region in recent years, said he “simply did not believe” that a week of consecutive sewage wouldn’t have any impact. “It’s tantamount to gaslighting for them to claim that,” he said.

He added: “The idea that a few people on houseboats flushing their toilets would have a fraction of the impact of 180-plus hours of sewage from the same location is ridiculous.”

There are many sewage spills around the country due to widespread heavy rainfall from Storm Henk. Run-off into sewers has been exacerbated and the Environment Agency reported the ground across much of England as “completely saturated”.

There are reports of dozens of sewage spills in Kent, Sussex and Hampshire, plus similar numbers in Devon and Cornwall, which is served by South West Water. In Oxfordshire and around London, Thames Water is reporting scores of discharges in its region.

One town’s fight against sewage pollution

Since December 28, the charity Surfers Against Sewage said it had received 38 reports nationally of people getting sick after entering seas and waterways. Most were for gastroenteritis, which causes diarrhoea and vomiting.

At Shoreham beach, one of the two nearest official bathing waters from the Southern Water storm overflow, the charity said it had 40 sickness reports since May 2020. The figures are likely to be a considerable underestimate, as most incidents are not reported.

Alex Lipp, who maintains the website sewagemap.co.uk, said that Thames Water had almost 300 locations spilling sewage on Friday, the most since the company launched its real-time discharges map a year ago.

The Brighton branch of Surfers Against Sewage said it would be holding a protest on a beach in the harbour on Saturday to end sewage dumping there. The group noted that the storm overflow was only 100m from where people swam all year round because it was sheltered from winter waves.

Southern Water is one of only three water firms to offer a real-time sewage spills map; the other six broke a promise made to The Times’s Clean it Up campaign last year to release maps by the end of 2023.

The company, which announced last year it was spending £1.5 billion to tackle sewage spills, said it provided transparent information about transparent discharges but not health advice.

Tom Gallagher, bathing water lead at Southern Water, said: “We provide transparent data on storm overflows for users of designated bathing waters. Naturally the intense rainfall of recent storms hitting the south coast has led to the storm overflow system operating — it’s designed to protect homes, schools and businesses from flooding.

“There are many sources of pollution in coastal areas including road and agricultural run-off, animal waste, discharges from boats and other sources.”

The public have been urged not to enter the water at Exmouth beach following a pumping station incident. Officials from the Environment Agency (EA) are currently monitoring the situation.

Toby Codd www.devonlive.com

Officials say that bathing is not advised due to pollution from sewage. The EA said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) at 10.11am this morning (January 6): “We are aware of the issue at Exmouth pumping station.

“We are investigating what has happened. Officers have attended site and are closely monitoring activity, as well as working with South West Water to ensure the pumping station is back in operation as quickly as possible.”

Water firm drives 240 truckloads of sewage a day through town ‘to pump into sea’

Statement: “All the pumps at Maer Road are working as expected” challenged by photo evidence.

David Parsley inews.co.uk

South West Water has been accused of dumping millions of litres of raw sewage into a popular Devon beach resort after sending 240 tankers a day to an overflowing pumping station.

At the height of the problems last weekend, 18,000 and 10,000 litre tankers full of sewage were being transported through the East Devon tourist town of Exmouth for 24 hours a day from Friday until New Year’s Day, i has learned.

Since 11 December, the water firm has been dealing with two major pipe bursts in the town, which has led to untreated sewage being taken by a convoy of trucks to the Maer Road Sewage Pumping Station, just 200 metres from Exmouth’s two miles of sandy beach.

Campaigners say that due to the stormy conditions in the past week, the station has been overflowing and had a damaged outfall pipe and a failed pump. Some of the additional waste brought to the site has been seen making its way into a nearby brook that flows directly to the pipe that discharges it into the sea 40 metres from the nearby beach.

Geoff Crawford, the founder of Escape (End Sewage Convoys And Pollution Exmouth), believes South West Water should have taken the sewage to a treatment works less than a mile away and its decision not to “indicates that they knew the sewage would go almost straight into the sea and didn’t care”.

Mr Crawford told i: “They appear to have wilfully polluted the sea with millions of litres of untreated sewage and, as far as we are aware, none of these faults have been reported to Environment Agency by South West Water.”

South West Water, which has apologised for the ongoing disruption, claims that it was prevented from taking the sewage to the nearby Maer Lane Sewage Treatment Works because of flooding on the roads. But i has seen video evidence filmed at the same time the sewage was being transported that suggests the roads were clear.

An investigation by i has also found that at least one of South West Water’s pumps at the station was not working while it was emptying up to 240 tankers of sewage into the site for three days up to New Year’s Day.

The faulty standby pump was one of three, and would have been required in stormy conditions, such as those experienced in Exmouth and across the country during Storm Henk.

When asked about the faulty pump, a spokesman for South West Water initially said that “all the pumps at Maer Road are working as expected”.

However, after asking a worker on the site if a pump on the back of a truck was new, he told i: “No, that is the broken pump we just took out.”

Presented with this comment and photo evidence of the faulty pump, South West Water altered its statement.

The water company’s spokesman said: “The pump you saw was a faulty standby storm pump being removed.

“A replacement pump is kept on site to ensure it can be installed quickly when needed, and this was completed successfully yesterday.

“The standby pump is required during storm conditions if there is an issue with any of the other pumps.”

When asked if the standby pump would have been required in the in the 94mph winds and downpours during Storm Henk, the spokesman said: “At no time was the pumping station unable to pump to full capacity.”

When fully operational the pumping station sends sewage to the nearby treatment plant, but this has also suffered from flooding and over capacity recently.

During times of exceptional rainfall, water companies are permitted to discharge untreated sewage into bodies of water through points known as combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to prevent the system becoming overwhelmed and sewage backing up in peoples’ homes.

Mr Crawford, who has observed the pumping station every day since the sewage tanker deliveries began, added that he had calculated that during last weekend’s peak up to 500 loads were arriving at the site each day.

However, South West Water denies there were that many deliveries.

The company’s spokesman said: “We have 10 tankers transporting flows . . . to keep the burst site clear so a temporary pipe can be installed and a full repair can be made without the need for tankering. Each tanker is transporting up to one load per hour, making a maximum of 240 loads per day.”

Even at a level of 240 tanker deliveries, this equates to around 3.4 million of litres being delivered to the faulty pumping station each day.

While the route from the pumping station to the brook has grills preventing solid matter of more than 10mm to pass through, the untreated sewage is a sludge and contains potential deadly viruses such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) and the Enterococci bacteria.

Exmouth, which is currently a Blue Flag beach, failed to pass water standards in six of the past 10 quality tests since October.

Over the past few years sewage discharged into the neighbouring Sandy Bay has led to its water standard falling from “Excellent” to “Satisfactory”, just one level above the lowest level of poor.

Last year, the boss of South West Water-owner Pennon Group gave up £440,000 in bonuses in the wake of record water quality fines for the company.

Pennon chief executive Susan Davy waived a £157,000 bonus and £283,000 in long-term incentives after the firm was fined £2.15m last April for illegally dumping sewage into rivers and the sea in Devon and Cornwall.

Despite giving up her bonuses Ms Davy, who was paid more £1.6m in the previous year, still took home her annual base salary of £460,000, while the firm’s shareholders benefited from a dividend payout of £122m despite the company making a loss of £8.5m in the financial year to the end of March 2022.

An investigation by the Environment Agency found South West Water culpable for significant environmental harm.

According to South West Water’s own data, 60 beaches across Devon and Cornwall were impacted by sewage spills in recent days, including beaches at Lyme Regis, Torquay, Plymouth and Newquay.

A number of the discharges had been ongoing since before the new year before being exacerbated by Storm Henk.

The spokesman for South West Water added: “We are working around the clock to fix the issue with a pipe in Exmouth.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by this ongoing work, which we’re working hard to resolve as quickly as possible.”

The Environment Agency was asked if it was investigating South West Water’s actions in Exmouth but it had not responded at the time of publication.

Rishi Sunak said in the summer he wanted to “max out” North Sea oils and gas.

MPs will vote for the first time on Monday on the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill.

How will “I would never vote to pollute our water” Simon Jupp vote?

Meanwhile:

Sunak faces new by-election headache as MP quits over PM’s oil and gas policy

Jane Merrick inews.co.uk

The Government’s former net-zero tsar has resigned as an MP over Rishi Sunak’s plans to allow more offshore oil and gas.

Chris Skidmore, who was chair of the independent government review on net zero and a former energy minister, said he would be stepping down as an MP next week over new legislation which “clearly promotes the production of new oil and gas”.

The move will trigger a by-election in his Kingswood constituency, where the Conservatives have a majority of just over 11,000, ahead of Labour in second place.

MPs will vote for the first time on Monday on the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, which is being introduced following the Prime Minister’s decision last year to permit new drilling licences in the North Sea.

The bill would allow the licences to be given the go-ahead annually. Mr Sunak sparked fury from green campaigners last summer when he said he wanted to “max out” North Sea oil and gas, which critics said undermined the Government’s drive towards net zero.

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Skidmore wrote: “Next week the Government will be introducing the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill in the House of Commons.

“This Bill would in effect allow more frequent new oil and gas licences and the increased production of new fossil fuels in the North Sea. It is a Bill that I have already stated my opposition to, by not voting in the King’s Speech debate in protest at the Bill’s inclusion in the Government’s legislative programme.

“As the former energy minister who signed the UK’s net zero commitment by 2050 into law, I cannot vote for a Bill that clearly promotes the production of new oil and gas.”

He went on: “To fail to act, rather than merely speak out, is to tolerate a status quo that cannot be sustained. I am therefore resigning my party whip and instead intend to be free from any party-political allegiance.”

Mr Skidmore, who backed Liz Truss in the 2022 Tory leadership election, had already announced in November he would be stepping down as an MP at the next general election, which is expected in the second half of this year.

But he said he had been forced to resign the Conservative whip because he could not support the oil and gas legislation before Parliament. This decision meant his constituents “deserve the right to elect a new Member of Parliament”.

He said: “I therefore will be standing down from Parliament as soon as possible.”

Alok Sharma, the Conservative MP and former president of the Cop26 UN climate summit, told Politico that the legislation risks damaging the UK’s “credibility” on net zero.

Crisis as multiple issues mount

The NHS in Devon has entered the highest level of escalation because of pressures on its services.

Radio Exe News www.radioexe.co.uk

It comes as they try to mitigate disruption during the usual winter pressures and staff sickness, on top of industrial action.

Now new measures include some hospitals reducing visiting hours or re-directing people from emergency departments to other services.

Dr Nigel Acheson, Chief Medical Officer for NHS Devon, said: “It’s vital that those who need medical help come forward as they usually would – using 999 and A&E in life threatening emergencies and 111 online for everything else alongside their GP practices and pharmacies.

Devon’s acute hospitals in Plymouth, Exeter, Torbay and Barnstaple are seeing increased cases of norovirus this week; a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhoea. 

To prevent the spread of infection, some hospital wards in Devon have closed, reducing capacity at an already exceptionally busy time.

Devon’s NHS say people can help by:

•    Not visiting loved ones in hospital if you have symptoms of a cough, cold, respiratory illness, diarrhoea or vomiting
•    Washing your hands frequently with soap and water as this is the best way to stop it spreading. Alcohol hand gels do not kill norovirus
•    Getting your flu vaccine from your GP practice or local pharmacy. Some people are eligible for the free vaccine, including over-65s, people with long term conditions like stroke or heart disease and pregnant people
•    Getting the covid vaccine. Some people are still eligible for free ones.

Dr Acheson concluded; “January is always one of the most pressured times for the NHS in Devon. Six days of industrial action on top of an already busy time is making it extremely challenging for hospitals to maintain safe services this week.”

Urgent and emergency care remains available during the strikes.

“The people of this country are incandescent at having been gaslighted for so long by a Government packed to the gunwales with tinpot Ministers for whom lying is in their DNA. We’re mad-as-hell at being patronised; stop it, please, with the three-word, jingoistic nonsense.”

Sir Keir Starmer: Labour leader is wrong – we are not apathetic, we are simmering with incandescent anger

Opinion www.yorkshirepost.co.uk 

It is most unlikely that Sir Keir Starmer himself pores over the pages of The Yorkshire Post in search of political inspiration, though quite possible that those around him may, not least Leeds West MP and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, in order to take the temperature of the region.

For had he the time or inclination to do so, certainly during the course of the past few months and years, he would have seen, in these leading article columns and elsewhere in this newspaper, repeated calls for a return to serious politics, meted out by serious politicians.

He will have seen readers’ letters calling for some of the very promises he made in his speech made in Bristol, when he spoke of ditching pointless populist politics and cutting out embittered cynicism from the thinking of Government.

These things are music to the ears of good, honest people. People who work hard to provide for themselves and their families, but can’t begin to dream of a nice holiday or a new car. Paying the bills alone has become an endurance test that never ends.

So, yes. Mr Starmer can, with authority and authenticity, state that he has in those matters judged the mood of the nation accurately, but he couldn’t be more wrong about one thing. People are not, as he said, apathetic. The electorate is not weary. The people of this country are incandescent at having been gaslighted for so long by a Government packed to the gunwales with tinpot Ministers for whom lying is in their DNA. We’re mad-as-hell at being patronised; stop it, please, with the three-word, jingoistic nonsense. It isn’t clever earworm rhetoric, it’s a disguise for yet more flawed thinking : Stop The Boats. Build Back Better. Stay At Home. The list goes on and on. Well here are three words for Mr Starmer, and any other politician who is looking to secure our vote ahead of the General Election: Must Do Better.

Just over 2,000 properties in East Devon pay no council tax thanks to a scheme for working-age households on low incomes. 

Will Goddard, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

The council tax reduction scheme helps residents struggling to pay, with discounts of 25, 55, 80 or 100 per cent based on people’s income and circumstances.  

As of October 2023, 4,516 working-age households in the district were receiving reductions, of which 2,004 were paying no council tax at all. 

The total number of claimants is down two per cent since April 2022, but the cost-of-living crisis is still plaguing the district with numbers still “much higher” than pre-pandemic levels, according to a report. 

This week East Devon District Council’s cabinet backed plans to extend the current scheme until the end of March next year. This will need to be ratified by councillors at a full meeting. 

Cllr Steve Gazzard (Lib Dem, Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh) said: “It’s very gratifying to see that as a council, we are helping those that are most at need.  

“To be able to take 2,004 people out of paying council tax I think is a momentous thing.” 

Council tax varies between districts and smaller areas known as parishes. In the current financial year, tax for band D properties in Exmouth this financial year is just over £2,200, for example. The lion’s share goes to Devon County Council, with the rest shared among the police, fire service, parish and East Devon District Council. 

The council tax reduction scheme is costing £9.8 million this financial year, but since East Devon District Council only receives around seven per cent of the total council tax cash, it is only required to pay seven per cent of the cost of the scheme – that is, around £690,000. 

“Increasingly, farmers are leaving the sector and using the land for non-agricultural uses because they cannot afford to continue to subsidise the cheap food that UK consumers have become used to – glasshouses are being closed and orchards are being grubbed up.”

OFC 2024: Risk-reward ratio in supply chain ‘out of kilter’ – Farmers Weekly

Philip Case www.fwi.co.uk

Risk must be fairly distributed across the food supply chain instead of sitting with farmers and growers to secure a more sustainable footing for the industry.

This is according to a report launched for the 2024 Oxford Farming Conference (OFC).

Over the past five years, the food and farming sector has experienced “significant shocks”, including the impact of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, climate change and soaring “agflation” costs in fuel, feed, fertiliser, energy and labour.

See also: OFC 2023: Report seeks fairness for farmers in food supply chain

Years of “permacrisis” have left farming’s confidence and bank balances at an all-time unsustainable low, says the report’s author, Ged Futter.

Mr Futter has over 30 years of experience in the retail sector, including 15 years working as a buyer at Asda.

These events have exposed pre-existing and fundamental weaknesses in the supply chain and “we are now in an era of volatility”, he says.

As a result, the risk-versus-reward ratio is now “out of kilter”, which means many farmers are asking “is it worth doing it?”, Mr Futter says.

Increasingly, farmers are leaving the sector and using the land for non-agricultural uses because they cannot afford to continue to subsidise the cheap food that UK consumers have become used to – glasshouses are being closed and orchards are being grubbed up.

Mr Futter’s report – Is the UK Food Supply Chain Broken? – is based on more than 40 interviews with business owners across fresh produce, eggs, poultry, pork, importers, frozen food manufacturers and various consultants.

It presents key insights and considers a range of potential solutions to enable the industry to “thrive and not just survive” in the future.

Four key statistics in report

• 52% of a grower’s costs spent on labour in some horticulture businesses
• £2,000-£2,500 is the average cost of an audit with a UK retailer
• 50% of vegetables produced in the UK consumed domestically
• 15% of soft fruit produced in the UK consumed here

Retailer practices ‘must change’

The retailers have become more sophisticated at finding ways of getting better prices and most farmers/growers/packers have not kept up, says Mr Futter.

Fixed-price, long-term trade agreements, inexperienced buyers who can be “more aggressive and less empathetic”, and burdensome audits over the past 10 years “have squeezed every drop of profit from many of the suppliers”.

However, Mr Futter argues that much-peddled headlines over the past five years, suggesting the food chain is “broken” and the responsibility sits solely with retailers, fundamentally ignore other participants in the industry.

These include farmers, growers, governmental bodies and NGOs.

The report urges retailers to change their behaviour, but it also says a change of mindset from all stakeholders is needed “to ensure true collaboration, built on trust”.

What farmers and growers can do

Farmers and growers often focus on being better food producers, when they should focus more on being better buyers and sellers, Mr Futter says.

His interviews with farmers and growers revealed they are “not great looking at numbers” and several use outdated accountancy practices.

The key to success is knowing the cost of production, which is more critical now the Basic Payment Scheme is being removed.

Mr Futter says it is more important than ever for the farming sector to move away from overproduction as a perceived solution because a model “based on ‘just enough’ instead of abundance brings in jeopardy for retailers”.

Diversification and exports

Successful growers are already looking at ways to reduce their reliance on retailers.

This includes diversification projects or developing brands that can be sold not only in retail, but also in food service and exports.

One farmer interviewed, who supplies the food service sector, said: “If I have to supply retail, I will quit.”

Alongside diversification, it is crucial that farmers and growers invest in training their teams to ensure they can negotiate successfully and confidently with buyers.

“We need better trained, business-like farmers, multiskilled and business savvy, able to buy and sell,” says Mr Futter.

Frequent extreme weather events exacerbate risk

A volatile climate and more frequent extreme weather events in recent years have been increasing risk for farmers and growers, the report notes.

It highlights the flooding event in October 2023 in Scotland which left millions of pounds of unharvested vegetables damaged under floodwaters.

Fresh produce supplier Stewarts of Tayside’s managing director, Liam Stewart, said the business lost about £500,000 worth of food grown for supermarkets across 60ha of land.

“There’s body blow after body blow, and farmers are no longer growing the same amount of buffer as they traditionally would.

“So if something grows wrong, we take the hit,” he told the BBC in the aftermath of the incident.

“We need everything to happen. Otherwise it is the difference between making money and not making money.”

A drastic shortage of affordable housing is having “severe consequences” on Devon’s economy as families increasingly struggle to find places to live.

Bradley Gerrard www.devonlive.com

The Devon Housing Commission, which is made up of Devon’s 11 local authorities and supported by the University of Exeter, has written to Lord Richard Benyon, minister for rural affairs, to urge faster action on delivering more affordable homes for the county.

The commission told Lord Benyon that the average home in Devon costs more than 10 times the average income, rising to 28 times in some rural areas.

Lord Richard Best, the commission’s chair, said: “The acute shortage of any accommodation to buy or rent for those on or below average earnings is having severe consequences. Apart from the hardship to families, it is deeply affecting the local economy.

Beth Rigby accuses Keir Starmer of being ‘timid’

“It is also leading to a dramatic increase in the need for temporary accommodation, with ever-rising costs to local authorities and a growing population living in insecure, unsatisfactory housing.”

The commission wants the government to ensure more homes are made available for local people by deploying the Defra Rural Housing Enablers’ policy in Devon.

The scheme was boosted last year with £2.5 million of funding to help the supply of new, affordable housing by identifying development opportunities, supporting site owners and community representatives to navigate the planning system, and securing the support of local communities for developments.

Initially, only schemes in Cambridgeshire and Northumberland were announced, but more are due to be outlined by the government this year.

Lord Best said he had heard from Lord Benyon that £97,000 had since been announced for Devon, which will be coordinated through charity Devon Communities Together, but he hopes for further measures to support rural areas in the county.

“Small village developments can make an immense difference to the life of the community,” he said.

“Without funding associated with schemes like Rural Housing Enablers for a reasonable term it can be hard to recruit and retain the talented people required to fill important roles in Devon’s workforce.

“But with these Enablers in place, real progress can be made in getting attractive, sustainable, affordable homes built for local people.”

The majority of Devon’s local authorities are classed as predominantly rural and the percentage of people in the county who live in a settlement of fewer than 10,000 people is twice that of England as a whole.

Furthermore, the delivery of affordable rural homes in Devon has declined since the loss of the previous Rural Housing Enabling service, from over 200 homes in 2017/18 to only 91 four years later.

The Devon Housing Commission also said it hoped revisions to national planning rules would encourage more development for local people in the county, and that moves would be made to moderate the growth of Airbnb-style short-term lettings from replacing rented accommodation for local people.

The transformation of a former French bistro and bar in Topsham into a Rockfish restaurant is said to finally be making progress after more than 18 months since its takeover. For many months, the seafood chain has teased that the new restaurant – situated on the historic quay – will be ‘coming soon’.

Anita Merritt www.devonlive.com

However, in reality, no work to renovate the previous L’Estuaire Bistro and Bar has been seen leading to speculation about whether it will ever reopen. Rockfish has assured it is still pressing ahead with its plans but it does not know when it will open its doors yet.

A spokesperson for Rockfish said: “We don’t have an official opening date for Rockfish in Topsham as of yet but the project has entered the design and planning stages.”

It was back in June 2022 when L’Estuaire Bistro and Bar closed for good after stating its lease was not being renewed and the site was set to become a Rockfish restaurant. Celebrity chef and restaurateur Mitch Tonks is the founder and chief executive of Rockfish.

Sidmouth

It is also planning to open a new restaurant in Sidmouth which is another project that has been severely delayed. Its plans to convert Sidmouth’s seafront Drill Hall – the former headquarters of Sidmouth’s Territorial Army unit -into a Rockfish restaurant date back four years.

An original scheme for the seafront site had been approved back in 2020, but work never begun, with delays and ‘legal matters’ stopping the plans. A new scheme was proposed and submitted to East Devon District Council planners in 2023, after the chain also acquired the toilet block adjacent to the Drill Hall to enable a ‘much enhanced restaurant offer on this site’.

It had been recommended for approval at a meeting of the council’s planning committee in November. However, a decision was delayed after Mr Tonks was asked by the Environment Agency (EA) to provide more detailed flood risk assessments before the proposal could be considered.

The EA have recommended that the application is not determined until a Flood Warning and Evacuation Plan (FWEP) has been prepared and submitted to the council’s emergency planner.

Sir Keir Starmer will vow to take on those who commit “fraud against the public purse” in a major speech that will mark the start of campaigning for the general election.

Alexandra Rogers news.sky.com

The Labour leader’s first speech of 2024 is expected to focus on the erosion of trust in politics following a series of scandals, including the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic.

He is expected to announce that those who defraud the government could face a jail sentence of more than 10 years – the current limit – as part of Labour’s “total crackdown on cronyism”.

Sir Keir, who led the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) from 2008 to 2013 and previously worked as human rights lawyer, is expected to say that trust in politics is now “so low, so degraded, that nobody believes anyone can make a difference any more”.

“After the sex scandals, the expenses scandals, the waste scandals, the contracts for friends – even in a crisis like the pandemic – people think we’re all just in it for ourselves,” he will say.

“To change Britain, we must change ourselves – we need to clean up politics. No more VIP fast lanes, no more kickbacks for colleagues, no more revolving doors between government and the companies they regulate.

“I will restore standards in public life with a total crackdown on cronyism.”

Sir Keir will point to his past in the legal profession to highlight his desire to “serve”.

He will say: “Politics isn’t a hobby, a pastime for people who enjoy the feeling of power, and nor is it a sermon from on high, a self-regarding lecture, vanity dressed up as virtue.”

The Labour leader will make his speech just weeks after Tory appointed peer Baroness Michelle Mone admitted involvement with PPE Medpro, which received over £200m in government contracts during the pandemic.

Baroness Mone is set to benefit from its £60m profits that have been put into a trust by her husband, Doug Barrowman.

PPE Medpro is currently being sued by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) over claims millions of the gowns it supplied failed to meet the standard required – something Baroness Mone and Mr Barrowman deny – while the company is also under investigation by the National Crime Agency.

Sir Keir has previously branded the scandal a “shocking disgrace from top to bottom”.

A source told The Guardian, which first reported on the story, that a range of policy options are being considered including tougher sentences for “fraud against the public purse”, including the billions wasted through COVID loan schemes.

In March, the National Audit Office (NAO) found that £21bn had been lost to fraud since the start of the COVID pandemic, with more than £7bn linked to schemes introduced during the pandemic.

The maximum sentence for serious fraud currently stands at 10 years’ imprisonment.

Under Labour proposals those who fraudulently claim money from the government – for example through the bidding of public contracts – could be sent to prison for a longer time.

However, the newspaper reported that a separate pledge to ban former ministers from lobbying for five years is likely to be scaled back.

Speaking to Sky News, shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said Sir Keir would highlight how the government has “denigrated the sense of public service”.

He pointed to breaches of the ministerial code – which sets out how ministers should behave – and said Labour would set up a new ethics and integrity commission with powers to investigate ministers

“When we’re knocking on doors, we find people saying almost despairingly to us, ‘can things be better?’ Things can be better, but that’s why we need that general election and change as soon as possible.”

“Consumption” is on the rise again with cases notified in Plymouth, Torbay and Exeter.

Another sign of “Broken Britain”. – Owl

Paul Greaves www.devonlive.com

A Dickensian disease responsible for killing millions in Victorian Britain is making a post-pandemic comeback in Devon. Tuberculosis or TB – also known as “consumption” – caused the deaths of an estimated four million people between 1851 and 1910.

It was the scourge of the 18th and 19th centuries and featured heavily in the literature of the time, with Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Samuel Richardson among the authors writing about the disease. TB is thought to be one of the illnesses afflicting Tiny Tim in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Although it is now curable, TB is still the second leading infectious killer globally, behind Covid-19. In the UK cases and infection rates had been falling since 2011, as the health authorities work toward the elimination of the disease.

However, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says that progress has now stalled. Cases went up during the pandemic in 2021 and then remained stable last year.

In 2023, the UKHSA received notifications of 4,813 cases of TB in England and Wales – a 7% increase on the 4,480 cases over the same period during the previous year. It is also higher than in 2021 (4,557).

In Devon, the UKHSA has received notifications of 29 cases in 2023. That includes seven cases in Plymouth, seven in Torbay, and six in Exeter.

When compared to the population, Torbay had the highest infection rate, with 5.0 cases of TB per 100,000 of the population, followed by Exeter (4.6 per 100,000 population), and Torridge (2.9).

You can see the cases and rates where you live using our interactive map.

Meera Chand, Deputy Director at UKHSA said: “We remain concerned that we are seeing TB cases increasing in some parts of England. TB is curable and preventable, but despite significant progress towards elimination in recent years, the disease remains a serious public health issue in the UK as shown by these figures.

“With treatment, most people will make a full recovery. It is very important that those with relevant symptoms are tested for TB and appropriate treatment is started promptly, both for the individual and for the prevention of onward transmission.

“TB notification rates in England remain highest in people who are originally from parts of the world where TB is more common and those in large urban areas in England which are associated with higher levels of deprivation, and in inclusion health groups – a term used to describe people who are socially excluded and typically experience multiple overlapping risk factors for poor health. This includes those experiencing homelessness or contact with the criminal justice system

“As we head into winter, it is important to remember that not every persistent cough, along with a fever, is caused by flu or COVID-19. A cough that usually has mucus and lasts longer than three weeks can be caused by a range of other issues, including TB. Contact your GP if you think you could be at risk so you can get tested and treated.”

TB is a highly infectious disease caused by airborne bacteria, spread through the air when people cough, sneeze, or speak. It is a serious long-term condition, but it is now curable.

It usually affects the lungs but can spread to other parts of the body such as your glands, bones, and brain.
Symptoms include a chronic cough, fever, chills, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, and coughing up blood.

Of local authority areas in England and Wales, Birmingham has had the most cases of TB this year, with 206.

When compared to the population, Leicester has had the highest rate of infections with 40.7 per 100,000 population. London is the region most blighted by TB. A third of all cases identified this year were diagnosed in London.

Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if you are coughing up blood. Call 999 if you have a stiff neck and a severe headache, it’s painful to look at bright lights, you’ve had a seizure or fit, if you’ve had a change in behaviour such as sudden confusion, or if you’ve had a weakness or loss of movement in part of the body. These could be signs that TB has spread to the brain.

The statistics watchdog has launched an official investigation into the government’s claim it cleared the legacy backlog of asylum claims last year.

Kate Nicholson www.huffingtonpost.co.uk 

Downing Street has faced intense criticism – and has even been accused of a “barefaced lie” – after PM Rishi Sunak said his government cleared all applications to remain in the UK made prior to June 28, 2022.

But, after the government’s own data suggested there were still plenty of claims which needed to be addressed, the Office for Statistics Regulation have launched an investigation.

According to Sky News, the watchdog announced its action after a complaint and the investigation is expected to take a few weeks.

It cannot force the Home Office to offer more data although it can ask for it. It could also remove its stamp of reliability from the Home Office’s press releases.

Sunak pledged at the start of last year to “stop the boats” and clear the asylum backlog – meaning this is a crucial policy for his administration.

The confusion over the asylum backlog began earlier this week, when the PM posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the Home Office had dealt with 112,000 “legacy cases” – claims made before June 2022 – by the end of last year.

Sunak claimed: “I said that this government would clear the backlog of asylum decisions by the end of 2023. That’s exactly what we’ve done.”

However, Downing Street’s own data shows that 4,537 “complex cases” still need a decision.

Sunak’s spokesperson suggested that because they had been “reviewed” they were now considered “cleared”.

Home Office data shows that 51,469 asylum applications were granted in total last year, while 25,550 were refused – and 35,119 “non-substantive” decisions were made – where the claim is withdrawn, pause or declared void.

There are also 99,000 more recent claims yet to be processed from last year.

Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock called Sunak’s claim a “barefaced lie”, saying it would “be laughable if it wasn’t such an insult to the public’s intelligence”.

Home secretary James Cleverly was scrutinised on the BBC’s Today programme over the numbers too, after he said it was “impossible” to say when the remaining 100,000 asylum cases would be dealt with.