In its effort to push down inflation, the Bank of England has raised interest rates from 0.25% in late 2021 to 5.25% at its meeting earlier this month, the highest level since the financial crisis in 2008. That has prompted mortgage rates to rise rapidly, making borrowing for housing more difficult for many prospective buyers.

The widespread expectation is that the Bank will have to raise interest rates further. E.g. “The Bank of England should increase interest rates again to at least 5.5 per cent next month even though inflation is falling, a group of leading experts have told i.“

Jasper Jolly www.theguardian.com 

Britain’s housebuilders were the top stock market fallers on Monday after one of the sector’s biggest companies issued a profit warning and data revealed the fastest drop in asking prices in five years.

Housebuilder Crest Nicholson said it expected to make a profit of about £50m this financial year, compared with about £74m expected in June, as the number of house purchases had fallen in recent weeks.

The alert sent housebuilding shares tumbling. Taylor Wimpey led the fallers on the FTSE 100, down 4%, with Persimmon, Berkeley and Barratt down more than 2% as more than £500m was wiped off the value of Britain’s largest housebuilders. The property website Rightmove also fell nearly 2% and Crest Nicholson was the biggest faller on the FTSE 250, down 10%.

It was the latest sign that rising interest rates to combat high inflation, a slowing economy and the wider cost of living crisis are weighing on the UK housing market. Home sellers reduced their asking prices by 1.9% on average in August, the most since 2018, according to data from Rightmove.

In its effort to push down inflation, the Bank of England has raised interest rates from 0.25% in late 2021 to 5.25% at its meeting earlier this month, the highest level since the financial crisis in 2008. That has prompted mortgage rates to rise rapidly, making borrowing for housing more difficult for many prospective buyers.

Crest Nicholson said the number of transactions was dropping. The amount of first-time buyers, who have generally not built up as much equity as older property owners, has dropped particularly sharply because of the end of the help to buy housing subsidy, the company said.

“Against a backdrop of persistently high inflation and rising interest rates, trading conditions for the housing market have worsened during the summer of this year,” it said in a statement to the stock market. “While pricing has remained resilient in a market with limited supply and few distressed sellers, the economic uncertainty is deterring prospective home movers.”

Victoria Scholar, the head of investment at the share trading website Interactive Investor, said: “Expensive mortgages, wider cost-of-living pressures and a general backdrop of macroeconomic unease with sluggish growth and increasing slack in the labour market are taking their toll on house prices, which are expected to feel further pain as the year progresses.”

While the slowdown is expected to affect builders’ profits, the drop in asking prices comes in the context of decades of rises which have put home ownership out of reach for many first-time buyers. The 1.9% drop in asking prices – equivalent to a £7,012 price cut – left the average asking price on Rightmove’s platform at £364,895, the company said. Even after the drop, average prices were £59,000 higher than in August 2019, a 19% increase.

Government data showed that the average UK house price was £288,000 in June, £5,000 higher than 12 months ago, albeit £5,000 below the recent record in November 2022.

Tim Bannister, who oversees Rightmove’s data, said: “There is no glut of properties for sale, with the number of available properties still lower than at this time in 2019 and homes still selling more quickly, with the average time to find a buyer now 55 days compared with 61 days in 2019.

“The lower level of agreed sales compared with this time in 2019 indicates the affordability challenges that many buyers currently face.”

(And the reasons why it may be reluctant to do so).

Ministers are under mounting pressure to grant the inquiry into serial killer nurse Lucy Letby legal powers following fears that it lacks the “teeth” needed to unearth potential failings.

Archie Mitchell www.independent.co.uk

The 33-year-old was found guilty on Friday of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others between June 2015 and June 2016 in the hospital where she worked.

The murders, which Letby carried out during her shifts on the neonatal ward at the Countess of Chester Hospital, will be subject to an independent inquiry, health secretary Steve Barclay has announced.

Mr Barclay said the probe would “ensure mothers and their partners rightly have faith in our healthcare system”.

But in order to ensure that the families of Letby’s victims receive justice, and that similar incidents do not occur in future, critics say it must be given statutory powers.

Here, The Independent looks at the difference it could make, and why the inquiry has been set up in the way it has.

What are public inquiries for?

Ministers establish public inquiries into events of major public concern or controversial policy issues.

They typically assess what happened, why it happened, who is to blame, and what can be done to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

Previous examples include the ongoing inquiry into the government’s handling of the Covid pandemic, and the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, which looked at the mass shooting of Catholic demonstrators in Derry by British paratroopers in 1972.

What is a non-statutory inquiry?

Non-statutory inquiries lack the power to take evidence under oath that statutory ones have.

They also offer more flexibility over how they are run, which can make it easier to hear sensitive evidence in private where it is deemed necessary.

Mr Barclay has said that the families of Letby’s victims will be able to have their voices heard in shaping the scope of the inquiry.

But what do critics say?

Such an inquiry lacks the power to compel witnesses to produce evidence or give evidence under oath, leading critics to claim it is “not good enough”.

Lawyers representing the families of two of Letby’s victims say the inquiry will be forced to “rely on the goodwill of those involved”.

In a joint statement, Richard Scorer and Yvonne Agnew, of law firm Slater and Gordon, said: “The failings here are very serious and an inquiry needs to have a statutory basis to have real teeth.”

The lack of statutory powers has raised fears that key pieces of evidence will be missed – for instance, those that could provide the answer to how Letby was able to continue working in the hospital’s neonatal unit for more than a year after concerns about her conduct were first raised.

Why has the government chosen to hold a non-statutory inquiry?

One legal expert told The Independent that a statutory inquiry could “open up a can of worms” in exposing wider failings in the NHS – particularly in relation to allegations that bosses prioritised reputational damage over the concerns of hospital staff.

They said a “more rigorous” statutory public inquiry raised the risk of negative publicity for the government in the run-up to a general election, which is expected to be held next year.

But the government said a non-statutory inquiry was chosen in order to allow it to focus on “lessons that can be learned quickly”.

Will ministers change their minds?

The health secretary has so far refused to listen to calls from families, doctors and MPs to give the inquiry statutory powers, insisting that the current set-up will ensure that victims’ parents and families get the answers they need.

But Emma Norris, the Institute for Government think tank’s expert on public inquiries, said there was a “reasonable chance” that Mr Barclay will be forced to upgrade the inquiry to a statutory one.

She told The Independent that the case had similarities with the government’s inquiry into serial killer Harold Shipman, which was set up as a non-statutory inquiry but was changed following a judicial review.

When will the inquiry begin?

The Department of Health and Social Care said on Friday that it will appoint a chair and publish the inquiry’s proposed terms of reference “in due course”.

Is Alison Hernandez on stand-by and on side?

Can she deliver a police force that will follow up “all reasonable lines of enquiry” to solve crimes that are reported to them? – Owl

Braverman set to launch crime blitz in reset after Cabinet infighting over small boats

Hugo Gye inews.co.uk 

Suella Braverman is preparing to launch a crime crackdown in a drive to get the Home Office back on track after an eruption of damaging infighting.

The Home Secretary is set to announce that police must follow up “all reasonable lines of enquiry” to solve crimes that are reported to them.

The move, which will particularly cover offences such as the theft of cars and mobile phones which often go unpunished, comes after a period of turbulence in the Home Office.

An attempt to promote the Government’s policy on preventing asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel in dangerous small boats ended in farce earlier this month when dozens of migrants had to be evacuated from a barge where they were staying after legionella was discovered on board days after their arrival.

There are widespread reports of disagreements between Ms Braverman, department officials, and the immigration minister Robert Jenrick who is a close ally of Rishi Sunak.

Growing numbers of Conservative MPs want the Home Secretary to be fired in a reshuffle expected in the coming weeks, although her allies insist she remains indispensable as a leading figure from the right of the party within the Cabinet.

The Home Office is poised to issue new guidance to police which will specify that they are expected to investigate every crime after concerns that officers are ignoring potential evidence such as mobile phone tracking data. In London, as many as 98 per cent of phone thefts go unsolved.

Ms Braverman said in comments first reported by the Sunday Telegraph: “All victims of theft deserve more from the police and justice system than simply a crime number, and they should expect all reasonable lines of enquiry should be followed up.”

A senior Home Office source told i that the new policy was made possible by an increase in the overall number of officers and a reduction in other obligations such as responding to calls of mental health emergencies. The source said: “Now that we have record levels of police we have the resources to do this, and we’ve also lessened the burden of bureaucracy and red tape on officers.”

Government insiders are understood to be concerned about dysfunction in the department amid a failure to cut the number small boats arrivals significantly. “The whole thing resembles a circular firing squad,” a minister told the Sunday Times.

And Tory MPs have reacted with anger to claims that Home Office officials are told not to interrogate asylum seekers over sensitive details of their past, or to turn down their claim if they are found to have lied.

As Covid cases continue to rise, health experts are advising people to stay vigilant and take precautions if they suspect they might have the virus. Recent data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reveals an increase in cases, prompting concerns.

Suruchi Sharma Diwan www.inyourarea.co.uk

According to the new figures released by released by UKHSA, 10.8 individuals per 100,000 of the population were diagnosed with the virus during the week ending on August 14. This represents an increase from 9.3 cases per 100,000 reported as of July 29.

Additionally, one in seven cases throughout the nation have been linked to the newly identified Eris variant, as instances of the virus surge across various age groups. As the transmission continues, medical experts have outlined several symptoms to be vigilant about.

The primary ones resemble the widely reported Omicron symptoms, including a sore throat, runny nose, blocked nose, sneezing, non-phlegmy cough, headache, phlegmy cough, hoarse voice, muscle discomfort and changes in sense of smell. However, shortness of breath, loss of smell and fever are no longer the predominant symptoms.

Instead, there are now three additional symptoms to be attentive to – diarrhea, skin rashes and eye irritation, as reported by New Scientist. The news comes as a health expert warned that Brits could face a new round of Covid jabs if Eris is shown to be resistant to the current vaccine, reported the Mirror.

Dr Bharat Pankhania, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter’s medical school, said: “It’s too early to say if this strain is more of a pathologic virus at the moment. I was first aware of new cases being reported about four weeks ago. This is not a UK-specific strain, there have been cases all around the world.”

He urged Brits to keep buildings well-ventilated and said masks may need to come back out if cases continue to rise. “People aren’t testing as much now and our guard is down because it’s summer,” he said.

“It’s important that people who are vulnerable get their vaccines if they haven’t already. We’re not in complete and total darkness this time – the old vaccine will still work, but if it’s found not to be giving the same coverage then it will need to be modified and given out again.”

According to Dr Pankhania, an expert in disease control and public health, it remains vital for individuals to stay current with their vaccinations. He noted that only time will reveal whether the latest vaccine will offer protection against Eris.

He said: “As new variants like this emerge we need to constantly keep up to date with modifying the vaccines to mirror them. This will be a forever ongoing process.

“The most recent vaccine was to combat the Omicron variant which is no longer in circulation. People need to understand what’s said one week may change the next – that is the nature of biology.”

A black hole in local authority budgets continues to grow, a BBC investigation reveals, prompting fears some will not be able to provide basic services.

[Many councils have continued to take risks on commercial investments to increase their income. E.g. Somerset Council bought more than £136m worth of retail property since the start of the pandemic, including a B&Q in Ayr and a Wickes in Birmingham.]

By Pilar Tomas and Paul Lynch www.bbc.co.uk

The average council now faces a £33m predicted deficit by 2025-26 – a rise of 60% from £20m two years ago.

Unison said the situation meant some councils would not be able to offer the “legal minimum of care” next year.

The government said decisions on the funding beyond the next financial year had not yet been made.

The BBC’s Shared Data Unit surveyed 190 upper-tier authorities in the UK to find out the extent of the financial difficulties facing town halls, which provide services from adult social care to bin collections and pothole repairs.

It revealed council chiefs expect to be £5.2bn short of balancing the books by April 2026 even after making £2.5bn of planned cuts.

At least £467m will be stripped from adult care services, which include elderly care homes, respite centres and support services for people with disabilities.

This year, councils are closing leisure centres, reducing care packages and raising fees for services like waste collection and parking in order to break even.

Unison’s head of local government Mike Short said town halls were in the “direst of states”.

“This is not a sustainable situation,” he said.

“Local authorities simply don’t have the funds to provide even statutory services.”

Councillor Shaun Davies, who chairs the Local Government Association (LGA), said inflation, the introduction of the National Living Wage, energy costs and increasing demand for services were adding “billions of extra costs just to keep services standing still”.

‘Everyone is horrified’

Gateshead Leisure Centre was opened in 1981 by Queen Elizabeth and featured a pool, a soft play and a gym, as well as badminton and basketball courts.

But in November 2022, Gateshead Council recommended closing it, claiming it had no other choice “after government cuts”.

The centre, which had more than 480,000 visits a year and served an area with high levels of deprivation, closed in July. A community bid is being put together to raise £40,000 and take over the site – but so far it has raised £5,000.

Mental health worker Layla Barclay, 39, from Bensham, led the campaign to keep it open.

“Everyone is just horrified it’s actually come to this,” she said. “There is a lot of anger towards the council. We just feel that they didn’t come to the community until it was too late.”

A pool has existed at the Alexandra Road site since 1941 and Wendy Arkle, 64, remembers first using it in the late 1960s as part of a Brownies swimming gala.

“There is just this huge void now,” she said.

‘Unprecedented’ savings

Our investigation found on top of cuts, town hall chiefs are expected to use up £1.1bn of reserves to balance the books this year.

Bradford Council said the authority was using reserves at an “unprecedented level” while Leicester City Council said it was going to run out during the next financial year.

Several councils have called for financial support from the government. Among them Slough, Croydon, Thurrock, Kensington and Chelsea, and newly created Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness councils will share around £393m in government funding this year.

Thurrock declared bankruptcy in December 2022 after a series of failed solar farm investments saw the council run up a £500m deficit – one of the largest ever reported for a council of its size.

Slough was also forced to effectively declare bankruptcy after borrowing more than £700m to buy land and properties.

The £51.8m being given to Kensington and Chelsea is to help pay the compensation due to the survivors and first responders of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. In a statement, the council said it had “healthy finances” and had frozen council tax this year.

Meanwhile other large councils have indicated being in financial distress.

Birmingham City Council, Europe’s largest local authority, halted all non-essential spending in June after announcing it was facing a bill for a £760m unequal pay claim.

The £51m of savings being made at Shropshire amount to a fifth of its overall budget this year – the highest proportion for any council in the UK.

A spokesman for the council said its financial position had been compounded by its “rural nature and sparse population,” which it said made it “more expensive to provide services like social care”.

Councils are funded through a mix of council tax, business rates, income from services like parking and social housing rent, as well as money from the government known as the Revenue Support Grant.

That funding declined by nearly a third between 2010 and 2021, according to the Public Accounts Committee, which found council income was £8.4bn lower in real terms than it had been a decade before.

Its chair Meg Hillier said the BBC study showed councils were at a “tipping point” where “only so many more savings” could be made.

Ms Hillier, the Labour MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, said: “These findings should have the dashboard flashing red across the board for the Government.”

Despite high profile failures, many councils have continued to take risks on commercial investments to increase their income.

A Freedom of Information request by the BBC found Somerset Council had bought more than £136m worth of retail property since the start of the pandemic, including a B&Q in Ayr and a Wickes in Birmingham.

Analysis by Alex Forsyth, BBC Political Correspondent

Stories about pressure on council budgets may not seem new. Local authorities were hit hard during the period of austerity.

The government has made more money available to councils in recent years, but rising prices and the cost of delivering services for which there’s growing demand means budgets remain squeezed. This research shows the future looks bleak for some authorities who have already cut back on what they offer local communities.

Questions have been raised over investment decisions some councils have made, but beyond that there’s a wider call for a rethink of the way local government is funded, to try and break what seems to be a cycle of pressure on the services on which so many people rely.

Disability care cuts

Neil Crouch, from Harlow in Essex, has motor conversion disorder, severe arthritis and suffers from kidney disease.

Essex County Council, which is set to save £36m this year, cut the 48 hours of weekly funded social care he received down to 42, and removed his eligibility for respite care.

Previously, he was allowed two funded weeks a year at a centre that provides holidays for people with disabilities.

“It’s such a shame,” said Neil, who is becoming increasingly immobile and relies on carers and his elderly parents for support. “It helps so much to have that respite care.

“My mum and dad are both in the mid seventies now, and it’s getting hard for them. It’s not an easy process to look for after somebody with a disability.”

Neil, who said many others like him are suffering from having their respite eligibility removed, is urging councils to rethink such cuts.

“They have holidays,” he said. “Because we are disabled does it mean we’re not entitled?”

Essex County Council said, while it could not comment on individual cases, it still offered “significant support” to people needing respite care in the area.

Currently, councils discover how much money they are going to receive from the government one year at a time.

The LGA has repeatedly called on the government to change the way local authorities are funded. It has said multi-year settlements would give councils more clarity to plan effectively.

A plan to allow councils to retain 75% of the business rates they collect instead of the current 50% was paused indefinitely in 2021.

A Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities spokesman said that, as no decision on council funding levels would be taken until the Spending Review next year the predicted deficit figures for 2025-26 were “unsupported”.

He said the government had pledged to make £4.7bn available for the adult social care system in England in 2024-25 and confirmed there would be an increase in the Revenue Support Grant councils receive.

The Scottish and Welsh governments said they had increased resources for councils this financial year. The government of Northern Ireland declined to comment.

Additional reporting: Lauren Woodhead

Passionate about the River Exe?

We were excited to welcome 200 people to our three River Conversation launch events in Tiverton, Exeter and Exmouth in April ‘23. 

Volunteers are setting up Citizen Science water testing, fundraising, legal action, festival of the Exe, direct action and river restoration groups.

We’re looking for more organisers to get involved – could it be you?

See https://friendsoftheriverexe.org/take-action/

In their haste to react to this heart wrenching case, has the Government failed to read the mood of the country or understand the gravity of the issues raised,  offering only a toothless “fudge”? – Owl

[A non-statutory inquiry does not have the power to compel witnesses to provide evidence or production of documents and must rely on the goodwill of those involved to share their testimony.]

Mark Dowling www.chesterstandard.co.uk

LAWYERS representing families of some of the babies attacked by serial killer Lucy Letby have said that a non-statutory public inquiry into her killing spree is “inadequate”.

Ministers ordered an independent inquiry after Letby, 33, was convicted of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six more during her shifts on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.

But Slater and Gordon, which is representing two of the families involved, said that a non-statutory inquiry “is not good enough” and needs to have a “statutory basis to have real teeth”.

“The inquiry announced by the Department of Health is inadequate,” said Richard Scorer, head of abuse law and public inquiries, and Yvonne Agnew, head of the firm’s Cardiff clinical negligence department, in a joint statement.

“As a non-statutory inquiry, it does not have the power to compel witnesses to provide evidence or production of documents and must rely on the goodwill of those involved to share their testimony.

“This is not good enough.

“The failings here are very serious and an inquiry needs to have a statutory basis to have real teeth.”

It comes after Samantha Dixon, Labour MP for Chester, also raised concerns about a non-statutory inquiry.

“I do have some concerns about the risks around a non-statutory inquiry in that people are not obliged to attend and to give evidence,” she told BBC Breakfast.

“So I have replied to him and asked him why he has come to that decision, given that there are these risks and that we need full answers.”

She added: “A non-statutory inquiry almost relies on the goodwill of witnesses to attend. They are not obliged to attend, they’re not compelled to attend.”

Meanwhile hospital bosses have been ordered to adhere their whistleblowing policies after it emerged that numerous staff raised concerns about the actions of the nurse as she conducted a year-long killing spree.

NHS England wrote to hospital leaders across the country following the verdict to remind them to remind them of “the importance of NHS leaders listening to the concerns of patients, families and staff, and following whistleblowing procedures, alongside good governance, particularly at trust level”.

The letter added: “We want everyone working in the health service to feel safe to speak up – and confident that it will be followed by a prompt response.”

It comes as Dr Ravi Jayaram, one of the doctors who raised concerns over Letby’s behaviour, said that whistleblowers are “not only being ignored but then being portrayed as the problem”.

He added: “There needs to be fundamental change in the culture and governance of NHS institutions and it should start right now.”

Dr Jayaram called for managers involved in the case, who are “still earning six figure sums of tax-payers money or retired with their gold-plated pensions”, to “stand up in public to explain why they did not want to listen and do the right thing, to acknowledge that their actions potentially facilitated a mass-murderer and to apologise to the families involved in all of this”.

Sheila Sobrany, president of the Royal College of Nursing, also called into question whether Dr Jayaram “would have been listened to if he was white”.

She wrote on Twitter: “If we are going to learn anything from this case we need to stop denying that racism is a serious issue in the NHS, this doctor would have been listened to if he was white and Lucy Letby would have been stopped sooner if she wasn’t white.

“This was a serious safeguarding issue that compromised the lives and well-being of babies and subsequently their parents.

“Dr Ravi Jayram was not listened to or taken seriously.”

Meanwhile Slater and Gordon also called for the Government’s inquiry to investigate how the NHS’ duty of candour scheme had “failed”.

Mr Scorer and Ms Agnew added: “An inquiry also needs to look at why the NHS’s ‘duty of candour’ seems to have failed in this case, with hospital managers seemingly prioritising the hospital’s reputation above child safety.

“We do not believe that ‘duty of candour’ is an adequate substitute for a proper mandatory reporting regime, and any inquiry needs to examine this issue properly as failings here could be replicated elsewhere in the NHS”.

It comes as police said they are reviewing the care of 4,000 babies who were admitted to the Countess of Chester – and also Liverpool Women’s Hospital when Letby had two work placements – going as far back as 2012.

The families of her victims have said they have been left “heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb” by her actions.

But is expected they will not see Letby when she is sentenced on Monday after the serial killer has indicated she will not take part in the hearing at Manchester Crown Court.

Former Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Tony Chambers, who was in charge at the time, said he would co-operate “fully and openly” with the inquiry.

Dr Nigel Scawn, medical director at the Countess of Chester Hospital, said in a statement on Friday: “Since Lucy Letby worked at our hospital, we have made significant changes to our services and I want to provide reassurance to every patient that may access our services that they can have confidence in the care that they will receive.”

But he walked away without answering as a journalist asked: “Why did hospital managers try to stop Lucy Letby from being investigated?”

More: There are other reports of calls being made by a key prosecution witness for an investigation into corporate manslaughter; and that police should also investigate the [hospital] in relation to criminal negligence. – Owl

Tory MPs are demanding urgent explanations from ministers over the levelling up agenda after an official report said plans to move thousands more civil service jobs from London to Birmingham and Newcastle had been scrapped.

Toby Helm www.theguardian.com 

The Government Property Agency (GPA), which falls under the Cabinet Office, said in a brief reference in its recent annual report and accounts that a decision had been “made by ministers” to axe the proposals after “a review identified that they no longer aligned with strategic requirements”.

This was despite the fact that more than £1m had been spent on the two projects as part of the flagship government drive to spread the civil service out of Whitehall and boost growth in the regions.

Amid signs of Cabinet Office panic over a gathering backlash, the Tory MP John Stevenson, who chairs the Northern Research Group (NRG) of Conservative MPs from “red wall” seats, described the move as a “step backwards”. He added: “I expect a full explanation on parliament’s return and alternative policy initiatives to ensure that the movement of civil servants does proceed. I will also be asking the public administration and constitutional affairs committee to look at this issue.”

Many Tory MPs in the north and Midlands are becoming increasingly nervous that failure to deliver on levelling up will put them in increasing danger of losing their seats at the next general election.

The government has a longstanding commitment to move 22,000 civil service posts out of Whitehall by 2030. Several thousand have already moved to towns and cities including Glasgow, Darlington, Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Newcastle.

But the decision to axe the latest phase affecting Birmingham and Newcastle has raised questions about the level of commitment to completing the task, with government insiders citing the short-term cost implications as a brake on progress. The Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, has said the project in Birmingham has fallen victim to the trend toward working from home.

Last month, the cross-party public administration and constitutional affairs committee was highly critical of the way the government was carrying out the project. While noting that the government said in March that it had already relocated 11,000 posts from London, it added that “a lack of clear information published by the Cabinet Office makes it difficult to judge how substantial its achievements are” for a variety of reasons.

It accused the government of “adopting a boosterish approach to reporting progress, which is likely to give an exaggerated picture of its achievements”. It also criticised the government for failing to publish any underlying research that supported its “high-profile statements about the economic benefits to be delivered by moving posts to new regional offices”.

The NRG is expected to raise the issue again when it tables its manifesto for the north at the Tory party conference in Manchester.

The government’s current commitment to relocating large numbers of civil service posts out of London dates back to the Conservative party’s 2017 general election manifesto. In the 2020 budget, the then chancellor, Rishi Sunak, translated this commitment into the specific target to move “22,000 civil service roles out of central London by the end of this decade [ie 2030]”.

In the 2022 levelling up white paper, the government further stated that the 22,000 posts would be moved out of Greater London, and that the first 15,000 of these would be relocated by 2025.

This weekend, a government spokesperson suggested that what had been written in the GPA report had been “misinterpreted” and that the plans were, in fact, still all firmly on track.

“We are committed to launching new government hubs in Birmingham and Newcastle,” the spokesperson said. Officials said that 1,150 roles would be relocated to Birmingham from London by March 2025 and that 850 had already moved. In addition, 350 more jobs would be relocated to Tyneside by 2025 on top of the 400 already relocated.

www.cpre.org.uk (from May)

More than eight out of 10 councillors fear local democracy will be eroded unless MPs and peers heed their warnings and amend the government’s Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which is close to completing its passage through Parliament.

The finding comes from a survey of 672 councillors commissioned by CPRE. It found 69% oppose National Development Management Policies, which would grant the government unprecedented powers to override local plans without scrutiny. The cross-party opposition to the far-reaching measures means 4% of all councillors – and only 6% of Conservatives – believe NDMPs will enhance local democracy.

The survey, by polling company Savanta, found:

• 82% of councillors say National Development Management Policies will erode local democracy
• the majority of Conservative councillors oppose NDMPs – with only 6% saying they will enhance local democracy
• NDMPs would give levelling up secretary Michael Gove unprecedented powers to overrule local authorities – the new national policies could cover virtually any planning issue, and override any policy in a local plan

Tom Fyans, interim CEO at CPRE, the countryside charity, said:

‘Local democracy will be trashed by these unjustified planning reforms making their way through Parliament. As things currently stand, an ever-changing secretary of state would be able to override local plans to suit their political agenda. The government’s absurd claim this would ‘restore trust’ in the system sounds like brazen disinformation.

‘As things currently stand, an ever-changing secretary of state would be able to override local plans to suit their political agenda.’

‘National Development Management Policies are a cleverly disguised power grab by central government. The secretary of state would be granted the extraordinary right to override any local plan on virtually any issue, without crucial checks and balances. This is a full-on attack on local democracy.

‘NDMPs will mean government ministers have more say over what happens on a person’s street than their locally elected councillors. This is the polar opposite of what had been promised in the Levelling Up Bill. Local plans should be the chief factor in deciding planning applications because they give local people and our elected representatives power.’

As currently drafted in the Levelling Up Bill, NDMPs would introduce legally binding national planning policies without minimum guarantees for public or parliamentary scrutiny. The government has defended the centralising powers as in-step with the current planning system, saying they do not represent a fundamental change. A recent opinion from leading planning silk Paul Brown KC at Landmark Chambers flatly contradicts this assertion, saying it is incorrect.

More than 80% Labour, Liberal Democrat and independent councillors are against NDMPs. The level of opposition is lower among Conservative councillors, yet a majority (54%) still oppose the policies and only a quarter (25%) support them.

The representative online survey of councillors in England was conducted between 3 and 29 March 2023. Of those who took part, 231 were Conservative, 203 Labour, 113 Liberal Democrat and 125 independent.

Frustration at increase in annual cost and discontent over policies fuelling grassroots dissatisfaction as election looms

Senior Conservatives are braced for as many as 30,000 party members to leave when membership fees rise by 56 per cent, amid signs of wider Tory grassroots discontent (and despondency).

www.telegraph.co.uk (extract)

[The Conservative party Leader is chosen by party members from a short list drawn up by Conservative parliamentarians. It is thought that current membership is around 180,000. Will the Tories become more extreme in the future? – Owl]

An interesting letter in this week’s Exmouth Journal:

“I read with interest your recent column on the increasing costs for Policing in Exmouth. Over the last two years I have looked with curiosity for the promise of more police officers in our community, especially as our levy for Council Tax has increased year on year for this purpose.

I wrote to the Police Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall many months ago raising this issue. Her website indicated that she aimed to reply within a short time but nine months have passed and Alison Hernandez dearly found my letter too difficult to make a reply? I explained that I had not seen any police officers for over five years on the Exmouth beat and wondered if they had lost their legs. I explained my reason for this question and admitted I had seen police cars being driven but that I had not been able to talk to a policeman face to face.

I have also been curious to know the whereabouts of the new Exmouth Police Station, reported in the Exmouth Journal at least on two occasions. The first time the announcement was made by our local M.P. Simon Jupp, as though he had been responsible for this remarkable break through. The second time the Exmouth Journal showed a picture of the supposed Police House but with no address.

As I said earlier I had not seen any Police on foot patrol and then lo and behold my wife and I actually met two police officers on foot several weeks ago. I was so surprised, with humour I said to them both, “You are not in fancy dress are you? You are actually police officers?” They smiled and assured me they were. Then I asked them where the new Exmouth Police Station was and they looked at each other blankly and said, “I’m sorry we don’t know”

In the same copy of last week’s Exmouth Journal the Police Commissioner wrote an article setting out her vision for Policing in Devon and Cornwall, part of which had been reported on Southwest Spotlight, saying that she hoped to see more improvements in policing in the two Counties. Well, I would hope so too but I am sceptical about her vision. The last two years seem to prove her vision has been a fantasy at considerable cost to Council Tax payers.”

Peter Eastwood (Name and address supplied to the Journal)

Fears of fire, toxic fumes and explosions – sparking a ‘major accident’ – have prompted calls to refuse plans to store off-grid energy batteries in East Devon.

Local Democracy Reporter eastdevonnews.co.uk 

Councillors deciding on a controversial plan to store powerful batteries in a Devon field will hear concerns that they could cause a major accident, writes local democracy reporter Guy Henderson.

East Devon District Council’s (EDDC) planning committee will meet next Tuesday (August 22) to consider the application for a National Grid sub-station on land off Pound Road at Hawkchurch, just outside Axminster.

Large batteries would store power ready for the National Grid to use as required.

The application has already been turned down once due to a lack of information, and has now been re-submitted.

The latest version of Enso Energy’s battery energy storage system (BESS) plan was considered in July, but a decision was deferred again for more talks with Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue service about how it would deal with a fire if one breaks out.

Among the documents being considered by the committee is a report from Hawkchurch Parish Council which says the plan should be refused.

The parish council says: “We believe there is a risk of major accident. The risks to the population in the event of a fire, possible explosion, and release of toxic fumes, cannot be overstated.”

Parish councillors say there are safety issues with large scale lithium-ion battery installations. If charging or temperature controls fail or get damaged, they claim, batteries are susceptible to a process called thermal runaway – a fire that generates its own oxygen supply and can’t be extinguished.

The report goes on: “We are seriously concerned about any proposed installation of industrial-scale battery storage solutions.”

The parish councillors quote a report from Northern Ireland’s Health and Safety Executive which says: “An explosion from a single BESS container can cause the partial demolition of a house up to 45 metres away. A hydrogen fluoride plume generated by a fire can cause serious injury up to 45 metres away.”

However, a report from officers to councillors says that while there are objections to the scheme on safety grounds, many of the concerns are either regulated by other bodies or can be addressed by imposing conditions to any planning permission.

Enso Energy has said its facility will meet all legal safety requirements, and details can be addressed by planning stipulations.

Firefighters have no objections, and district council officers are recommending that planning permission should be granted, subject to conditions.

In 2019, the last time the assessments took place, just 14% of rivers were in good ecological health and none met standards for good chemical health. Before 2016 the tests were done annually, but the government has now opted not to deliver a complete update until 2025.

Rachel Salvidge www.theguardian.com 

A nationwide annual health check of England’s water bodies has been delayed by six years, prompting anger from campaigners and politicians, as public alarm grows over the state of the nation’s rivers and coasts.

The assessments, undertaken by the Environment Agency, look at the ecological and chemical condition of rivers, lakes, groundwater, and transitional and coastal waters, and are required under the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

In 2019, the last time the assessments took place, just 14% of rivers were in good ecological health and none met standards for good chemical health. Before 2016 the tests were done annually, but the government has now opted not to deliver a complete update until 2025.

Clean water advocates accused the government of trying to hide the data.

Rivers activist Feargal Sharkey said: “The future of England’s rivers has been sacrificed in a cynical act of self preservation by the very same failed government agency set up to protect them.”

The Green party peer Natalie Bennett said the government “clearly recognised the huge public anger about the parlous state of our waterways, but instead of taking action to clean them up, it is instead trying to hide the data”.

She added that the “stench of pollution, the choking of our waters with sewage, plastics and farm runoff is evident to all”, and that the Green party wanted to see a return to more frequent publication of the river health statistics. “Democracy demands transparency, and that’s one more thing this government is not delivering.”

The Guardian and Watershed Investigations, working with the Wildlife Trusts, found that partial results – about 21% of the total assessments delivered in 2019 (20,424 compared with 94,952) – were published this month but not flagged in the usual places on the Environment Agency or Defra’s website. No chemical assessments have been made, fewer ecological tests have been taken, and no canals, coasts, transitional waters or aquifers have been tested.

The incomplete dataset makes it difficult to ascertain an accurate nationwide picture of improvement or deterioration against the previous assessments.

Although the reduction in testing frequency is in line with WFD guidelines, it has disappointed campaigners.

Ali Morse, water policy manager at the Wildlife Trusts, said having “up-to-date data on the state of our waters is crucial to help us target action to protect and restore them.

“Waters are predicted to remain polluted until 2063 because of long-lasting chemicals found at every site checked, but that doesn’t mean we should now stop looking – we need to take action to tackle the pollutants that we can do something about, to monitor to make sure that those aren’t getting worse, and to identify any newly emerging chemicals so that we can put measures in place to prevent their further release.”

Morse said the new data that exists shows that the pressures facing water bodies are not going away. “The combination of issues like abstraction and pollution from farms, sewage works and urban areas, mean that few rivers are healthy. In one of the worst affected areas, the Thames river basin, 95% of the sites with new data don’t meet ‘good’ status, and the figures are similar for the Severn and Anglian river basins too.”

The Liberal Democrats’ environment spokesperson, Tim Farron, commented: “This is yet more evidence of a shocking lack of transparency about the health of our rivers. The government is letting profiteering water companies get away with sewage leaks, while toxic chemicals are finding their way into our rivers. We have no idea just how much pollution is in our rivers and on our beaches. The Liberal Democrats have repeatedly called for the Conservatives to take action, yet instead of doing so they seem to be trying to hide the problem.”

Under the WFD, all water bodies were meant to meet ‘good’ status by 2015. The deadline has been extended to 2027 but it has been known for some time that England’s rivers would miss the extended target date. In 2017, former Environment Agency chair Sir James Bevan told a government select committee that it would not be possible to meet the 2027 date.

Bevan has called for an overhaul of the way the WFD assessments are made, saying it should be less stringent so that more rivers could be given a clean bill of health. He argued that the “one-out-all-out rule”, under which if a water body fails on just one of a number of elements, the whole river fails, masks any improvements that may have been achieved across other parameters.

In the meantime, Defra has set itself a less well defined new target of getting rivers back to close to their natural state as soon as is practicable.

A spokesperson for Defra said the Environment Agency was legally obliged to publish a full set of data for every water body in England every six years. “The last full set was in 2019, with the next in 2025. However, to help with our work, and that of our partners, in the interim we have recently published a limited dataset that was collected between 2019 and 2021.

“We have deliberately targeted most of our sampling at water bodies with suspected problems so that we can get the evidence for investment (for example, from water companies and partners) where it is most needed. We haven’t included chemical or groundwater status which means not all water bodies have been updated.”

A petition demanding “absentee” MP Nadine Dorries quits her seat in parliament has passed 75,000 signatures.

Jon Stone www.independent.co.uk 

The former culture secretary said she would quit with “immediate” effect around 10 weeks ago – but is yet to do so.

She has not spoken in parliament for over a year since Boris Johnson – her close ally – was ousted as prime minister.

Ms Dorries previously said she would follow the former PM out of parliament when she was refused a peerage in his resignation honours, but later she would wait for an explanation before resigning her seat.

Huge numbers of people have now signed a petition calling on her to quit, with over 77,000 signatures as of Thursday.

“Your constituents, local council, the Prime Minister and now the public have all had enough. Either start representing the people of Mid Bedfordshire or stand down with immediate effect, so they can have the representation they deserve,” the petition on the 38 Degrees website says.

A town council in her constituency has also urged her to step down, and prime minister Rishi Sunak has said he believes her constituents are not being properly represented.

Veronica Hawking, Head of Campaigns at 38 Degrees, said: “The 75,000 signatures on our petition represent a clear message from the British public to Nadine Dorries: we’re paying you for this job, and we expect you to do it.”

The mounting anger comes after the standards commissioner ruled that Ms Dorries had not breached rules by failing to speak in parliament for over a year.

Campaign group Unlock Democracy had complained to the commissioner and argued that the Mid-Bedfordshire MP had breached rules by doing “significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons as a whole, or of its Members generally”.

But website Byline Times reports that the Standards Commissioner has now ruled “there is no specific ‘service standard’ or exact job description for MPs, or a minimum number of hours of attendance required by the House”.

“It is for each individual MP to decide for themselves how they undertake the role of MP, and the Commissioner could not investigate an MP based on their level of, or lack, of attendance,” the commissioner said.

This is part of our centralised “levelling up” programme.

Doesn’t look like the best way to spend significant sums of money, buy hey, “Big Brother” knows best. – Owl

Proposals to close the underpass outside Exmouth station and add two extra pedestrian crossings nearby have been criticised by the town’s deputy mayor.

Philippa Davies www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

The plans are part of the Exmouth Gateway project to improve the area around the station – the ‘gateway’ to the town centre and seafront for rail travellers and road users arriving via Marine Way.

A public consultation by Devon County Council on the plans is due to end on Monday, August 21.

But the deputy mayor, Cllr Joe Whibley, said he will ask for the consultation to be extended, as he thinks many residents are not fully aware of the proposals.

The Gateway project is part of Exmouth’s ‘Levelling-up’ agenda, in which the town was granted £15.7 million for the Dinan Way extension and measures to make walking and cycling safer near the station.

But concerns are being raised about the closure of the pedestrian subway, the extra pedestrian crossings and the traffic-slowing measures.

Resident John Petty has met Cllr Whibley to express his views. He told the Journal: “Although the crossing is the preferred way there are still a surprising number who use the subway; it the only way to go to and from the town without interfering with the traffic, and those of us who are slower can take their time without feeling they ought to be hurrying across the waiting traffic. Why fill it in, removing all the attractive landscaping, only to have to re-landscape it afterwards?”

He and Cllr Whibley think the crossings and traffic slowing will cause congestion and delays.

They are also questioning why Project Gateway doesn’t include any proposals to smarten up the dilapidated bus station, toilets and car park next to the station exit.

Mr Petty said: “This area could certainly provide a much better access to the car parks, a visible taxi rank, a well-defined free parking area for pick up and drop-off, with decent shelter for all these and the possibility of providing cycle and mobility hire.”

He said the Gateway funding is ‘a marvellous opportunity to provide a considerable benefit to the town but, as presented, it appears to have serious flaws and shortcomings’.

More details of the proposals, and the online consultation, can be found on Devon County Council’s website under Exmouth Active Travel Improvements.

A failing development company set up by Mid Devon District Council is expected to be wound up after racking up a debt of more than £21 million.

Alison Stephenson, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Members of the Liberal Democrat council’s cabinet voted unanimously to recommend the full council agrees that 3Rivers Developments Ltd should stop trading. It says forming the business in 2017 was “a poor decision”.

 Sold down the river?

Councillors want a “soft closure” of the company rather than calling in administrators, as it offers a better financial return. Two of the company’s projects – St George’s Court in Tiverton and Haddon Heights, Bampton – will be completed in the next six months, which should go some way to save the council’s reputation, they said.

3 Rivers Developments was set up to construct “high quality” local homes while generating a profit for the council, but it was impacted by the pandemic and a deteriorating trading position due to a lack of sales at St George’s Court.

Councillors heard that with no projects in the pipeline, the company is facing a challenging future with rising interest rates and uncertainty in the housing market.

The council had loaned the company more than £21 million and an annual sales turnover of around £3-3.5 million is needed just to cover overheads. In its 2021/22 and 2022/23 accounts, the council made provision for potential company losses of around £5.3 million and it is likely further write offs would need to be made.

Councillors were asked to make an urgent decision following a report on the company by accountants Francis Clark, which was considered in a session which the press and public weren’t allowed to observe. The report was put togther after councillors rejected three variations of a business plan.

Members of the public who attended the cabinet meeting heard concerns from former independent council leader Barry Warren who questioned whether it was right that deputy chief executive of the council and chief financial officer Andrew Jarrett should also be founding directors of 3Rivers.

Cabinet member for finance Cllr James Buczkowski (Lib Dem, Cullompton St Andrews) said it was not unusual for a deputy CEO to be in that position and as head of finance he would expect him to be involved in the discussions around the finance of the company. The decision to set up the company was made by councillors not officers, he said.

“It is clear that poor decisions have been made by councillors in the past, particularly the previous administration, likely due to a commitment bias to a failing and unviable project,” he said. “These poor decisions and sometimes indecisions have resulted in the most serious situation for the council with significant financial implications.”

The company’s property and assets would be sold off over a ”sensible short term period.” A thorough analysis of all the options to close the company were made to maximise the return for the council but “a risk free scenario” could not be guaranteed.

Cllr Rachel Gilmour (Lib Dem, Clare and Shutton) said she is “delighted and relieved” that experts had become involved and asked for a “stringent survey” of the properties to be done by someone independent of the council.

Deputy council leader Cllr Jane Locke (Lib Dem, Canonsleigh) added: “If I were coming here to buy a property and I got reports of the discussions we are having tonight I might be wondering about investing many hundreds of thousands of pounds into a property being built by 3Rivers Development Ltd.

“I hope in order to maximise the income from these properties this council will do what it can to reassure any potential purchasers that they are making a sound investment, unlike this council did, as I would hate to see us discount properties massively just to see them get sold and that all guarantees from buying a brand new property will be honoured in the future.”

The full council will make the final decision on winding up the company on Wednesday 6 September.
 

Labour say numbers were inherited from Tories

Plymouth City Council denies it has a “black hole in the budget,” despite it  facing a forecast overspend of £7.5 million.

Alison Stephenson, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

The Labour council says it is working hard to get its budget, inherited from the previous Conservative administration, in check and aims to balance the books by the end of the financial year.

Presenting a report for April to June 2023 to cabinet members, Cllr Mark Lowry, who is responsible for finance, said the council is facing pressures from children’s services (£2.8 million) notably home-to-school transport and high-cost children’s placements, people’s care packages (£1.2 million) and community connections dealing with homelessness (£2.4 million).

In addition there are inherited services costs of £1.5 million and the expense of three by-elections which were not budgeted to the tune of £80,000.

The council has enlisted the help of David Northey as head of finance, who has postponed his retirement to help it sort out its finances over the next few months.

“We still have nine months to go,” said Cllr Lowry. “This is not a black hole in the budget, it is forecasting of what would happen if the world stopped revolving today and that’s where we would be.  But obviously there is still a lot of work to be done and as is the requirement of this council we have to provide a balanced budget by the end of the year, which I am sure we will achieve.”

He said homelessness is a considerable increase in cost, but it is a national issue. He said there would be reviews to understand exactly what is happening in Plymouth and the problems to be addressed.

The cabinet supported a capital budget of £556 million for the next five years, which will now go to the full council for final approval.

New projects coming forward totalling £7.5 million include:

• Theatre Royal Car park solar scheme (£199,000)
• improvements to Central Park (£60,000)
• Derriford Community Park – phase 1 biodiversity (£107,000)
• Plymouth and South Devon community forest (£25,000)
• Derriford District Centre (£1.03 million)
• highways projects street furniture replacements, tennis improvements £3.71 million)
• Local Authority Housing Fund (£1.5 million) which will provide accommodation for refugees and temporary accommodation for people experiencing homelessness.
   

Why has it taken so long to recognise the problem? Is it now too late?

Ah! Nigel Farage hands in a petition to No 10 – Owl

High street banks will have to ensure customers can find access to cash within three miles of their local communities, and those falling below the minimum service level will face a fine, the government has confirmed.

Kalyeena Makortoff www.theguardian.com 

After the closure of thousands of local branches in recent years, and the switch to digital payment methods, ministers are looking to banks to help protect vulnerable groups and elderly customers by maintaining present levels of cash access across the UK.

The “vast majority” of people are able to withdraw money within one mile, if they live in cities, and three miles if they live in rural areas, the Treasury said. That includes cash withdrawals through cash machines, bank branches and shops offering free cashback.

The government said the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) would make sure banks and building societies were “keeping up to these standards – and have the power to fine them if they do not”.

On Thursday, the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage went to Downing Street to hand in a petition that called on the government to crack down on businesses that have increasingly instituted card-only policies and refused to accept cash since the Covid crisis.

It marks Farage’s latest campaign against banks and payment companies, after Coutts threatened to close his accounts this year. The row snowballed in July after he obtained documents that showed his political views were part of the decision to shut his accounts.

The scandal resulted in the resignation of Alison Rose as chief executive of the bank’s owner, NatWest Group. It also led to the ousting of Peter Flavel as the chief executive of Coutts. Farage said the bank had since offered to keep his accounts open.

Thursday’s announcement on access to cash builds on the wide-ranging Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, which gave consumers a legal right to access cash and handed powers to enforce those rules to the FCA.

Andrew Griffiths, the economic secretary to the Treasury and “City minister”, said: “People shouldn’t have to trek for hours to withdraw a tenner to put in someone’s birthday card – nor should businesses have to travel large distances to deposit cash takings.

“These are measures which benefit everyone who uses cash but particularly those living in rural areas, the elderly and those with disabilities.”

The Treasury hinted there may be some concessions to the three-mile guarantee, saying in a press release that the FCA should “maintain this level of coverage, while recognising that needs may differ by location and change over time”.

And while personal banking customers will be guaranteed fee-free access, it is highly probable that businesses in some areas may still face fees for withdrawals and deposits.

The FCA is expected to launch its consultation this autumn, meaning the laws are unlikely to come into force until summer 2024.

Campaigners have long warned that the UK’s dwindling cash facilities – after swathes of ATM and bank closures – are putting elderly and vulnerable people who struggle to maintain bank accounts online at risk.

Access to cash has also become more important during banking outages, which can block card transactions and online bank transfers. About 5.4 million adults use and rely on cash daily, according to Treasury statistics.

Natalie Ceeney, chair of the independent Access to Cash Review, said: “Over the past decade, we’ve been sleepwalking into a cashless society. But digital payments don’t work for everyone.

“Cash remains vital for millions of people and businesses, many of whom are struggling as bank branches close and it becomes harder to access and deposit cash.”

She said the cash access distance guidelines would help “support the specific needs of different communities”.

She added: “That doesn’t mean that nothing will change, but it does mean that where services plan to close, there need to be appropriate alternatives in place before they do so. Positively, the banking industry is ahead of the curve in helping to create new banking hubs and deposit services in communities.”

The banking lobby group UK Finance said: “We support the work the government and FCA are doing here and look forward to reviewing the government’s full policy statement when published.”

Is this what Simon Jupp was handing out in Cullompton? – Owl

The Conservatives have been accused of using “deceptive tactics” after they distributed pamphlets disguised as local newspapers to local residents.

Jack Peat www.thelondoneconomic.com 

A number of people have taken to social media to post pictures of the publications, with one sent from Ruth Edwards’s constituency in Nottinghamshire and another from Andrew Griffith’s patch in the South Downs.

Similar publications were picked up by voters ahead of the by-elections in July, with residents from Selby and Ainsty, Somerton and Frome and Uxbridge and South Ruislip all being canvassed.

Link here  (detailed images below)

Ahead of the 2019 general election, the Conservatives deployed a number of mischievous tricks to win voters over.

They created a fake Labour manifesto website and diverted Google users looking for the real one to it and they rebranded one of the party’s official Twitter accounts to resemble a fact-checking service during a live TV debate.

Talk about pulling the wool over people’s eyes!

West Devon tops the list!

(Those in Devon and Nottingham pay five times as much in relation to earnings than some Londoners do.)

Some Britons are now paying 10 per cent of their income on council tax – but it’s not in the areas you might think.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain www.independent.co.uk

An analysis by campaign group, The TaxPayers’ Alliance, compared council tax rates with Office for National Statistics figures on local earnings and Land Registry house price data.

It found the council tax disparity meant some UK residents had been landed with a burden five times heavier than others.

West Devon faced the highest council tax to salary ratio, with the average Band D council tax of £2,347 more than 10 per cent of the median gross pay of £21,639, the analysis found.

Nottingham came in a close second, where the average council tax bill of £2,412 is 10.84 per cent of local average earnings of £22,243, followed by Pendle in Lancashire, and Torridge in northwest Devon.

The four lowest-charging councils were all in London, relative to both house prices and median pay.

On the other end of the scale, the council tax percentage in Wandsworth is around five times lower, at 2.16 per cent with a bill of £921.

This is despite the median annual pay for the south London borough being £42,665 – twice as high as West Devon residents.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers are struggling with the unsustainable burden of council tax. But far from falling on those with the broadest shoulders, it appears that the most hard-pressed households are bearing the brunt of rising rates.

“The least local authorities can do is freeze council tax next year to give residents much-needed breathing space.”