It sounds a progressive, imaginative project. A beautiful hilltop allotment site that would serve the people of Bristol keen to get out in the fresh air and grow their own fruit and veg, but who cannot find plots in their city.

Steven Morris www.theguardian.com 

However, members of a planning committee have dealt a severe blow to the scheme after people who live near the site in the well-heeled village of Abbots Leigh launched a fierce campaign against the privately run project, arguing it would blight their idyllic green belt area.

During a passionate North Somerset council planning meeting, the team behind the scheme said they simply wanted to make the joys of gardening and independent food production accessible to all.

But residents and councillors expressed concerns that it would affect wildlife such as rare bats and endangered skylarks, and said they were worried about an 80-space car park planned at the site.

The meeting on Wednesday ended with councillors rejecting the plan. Christian Samuel, one of the founders of the business behind it, Roots, accused councillors of letting down would-be allotment holders keen to get their hands on one of the 700 plots.

“I feel sorry for the people who are desperate to get out there and grow their own,” said Samuel at the conclusion of the meeting. “What has happened in there is a real shame.”

There is little doubt there is a need for more allotments. According to research from the University of Sheffield, there has been a 65% reduction of allotment land in the UK since the mid 20th-century.

There are an estimated 330,000 allotment plots in the UK, mostly council-owned. In 2021, the average wait for an allotment was two years and eight months, with a waiting list of about 100,000 people.

Roots bills itself as the UK’s first “no-dig” allotment community, meaning gardeners avoid disturbing the natural structure of the soil by turning it, instead just adding more organic material on top and letting the worms pull it in.

It says that with waiting lists for allotments stretching to more than 10 years in some parts of the country, its mission is to provide green, soulful spaces for everyone.

The business’s first two sites were in Bath. For the first, the team divided a farmer’s field into plots and provided seeds, tools and courses. As well as growing veg, allotment holders have taken part in yoga sessions and community picnics.

The Tuckers Meadows site proved hugely popular and a second, Avon Views, was launched in the city.

Bristol, 12 miles from Bath, is known for its green credentials. With many more people wanting to grow food than there are local authority allotments, it seemed to be the obvious place for another Roots project.

Roots found an 8-hectare (20-acre) site in Abbots Leigh, just outside the city boundaries, close to the Clifton suspension bridge, and planned 700 plots at Leigh Woods Meadows. Six hundred spots have already been snapped up.

But people in Abbots Leigh had concerns. A letter to the council signed by dozens of villagers complained that the allotments were not for local North Somerset people but were being marketed to Bristol residents.

“It’s a stunningly beautiful location, loved by thousands, but soon to be lost for ever if Roots’ plans go ahead unchecked,” the letter said.

The complainants characterised Roots as an “aggressively growing business” backed with venture capital, adding: “They want to do one thing and that is make money out of huge private allotment sites on greenfield agricultural land.”

The residents said people in other areas where Roots was planning to open were “looking very closely” at the North Somerset decision.

The tension became so acute that at one point the police were called when people blocked work vehicles heading into the field.

Roots accepts it is a business – but argues it is one for good, hoping to open up land to people who want to grow their own, be part of a vibrant community and learn more about the no-dig movement.

Plans have been drawn up for sites in London and Birmingham but it is looking at expanding “everywhere”.

Jenna Ho Marris, a Green councillor, told the meeting there was “a lot to like” about the concept but said Roots was a business “with a fast-moving expansion plan” and the decision in Somerset could set a precedent when other local authorities considered similar schemes.

Councillor Terry Porter, himself an allotment holder and grower of prize vegetables, said the rental price of the plots (from £9.99 to £34.99 a month) meant it would not be accessible to all.

Members of the planning and regulatory committee voted unanimously against the project over concerns about the car park.

Samuel called the decision a travesty. He said Roots would appeal but the refusal would put back the scheme by months.

“We are trying to build a growing community that shows food production and nature can coexist without large scale destruction via pesticides,” he said. “The council has let allotment holders down.”

The chair of Abbots Leigh parish council, Simon Talbot-Ponsonby, said he was relieved. “But it’s not the end. They will keep fighting. Allotments are a good thing but not at that scale.”

United Utilities has been fined £800,000 after illegally abstracting 22bn litres of water in Lancashire, causing damage to an important aquifer that will take years to recover.

Helena Horton www.theguardian.com 

The illegal removal of water from the Fylde aquifer, which happened during a period of dry weather in 2018, is likely to have negatively affected river flows.

An aquifer is rock or sediment that holds groundwater – rain that is held below the surface of the soil and collected in empty spaces underground. Aquifers feed rivers to keep their flows at a healthy level, and are also important sources of water when reservoirs or other sources run low.

There are strict limits on the amount of water that companies can take from aquifers, as rivers can be damaged and an important emergency water source for local people is lost if they are drained. Campaigners have previously said water companies should be fixing leaks in the system and building reservoirs rather than over-abstracting water from the environment.

United Utilities was prosecuted at Warrington magistrates court and was given the fine on Tuesday after the Environment Agency found the company had taken more water than its abstraction licences allowed in the Franklaw and Broughton borehole complex.

Carol Holt, the Environment Agency area director for Lancashire, said: “While water companies are allowed to abstract water from the environment, over-abstraction, especially during times of prolonged dry weather, has damaging impacts to our environment.

“Our actions as regulator have led to today’s sentencing and we will continue to strive for a better water sector across the country to protect our precious water supplies now, and for the future. We are transforming our approach to regulation, holding the water industry to account and working with water companies such as United Utilities Water Ltd to help them improve.”

The water company said during the hearing that it had made internal improvements so that over-abstraction would not happen again, and committed to supporting a number of local Rivers Trust schemes. It has made a voluntary £3m contribution to environment initiatives.

Grant Batty, the water services director at United Utilities, said: “We apologised for the breach in water abstraction that happened five years ago in 2018. We did not exceed the amount of water we could abstract on a daily and yearly basis, but we did inadvertently breach a three-year rolling limit on the abstraction licence. As soon as we discovered this, we established additional controls to ensure it never happens again. We took action straight away, pleaded guilty and also made a £3m voluntary contribution to local environmental improvement projects.”

Turns out that the £250m for 900 NHS beds announced with a fanfare this week is not only a small step in reversing the historic loss, but is a re-announcement from January. 

“This investment is part of the NHS urgent and emergency care recovery plan, published in January 2023, which set out plans to provide over 5,000 additional permanent, fully staffed hospital beds in total, with the NHS on track to deliver this by winter. These new 900 beds are part of this commitment.” – Government Press release

The strikes continue…….

And:

Community diagnostic centres ‘cutting NHS waits’ don’t exist yet

Dozens of the government’s flagship community diagnostic centres said to be reducing record NHS waits are not even open yet, openDemocracy can reveal.

In fact, our investigation has found some of the health centres, known as CDCs, are years away from opening. We could only find evidence of 73 centres that are up and running – and some of those are in mobile units.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) this month claimed 114 centres were open across the country, saying they were helping cut NHS waiting lists by offering more tests for patients. Ministers have also touted the plans as proof that the private health sector can be used to boost capacity in the NHS.

But local NHS hospital trusts and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) responsible for 32 of the CDCs listed as open have said they will not be operational until later this year or even next year.

And one CDC in Slough is not due to open until 2025, NHS Frimley Health Trust confirmed. Despite this, it still appears on the government’s list of operational centres.

Nearby Heatherwood Hospital, which only opened last year, is also counted on the list, but the trust said “there isn’t going to be an additional diagnostics centre there, but it does a lot of diagnostics”.

Long-time NHS campaigner John Lister told openDemocracy the findings “strip away the veneer of spin from DHSC and ministerial statements”.

“This explains why, according to government figures the 114 CDCs they claim have already come on stream are only delivering an average of just over 500 procedures each per week: many of them don’t even exist!” he added.

“The grim reality is that the delays in diagnosis and treatment flow from 13 years of under-funding of the NHS, and are worsened now by the decision to squander public money on profit-seeking private units rather than expand and upgrade NHS units.”

The ICB covering Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire also confirmed to openDemocracy that there are no community diagnostics centres in the area, even though the government lists a centre open there.

Staff at the location of one CDC listed in Leeds said they had no knowledge of it, while in Blackpool, an existing health centre said plans to upgrade it had never got off the ground.

In Derbyshire, a local NHS trust said three centres, which the government list as open, are not yet operational. At Florence Nightingale Community Hospital in Derby a “new purpose-built CDC suite” is “expected to be completed by summer 2024”. A centre in Tamworth at the Sir Robert Peel Community Hospital is “expected to be completed by the end of the year”, while the CDC at Ilkeston Community Hospital is “expected to be fully operational by January 2024”.

In Coventry, the NHS announced in May that the existing City of Coventry Health Centre will be transformed into “a modern, state-of-the-art facility” opening in early 2025. In addition, the trust said it planned to open a new Endoscopy Unit at the Hospital of St Cross in Rugby later in the year. But the government has listed both of the centres as already open.

Two centres in Essex – one in Thurrock and a second in Braintree – were also announced by the NHS earlier this year, with the local trust saying they were “due to open in 2024”. They are both listed as already open by the government. Mid and South Essex NHS trust cautioned that “like many parts of the country, our challenge will be recruiting the additional staff needed for the [Thurrock] Centre so we are starting to look at staffing plans now”.

A centre in a former department store in Poole is open, but it appears to have been listed twice by the government.

A spokesperson for NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB confirmed two centres in York and Selby are not open until the end of the year, despite the government claiming otherwise.

And NHS Somerset told us it only has one centre in Taunton and that two centres listed by the government in West Mendip and Bridgewater were actually “health and wellbeing hubs”. While NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB confirmed that two centres in Barrow and Morecambe listed as open by the government had in fact “no confirmed date” for their opening.

openDemocracy also found announcements about new centres opening in Cambridgeshire, Ealing, Greater Manchester, Kent, Cornwall and the Isle of Wight in autumn and in 2024. Again, these are all listed by the government as already being open.

A further nine CDCs in Barking, Wisbech, Corby, South Warwickshire, Gateshead, Bolton, Andover and Somerset are still in construction but their trusts said they have opened temporary mobile units in the meantime.

openDemocracy could not establish whether three of the 114 centres are open because no information exists about them online and their trusts did not reply to our requests for comment.

And it is not clear whether six of the 114 centres even exist because both the DHSC and NHS England refused to provide openDemocracy with the full list. A list that was published by the government in June only lists 108 CDCs.

The latter said the list was for operational purposes only and that we should use Google to identify the centres that had not been revealed.

Last year, an openDemocracy investigation could only find evidence that 17 of the 69 centres the government said were running were actually open.

The development of CDCs was a key recommendation of a review of NHS diagnostics capacity published in 2020.

Mike Richards who carried out the review said the facilities should be “located away from acute hospitals, in easily accessible locations, including town and city centres”.

But several of the centres appear to be in existing hospitals, including one in West Berkshire which admitted the funding was used to replace its “ageing machines” rather than open a new community location.

In July, a damning report by the public spending watchdog found the government was not going to hit Boris Johnson’s promise of building 40 new hospitals by 2030.

Days later, Rishi Sunak doubled down on the claim, saying: “Not only are we going to deliver on our manifesto commitment to build 40 new hospitals across the country by 2030, we are not stopping there; we are also delivering 100 hospital upgrades across the country, and crucially more than 100 new community diagnostic centres to speed up treatment for people.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “A total of 114 centres across the country have helped to deliver over four million additional tests, checks and scans since July 2021 – and we’re expanding current capacity by delivering up to 160 centres by spring 2025.

“The majority of these sites are permanent, and alongside these we’ve opened a number of temporary sites while construction takes place to accelerate capacity and ensure patients receive the diagnosis they need quicker.”

Simon Jupp is paid from the public purse to be Member of Parliament for East Devon.

Cullompton is not in this constituency.

So what is he doing with political campaigning material in his hand in Cullompton, and who is paying for it?

Why are Exmouth eating places getting the cold shoulder?

Exmothians, are you getting full representation from your MP? – Owl

An investigation has been launched after people gained entry to an abandoned police station and found and filmed confidential coroner’s files.

“Blowing in the wind” – Owl

www.bbc.co.uk

The highly confidential documents included medical details and photographs of a number of people who died in an accident.

Footage of people inside the old Heavitree Road Police Station in Exeter has been posted on the internet.

Police said security measures had been strengthened at the site.

Devon and Cornwall Police said officers arrested a man in his 50s, from the Wiltshire area, on Thursday on suspicion of burglary, abstracting electricity, improper use of public electronic communications and unlawful obtaining and disclosure of personal data.

He has been released on police bail while inquiries continue.

The police station has been closed since April 2020 and the adjoining Exeter Magistrate’s Court is also derelict.

Due to the content of the videos, Devon and Cornwall Police has made a referral to the Information Commissioner’s Office and said it would fully support its inquiries.

The force said: “The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner has taken action to re-secure the former Heavitree Road Police Station site and strengthen security measures.”

The boss of a company behind a major sewage leak at a Yorkshire beach has been handed a 65 per cent bonus increase in a move that has sparked outrage on social media.

Jack Peat www.thelondoneconomic.com 

Northumbrian Water has come under fire after sewage from its pipes was discharged onto Saltburn Beach, a Blue Flag spot that attracts hundreds of visitors in the summer.

The company blamed heavy rainfall for flooding its pipes, but it remains one of the six worst water companies in the UK according to the regulator, Ofwat.

Despite its poor environmental performance, Northumbrian Water chief Heidi Mottram pocketed a £215,000 bonus, up from £130,000 the year prior, accounts show.

The jump in Ms Mottram’s bonus took her total compensation last year to £781,000.

Northumbrian also paid out £159 million in shareholder dividends during 2022 despite posting a pre-tax loss of £50 million for the year, accounts first reported by the Sunday Times show.

The company, which supplies water and sewerage services to more than 4 million people in the north-east of England, Suffolk and Essex, met or exceeded just five of 12 performance criteria set by the regulator.

It failed to meet targets on water quality, stopping leaks and preventing sewer overflows running into people’s homes, among other issues.

Somerset council forced to close parks, allotments and tennis courts after insurance blunder

The seafront tennis courts have been shut and walkers told to stay away from a popular park. Allotment holders have been barred from their plots and classes at a community centre cancelled.

Steven Morris www.theguardian.com 

At what should be its busiest time of the year, the Somerset seaside resort of Clevedon has been forced to close down many of its amenities after its town council lost its insurance.

Notices were posted on facilities run by the town council declaring: “Access is strictly forbidden” and explaining the council did not have any cover for damage or injury sustained at its sites.

“Pretty much everything has ground to a halt,” said the town council chairman, Trevor Morgan. “It’s hit the council for six. We’re in uncharted waters. We have had our insurances revoked, which has meant we are unable to operate on a day-to-day basis. We have lost our public liability insurance, employers’ liability insurance and fidelity insurance. It’s created a really difficult situation and we’re stuck.

“There’s very few insurance companies in the UK that will insure lower tier local authorities. We haven’t got many companies we can go to. We’re finding it challenging at the moment.”

Morgan said he could not reveal why the insurance policies had been revoked. “We’ve been told we can’t make that public at this stage. I’m not being difficult. I can say it’s not anything to do with the actions of our staff.”

As well as amenities being closed, the council’s offices are shut and its four staff members are on indefinite paid leave. Outsider contractors and suppliers are being paid. But lots of fun stuff has been halted.

The seafront tennis courts are closed as is Herbert Gardens, an area of greenery donated to the town in 1865. Six sets of allotments have been shut, meaning lovingly tended fruit and veg may wither in the warm spell. The Barn, which is hired out for activities such as dance and exercise classes, has been closed, apart from a children’s centre area.

It follows a miserable year for the town, famed for its wonderful pier (which remains open).

In May the council announced that it had not been able to agree a committee structure, meaning that meetings were being halted and decisions put on hold.

There has also been a bitter row over a road scheme featuring a bright pathway nicknamed the “yellow brick road” that critics said defaced the town’s Victorian seafront.

Morgan accepted that Clevedon’s reputation had taken a dent. “We’ve had a few turbulent months,” he said. “We’re getting too much attention for all the wrong reasons.”

Thanks to the help of North Somerset council, toilets and a skateboard park have remained open.

But Hannah Young, a North Somerset and Clevedon town councillor, said she was very sad at what was happening.

“I have been working hard with council staff, some other councillors and North Somerset council to try to avoid this and to find a solution.

“I joined the council to protect and improve our community facilities and services. Town councils in other local towns seem to do this really well. I hope now that all councillors will put the interests of the community above their own to sort this out quickly. Clevedon deserves better.”

Stuart Bannerman, the head coach of North Somerset Tennis Academy, who runs classes and camps on the council courts, said: “A lot of people are affected by this – it’s my busiest time of year. I coach some players who have been training for next week’s Avon championships. They have been affected. I don’t know how long this will go on for. It’s embarrassing.”

All depends on whether you are a public or private sector worker.

And which spreadsheet the Tories are singing from……

Yesterday Rishi Sunak declared that there is “light at the end of the tunnel” as new figures showed that British workers benefited from the fastest rise in basic pay since 2001 in the second quarter of the year. Official data shows that average weekly pay, excluding bonuses, rose by 7.8 per cent in the three months to June, on a par with inflation (8.2% for private sector, 6.2% for public sector). He added: people would soon start to see the benefits with wages growing faster than prices.

Yet throughout the lengthy industrial disputes with teachers, NHS workers and other public sector employees, ministers have repeatedly warned that meeting their demands could exacerbate the UK’s inflation problem.

Expectations are that inflation will fall by a smidgeon but then rise again in the autumn prompting fears over more interest rate rises.

“Funding systems for public services are trying to balance a range of different aims. But if one of the aims is for people to be able to access consistent public services across the country, then the current systems are not fit for purpose.” – Kate Ogden, a senior research economist at the IFS

Larry Elliott www.theguardian.com 

The government’s levelling up plans for England are being hampered by a funding system that is “not fit for purpose” and deprives the poorest areas of the financial support to match their needs, a leading thinktank has said.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that the method for allocating money to pay for public services is out of date, based on inadequate data and skewed in favour of the better-off south-east.

Calling for urgent reform, the thinktank said the funding system was doing a “poor job” in ensuring money was being spent in the parts of England where it was most needed.

The IFS said the most deprived 20% of areas were getting a smaller share of local government and police funding than they were estimated to need, while the least deprived 20% were receiving a bigger portion than their needs required.

Boris Johnson launched a white paper on the levelling up policy in early 2022. Last summer, Rishi Sunak admitted taking money from deprived urban areas in order to give it to other parts of the country.

The IFS said that, in 2022-23, day-to-day spending on the NHS, local government, schools, police and public health in England amounted to more than £245bn, the equivalent of £4,310 per person, but there were “substantial differences” between the share of funding that areas receive and the share they would receive if funding was allocated in line with differing levels of need.

Kate Ogden, a senior research economist at the IFS, said: “Funding systems for public services are trying to balance a range of different aims. But if one of the aims is for people to be able to access consistent public services across the country, then the current systems are not fit for purpose.

“Differences in levels of funding for local government, police and public health services across England do not reflect today’s patterns of need as they are based on data that are now years out of date.”

Ogden said that it would take “several years at least” to address the issue but urged the government to set out a timeframe for reforms if it is serious about making funding systems fit for the future and aligning funding for public services with its goals for “levelling up”.

The IFS said the differences in geographical spending were especially stark for local government, after repeated delays to reform the funding system. The most deprived 20% of areas received 9% less than their estimated needs while the least deprived 20% received 15% more.

Wokingham in Berkshire received 45% more local government funding last year than it would have done had money been allocated in proportion to need, while Hounslow in west London received 31% less. This was only partly explained by them setting different council tax levels, the IFS said.

Even if all areas set the same council tax rates, the thinktank said the south-east would still receive a share of funding that was 9% higher than its share of estimated spending needs, and the north-east 5% lower. This meant inconsistent funding across England for services such as social care, housing, transport, leisure centres and libraries.

NHS funding was better targeted, the IFS said, with two-thirds of areas receiving a share of funding within 5% of their share of estimated needs. This reflected the fact that NHS spending was based on relatively up-to-date assessments of what was required in various parts of the country.

A growing numbers of councils have warned that they are running out of funds, leading to tough choices over cuts to local services. Councils including Kirklees in West Yorkshire and Hastings in East Sussex on the south coast have recently joined the list of local authorities sounding the alarm over their finances.

The IFS research showed that the vast majority of areas received a lower share of funding than their share of estimated spending needs for some services, and a higher share of funding for some other services. But a small number of areas received a markedly lower share of funding than their share of spending needs across a range of services. Dudley in the West Midlands received £127 per capita less for the NHS, £122 less for local government and £47 less for police services than if the nationally-available funding were allocated in line with estimated relative spending needs.

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “Levelling up is a long-term programme of reform that sits at the heart of our ambition as a government. After listening to feedback from local government, we will work with the sector in the next parliament to take stock of the challenges and opportunities they face before consulting on any potential funding reform.

“Through the 2023/24 local government finance settlement, the most relatively deprived areas of England will receive 17% more per household in available resource than the least deprived areas.”

“Buck stops with Braverman” over barge failings says Portland mayor

The Home Office should accept responsibility for failing to immediately remove asylum seekers from a giant barge after the detection of a dangerous bacteria, the mayor of Portland has said.

Rajeev Syal www.theguardian.com 

Carralyn Parkes said “the buck stops with Suella [Braverman]” after Whitehall briefings over the weekend claimed that contractors on the Bibby Stockholm were to blame for delays as it took three days to inform ministers about the outbreak of legionella.

The government had claimed that the use of barges would cut housing bills for asylum seekers, but was forced to remove all 39 onboard on Friday.

Over the weekend, the Home Office was involved in a “blame game” over the response. Briefings have claimed that the local council told two contractors about the outbreak on Monday, but ministers were not informed until late on Thursday.

Parkes said that the public expects politicians and the government to take responsibility for their decisions. “The Home Office moved people on to the barge and it is the Home Office that should take full responsibility for it,” she said.

“The buck stops with the Home Office and Suella Braverman. The department may not have had sight of the appropriate test results but it was up to the department to make sure that they were informed and removed asylum seekers off the barge as soon as they discovered there was a dangerous bacteria onboard.”

Dorset council’s environmental health officers conducted a test for the bacteria, which thrives in stagnant water, on 25 July. On 7 August, as the first asylum seekers were taken on to the barge, the Home Office’s contractors, CTM and Landry and Kling, were informed that the tests showed significant evidence of legionella, the council said.

The council insists that it told a Home Office official about the outbreak in a meeting on 8 August – a claim that is neither confirmed nor denied by anyone in government. The government, however, has said that Home Office ministers were not told about the outbreak until the night of 10 August, and the asylum seekers were removed the following day.

A former head of the body that oversaw tests for bacteria in Portland harbour said the Home Office “has serious questions to answer” and must take responsibility for any failings of its contractors.

Paul Kimber, chair of Weymouth Port Health Authority for 10 years until 2019, said: “It is not unusual to have a water fail on a vessel but it is unusual to ignore the test. The people on board – both the refugees and the workers onboard – should have been alerted straight away.”

A document leaked to the Telegraph indicates that there were plans for 1,000 people to move to Portland – a move which would have ensured that the scheme was value for money. Written in March by a civil servant, it says: ‘We are broadly content that all tests are met as long as Portland capacity is 1,000 to ensure [value for money].”

Until now, the Home Office has said that about 500 asylum seekers will be sent to the port, a decision which has sparked protests. The Home Office declined to comment on a leaked document.

Questions have been asked about whether the government contract to place asylum seekers on the barge should have been signed until a legionnaire’s report had been completed.

The BBC has tweeted an extract from the procurement rules that state a legionnaire’s report is one of the requirements for government contracting venues, along with other safety measures including an evacuation policy and a fire risk assessment. However, Home Office sources said that the Bibby Stockholm contract was a modified rather than a standard contract, which would be published in due course.

In a parliamentary answer to a question by Conservative MP for West Dorset Chris Loder immigration minister Robert Jenrick said on 24 July “no individuals will be placed on the vessel unless it is safe to do so and all the legal and regulatory requirements are met”.

But even after the Home Office was informed about legionella they continued to provide the same written assurances. In a letter to the organisation Migrants Rights Network dated 10 August, a Home Office official wrote in response to concerns about the barge: “The Bibby Stockholm has also been subject to Lloyds Register quality assurance inspection and certification and regulatory inspection by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency in order to fulfil its permitted purpose. I hope my response addresses your concerns.”

Peter English, a retired consultant in communicable disease control also raised concerns about the high risks of accommodating asylum seekers on the barge even if the water pipes are thoroughly flushed.

It now remains unclear when the asylum seekers will return to the barge, with No 10 refusing to give a timeline as officials await the result of further tests.

Downing Street on Monday insisted that the prime minister retained confidence in Braverman.

Locals have spoken of being ‘priced out’ of Frome by Londoners.

A housing crisis has been declared in Frome after soaring rental costs have priced locals out of their home town. From Town Council say the average cost of a rental property have risen to a whopping £1,499 a month – approximately 50 percent of the average local salary.

Shannon Brown www.somersetlive.co.uk

Cllr Polly Lamb, who put forward the emergency declaration, says locals are being driven out further by Frome being named as one of Britain’s nicest towns. She blames an influx of visitors and second-home owners from London to community – known for its vibrant local market.

Cllr Lamb told the BBC: “Rents have skyrocketed and that is pushing out local people who have been here all their lives.”

Locals have spoken of being ‘priced out’ of Frome by Londoners – some who offer hundreds of pounds extra per month in rent and payment in advance to secure a place in the market town. Sophie Mullins, 36, owner of zero-waste refills shop, said: “I sold my house so that I could open my own independent business in Frome, therefore I was looking to rent. I managed to find a property and I was in there for about two years.

“We ended up getting very difficult neighbours and I was pregnant, so we were looking to move. We were looking for a rental for about four months with no luck. We had dogs too, so it was extremely difficult to find a landlord that would take them as well.

“We only managed to find a property because our friends had neighbours who were moving out and passed our contact details directly onto the landlord.

”That was the only way we could find somewhere that wasn’t crazy expensive or had already gone by the time we’d rung up to book a viewing.

“There was one instance where my partner went to view a property and we were deliberating over it, he rang up to speak to the estate agent about it – and they told him that someone moving to the area from London had bid more, offering £300 more per month and were willing to pay a year up front. There was just no way we could afford that.”

Lianna Denwood, 23, shop assistant, told of how she and her partner have moved back to their parents’ homes because they could not afford rent whilst saving to buy a house. She said: “I moved out of Bristol after finishing uni and went to work in London.

”When I finished that job I came home, but there was no point in going and renting somewhere as I wouldn’t be able to set myself up and get into the housing market so I decided to move home. My partner, who was also working in London, decided to move home too because his rent skyrocketed by a grand there.

”We’re both living in our separate households and we wanted to move out as soon as possible, but renting isn’t a possibility because if we want to buy in the future, our deposit money, our savings, everything, would be going on the rent.”

She continued: “When you’re not earning enough, or earning a lot but only enough to cover your living expenses, you’re never going to get to a point where you can own your own property.”

An anonymous local resident, aged 41, said: “You can’t find anywhere that is affordable. Anywhere with an extra bedroom, which is what we need, is just completely out of our price range. We are currently renting a two bed and we need a three bed.

“The speed of which properties get let, when occasionally there are homes we think we could push ourselves to afford, we go to book a viewing and it’s already gone.

”The speed in which they get snapped up is ridiculous. There’s a handful of properties available in a price range we may be able to stretch to.

”Everything else is up and above [what we can afford], we work hard to pay for what we get at the moment. We’re just going to have to wait it out in our tiny house and hope things change.”

Local property developer Connor Raudsepp, 26, recently purchased a rundown one-bed flat in Frome with a business partner – and hopes to put it on the rental market once complete. He said: “We’re not going to skip over that there’s profit in property development, the main reason I’m in it is for profit.

“However, this place has been empty and is going to serve a purpose in the future – putting a roof over somebody’s head. There are a lot of properties that are empty that could be turned into homes, which would increase supply on the market and ease rental costs. We’re probably going to be all in for about £120,000 and it’ll be rented out at market value.

”I think that’s fair, it’s the only thing you can do – because of rising rates and stuff you can’t do it for any cheaper because you’re not going to make any money and all of this effort would be pointless. We’re not taking this money and then running off to The Bahamas, it’s going to be invested in another development somewhere else – another place being brought back to the market.”

A town has officially declared a housing crisis as rental rates soar out of the reach of local people

Ironically though, rent rises are driving many of the artisan small businesses and cafes that define the town out of business. One local business owner, Sarah Wingrove, 29, told the BBC that despite being born in Frome, she still lives with her parents due to the cost of homes.

She said: “Even though I work a full-time job and freelance as a model, the mortgage people say I don’t earn enough for a house in Frome.”

Local artist and renter Summer Auty, 24, told the BBC that she has had to live in her van due to the cost of rent. She said: “I can’t afford anything in Frome, so I’m living in my van. It’s ridiculous. We need a complete redistribution of wealth, it’s awful all the big homes lying empty, all the land we cannot use.”

Rented rooms in the town are now known to go for as much as £500 a month, while a small one-person flat can cost over one thousand pounds a month.

More than 200,000 suspected cancer patients have had to wait at least two months for a diagnosis in a failure of Government targets, according to official statistics.

Hugo Gye inews.co.uk

Ministers are set to confirm this month that the majority of NHS targets for cancer will be abolished as the health service changes its strategy for treatment.

One of the few targets expected to remain is the ambition to ensure that 75 per cent of patients with a referral for a cancer check receive either a firm diagnosis, or confirmation they do not have the disease, within 28 days.

But ministers have admitted that in many cases, patients in England must wait for more than twice as long as the target states.

In the past year, a total of 224,076 people have received their diagnosis after a wait of 62 days or more, Health Minister Will Quince said in a written answer to a parliamentary question. That is around 7.7 per cent, or one in 13, of the total number of people referred for a cancer check.

Over the latest 12 months for which data is available, 857,000 patients waited more than 28 days, 29.4 per cent of the total.

Labour’s shadow Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, told i: “A quarter of a million patients have been left waiting double the amount of time to get a diagnosis than is safe. Having gone through treatment for kidney cancer, I know that an early diagnosis can be life-saving.

“After 13 years of Conservative mismanagement of the NHS, cancer care is in crisis. Yet Rishi Sunak is more interested in cutting standards for patients than he is in cutting waiting times. Labour will provide the NHS with the staff, modern technology, and reform it needs, so it is there for cancer patients when they need it.”

The Government has refused to confirm reports that two-thirds of existing cancer targets are to be scrapped following the results of a review involving expert evidence on how best to improve clinical outcomes.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay told the BBC: “This is something led by clinicians working in cancer. It is not something being imposed by the Government, it is in response to requests by those working in the cancer field and any changes, if they are announced in the coming days, will be in consultation with the leading cancer charities.”

But Sir Keir Starmer said ministers were “moving the goalposts”, adding: “Even where they’re keeping targets after this streamlining, there’s targets they’re still not hitting.”

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “There are record numbers of cancer checks happening in the NHS, meaning almost three million people have received care that could save their lives, and there continues to be steady progress in a lot of areas of cancer performance – including continuing to meet the faster diagnosis standard which means people are diagnosed within 28 days of being seen and the NHS continue to treat thousands of people a week.

“Thanks to the efforts of the NHS to bring more people forward for checks sooner, we’re already seeing major progress with a higher proportion of people than ever before being diagnosed at an earlier stage. And we’re looking to build on this, including by rolling out a national targeted lung cancer screening programme to catch cases earlier.”

Aldi has been urged to pay compensation to traders affected by the construction of a new supermarket in a Devon town.

By Andrea Ormsby and Brodie Owen www.bbc.co.uk 

Building works for the new store in Seaton started in April and are expected to be completed later in 2023.

Janet Phillips, the owner of 4 Seasons clothing shop in a shopping complex next to the building site, said noise and dust was “destroying her business”.

Aldi said the store would “create jobs and provide affordable, high-quality groceries for local residents”.

The supermarket added that work on the Harbour Road site was being carried out “in line with the planning consent given”.

Ms Phillips said she wants Aldi to compensate her for an estimated £20,000 dip in trade since work began.

“I think it’s absolutely appalling – they are destroying our businesses,” she said.

Sophie Nevitt, the owner of homewares shop So Sophie, told the BBC in May she felt “insulted” by the supermarket’s treatment of her.

“Since the closure of the car park, the effect has been crippling on my business,” she said.

“The disregard for actually how they have affected me as a small business is insulting.”

Del Haggerty, from Seaton Town Council, said the supermarket needed to “reconsider how they treat local shops”.

“They should reconsider the compensation they give these three shops here because they’re right in their backyard and it would make a difference to them,” he said.

“When the planning goes through people have got to expect disruption but not complete devastation,” he added.

Aldi said it was working with affected businesses to “improve access and maintain footfall”.

The supermarket said: “Our new store in Seaton will create jobs and provide affordable, high-quality groceries for local residents. Construction is on track and in line with the planning consent given.

“We are working with local businesses to provide advertising at the site and in the local area to ensure customers are aware that neighbouring businesses are open as usual.

“We are doing all we can to improve access and maintain footfall to nearby businesses while work is ongoing and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

Remember: the NHS has lost almost 25,000 beds across the UK in the last decade, according to a damning report last year that says the fall has led to a sharp rise in waiting times for A&E, ambulances and operations.

In March 2019, at the start of the pandemic, Owl pointed out that the South West has the lowest number of critical care beds per head of population. It also has the oldest population (so highest expected mortality).

But who took the beds away in the first place? Over the years East Devon Watch has chronicled the zeal with which local Tories have pursued local cuts in beds and slapped down all criticism, it’s all “on the record”.

The government has announced £250m in funding to provide an extra 5,000 NHS hospital beds in England this winter.

By Michelle Roberts www.bbc.co.uk

Ministers say 900 new beds should be ready by January, with the remainder to follow soon after, boosting capacity and helping lower record waiting lists.

The increase will mean nearly 100,000 permanent beds on wards and in A&E, available at the busiest time of the year – a 5% rise on current levels.

NHS Providers said the extra capacity was needed “before winter begins”.

Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, said trusts would welcome the support but cautioned any new beds would need to be staffed.

She added that, since winter is the busiest time of the year for urgent and emergency care, trust leaders would be concerned that the promised extra capacity is only expected to be in place by January.

“For the best results, trusts would need these new beds before winter begins,” she said.

Pat Cullen, from the Royal College of Nursing, added: “The elephant in the room is who will staff these additional beds? Nursing staff are already spread too thinly over too many patients.”

Co-ordinated follow-up care

The government money will also fund services where people can be treated without requiring a hospital stay.

Funding will be focused on developing or expanding urgent treatment centres and same-day emergency care services, where patients can be seen quickly without the necessity of being admitted to hospital.

NHS England is also preparing to make it easier to discharge hospital patients when they are medically-fit to leave, through the rollout of so-called “care traffic control centres”.

These bring together the NHS community, housing and charity teams to help co-ordinate support for those patients who require continuing care once they are discharged from hospital.

The aim is that plans for a prompt and efficient discharge can be drawn up shortly after patients are first admitted to hospital, thanks to better co-ordination among teams regarding follow-up care.

Alongside these measures, there will be at least 10,000 ‘virtual’ hospital beds available by autumn, allowing some patients to be monitored in their home.

It comes after new data from NHS England revealed waiting lists had reached a record 7.6 million at the end of June.

‘Longer-term challenges’

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the planning for winter had started “earlier than ever before” and that the public could be reassured the NHS would be given the resources it needs.

“These 900 new beds will mean more people can be treated quickly, speeding up flow through hospitals and reducing frustratingly long waits for treatment,” he said.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: “We know that winter is a difficult time, so we’re working to get ahead of pressures whilst also creating a sustainable NHS fit for the future.”

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: “Winter is always a busy time for the NHS and so it is right that we put robust plans in place as early as possible to boost capacity and help front-line staff to prepare for additional pressure.

“Our winter plans, which build on the progress already made on our urgent and emergency care recovery plan, aim to reduce waiting times for patients, and to transform services with an expansion of same-day care and virtual wards, helping patients to be cared for in their own home where possible.”

But certain longer-term issues have yet to be addressed, warned Ms Deakin from NHS Providers.

“Underlying issues, including workforce shortages, a lack of investment in capital and the desperate need for social care reform will ultimately hinder progress unless also addressed,” she said.

“It will also be important to understand where new beds are being created, and where beds are being freed up by better means of meeting patients’ needs – through care at home or same-day emergency care, for example.

“Steps like this are promising, but the only way to recover urgent and emergency care – and to put the NHS on a sustainable footing – is for the government to tackle the longer-term challenges in health and care,” she said.

• T1, Ash : crown lift over road to achieve 5.2m clearance and crown lift over footpath to achieve 2.1m clearance; T2, Ash : fell; T3, Ash : crown lift on East over garden to get a 1.5 to 2m clearance from fence and sever Ivy at base. 1 Dove Close Honiton Devon EX14 2GPRef. No: 23/1706/TRE | Validated: Thu 03 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• General purpose agricultural building. Willowbrook Farm BuckerellRef. No: 23/1700/FUL | Validated: Thu 03 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Oak tree : The tree is located on the rear boundary of 18 Linhay Close and EDDC land. I would like to deadwood the tree on the Northeast side over the garden and crown lift over flower bed by removing epicormic growth and 2 small branches. The first is growing towards the garage and the second is growing down towards the bed. The reason for this is for a long term clearance from the garden and garage. What 3 words- keen.lemons.envisage 18 Linhay Close Honiton Devon EX14 2BJRef. No: 23/1704/TRE | Validated: Thu 03 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T5, Yew : fell to ground level and remove stump. Montpellier Court Montpellier Road Exmouth Devon EX8 1JPRef. No: 23/1705/TRE | Validated: Thu 03 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Oak : veteranisation by reducing the using coronet cuts, maintaining biodiversity habitat, keeping as much of the healthy growth as possible (mainly on the South West side). 1 Oaklea Honiton Devon EX14 1XHRef. No: 23/1703/TRE | Validated: Thu 03 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1: Holm Oak re-pollard, only removing re-growth. Land Adjacent 25 Ryalls Court Seaton Devon EX12 2HJRef. No: 23/1702/TRE | Validated: Thu 03 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of Proposwed Lawful Development for erection of roof windows to East ElevationGreenbay Fremington Road Seaton Devon EX12 2HXRef. No: 23/1689/CPL | Validated: Wed 02 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Lawful Development Certificate for a loft conversion93 Slade Close Ottery St Mary Devon EX11 1SYRef. No: 23/1694/CPL | Validated: Wed 02 Aug 2023 | Status: Approved
• Roofing over livestock yard area (phase 3) Logshayne Farm Colyton EX24 6SWRef. No: 23/1693/FUL | Validated: Wed 02 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Roofing over livestock yard area (phase 2) Logshayne Farm Colyton EX24 6SWRef. No: 23/1692/FUL | Validated: Wed 02 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Roofing over livestock yard area (phase 1) Logshayne Farm Colyton EX24 6SWRef. No: 23/1691/FUL | Validated: Wed 02 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Garage renovation 127 Winslade Road Sidmouth Devon EX10 9EZRef. No: 23/1658/FUL | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• G1 – Hornbeam & Cypress A number of branches are overhanging the back garden of a property backing onto school grounds (Allerdown, Town Lane). Suggested works are to reduce these branches back to approximately 50-100cms within school boundary an reduce tops of southern aspect to shape. Maximum diameter cuts 25-50mm. Cypress to be trimmed and climber attached to Cypress severed. T2 – Elm Growth overhanging road to be reduce back by 2-3 metres, maximum diameter cuts 25mm. These works are proposed as part of the ongoing maintenance of the trees and to ensure the safety and comfort of the people living around the school boundary. Woodbury C Of E Primary School Castle Lane Woodbury Devon EX5 1EARef. No: 23/1676/TCA | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of garage extension. 24 South View Pasture Cranbrook Devon EX5 7DARef. No: 23/1675/FUL | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Roof over existing silage clamp. Raddishayes Farm Combe Raleigh Devon EX14 4ULRef. No: 23/1673/AGR | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1294 – Ash Dismantle in stages to ground level. Tree shows significant signs of Ash Dieback with 50% canopy loss. Knowles Coly Road Colyton Devon EX24 6PURef. No: 23/1677/TRE | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of a barn and construction of a garage, workshop, utility and office (retrospective); change of use of land from agriculture to residential, associated with the residential use of the Threshing Barn (retrospective); and the construction of a link extension between the Threshing Barn and office. The Threshing Barn Coombe Farm Exe View Road Lympstone Devon EX8 5AZRef. No: 23/1650/FUL | Validated: Wed 02 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Replace defective flat roof on garage with low pitched roof Thorncombe Highcliffe Crescent Seaton Devon EX12 2PSRef. No: 23/1655/FUL | Validated: Tue 01 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1: Horse Chestnut – 2-3m lateral reduction of branches to the south of the tree which overhang properties 5-6 Townhill; max diameter cuts 150mm. 6 Town Hill Broadclyst Devon EX5 3EJRef. No: 23/1635/TCA | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Extend front of garage and create walk in wardrobe and en-suite bathroom 34 Winslade Park Avenue Clyst St Mary Exeter EX5 1DARef. No: 23/1616/FUL | Validated: Wed 02 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Outline application for construction of up to 28 residential units (up to 7 affordable), new vehicular access onto Globe Hill, open space, new parish office and Globe Hill highway works (all matters reserved except for access) Land Off Globe Hill Woodbury EX5 1LLRef. No: 23/1600/MOUT | Validated: Tue 01 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use (from class sui generis) to (use classes B8, E, F1) and proposed internal alterations, flat roof and pitched roof repairs/upgrades and creation of a single parking space. 1922 Social Club Church Street Sidmouth Devon EX10 8LYRef. No: 23/1593/LBC | Validated: Tue 01 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use (from class sui generis) to (use classes B8, E, F1) and proposed internal alterations, flat roof and pitched roof repairs/upgrades and creation of a single parking space. 1922 Social Club Church Street Sidmouth Devon EX10 8LYRef. No: 23/1592/FUL | Validated: Tue 01 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erect new sign with illumination on the south west elevation of Unit 9A, Weycroft Avenue Unit 9-9A Axminster Power Tools Weycroft Avenue Millwey Rise Industrial Estate Axminster Devon EX13 5PHRef. No: 23/1564/ADV | Validated: Thu 03 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Portal frame steel building with timber cladding and fibre cement roof for machinery storage Farwood Barton Colyton EX24 6DZRef. No: 23/1544/AGR | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed single story extension on south west elevation Higher Woodhayne Whitford Devon EX13 7PBRef. No: 23/1532/FUL | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed single storey side extension 7 Carlton Hill Exmouth EX8 2AJRef. No: 23/1520/FUL | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed two storey side extension and porch, conservatory demolished and replaced with single storey extension, first floor bay added, central gable moved. External steps moved and minor changes to parking area. Westfield The Meadows Beer EX12 3ESRef. No: 23/1510/FUL | Validated: Tue 01 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• First floor rear extension 57 Langstone Drive Exmouth EX8 4HZRef. No: 23/1506/FUL | Validated: Tue 01 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Remove and rebuild rear wall and reconstruct off new foundations; reinstate blocked up doorway on rear elevation; 2no. arched windows to be refitted on rear elevation; replace veranda on rear elevation; rebuild 2no. piers on front elevation and to include rebuilding section of wall at ground floor; reinstate 4 light window on front elevation; re-render external walls of bedroom 1 and 4 and bathroom 1 and to include insulation; replace 1no. window on porch gable elevation; raise flat roof height above bathroom 2; reposition and replace window; replace 1no. window in bathroom 1 at first floor; re-roof slopes A and B, H and I and include insulation and extend verge; re-roof slopes C,D, T and J; reconfigure and re-roof slope R; replace defective beams and install new between sitting room and dining room; increase head height in existing opening at ground floor; new suspended floor in redundant sump room and remove suspended ceiling and install floating floor in family room The Priory Greenway Woodbury Exeter EX5 1LPRef. No: 23/1482/LBC | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Oak – Removing branches 2-3m length. Deadwood removal. Carpenters Cottage Dunkeswell Honiton EX14 4RERef. No: 23/1466/TCA | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Remove single storey flat roof extension on side (north) elevation; reinstate opening in original north wall; render external wall on north elevation; re-roof, replace battens and insulate; repair casements and replace windows with double glazed units; replace window with French doors on North elevation; increase window opening on north elevation; dismantle and rebuild where necessary brick wall; remove lath and plaster on walls on ground floor insulate and re-plaster; lift floorboards, install underfloor heating and reinstate floorboards in in sitting room and dining room; remove clay pavers in kitchen, excavate to install foamed glass insulation, limecrete and relay salvaged pavers; create new opening between kitchen and dining room in the position where there is an existing hatch opening; remove brick infill in fireplace in sitting room; dismantle and rebuild top 5 courses of chimney on south and west elevations, and the top 2 courses on north and east elevations; bat access in north and west elevation; porch column and soffit replaced on porch on south elevation; replace casement on all dormer windows Stedcombe Lodge Axmouth Devon EX12 4BJRef. No: 23/1406/LBC | Validated: Wed 02 Aug 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Retention of reinstatement of blocked up window to south elevation Lower Marsh Farm Marsh Green Devon EX5 2EXRef. No: 23/1402/LBC | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of temporary shed to provide storage (retrospective) The Hive School Hill Whimple Devon EX5 2TSRef. No: 23/1378/FUL | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Convert the existing loft and install a dormer to form habitable accommodation and internal alterations. 67 Bicton Street Exmouth EX8 2RURef. No: 23/1298/FUL | Validated: Mon 31 Jul 2023 | Status: Awaiting decision

Bibby Stockholm barge: Council didn’t tell ministers about migrant barge Legionella for three days

A council has claimed it told the Home Office about Legionella bacteria being found on the UK’s first asylum barge three days before 39 migrants were evacuated, as a blame game over the fiasco broke out.

By Charles Hymas, Home Affairs Editor www.telegraph.co.uk

The debacle saw the asylum seekers housed on the Bibby Stockholm, docked in Portland Port in Dorset, evacuated on Friday, just five days after arriving, when it emerged tests had found traces of Legionella bacteria in the water supply.

The tests were carried out on July 25 by Dorset Council’s environmental health department but the initial results did not come back until last Monday, August 7, after the go ahead had been given to allow migrants onto the barge that day and the first had arrived.

A government source had expressed concern over why it took two days for the council to alert the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), who were only told on Wednesday night.

Dorset Council has revealed it “verbally” told the Home Office on Tuesday. The council said that the findings of Legionella on the barge were mentioned at a meeting late on Tuesday where a junior Home Office official was present with the contractors.

Dorset Council opposed the plans for the barge to house migrants, and planned to take legal action against it before deciding it would be too expensive and was unlikely to succeed.

The discovery of Legionella means it will be several weeks before asylum seekers can be moved back onto the barge from hotels, currently costing the Government £6 million a day to house 51,000 migrants.

The fiasco has prompted senior Tory MPs to accuse the Home Office of “incompetence” and even led to renewed calls for the sprawling department to be broken up by hiving off immigration from its other responsibilities for policing, crime, counter-terrorism and security.

The Telegraph has established the timeline which raises questions over why ministers were kept in the dark for so long and how asylum seekers could have been put at risk.

Dorset Council said it told the barge contractors of the Legionella traces in the tests on August 7 “as the responsible body for the barge, employed by the Home Office”.

It confirmed that it received the preliminary report on the test results that day, but said it was the duty of the barge contractors to operate it safely.

Asked why migrants were allowed onto the barge without the test results, it said: “Dorset Council cannot, and did not, make the decision about whether or not migrants could be placed on the barge.”

It said it had discussed the test results with the barge contractor on August 8, but a second site visit on August 9 led to “concern about control measures” on the barge and it decided to alert the UKHSA.

The agency told The Telegraph that it was not informed by Dorset council until after 5pm on August 9 when it convened a “multi-party incident management meeting” for the morning of August 10, including the Home Office.

Home Office officials, however, failed to alert ministers until the evening of August 10. It was believed a further six asylum seekers boarded the barge that same day.

UKHSA advised the Home Office that no more asylum seekers should be allowed on board, which meant the six on August 10 would have to be removed. However, once alerted, it was believed ministers decided to go further and order all 39 to be evacuated.

Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, was understood to have told the barge’s two contractors that they need to be more transparent in future.

Legionella ‘a common problem’

Industry insiders said that Legionella bacteria was a common problem on vessels. The test results were thought to have only revealed marginal traces.

Legionella can cause serious illnesses among over-50s, smokers and those with underlying health conditions. Death rates from contracting Legionnaires disease are as high as 10 per cent. The bacteria multiply when the temperature of water is between 25C and 50C, or if there is poor or no flow into a water system.

The Home Office said no migrants had fallen sick or developed Legionnaires. The asylum seekers were evacuated by 7pm last Friday night and taken to hotels understood to be a two hours’ drive away.

Ministers intend the Bibby Stockholm to hold 500 migrants, but it has already been delayed by a month owing to a longer than anticipated refit, bad weather and safety checks. 

It is one of three mass accommodation sites to reduce the £6 million a day cost of migrant hotels. The other two are former RAF bases.

A former Royal Marines captain is aiming to neutralise Johnny Mercer’s electoral “trump card” of having a military service record, after being selected by Labour to stand against the veterans minister at the next general election.

Rajeev Syal www.theguardian.com 

Fred Thomas, 31, who spent seven years in the elite commando force, will be attempting to overturn a nearly 13,000 Conservative majority in Plymouth Moor View.

In his first national media interview, Thomas said he had been partly driven to politics by his Tory opponent’s claims to be helping veterans, many of whom are struggling to survive.

“I would love to see Johnny Mercer lose his seat to anyone, even if I hadn’t left the Royal Marines to do this, because he uses veterans as a huge campaigning tool. He just hasn’t delivered.

“Veterans are really struggling with the cost of living crisis and he is part of the government that caused that.

“While I was serving, it was incredibly frustrating, time and time again, to hear someone painting themselves as a great champion for veterans’ rights when this was going on,” he said.

His combative words will set up an intriguing political battle for the seat in south-west Devon, in a city that is home to many veterans and is built around a naval base.

Mercer, 41, a former captain in the Royal Artillery, took the seat from Labour in 2015, and increased his vote share in 2017 and 2019.

Conservative leaflets have sought to highlight Mercer’s 10-year career in the army. He has written a book about his three tours of Afghanistan, in which he referred to his time working with special forces.

Thomas said he hoped that facing an opponent from the armed forces might push the Conservatives and Mercer to talk about their political records instead.

“I am sure he finds me threatening, and I think he will know that his trump card that he has used for the last eight years he has been an MP he no longer can use,” he said.

Thomas, one of five children born to a civil servant and a teacher, was a pupil at the top public school Winchester college before reading religion, politics and ethics at King’s College London.

Thomas learned to read and write Arabic, studied in Egypt shortly after the Arab Spring, and was there while there was a coup against the Muslim Brotherhood.

After signing up to the military, he became the Royal Marines’ light heavyweight boxing champion and was deployed to train in Arctic warfare and worked in nuclear security on Faslane naval base in Scotland.

He also served in combat missions before leaving the corps in February, he said, but remains tightlipped about the details. Asked if he served with special forces, as sources have claimed, Thomas declined to comment.

Thomas said his primary motivation for leaving the corps for politics was because he had “a sense of public service” and realised that the UK’s economic and political institutions were breaking down.

“There was this assumption when we [the Royal Marines] were engaged in international development or international security work that the UK has got the basics sewn up. But increasingly I saw that it was not the case,” he said.

He indicated that the next government should recommit to spending 0.7% on international development. “Whether we like it or not, countries do look to us because we do have experience of driving change in an international sphere,” he said.

The Labour party appears to be quietly elated at having bagged a presentable former senior army officer. One party insider said Thomas was “a younger, better looking and more accomplished version of Mercer”.

Thomas acknowledged that Labour HQ was throwing resources at the seat, because it was precisely the kind that would have to fall if Starmer was to form the next government. “I’ve actually got two Labour party staff video makers with me in Plymouth. We are off the ground,” he said on Thursday.

Thomas said he expected a bruising election campaign, given Mercer’s fondness for public confrontations, often on social media. Shortly after Thomas’ selection as Labour’s candidate, Mercer’s wife, Felicity Cornelius-Mercer, claimed in a tweet that her husband’s war record was more impressive than his new opponent.

“Fred doesn’t compare to JM’s frontline combat,” she wrote.

Thomas said he was prepared for intense scrutiny and criticism in the lead-up to the election. “I get it. It is a Royal Marines captain against an army captain. I understand that as a story. But this is about everyone in our community being served by someone who supports policies that will improve their lives,” Thomas said.

As part of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, the government has plans to appoint a toilet commissioner – the so-called Lavatories Tsar – to address the closure of public facilities by councils. The Lavatories Tsar will work with a panel of advisers to come up with a strategic plan to reverse this decline. 

Who needs a strategy? How about reversing Local Authority funding cuts for starters? 

Never see a police officer on the beat? Don’t worry you will soon be able to spot your local Lav Inspector instead!

But this is not all! The Government is gunning to ban Unisex toilets at the same time! – Owl

Lavatories Tsar appointed by government – as plans face ridicule

Adam Forrest www.independent.co.uk

Rishi Sunak’s government has been mocked for introducing a “Lavatories Tsar”, as ministers announced an attempt to crack down on gender-neutral public toilets.

New shops, public buildings and offices will be ordered to have single-sex loos, as the PM and his equalities minister Kemi Badenoch lean into the “culture war” row with transgender rights groups on the issue.

But the latest idea has risked ridicule, being compared with John Major’s “cones hotline” fiasco in the early 1990s, when the then Tory prime minister was mocked for his focus on minor traffic issues during a major economic recession.

Damian McBride, a former adviser to Labour’s Gordon Brown, scoffed at Britain becoming the “first country in the world to appoint a dedicated ‘Lavatories Tsar’,” adding: “I bet you didn’t have that on your Tory summer fightback bingo card.”

James Asser, Labour’s deputy mayor of Newham Council, compared it to Major’s much-mocked initiative, which allowed the public to call and report rogue traffic cones on motorways. “Lavatories Tsar? We’re into Cones Hotline territory now,” he tweeted.

Launching her new crackdown, Ms Badenoch said the rise in gender-neutral toilets had removed the “fundamental right” of women and girls to have “privacy, dignity and safety”.

Trans rights groups have argued that gender-neutral toilets can help combat discrimination since trans people can face difficulties using male or female toilets.

But the Sunak government argues that communal cubicles and hand-washing facilities have led to “dignity and privacy concerns” among women who feel “unfairly disadvantaged”.

Pledging to halt the increase in gender-neutral facilities, the government is changing regulations to specify that all new non-residential buildings must offer separate single-sex toilets for women and men.

Self-contained, private unisex toilets should be provided in new buildings if there is space – but should not be put in at the expense of single-sex toilets.

“It is important that everybody has privacy and dignity when using public facilities,” said Ms Badenoch. “Yet the move towards ‘gender-neutral’ toilets has removed this fundamental right for women and girls.”

Separately, the government has plans to appoint a toilet commissioner – the so-called Lavatories Tsar – to address the closure of public facilities by councils.

Some 10 per cent of council-run public restrooms are thought to have remained shut following the Covid pandemic, while longer-term cuts mean availability has declined by 60 per cent since 2011.

As part of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, the Lavatories Tsar will work with a panel of advisers to come up with a strategic plan to reverse this decline.

Former government adviser Sam Freedman mocked the Tories for complaining about an “overcentralised state” while having “someone sitting in Whitehall telling councils how many toilets to open”.

The government has previously been accused of using gender-neutral toilets and other trans-related issues to stoke divisions in a “war on wokeism”.

Labour’s Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, told The Independent in June that Rishi Sunak was exploiting the trans debate as a “wedge issue in an ugly culture war”.

The PM was also accused of transphobia after a leaked video saw him mocking Ed Davey for “trying to convince everybody that women clearly had penises”.

The Lib Dem leader accused the PM of treating trans people like a “punchline” after the clip surfaced. But No 10 insisted the joke was at the expense of Mr Davey, not a minority group.

It comes as the government prepares to set out new guidance to schools on trans issues when parliament returns next month.

The delayed document is widely expected to tell headteachers to consult parents if their child talks about a desire to transition socially to a different gender.

[PS Remember Boris Johnson: “…one final ingredient, the most important factor in levelling up, the yeast that lifts the whole mattress of dough, the magic sauce – the ketchup of catch-up and that is leadership and this brings me to the crux of the argument- this country is not only one of the most imbalanced in the developed world, it is also one of the most centralised…..”]

This weekend it emerged that NCA officers are preparing to interview Michael Gove, the former Cabinet Office minister, and his former deputy, Lord Agnew, as witnesses in their investigation.

The PPE firm that received more than £200 million of taxpayers’ money after Baroness Mone lobbied ministers faces fresh questions about its ownership following claims it may have failed to declare the identity of its real owner.

Dipesh Gadher, Harry Yorke www.thetimes.co.uk 

Dan Neidle, a leading tax lawyer, has analysed PPE Medpro’s filings at Companies House and queried the company’s compliance with laws that require all firms to register the name of the person who controls them.

He has called for an investigation after the firm recently replaced one accountant with close links to Mone’s husband, Douglas Barrowman, as the so-called “person with significant control” (PSC) with another Barrowman associate.

PPE Medpro is already the subject of a long-running corruption inquiry by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

This weekend it emerged that NCA officers are preparing to interview Michael Gove, the former Cabinet Office minister, and his former deputy, Lord Agnew, as witnesses in their investigation.

Mone, 51, a Conservative peer, wrote to both ministers on their private email addresses in May 2020 offering to source urgently needed PPE supplies as the pandemic took hold in Britain.

She did not declare any financial interest in PPE Medpro and has previously denied being connected to it in any way.

Despite having no previous medical track record, the company was referred to the government’s “VIP” lane and was awarded two contracts, collectively worth £203 million, to supply face masks and surgical gowns.

In December last year it was claimed that Barrowman, 58, was paid at least £65 million in “profits” originating from PPE Medpro’s work.

Almost £29 million of this was later transferred to an offshore trust that benefits Mone and her children, according to The Guardian. A lawyer for Barrowman and PPE Medpro said at the time that a continuing investigation limited what his clients could say on the matter. He was instructed to say that some of the reporting was inaccurate.

Last weekend The Sunday Times reported that Anthony Page, a key aide to Mone and Barrowman, was sacked by PPE Medpro in May. Page, an accountant, was also dismissed from Barrowman’s Knox Group of companies on the Isle of Man for alleged gross misconduct.

Until his recent departure, Page, 47, who denies the misconduct allegations, had been listed as a director and sole shareholder of PPE Medpro, and was registered at Companies House as its PSC. On May 11, he was replaced in these roles by Arthur Lancaster, another accountant involved in Barrowman’s offshore business empire. Lancaster, 60, has also previously worked with the Duke of York and his now-defunct Pitch@Palace initiative.

In a new analysis of PPE Medpro’s filings, Neidle, the founder of the Tax Policy Associates think tank, argues that had Page been the true owner of the company he would have remained the PSC despite being fired by the Knox Group.

Neidle writes: “If, as appears to have happened, the Knox Group had the power to remove Mr Page as shareholder/director of PPE Medpro and replace him with Mr Lancaster, then the Knox Group (and Douglas Barrowman, as the person who controls the Knox Group) had ‘significant influence or control’ over PPE Medpro and Mr Barrowman should have been listed as the PSC. If the Knox Group was acting for some other unknown party then they should also have been listed as a PSC.”

Companies have been required by law since 2016 to declare their real owners, or PSC. Failure to do so could result in directors being prosecuted and, if convicted, jailed for up to two years or fined an unlimited amount.

If an individual knows that they control a company and have not been declared as the PSC then they may also have committed a criminal offence, punishable by up to two years in jail or an unlimited fine.

Mone, a former lingerie tycoon nicknamed “Baroness Bra”, is being investigated separately by the House of Lords standards’ commissioner over possible breaches of parliamentary rules. Last December it was announced the peer was taking a leave of absence from parliament “in order to clear her name of the allegations unjustly levelled against her”.

Mone’s lobbying of ministers to secure contracts for PPE Medpro has previously been characterised as rude and abrasive. At one point, an exasperated Gove is said to have described her as “a right pain in the arse”. A spokesman for Gove declined to comment while Agnew was unavailable when approached.

The NCA said: “The NCA does not routinely confirm or deny the existence of investigations or the names of those who may or may not be under investigation.” Page declined to comment. In an email to The Sunday Times, the Barrowman private office disputed the interpretation of the accounts.

A new hub for customers of a range of banks is set to open in Axminster later this year.

BBC News www.bbc.co.uk 

The hub – in Trinity Square – will offer a shared banking space providing face-to-face financial services.

Counter services will be operated by the Post Office, while customers of “major banks and building societies” can carry out cash transactions.

Customers will also be able to speak to their bank about “more complicated issues” they might have.

A different bank or building society representative will be available each day, including those from HSBC, Santander, Lloyds, NatWest and Barclays.

Cash Access UK, which is setting up the hub, said it was “working hard” to get the premises open by October or November.

Its CEO Gareth Oakley, said he was “delighted” the site – which used to house Lloyds Bank – was accessible for all.

“The hub, upon opening, will positively impact the local community, businesses and tourists in this market town by supporting them with cash services,” he said.