Will this be, as Cranbrook was originally billed, the “development” to end all “developments” elsewhere in the District? – Owl

sidmouth.nub.news 

East Devon District Council (EDDC) are working in partnership with a renowned consultancy company to evaluate the potential of a new East Devon town.

The new town, which is intended to be in the north west area of East Devon, could include up to 8,000 new sustainable homes, as well as community facilities and amenities. It is hoped the new town would form a template of a biodiverse and zero-carbon environment.

By way of comparison, Cranbrook currently has around 2,500 homes.

CBRE is leading the consultancy. Advice will be provided on viability, construction options, environmental measures, viability, infrastructure, planning, and design.

Louise Wyman is CBRE’s executive director of strategic development. She will be working alongside Simon Phillips, director of planning, as well as senior director Andrew Round. The team will receive technical support from partner organisations including Hydrock, Tibbalds and Pinsent Masons.

Louise said: “The next decade is likely to see significant changes to placemaking, due to the impact of climate change policy.

“The multi-disciplinary team led by CBRE are committed to producing proposals that are future proofed, where the principles of sustainable development and delivering a net zero community are embedded in our approach.”

Councillor Paul Arnott, EDDC’s leader and the authority’s portfolio holder for strategic planning, said:

“Over the last three years, our council’s priority has been to make sure that the views of the public on major initiatives such as this are heard through high-quality consultations.

“In our renewed Local Plan process, we welcome both members of the public and industry experts to share their opinions on how we shape the future of East Devon. As one of the cornerstones to this, we have commissioned the well-respected CBRE to start the arduous process of informing the council on preferred routes of travel to deliver a true 21st century community with net zero and sustainability at its core.”

Incredible pictures have captured the moment a large cliff crumbled into the water along the county’s Jurassic coastline. Earlier today [August 8] police issued a warning to the public, urging them to stay away from the beach east of Sidmouth due to the unstable cliffs.

Go to devonlive link to watch video

Chloe Parkman www.devonlive.com

A large chunk of the cliff toppled onto the beach and into the water, resulting in a huge dust cloud which covered part of the seafront. One eyewitness, Lynda, told Devon Live that there were a number of cliff falls in the area before this ‘large’ one took place this morning.

Lynda said: “There were about five or six cliff falls leading up to the large on this morning in Sidmouth.” Rural East Devon Police posted a tweet to remind people not to walk on the beach due to the unstable cliffs.

Devon County Council is urging people to stay away from the cliff edge (Image: Lynda Friel)

The tweet said: “Another large cliff fall this morning. Reminder to beach users not to walk on the beach East of #Sidmouth due to unstable cliffs which could fall at any time.” The area is infamous for dangerous cliff falls and signage at along the edge and on the beach advise visitors to keep well away from the area.

Devon County Council (DCC) confirmed there had been ‘numerous’ cliff falls in the area today and are asking everyone to stay away from the cliff edge, when walking on the south west coast path.

In a statement on Twitter, a spokesperson for DCC wrote: “Please stay away from the cliff edge when walking The South West Coast Path in this area. This area is extremely unstable and dangerous.”

Keep up to date with all of the latest on the cliff falls, here.

Sidmouth cliff fall (Image: Lynda Friel)

The task of all governments of whatever political hue is to protect their most vulnerable citizens from hardship. The UK managed reasonably well to do so when the pandemic struck in 2020. It has made a start on trying to do so again when the current surge in inflation took off earlier this year. But it now needs to do more, much more.

Editorial www.independent.co.uk 

Specifically, there has to be emergency action to blunt the impact of the surge in energy prices that will gather pace through the autumn.

Gordon Brown, former chancellor and the prime minister who led the response to the financial crisis of 2008-9, has called for an emergency Budget to tackle this new crisis. It is a thoughtful and helpful intervention. He backs a report by Professor Donald Hirsch, of Loughborough University, which argues that the present measures taken by the government will not be sufficient to make up for the recent surge in living costs.

The report looks at the extent to which the measures already announced will compensate for the additional burden on low-income families, not only from the expected rise in energy prices in October but also from cuts in universal credit and the inadequate uprating of benefits.

Professor Hirsch is an experienced and respected expert on how the state can best tackle social harms. His report has been backed by 56 charities, including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Child Poverty Action Group. It deserves to be taken very seriously.

The debate over the adequacy, or otherwise, of the response of the government to the cost of living crisis has become bound up with the election of the new leader of the Conservative Party and therefore the prime minister. Liz Truss has emphasised the importance of tax cuts rather than “handouts” as a way of reviving the economy. Gordon Brown, however, highlights that this is not simply an economic or political issue. It is a moral one.

He makes the point this way: “We need targeted support for families on the lowest incomes, not just cuts in taxes or flat rate payments, which don’t account for the specific needs of people on the brink of poverty. There should be no argument that a permanent increase in universal credit is the only way to take a sure step towards a solution.

“This crisis goes far beyond politics; this is a moral issue – our responsibilities to our neighbours and in particular to those who have the least and whose needs are the greatest.”

This must surely be right. Let’s see how the two candidates respond. Rishi Sunak is the principal architect of the government’s current plans, and we should hope that he can show flexibility by acknowledging that further measures need to be taken. We should hope that Liz Truss, for her part, is prepared to admit that to target support to the families most in need during a crisis should not be dismissed as giving “handouts”.

This is a truly defining moment in British politics. It is a debate that will shape the future direction of the Tory party, whoever its members choose to be its leader. But more than this, it is one that will determine how well our democracy can respond to a social and economic crisis.

The UK government cannot control global energy or food prices. But it can and must protect its most vulnerable citizens from external shocks of this magnitude. It has the resources to do so. And now, thanks to the work of Professor Hirsch, it has a blueprint of what must be done.

Four East Devon’s parks and green spaces have been awarded green flag awards.

Adam Manning www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

Sidmouth’s Connaught Gardens and Peak Hill Slope, Exmouth’s Manor Gardens, Seaton’s Seafield Gardens and Seaton Wetlands Nature Reserve.

The award is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces and much like the beach award scheme blue flag.

East Devon District Council said its a ‘testament to the hard work and dedication of the teams that make them great spaces looking pretty’.

A spokesman for the authority added: “The awards are the result of the hard work of EDDC StreetScene and Countryside teams, with valuable help from ‘in bloom’ groups and the many volunteers.” 

The staff and volunteers that work together are already busy on new improvements, including a further phase of planting in the autumn which will see the introduction of sustainable perennials and wildlife attracting plants in abundance.

Councillor Geoff Jung, EDDC’s portfolio holder for coast, country and environment, said: “The strengths of our parks and nature reserves are the teams that manage them.

“Described by the judges as passionate, knowledgeable and motivated, the StreetScene and Countryside teams are continually improving our sites, providing space for nature by planting wild flowers to benefit pollinators, insects and ultimately birds, providing bird boxes, reducing environmental impacts and have started introducing more drought-resistant species.”

The teams are addressing future climate and biodiversity challenges through sustainable planting, the sowing of wildflower seed, and allowing nature recovery at selected sites.

In addition to this, the council continues to bring in more eco-friendly grounds maintenance equipment in the form of battery operated machinery to reduce emissions and our overall carbon output in maintaining our parks and greenspaces.

The award has been given for 19 years in a row to Connaught Gardens, 18 years to Manor Gardens and Seaton Wetlands, and three years to Seafield Gardens.

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

A full list of Green Flag Award-winning parks and green spaces is available here

Boris Johnson has no plans to introduce big tax and spending measures before he leaves office to ease the cost-of-living crisis, Downing Street has said.

BBC News www.bbc.co.uk 

Business group leader Tony Danker has urged ministers to “grip the emerging crisis”, arguing it “made no sense to wait” for the next PM to arrive.

And Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has called for an urgent meeting with the devolved governments.

Downing Street said it recognised the public were facing “challenging times”.

However, Mr Johnson’s spokesman argued it would be up to his successor to make any decisions on further help.

Mr Johnson is due to leave office in early September, and No 10 said “by convention it is not for this prime minister to make major fiscal interventions during this period”.

Cabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse said the government had already and was continuing to do work on cost-of-living problems.

“My job is to make sure that when the new prime minister arrives, the plan is in place for them to put their foot on the accelerator,” he told the BBC’s PM programme.

He also dismissed calls from ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the government to hold a meeting of the government’s emergency response committee Cobra, arguing that would be “a performative political act”.

Earlier this year, the government announced a £15bn package of support to ease the cost-of-living crisis.

This included giving households a £400 discount on energy bills and £650 for the poorest households to help with wider living costs.

However, the government has come under pressure to do more, following worsening economic warnings.

Last week, the Bank of England forecast that the UK was heading into a recession, with inflation set to hit 13%.

Meanwhile, the energy price cap will go up in October, with industry analysts estimating average domestic energy bills could hit more than £3,600 a year.

Mr Danker, head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said the prime minister and the candidates for the Tory leadership, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, “should come together to agree a common pledge to support people and help quell fears”.

“The economic situation people and businesses are facing requires all hands to the pump this summer,” he said.

“We simply cannot afford a summer of government inactivity while the leadership contest plays out followed by a slow start from a new prime minister and cabinet.”

The CBI – which represents British businesses – said the prime minister should direct the civil service to draw up options on helping the most vulnerable people – and that these options should be made available to both leadership candidates.

The organisation also said Mr Johnson, Mr Sunak and Ms Truss should agree “a way forward to support people and businesses with energy bills” ahead of 26 August, when Ofgem is due to announce the next energy price cap.

Elsewhere, Ms Sturgeon has called for an emergency meeting with Mr Johnson and the leaders of devolved governments, to agree steps to help people.

In a letter to the prime minister, she said the SNP-led government was “committed to doing all we can” but added: “We cannot respond on the scale required without action by your government.”

Writing in the Daily Record, Mr Brown – who was the Labour prime minister between 2007 and 2010 – said the UK faced “a financial timebomb” and urged Mr Johnson, Mr Sunak and Ms Truss to agree “an immediate Budget to prevent a winter heating catastrophe”.

He also said the emergency committee Cobra should be in “permanent session to deal with the coming fuel and energy crisis”.

Speaking to the BBC’s World This Weekend programme on Sunday, Mr Brown said there was “a vacuum” in government because “the prime minister is on holiday, the chancellor is on holiday, the two leadership candidates for prime minister are on the campaign trail.”

Asked if Mr Johnson – who has returned from a holiday in Slovenia – would summon a meeting of Cobra, No 10 said it would be up to Mr Johnson’s successor to make any decisions on further support for households.

The spokesman also said there were no plans to recall Parliament, but that Mr Johnson and his Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi are meeting this week to discuss progress on the support measures already announced.

Responding to No 10’s comments, Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said “people are worried sick about how they’ll pay their bills… and all this Tory prime minister does is shrug his shoulders”.

She said the two leadership candidates could only “offer more of the same”, adding: “Labour would start by scrapping tax breaks on oil and gas producers and providing more help to people who are struggling to pay their energy bills.”

Meanwhile, the two MPs hoping to take over the leadership have been criticising each other’s plans to address mounting living costs.

Mr Sunak has warned that the plans of his rival Ms Truss “won’t touch the sides”.

Supporters of Ms Truss say her proposed tax cuts would help people, but did not rule out offering further support.

Lili Stebbings www.devonlive.com 

Police have warned people to stay away from an East Devon beach following a large cliff fall. Rural East Devon Police posted a tweet to remind people not to walk on the beach due to the unstable cliffs.

The tweet said: “Another large cliff fall this morning. Reminder to beach users not to walk on the beach East of #Sidmouth due to unstable cliffs which could fall at any time.”

Emergency services are at the scene this morning including police and coastguards.

We are facing an economic storm alone, the government is missing in action.

Observer editorial www.theguardian.com 

The UK’s cost of living crisis is set to get much worse. Last week, the Bank of England raised interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 1.75% and forecast that inflation would spike at 13% by the end of the year. It also said that Britain would experience a prolonged recession and living standards would drop by 5% in the next year or so, the biggest fall since records began.

This comes after 15 years of stagnant living standards: the poorest fifth of households experienced zero growth in average household incomes between 2005 and the start of the pandemic. The energy price cap, just over £1,200 in 2019, is now forecast to reach £3,600 in the autumn; rising energy costs account for around half of the inflation rate. It will leave families on low incomes unable to meet basic housing, heating and food costs and many parents facing existential choices around how to house and feed their children. Russian president Vladimir Putin is responsible for the global energy price shock that is driving up inflation everywhere. As a result of the war in Ukraine, global gas prices have spiked as Russia has cut supply to Europe via the Nordstream 1 pipeline. Putin has threatened further consequences if the west imposes more sanctions.

But the UK, forecast to have the lowest growth of any wealthy nation next year by the IMF and OECD, has been left particularly exposed. We have barely any gas storage capacity as a result of government decisions and the economy has suffered from a long-term crisis of productivity. Productivity growth dropped significantly after the 2008 financial crisis and has never recovered. The sluggish growth in the decade that followed was propelled instead by consumer spending, fuelled by resurgent house prices. A decade of public spending cuts has left low-paid people further exposed as tax credits and benefits have been eroded, public services unable to meet demand and widened regional inequalities.

Brexit has compounded these structural economic issues. What Britain needed after the financial crisis was a plan to rebalance the economy away from its reliance on the housing bubble and towards investment- and export-led growth. Those countries that have enjoyed tentative recoveries after Covid have done so as a result of exports. Britain, on the other hand, has seen business investment and exports contract as a product of Boris Johnson’s hard Brexit. One estimate has suggested that the economy is already 5% smaller than it would have been had the UK remained part of the single market and customs union. This amounts to billions of pounds lost each year from household incomes and public services’ budgets. It is an indulgence Britain can ill afford, a decision that will be looked back on as a ludicrous act of economic self-harm at a time of global economic crisis.

Many people will be experiencing a financial crisis by the autumn, facing defaulting on their mortgage or being unable to pay their rent. Yet the prime minister and the chancellor are now abroad on holiday. Meanwhile, the contest between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to become the next Conservative leader continues to play out. One will be selected by Conservative party members on 5 September and will become responsible for leading the country through this economic emergency. Yet their proposed solutions are geared towards attracting the support of fewer than 200,000 members rather than the pressing needs of the country.

Sunak remains a deficit hawk who would leave the NHS, schools and other public services horribly exposed to the real spending cuts that would result from double-digit inflation and who, it last week emerged, has boasted about diverting funding away from the country’s poorest areas. Truss has pledged to loosen fiscal policy by £30bn, but by handing out tax cuts that will disproportionately benefit the more affluent and do nothing for people who do not earn enough to pay tax. She has explicitly said she is opposed to the targeted measures so desperately needed to ease the burden for low-income families. The Bank of England’s rate rise, which aims to lower inflation by increasing unemployment and suppressing growth further, risks making an already painful recession even worse.

The Conservative party is failing the country. It matters not that Boris Johnson is a caretaker prime minister or that MPs are caught up in a bitter leadership contest. The government urgently needs to introduce a new support package before the autumn, which increases levels of universal credit and targets more one-off support at low-income households. It must also increase spending on public services in the face of the inflationary cost pressures that will amount to significant real cuts, with huge implications for the NHS, social care, schools and the police. It should increase the revenues from the windfall tax Sunak introduced on North Sea oil extraction while he was chancellor, by eliminating the generous tax breaks he included.

Britain is facing an economic storm that could be even worse than the economic impact of Covid. Yet the Conservative government is missing in action. If the new prime minister fails to act on the first day they take office, voters will not be quick to forgive them.

Conservatives MPs want to do a deal with Boris Johnson for him to quit parliament and in return axe the inquiry into whether he misled them over Partygate, as allies of the prime minister branded it a “witch-hunt”.

Owl – Why the inquiry must continue: “Boris absolutely will stay in politics. You won’t get rid of Boris.” Nadine Dorries.

Aubrey Allegretti www.theguardian.com 

Although he is due to leave No 10 in less than a month, a Commons privileges committee inquiry is still ongoing into the prime minister’s initial denials in December last year that any Covid laws were broken during lockdown.

Some of Johnson’s critics want him to stand down as an MP, to avoid the process keeping the spotlight on a deeply embarrassing issue for the party that has strained relations between colleagues.

The investigation, which is being led by a committee with a Tory majority that chose Labour’s Harriet Harman to chair it, is expected to drag on for months.

A tranche of evidence has been demanded by the committee, including Johnson’s diaries covering the 12 days on which parties were held in Westminster in defiance of Covid rules, as well as emails, WhatsApp messages, photographs, internal notes and a list of deleted documents.

If Johnson is found to have misled parliament, he could face suspension from the Commons and a recall petition, which, if signed by 10% of his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituents, would trigger a byelection.

Unlike when Conservative MPs were whipped to save Owen Paterson, which sparked unrest within the party’s ranks over sleaze and scandal, some of Johnson’s fiercest Tory opponents said they would happily support ending the Partygate investigation if Johnson stepped down as an MP.

One source said: “I think there’s a case – not just for the parliament party, but for everyone – that we just move on from this psychodrama.”

The “quid pro quo” for backing a motion that would effectively wind up the probe would be Johnson “getting out of the Commons”, they added.

Another Tory MP who helped bring down Johnson said if the incoming prime minister decided to spare Johnson’s fate by tabling a motion in the Commons to end the investigation and asked for colleagues’ support, “that’s fine”.

“I can see the benefit of him going being satisfactory,” they said. “The overriding political objective has been achieved. It depends if our next leader wants to continue this internecine warfare in the Conservative party or will just take the hit.”

If Johnson did quit as an MP, a byelection would be triggered. He won the west London seat in 2019 with a majority of just 7,210. As the Conservatives have not held a poll lead since December 2021 and lost a string of safe Tory seats over the past year, holding Uxbridge and South Ruislip would not be a certainty.

One of Johnson’s closest allies, the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, insisted he would stay in politics, but suggested the privileges committee inquiry should be ended anyway.

“If this witch-hunt continues, it will be the most egregious abuse of power witnessed in Westminster,” she tweeted on Sunday. “It will cast serious doubt not only on the reputation of individual MPs sitting on the committee, but on the processes of parliament and democracy itself.”

Dorries also accused the seven MPs behind the investigation of operating a “kangaroo court”, and said Johnson had been “brutally removed”.

She called for fellow supporters of the outgoing prime minister to unite behind Liz Truss, the frontrunner in the Tory leadership race.

Asked what Johnson would do next, Dorries told the Sunday Express: “Boris absolutely will stay in politics. You won’t get rid of Boris.”

Zac Goldsmith, another Johnson ally who was made a peer by the prime minister when he lost his seat in 2019, said the Partygate investigation was “clearly rigged”.

“It is a jury comprised of highly partisan, vengeful and vindictive MPs, nearly all of whom are already on the record viciously attacking the person they are judging,” he tweeted. “It is an obscene abuse of power.”

The Tory backbencher Bill Cash has drafted a motion calling for the scrapping of the inquiry, claiming it is “unnecessary” given Johnson’s departure from Downing Street at the start of September.

Chris Bryant, a Labour MP who recused himself from chairing the inquiry after publicly criticising Johnson, said he was “not aware of a single historic instance when a privileges inquiry was abandoned”.

“Arguing for it to be abandoned shows an extraordinary degree of complicity in Johnson’s wrongdoing and a very casual attitude towards standards and truth-telling in parliament,” he said. “If the government tables a motion to rescind, the Tories will all be lashing themselves to the Johnson mast all over again.”

A spokesperson for the privileges committee said the inquiry was being conducted properly and denied there had been any change to the rules or terms of reference.

They said a background paper on whether Johnson could be found in contempt of parliament was prepared by a senior clerk, all of whom “are strictly politically impartial”.

They added that advice had been taken from the former court of appeal judge Sir Ernest Ryder, which was published for transparency.

A grassroots campaign is hoping to raise £1m to bring more supporters of electoral reform to the Commons at the next general election.

Heather Stewart www.theguardian.com 

The group, called Win as One, will work with candidates from progressive parties who are well-placed to beat the Tories and are in support of proportional representation (PR).

Coordinated by campaign group Compass, the project’s aim is to urge candidates from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens in England and Wales to sign up to support PR – and to coordinate more closely.

With the Labour leadership sceptical about electoral reform, and having ruled out any agreement with the Lib Dems ahead of a general election, Win as One is described in a presentation seen by the Guardian as a “citizens’ pitch invasion, to change the government and the political system”.

“Instead of waiting for party leaders, who may be too cautious to do what’s needed, we will build a national and local movement based on the strengths we already have: our activism, our voices, our votes,” the presentation says.

Win as One hopes to channel resources and activists to support reform-minded candidates from any progressive party; and, more controversially, to help broker agreements about which party is more likely to win and where – what was previously called a “progressive alliance”.

Candidates would be asked to sign up to a pledge supporting electoral reform. The campaign would then aim to help support a caucus of pro-PR MPs in the House of Commons who could work together to press for change.

The group aims to encourage dialogue between activists of the different progressive parties at local level – a challenging task where tribal loyalties run deep.

The long-serving Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham, Jon Cruddas, said Win as One could tap into a desire for change he compared to the early 1990s. “Every so often, there is a sense of an anti-Tory movement – I think we’re approaching one of those moments, and this is to maximise and capitalise on that,” he said. “People are so frustrated with politics that they want something different.”

Labour and the Lib Dems are extremely wary of any formal pact that would require them to stand down candidates in particular seats in favour of their rivals – or hint at a coalition if Labour failed to win outright.

Keir Starmer recently said he would not strike any agreement with the Lib Dems or the Scottish National party even after the next general election.

Labour and the Lib Dems are wary of the “coalition of chaos” argument that was widely felt to have damaged Ed Miliband’s prospects in the 2015 general election.

A Lib Dem source said the two recent byelection results in Tiverton and Honiton, and Wakefield – won by the Lib Dems and Labour respectively – showed the electorate was capable of voting tactically anyway, without the need for backroom deals.

But if Labour win without an outright majority, support for PR would be a likely condition of Lib Dem backing for Starmer’s governing platform.

Sign up to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am BST

Coalition negotiations between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems after the 2010 general election resulted in a referendum on the alternative vote (AV) system, which ensures seats are only won by candidates with majority support, but does not produce a proportional parliament. However, the proposal was defeated by 68% to 32%.

Starmer is coming under mounting pressure over electoral reform from within his own party. A motion supporting PR at last year’s Labour conference was backed by 80% of constituency delegates but failed to pass without trade union support.

Since then, Unison and Unite have shifted their position. After Unite’s conference voted to support PR last October, its general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “Our political class has failed working people and our system is broken. It is time to change our democracy.”

Oh dear, Nadine Dorries to decide – Owl

MPs urge ministers to stop up to £1BILLION of Lotto money earmarked for UK good causes being spent on Canadian teachers’ pensions amid legal battle over future of game

• Camelot fighting Gambling Commission decision to let someone else run game 
• European lottery operator Allwyn preferred applicant for the fourth licence
• MPs worried about scale of possible damages that Camelot could receive  
• Owned by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, which has made £300m since 2017

www.dailymail.co.uk (Extract)

Camelot is seeking to have the decision overturned and be awarded the licence but the Gambling Commission wants to go ahead and give it to Allwyn before the court rules, arguing to do otherwise ‘poses a significant risk’ of reducing cash going to good causes.

However, the former chief executive of Camelot, Dame Dianne Thompson warned earlier this year that going ahead and then losing the case to Camelot could lead to massive compensation. 

She said drain up to £1billion otherwise destined for good causes via the National Lottery Community Fund and demanded the decision be delayed.

Now MPs are concerned that Camelot could scoop massive damages, cash that would go to its owner, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

Tory MPs including Hastings and Rye’s Sally-Ann Hart and ex-Tory vice-chairman Ben Bradley have written to Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries asking that she take steps to make sure money earmarked for good causes is not at risk.

In a letter seen by MailOnline they say that it would be ‘an unacceptable cost to the British taxpayer’ at a time when the economy and civil society is under severe pressure.’

Surely this is madness – Owl

Motorists are set to be allowed to drive lorries without taking a test under a “Brexit bonus” plan to help solve driver shortages.

Stephen Rigley www.lbc.co.uk

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will launch a consultation on whether to lift the Brussels-imposed ban on motorists driving anything larger than a 3.5-ton vehicle.

It means motorists cannot drive vans and lorries up to 7.5 tons without taking further tests, or minibuses with up to 16 seats without restrictions.

Mr Shapps believes lifting the ban could increase the pool of commercial drivers, boosting job opportunities and the economy. It could also help address shortages of HGV drivers because some may graduate to drive heavy goods vehicles.

A government source told the Telegraph: “We are past the days when EU directives were handed down on tablets of stone, and we should be prepared to liberalise where we can, testing the necessity for maintaining driving restrictions that were once thought unnecessary in this country.

“Grant thinks we should have a fresh look at this, but of course this has to be done with due regard for safety.”

EU rules enshrined in UK law bar any motorist with a full driving licence gained after Jan 1, 1997, from driving any vehicle over 3.5 tons without a further specialised test.

Mr Shapps is understood to believe there is a strong case for returning to pre-1997 rules, where anyone with a full licence could drive any vehicle up to 7.5 tons.

In a letter to MPs, the Transport Secretary wrote: “It has been suggested that now the UK has left the European Union, we may wish to allow all car drivers – not just those who passed their test before Jan 1, 1997, the right to drive these larger vehicles without need for a further test.

“Changes to the licensing categories would potentially create a greater pool of drivers. I am quite happy to explore this idea and how this may work in reality – without making any commitments to legislative change at this stage.”

He said the consultation aimed to seek “evidence on the economic benefits of widening the recruitment pool for medium-sized goods vehicles and minibus drivers, which may attract more people to the industry and support economic growth by further strengthening our supply chain”.

A cross-party group of MPs called for the logistics industry to “get its house in order”, including better overnight facilities for drivers and new training routes to recruit more hauliers, as the sector faces labour shortages.

The Commons Transport Select Committee said that if the changes are not made within two years, then the most profitable parts of the sector should face a new tax.

Under the proposed Supply Chain Levy, large supermarkets, oil companies and online service giants could be forced to pay towards the cost of new facilities for heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers.

From a correspondent:

Will the water user be falling into line with the hosepipe ban?  Let us hope for the sake of our environment that these Hampshire residents, heard on the Today programme of 05/08/2022, reflect the majorities’ view. That people will just “raise eyebrows” and “pay the price” for the gross mismanagement and profiteering. 

“I think when hosepipe bans are announced people want to do their bit but for the environment and want to help. But there is the issue that people in our community have seen years if not decades of water leakage and the water companies not doing their bit. So at this time when bills are high and people are wondering where their money is going being asked additionally to stop using hosepipes is going to raise eyebrows on the south coast.” 

“I am disappointed as at much that its us lawn lovers who are going to pay the price for mismanaging maybe allowing the leakage to continue over years and years.”

[The relevant part of the programme starts at 1hr 36mins of the recording. Worth listening to the end to hear the Chair of British Water try to explain why additional reservoirs are only in the planning stage, not actually being built]

What do you call a country with a caretaker government when the caretaker has gone on holiday in the middle of an economic crisis and a European war?

Sean O’Grady www.independent.co.uk 

Why, the United Kingdom, of course. It seems Boris Johnson might have had a point when he said that this was no time for a protracted and distracting leadership election. Of course, that was the price the country paid when his government collapsed beneath him through his own fault, and thus he cannot escape culpability. Still, so it is proving: Britain is drifting into recession and an existential struggle for survival for the most vulnerable in society. Families who, in Theresa May’s famous phrase, were just about managing in 2018 or 2019 are now faced with a squeeze on living standards unprecedented since the Second World War: higher fuel and food prices, energy bills, council tax, tax and national insurance, with rents and mortgages up.

The situation is getting dire and it demands leadership. But the caretaker prime minister is demob happy and on his second honeymoon, the caretaker chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, is away on holiday and the caretaker deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, is busily spinning for the former proper chancellor, Rishi Sunak. Meanwhile, the caretaker foreign secretary is touring the country making impossible promises and bad policy on the hoof. The likely future chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, doesn’t know the whereabouts of Boris Johnson (one can only hope that Carrie Johnson does). It’s not ideal.

A new premier won’t be in office for another month, nor many of the new ministers, and problems are piling up. Contrary to some expectations, the next prime minister will also mean a change of policy in key areas, and more radically so in the case of Liz Truss. Strong and stable government, to borrow again from the Big Theresa May Book of Doomed Slogans, is at a premium.

It is difficult to find encouraging precedents for such a collective dereliction of duty. Funnily enough, the last Tory leadership election in 2019, which yielded Johnson, was another exercise in self-indulgence because vital Brexit negotiating and preparation time was spaffed away on a meaningless contest between Johnson and Jeremy Hunt.

In economically and geopolitically sunnier times there was even some mild amusement to be had from the usual tussles for power when the PM is indisposed or away. Of course, modern communications mean that prime ministers are able to keep abreast of events even when they’re on the other side of the world, as has been the case for decades – provided, that is, they still want to take an interest in the job. Margaret Thatcher disliked not being in control; she didn’t bother with holidays much at all.

Others did “chillax”, as David Cameron put it. For example, there was never much of importance going on that Tony Blair wasn’t aware of, even if he was relaxing in Tuscany or hanging out in the Caribbean hideaways of Cliff Richard or Richard Branson, but it was fun to see John Prescott, Peter Mandelson and Gordon Brown try to show who was in charge. Prescott even went to the seaside to name a crab “Peter” as a bit of fun. But at least the civil servants had a range of powerful personalities to turn to if they needed a decision and didn’t want to trouble the PM. Not so much now, though.

Only rarely has the British government suffered from such lassitude as it does today. In the early 1950s, Churchill – approaching 80 and in his Indian summer as premier – suffered a series of strokes, unbeknown to the public. Usually his experienced designated deputy, Anthony Eden, took over seamlessly, but on one occasion Eden was also sick in hospital with a persistent gallbladder complaint and the government was run by the chancellor, RA Butler. It was a time of some international tension and the country was emerging from post-war austerity, but no harm was done during the hiatus before Churchill’s return. Now things are much more dicey, and much of the country is already suffering financial hardship.

Many voters will wonder why they have to wait another month without some help.

Both Boris Johnson and Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi are on holiday this week.

Anyone steering the ship of state?

Has Jacob Rees-Mogg posted “Sorry to have missed you” notes on their doors?

Is this why Exmouth and Axminster keep losing out? – Owl

Rishi Sunak has admitted taking money from deprived urban areas in order to give it to other parts of the country.

Rajeev Syal www.theguardian.com 

The former chancellor, who is standing to be prime minister, made the claim last month while speaking to Conservative party members in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

In footage obtained by the New Statesman, Sunak said: “I managed to start changing the funding formulas to make sure areas like this are getting the funding they deserved.

Link to Twitter here 

“We inherited a bunch of formulas from Labour that shoved all the funding into deprived urban areas and that needed to be undone. I started the work of undoing that.”

Tunbridge Wells has a Tory majority of 14,645 and has been held by the party since the constituency was created in 1974.

An analysis by the Guardian in February found that, under Boris Johnson’s “levelling up” agenda, some of the wealthiest parts of England, including areas represented by government ministers, were allocated 10 times more money per capita than the poorest.

The analysis brought together the four main levelling up funds for the first time. The future high streets fund, the community renewal fund and the towns fund have been fully allocated, while the levelling up fund has allocated £1.4bn, with a further £1.8bn still to be announced. A total of £4.7bn has been allocated in England across the four schemes so far.

It is not clear from the video to which funding formula or levelling up fund Sunak is referring.

Labour’s Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary, said: “This is scandalous. Rishi Sunak is openly boasting that he fixed the rules to funnel taxpayers’ money to rich Tory shires.

“This is our money. It should be spent fairly and where it’s most needed – not used as a bribe to Tory members. Talk about showing your true colours.”

Sunak’s Conservative colleagues were divided over the footage. The Foreign Office minister Zac Goldsmith said: “This is one of the weirdest – and dumbest – things I’ve ever heard from a politician.”

Jake Berry, the chair of the Northern Research Group of Tory MPs, said that in public Sunak “claims he wants to level up the north, but here, he boasts about trying to funnel vital investment away from deprived areas”.

“He says one thing and does another – from putting up taxes to trying to block funding for our armed forces and now levelling up,” Berry, a Liz Truss supporter, said.

But Sunak’s supporters rallied around him, with the Conservative Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen, arguing that Johnson led the party to electoral victory on a pledge to invest in areas “that have been ignored at the expense of urban cities”.

The public accounts committee, parliament’s spending watchdog, has been critical of the lack of rules over the towns fund. The levelling up fund is supposed to create economic growth but with no clarity of what that means and no measurements of success.

Responding to Sunak’s words, Meg Hillier, the chair of the cross-party PAC, told the Guardian: “This is evidence of a deliberate decision to change public spending priorities based on who you know.

“Pork barrel politics is unfair on taxpayers, and the areas that don’t get the funding cannot even begin to qualify for the cash in a game with no rules.”

Sunak is reported to be trailing Truss in the race to succeed Johnson as prime minister, as party members begin voting. But there is still a month of the campaign to go, with the result to be announced on 5 September.

Both candidates will appear at another hustings event on Friday evening, this time in Eastbourne, where they will take questions from Tory members.

Sunak’s campaign did not dispute the video, but argued that he had moved the cash from inner city areas to towns and poorer rural areas.

A source said: “Levelling up isn’t just about city centres, it’s also about towns and rural areas all over the country that need help too. That’s what he changed in the green book and he will follow though as prime minister.”

They added: “Travelling around the country, he’s seen non-metropolitan areas that need better bus services, faster broadband or high-quality schools. That’s what he’ll deliver as prime minister.”

The government was criticised last year for the terms of the £4.8bn levelling up fund, after it emerged that dozens of Conservative regions were placed in the top tier for assistance, despite their relative affluence.

Ministers responded to the backlash by saying they “did not have any of the political influence” suggested and had left the scheme in the hands of civil servants.

In 2020, Robert Jenrick, the then communities secretary, admitted that he and a junior minister approved payments to towns in each other’s constituencies from another government fund earmarked for deprived areas.

The Long Read in yesterday’s Guardian concerned an investigation by amateur sleuths: retired professor Peter Hammond and retired detective superintendent Ashley Smith. Between them they have uncovered how the clean-up of our rivers has stalled in the past couple of decades, and the reasons why.

This extract describes the situation on the Axe.

Oliver Bullough www.theguardian.com (Extract)

…When EA inspectors checked farms along the River Axe in south-west England between 2016 and 2019, they found that almost every farm was non-compliant with the rules for storing slurry, silage or fuel oil, all of which are harmful if they leach into rivers. On almost half of the farms, the inspectors saw pollutants entering the waterway. Farmers told the inspectors they had been flouting the rules because they saw the risk of enforcement as being so low – a problem the regulators know all too well. “Last year, we had sufficient resources that would allow us, in theory, to visit every farm … less than once every 200 years,” Bevan, the EA chief executive, told a parliamentary committee last year. “That is not a great disincentive to a farmer to stay on the right side of the line.”

“I get bloody irritated, and so do most people in the EA,” one veteran EA inspector told me. “The problem is that we don’t have the resources or the legislative muscle to do what everyone knows we need to do. But you only have to look at some of the farms in Herefordshire – they are big businesses, they are not scared of loose legislation or penalty notices. They can ignore all that.”

A year ago, the government provided funding for 50 additional inspectors to check farms in England, which will increase the headcount to 80, but that will only repair some of the damage caused by a decade of underfunding. “Given the length of the river system in this country, having only a few hundred people to oversee them is a pretty tall ask,” said Bevan, in evidence to parliament.

Such interventions from Bevan are noteworthy for their laconic understatement, but the ex-inspectors and current insiders who were prepared to talk to me spoke more in the language of crisis. Although little is being done to prevent sewage and manure from poisoning our rivers, at least we recognise the problem and are seeking to understand it. With regard to other threats, such as those from antibiotic-resistant micro-organisms, microplastics or “forever chemicals” such as polyfluoroalkyl substances – which are used in dozens of consumer products and have been linked to multiple serious diseases – the collapse in funding has reduced research, meaning we are always looking at pollution in the rear view mirror. “We don’t know what’s getting into the rivers. Nobody’s looking,” said another former EA inspector who took early retirement thanks to the funding cuts. “That’s a complete failure.”

So, what’s the answer? Some local groups – such as the Friends of the Upper Wye and the Wye Salmon Association, near where I live – have started testing the rivers for themselves, trying to discover the extent and the origin of the pollution. But gathering the volume of data that Hammond had access to requires resources far beyond even the largest NGOs. Truly understanding what is happening to our waterways could only come from the regulators doing the kind of monitoring and analysis they used to do before their budgets were gutted….

Liz Truss is embroiled in fresh controversy after a leaked email left her facing questions over why she did not declare thousands of pounds spent on schmoozing Tory MPs in the run up to her bid to succeed Boris Johnson.

Simon Walters www.independent.co.uk

Around a dozen Conservative MPs attended a so-called “Fizz with Liz” champagne dinner hosted by the foreign secretary at Mayfair members club 5 Hertford St last year.

The event was paid for by club owner, multimillionaire aristocrat Robin Birley.

When The Independent asked why Ms Truss has not declared the function – worth an estimated £3,000 – in the Commons register, where MPs are obliged to disclose hospitality worth more than £300, her spokesperson denied she had organised it.

It had “nothing to do with her,” they said. Ms Truss was merely one of a number of Conservative MP guests invited by “organiser and host” Mr Birley, the spokesperson said.

However, this account is disputed by other MPs present who told The Independent that she was the host and not Mr Birley, who “turned up briefly to say hello”.

The invitation sent to MPs suggests the event was organised by Truss’s office

( Supplied)

Moreover, they said they were invited by Ms Truss. Their version of events appears to be borne out by a copy of the invitation obtained by this newspaper.

Sent from her Commons email address, it said: “Liz Truss MP is delighted to invite you to attend a dinner at 5 Hertford Street on 26 October at 7.30pm. Most grateful if you could confirm attendance by 10 October. Best wishes, Office of Liz Truss.”

A source close to Boris Johnson told The Independent that he was informed that at the time that Ms Truss had met a group of Tory MPs at 5 Hertford St in October last year and that she appeared to be “on manoeuvres”.

Former cabinet minister David Davis, who is supporting Mr Sunak, said: “We have just lost one prime minister after he broke the rules and couldn’t bring himself to tell the whole truth to the House of Commons. It would be a tragedy if a would-be prime minister did the same before they even got into Downing Street.”

Parliament’s code of conduct says MPs must declare in the Commons register of financial interests any gifts, benefits or hospitality with a value over £300.

This includes “‘any benefits which relate in any way to their membership of the House or political activities… hospitality, including receptions and meals”.

In addition, donations worth more than £1,500 must be declared to the Electoral Commission watchdog.

Declarations to the Commons register and the Electoral Commission must be made within a month.

The “Fizz With Liz” row comes hours after Ms Truss was forced to scrap plans to save up to £11bn per year from civil service pay reforms after claims that it would mean cutting the wages of nurses and teachers.

She said there had been “wilful misrepresentation” of her initiative but critics said she should “stop blaming others” for the muddle.

The 5 Hertford St club is popular with wealthy Tory donors and Brexit backers, showbusiness celebrities and royals.

It is not the first time Ms Truss’s links to the club, where membership costs £2,850 a year, have attracted attention.

She clashed with Foreign Office after insisting on hosting an official £3,000 lunch there last year for a US trade envoy. She spent hundreds of pounds on wine and gin alone, according to a Sunday Times report in January.

She reportedly described suggestions of a cheaper and less party political option as “inappropriate”, said the newspaper. The £1,400 bill was picked up by taxpayers after the Foreign Office negotiated a price cut.

This followed reports in December that 5 Hertford St had become “ground zero for anti-Boris plotters”.

The club was reportedly being used by Ms Truss for “Fizz With Liz” functions to “schmooze MPs and potential financial backers for a leadership bid”.

The Independent has spoken to a number of MPs who attended a dinner they say was hosted by Ms Truss at the club on 26 October.

“Liz was centre of attention, in great form and we discussed all sorts of things,” said one. “We had champagne, cocktails, wine and a lovely three-course meal. Mr Birley turned up briefly to say hello.”

Another MP said: “Liz said it was time to stand up for Conservative values. She didn’t talk about the leadership but we all knew why we were there. She wanted our support.”

Approached by The Independent about the event, Ms Truss’s team changed their account several times.

Initially, her spokesperson said Ms Truss paid for the event personally, which would mean there was nothing to declare.

They later said it was paid for by Mr Birley but said there was no need to declare it.

Ms Truss was merely “an attendee,” a guest of Mr Birley, said her spokesperson, and the value of her dinner was “below the £300 threshold for Commons declarations”.

The spokesperson was adamant that the event had “nothing to do with her”. “It was not organised for her, on her behalf or by her. She was invited by Robin Birley with loads of MPs. It was put on by Mr Birley to discuss low tax and deregulation.”

Asked to explain the email from her Commons office inviting MPs to the event the spokesperson said later: “I am aware of the email but it was not her event. We are sticking with the line. We have had very clear advice

“A declaration would only need to be made if there was a benefit to Liz, or it was above the threshold for individual declarations for MPs’ register of interests. Liz was one of a number of MPs in attendance.”

Mr Birley, who donated £20,000 to Boris Johnson in 2019, and who is a half brother of environment minister Zac Goldsmith, said last September that he had lost faith in the government. Mr Birley told The Times: “I do not see this government as particularly pro business. I am terribly depressed about the situation.”

Despite recent gaffes, Ms Truss remains the strong favourite to defeat Mr Sunak in the Tory leadership contest. The latest YouGov poll put her 34 points ahead among Conservative members.

But whatever song they are singing, Tories are consumed with their own in-fighting and not concentrating on the real issues facing the country. – Owl

From today’s Western Morning News:

Rishi Sunak has won the backing of the majority of Westcountry Tory MPs.

Ed Oldfield reports

A majority of MPs in Devon and Cornwall are backing Rishi Sunak as the next Prime Minister – against the polling of party members, which puts Liz Truss way out in front.

Six of the eight Tory MPs in Devon are backing the former Chancellor to be Conservative Party leader and succeed Boris Johnson. They include Central Devon MP Mel Stride, who is running the campaign for the former chancellor.

In Cornwall, George Eustice, the Environment Secretary and MP for Camborne and Redruth, and Steve Double, the St Austell and Newquay MP, have also thrown their weight behind Mr Sunak, who was accompanied by North Cornwall MP Scott Mann – also a supporter – on a visit to Launceston this week.

Mr Sunak made a bid for the rural vote when he spoke at the Westcountry hustings event at the Great Hall at University of Exeter on Monday. He said he would make sure post-Brexit international trade deals do not penalise farmers, and said fields should be used for food production not solar panels.

Mr Stride, speaking after the meeting, said suggestions that Ms Truss was in the lead with party members was not proving to be the case, and said Mr Sunak had “everything to fight for” because there were a large number of undecided voters. He added: “He is the best person to beat Labour – the central thing is, he can beat Keir Starmer.”

The other declared supporters for Mr Sunak in Devon so far are Torridge and West Devon MP Sir Geoffrey Cox, Selaine Saxby in North Devon, Simon Jupp in East Devon, South West Devon MP Sir Gary Streeter, and Anthony Mangnall in Totnes. Torbay MP Kevin Foster outlined his support for Liz Truss in the initial stages of the contest, while Newton Abbot MP Anne Marie Morris backed Tom Tugendhat, who has since backed Ms Truss.

Mr Foster and Ms Morris attended a meeting on Monday in South Devon with Ms Truss, and the Torbay MP tweeted afterwards: “She will deliver on her pledges and unite the party behind her to do so”. Both Mr Sunak and Ms Truss pledged to win back the Tiverton and Honiton parliamentary seat, which was lost to the Liberal Democrats in a by-election in June after the resignation of Neil Parish for watching pornography on his mobile phone in the House of Commons chamber.

After Monday’s meeting, Devon County Council leader John Hart said he had come to listen and was still undecided, but added: “I was very impressed with Rishi.” How he dealt with a question about loyalty following his resignation from the Cabinet, which was one of the triggers for the departure of Boris Johnson, impressed Mr Hart.

Mr Sunak told the audience: “The Government found itself on the wrong side of yet another ethical debate that I found it hard to defend.” That related to what Mr Johnson knew about misconduct allegations against deputy chief whip Chris Pincher. Mr Hart said the response from Mr Sunak had “cleared the air”. Such opinions will be seen as an important factor as Conservative Party members make their decision about who to support in the postal ballot during August.

Who MPs support will affect their promotion prospects, when the winn­er is announced on September 5 and appoints a team of ministers.

It emerged on Tuesday that the Conservative Party has delayed sending out ballot papers for the leadership election over security concerns. The party has made changes to its process on the advice of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, following warnings that hackers could change members’ votes.

Chickens coming home to roost for low tax, small state, austerity Conservatives – Owl

Some local authorities could go bust as income fails to keep up with cost pressures and inflation, the leader of Devon County Council has warned.

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

Devon recently predicted a potential overspend in this financial year of up to £40 million, with its finance chief saying the council has “never before faced a combination of demand growth and price shock pressures of this scale.”

Conservative councillor John Hart, leader since 2009, says demand has gone up “far higher than we really anticipated” in children’s and adult services, while soaring inflation is “something we didn’t budget for” at the start of 2022.

It means some of the council’s bills, particularly for highways projects, are now around 20 per cent higher than it expected last year.

“We have a choice,” Cllr Hart said. “We live within in our means or we go bust.

“The more local authorities that go bust, the biggest problem the government’s got. And it’s got quite a lot of local authorities that are warning at the present moment that they have financial troubles.”

While Devon is not one of them at the moment, Cllr Hart admitted the council does have financial troubles – due to a separate overspend on caring for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The government has told councils to put SEND overspends into separate ring-fenced accounts for three years, which ends next April, while it develops a new funding plan.

Devon’s share – effectively debt – is projected to rise to £119 million by the end of the arrangement, roughly the same amount it will have set aside in reserves based on current estimates.

But the council, along with a number of others, are still waiting to hear from the government about what will happen with the overspends.

Unlike the government, local councils have to balance their budgets by law every year and Cllr Hart predicts that a number of authorities “will go bust”

He adds: “There are a number that are getting very serious warnings at the present moment from their auditors.”

In 2018, Northamptonshire County Council effectively went bankrupt twice, leading to it and seven district councils being merged by the government into two unitary authorities.

“I think we have a problem with local government funding,” Cllr Hart said, “in as much [as] government has reduced its grant aid to local government and we have had to become much more reliant on council tax and business rates.

“Over the last few years, we’ve been responsible for the business rates and the council tax. We have been controlled, though, by government as to how much we could raise.

“So, that in itself means you aren’t giving us the money in cash. You’re not giving us the money we possibly would want in council tax because you’re telling us we have to restrict it to one-to-two per cent.

“We were able to take some extra money for social care [one per cent], and this council has always taken it because we do have an elderly population and we do have a very large social care bill, but that doesn’t actually help the general run of everything.

“75 to 77 per cent of what we spend now is on care of some sort – looking after a very small proportion of the people of Devon ….that doesn’t give you much flexibility, then, to actually help the general public.”

Last month’s financial report to Devon’s ruling cabinet said: “Immediate action [is] being taken to safeguard the financial sustainability of the authority.”

A panel of senior officers is looking at options – work labelled as top priority. It could mean services are remodelled to save money and major building projects are delayed or cancelled.

Cllr Hart added: “I would like to think that we will be in a position by Christmas [or] early new year to have reduced our pressures for this year, which makes next year’s budget a lot more saleable.”

Councils ditch £2.5m Oxfordshire 2050 housing plan

A £2.5m plan that Oxfordshire councils had hoped would shape how much new housing would be built for decades has been abandoned.

www.bbc.co.uk

Oxford City Council and four district councils signed up in 2018 to work together on Oxfordshire 2050.

But there is disagreement amongst them as some, including the city council, want more homes to accommodate growth and others want fewer.

The councils will now use their own plans to decide their housing numbers.

Only Labour-led Oxford City Council and Conservative-led Cherwell District Council, which are in favour of accommodating more homes, are controlled by the same political parties which led them in 2018.

Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire District Councils, which are led by the Liberal Democrats and a Lib Dem-Green coalition respectively, have opposed housing targets. Both were previously led by the Conservatives.

West Oxfordshire District Council was also led by the Conservatives in 2018 but are now led by a Lib Dem-Labour-Green coalition.

In a statement, the authorities said it was “with regret” they were “unable to reach agreement on the approach to planning for future housing needs”.

“The Oxfordshire Plan 2050 work programme will end and we will now transition to a process focused on Local Plans. The issues of housing needs will now be addressed through individual Local Plans for each of the city and districts,” they said.

“The councils will cooperate with each other and with other key bodies as they prepare their Local Plans.”