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Planning applications validated by EDDC for week beginning 23 August

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Hilary Mantel contrasts Dominic Cummings with Thomas Cromwell

[And also has views on Boris Johnson’s suitability for public life].

Aamna Mohdin www.theguardian.com

Dame Hilary Mantel has said Dominic Cummings “created a picture of himself as an outsider” that was intrinsic to his rise, while Thomas Cromwell had been able to truly “conquer the hierarchy”.

The novelist, 69, who has published a trilogy of books about Cromwell, concluding with The Mirror and the Light in 2020, compared the two political figures during an appearance on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show.

In reference to Cummings’ rise to become the prime minister’s top adviser, Mantel said: “Dominic Cummings created a picture of himself as an outsider, which was intrinsic to his self-created function.

“But what Cromwell did was he conquered the hierarchy. He understood where real power lay as opposed to status and he worked his own way through the system, in a way that shouldn’t have been possible in that very hierarchical world.”

Mantel was the first woman to win the Booker prize twice: first in 2009 for Wolf Hall, the first book in the trilogy, and then for the sequel Bring Up the Bodies in 2012.

The actor Ben Miles, who plays Cromwell in the stage versions of Mantel’s books, told the programme: “There is an element of a man from outside, from perhaps a lower-status background and origin, scaling the heights, as it were, and becoming indispensable.”

Mantel added that Cromwell would not have gone on holiday during an “international crisis”, in an apparent shot at the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, who was in Crete as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

“Cromwell was a politician,” she said. “He was the kind of man who was quite rare in any era, perhaps in any walk of life, because he was someone who was very much a big-picture man, but he knew how to take care of all the details as well.

“He privileged competence and turning information into knowledge.”

She added: “He wouldn’t have gone on holiday during an international crisis. Can you imagine Cardinal Wolsey going on holiday?”

Earlier this week, Mantel said she felt “ashamed” by the UK government’s treatment of migrants and asylum seekers and was intending to become an Irish citizen to “become a European again”.

She told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica: “We see the ugly face of contemporary Britain in the people on the beaches abusing exhausted refugees even as they scramble to the shore. It makes one ashamed.

“And ashamed, of course, to be living in the nation that elected this government, and allows itself to be led by it.”

She said that she was hoping to soon leave England and relocate. “Our projected move has been held back by Covid, but much as I love where I live now – in the West Country, by the sea – I feel the need to be packing my bags, and to become a European again.”

When asked about the prime minister, Boris Johnson, she said: “I have met him a number of times, in different settings. I agree he is a complex personality, but this much is simple: he should not be in public life. And I am sure he knows it.”

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Dear Boris Johnson, we need positive action not warm words

The “Great South West” not happy with the: “Magic Sauce” the “Catchup Ketchup”?

Owl always thought that the business-led Local Enterprise Partnership (see footnote in article), Heart of the South West (HotSW) had the plan to double the economy in 20 years from the 2018 baseline – what’s not working? 

Do we have any regional leaders with real economic, as opposed to business, experience and with the democratic support to make such a plea credible? 

Would Boris Johnson listen and what store should we put on any “promises” he might make? – Owl

Dear Boris Johnson, we need positive action not warm words

Hannah Finch www.devonlive.com 

The Prime Minister has been asked to make good on years of promises to Back the Great South West.

Economic leaders say they are beyond frustration after five years of ‘warm words’ but no action on the region’s plans to become a beacon for the green economy.

In an open letter to the PM, Bill Martin, publisher of the Western Morning News, who has spearheaded the #BackTheGreatSouthWest campaign, said that the region requires positive action after fulfilling its side of the bargain to come up with a clear business case that has brought together politicians, business leaders and academics.

But he warns that the ‘unity will not hold’ without some progress.

Mr Martin writes in the letter: “The Great South West is a large and powerful economic entity that with the right support can become the cutting edge of your levelling up and net zero agenda.

“We have done all that was asked. I am writing today to ask for your support again in giving the Great South West the recognition and support that its unity and ambition require. We are a region that welcomes warm words, but desires positive action.”

The letter comes five years after the #BackTheGreatSouthWest campaign was launched with the region’s biggest private sector employer Pennon Plc.

Since then, the Great South West Partnership has set out how it has the potential to become the ‘UK’s Natural Powerhouse’ in its Securing the Future prospectus that was taken to 10 Downing Street in 2019.

The deal asked the Government for £2million over three years to progress its ambitions but nothing has yet come of it.

Steve Hindley, chairman of the Great South West Partnership, said: “For the first time, the Great South West has set out a challenging low-carbon vision for our region building on our strengths and key opportunities and we have an active All Party Parliamentary Group set up to support the Great South West. We have consistently had warm words from No 10 and other ministers and we want to get on and achieve the same status as the other ‘Powerhouse’ regions and move forward with our blue and green agenda. As Chair of the Great South West steering group, I am beyond frustration with the delay in obtaining formal recognition and associated funding.”

The delegation from the South West visited Downing Street in 2019 to deliver the prospectus and set out how it planned to deliver an era of transformational change with the backing of the Government’s levelling up pledge.

Mr Martin said he acknowledges that much has been set aside because of the global pandemic but he argues that negotiations on the the ambitions of the Great South West have been minimal and had got confused in Whitehall with those of the Western Gateway, a strategic partnership aimed at promoting and maximising economic growth from Bristol to Swansea.

The Great South West plans to become the UK’s first region to reach net zero and the only exporter of green energy and UK’s greenest economy by building on its wealth of natural and research assets at sea and on land, praised by the PM in the lead up to June’s G7 Summit in Cornwall.

It seeks support for an enhanced import and export hub, recognition of a South West Tourism Zone and agreement to create a rural productivity deal.

Sir Gary Streeter MP, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Great South West said he shared Mr Martin’s frustration.

He said: “I see no reason why the government cannot move smartly to recognise our region and enable us to deliver on substantial growth and prosperity. I will keep pressing the government on this.”

Mark Duddridge, Chairman of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, said the Great South West’s ambition to spearhead the green industrial revolution is all the more relevant as the UK prepares to host the COP26 climate change summit.

He said: “We are making significant advances in Cornwall with new technologies like floating offshore wind, geothermal energy and clean metal mining, with world class deposits of lithium which is vital for electric vehicle battery production. And we are working towards our traditional industries like tourism and agriculture being more sustainable. But if we are going to stimulate investment to transform our communities, we need much more visibility on how the Government plans to deliver its levelling up agenda. The Prime Minister talks of a consistent and catalytic role for Government in driving a wealth-creating economy, and that’s what we are asking for today.”

David Ralph, Chief Executive of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, which covers Somerset and Devon, said: “Declared support from Government for this work would enable it to progress further and faster and help deliver a joined-up response to the challenge of climate change.”

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Extraodinary Virtual Council Meeting Tuesday 7 Sept 6.00 pm

Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of the District of East Devon on Tuesday, 7th September, 2021 at 6.00 pm

To consider withdrawing the title of Honorary Alderman awarded to a former East Devon District Councillor, John Humphreys, following his recent trial and conviction at Exeter Crown Court.

This is a virtual meeting.

It is being recorded by EDDC for subsequent publication on the Council’s website and will be streamed live to the Council’s Youtube Channel at 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmNHQruge3LVI4hcgRnbwBw

Public speakers are now required to register to speak – for more information please use the following link: 

https://eastdevon.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/have-your-say-at-meetings/all-other-public-meetings/#article-content

More details can be found here.

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Housing crisis: the low-cost developer thinking big with small spaces

‘Housing should be boring’: low-cost developer explains his success

Jasper Jolly www.theguardian.com 

Marc Vlessing, a property developer, says he would be happy to be put out of a job. In an attempt to attract first-time buyers who might otherwise be unable to afford their own homes, his business, Pocket Living, builds smaller-than-average flats with lower-than-average price tags.

It is a business model whose success is based on the fact that so many have been priced out of city living by the housing crisis. Perhaps it would be a good thing if Pocket’s niche did not exist?

“That would be to me a great success,” says Vlessing, sitting at the kitchen table at one of his developments in Lambeth, south London. “I think housing should be boring.”

Pocket’s one-bedroom flats are classed as “affordable”, 20% cheaper than the average local market rate. The clue to the trade-off is in the name: the flats are about a fifth smaller than national standards, but try to make up for their modest size with clever design.

His business shows no signs of slowing down. It has developed nearly 1,000 of its small homes across London and is now considering Cambridge for its first project outside the capital.

“I think the housing challenge is here to stay for many years to come,” Vlessing says. “It is going to get more political.”

The housing sector has experienced an extraordinary period in which prices have continued to surge despite predictions that Covid’s impact on the economy would deflate the market. Instead, historically low interest rates, supply that has been constrained for years, pent-up demand from the early lockdowns and a rush for more space have meant that property prices rose by 11% in the year to August, according to Nationwide building society.

A 20% price discount on small-scale developments is difficult to achieve for private developers who want to make a profit. Pocket’s formula tackles the challenge in two main ways, one of which is the space cut. It aims for 37 sq metres (400 sq ft), compared with the UK median floorspace for flats of 43 sq m (“just under the size of four car parking spaces”, as the Office for National Statistics evocatively adds). Indeed car parking, and extra bathrooms, are among the extras Pocket eschews.

Vlessing is candid about the compromise: “If you make something bigger at 500 sq ft, my people can’t buy that.”

His people are the capital’s relatively low-earning first-time buyers – the average annual income of a Pocket buyer is £39,000 – and cash buyers. Flats in outer boroughs such as Barking start at less than £200,000, while closer to the centre the prices can be £280,000 or more. Crucially, the buyers are contractually bound to pass on the 20% discount to the local market rate in perpetuity, reducing the scope for flipping.

The model has proved durable: the 1,000-flat milestone will be reached around November. Pocket is also starting to expand into two- and three-bedroom flats, albeit at full market rates.

The company aims for a profit margin of 15% on developments, lower than the 20% to 30% enjoyed by the bigger housebuilders. In 2020, Pocket Living made revenues of £56m, nearly £20m lower than in 2019, and a pre-tax loss of £870,000 in 2019 swelled to a £6.3m loss, according to its latest accounts. Vlessing says it was an investment period, and profits will come from 2022.

However, the company has also had to contend with rising costs. Vlessing says the “combination of the pandemic and Brexit had been particularly pernicious” because skilled eastern European labourers have been locked out. Prices of copper and brick have also risen.

Pocket’s flats try to disguise their small footprints using design tweaks to encourage a sense of space: the doors are 2.5cm wider than usual, the ceilings are higher, floor-to-ceiling windows let in a lot of light and there is very little dead “circulation space” such as corridors.

The architecture may not be to everyone’s taste. The Lambeth development’s entrance balconies are clad with perforated metal panels that give some protection from the elements and the noise of passing trains. Yet the mix of brick and metal works well in the context of a busy railway track on one side and the orderly 1930s China Walk council housing estate on the other.

One resident in Lambeth, who has lived there for more than five years, says her flat is “lovely” and the build quality is good, though she thinks the service charges could be cheaper.

“I haven’t moved!” she says, by way of approval. But she admits that the flats are “dinky”, adding: “My next-door neighbour has a baby and a husband, which would be hard.”

Vlessing, who grew up in the Netherlands, argues that one-bedroom flats fill an important need. High housing costs make it difficult for key workers to live in city centres. Nonetheless, Pocket has run up against opposition in some areas.

Labour’s Haringey council in north London sold a site to the company in 2016, but the project failed to win planning permission under new leadership from the left of the party.

Vlessing, who was an investment banker before running a West End theatre group, is sanguine about such setbacks. There is little danger of demand for Pocket’s homes falling any time soon. The government’s approach has been to “endlessly stick bits of policy onto a broken system”, he says – in part because of the lack of a clear plan from previous administrations.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Vlessing wants affordable homes to be exempt from the community infrastructure levy, a tax on developments that local authorities can charge. He also thinks there should be a presumption of development for small sites across the country to ease the reliance on projects from big developers.

Vlessing says the housing crisis merits Cobra-meeting levels of urgency from the government to prevent the house price speculation that became a defining feature of recent decades.

“It turns us into these little mini-capitalists,” he says. “I don’t think housing should be an investment in that way. It’s become a casino economy because we’re undersupplying housing by a factor of two.”

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Comment on Tory call for DBS checks for ALL councillors, upgraded to full post

Owl felt that this well argued comment, and ultimate challenge, from Tim deserved its own post, especially given his experience:

From what I can determine, government has on more than one occasion considered the question of who should be subject to DBS checks and it decided that councillors, by virtue of that position alone, need not. Anyone asked them why?

I do not recall a call by any body representing councillors that the government thinking is wrong on this.

Councillors who maybe required to interact with vulnerable persons, by virtue of some relative port folio, should be required to have checks appropriate to the involvement. That is not in dispute but it is the nature of the interaction/port folio not the position as councillor that drives the requirement.

I’ve heard some councillors say ‘oh but we visit the elderly or whatever so we should be checked’ . Well so do post-people, canvassers, painters and decorators and countless others. What is so special about councillors in this regard? Such visits are relatively rare compared to other home visits and if you bring in councillors then tens of thousands of others need them by virtue of their occasional home visits.

It is worth remembering that the sole purpose of DBS checks is solely to protect vulnerable individuals. It is not to ‘enhance’ the standing of those councillors who might like to think – “look at me I’ve got a level X clear DBS check”- or several as I recall at least one EDDC councillor stating straight off the bat when this was first discussed!

Having some past close working experience in the criminal intelligence gathering field, though before DBS checks as they now exist came in, I frankly don’t place too much trust in them. Most certainly I would not rely on them as a guarantee of character. They can and do give a completely false sense of security.

I have yet to determine whether Humphreys had, or applied for, any such checks. Should he have done so not least given some of the reports of his other non-council but ‘official ‘ work involving placements and other so far unmentioned work? The level of check needed for him would perhaps needed to have been at the highest level to pick up that he may have been interviewed over allegations (I still don’t know for sure if he was interviewed under caution as a suspect) or at what might be called the informed but reliable gossip level of criminal intelligence. (and the ‘gossip level’ is a minefield) If councillors should be DBS checked at what level should it be – again, what is so special about them yet isn’t enough for government? One cannot help but wonder why nothing was picked up through his lodge connections and passed on to authorities- my (non-member) experience is that some can be pretty tight with one another and I note, not all such memberships have been declared locally.

At the present time there is already a weeding system for applicants for councillor positions at the very outset though government rules- that though needs to be tightened and would continue to be applied nationally, (necessary not least so that there are no repeats of certain London Labour MP’s sons avoiding the restrictions or being required to resign because they had only been arrested for drug dealing when the form was completed and had not yet been convicted)

We should and must protect vulnerable people – yet we fail them constantly. I believe that far too much trust is placed on DBS checks which are at the very best, simply a snapshot in time and often incomplete especially in areas that matter most. Every single sex offender would be able to pass a DBS check at some point in time and continue to be able to do so until he or she does something that would raise a qualifying flag that makes them a more likely bet of being a risky character and ‘failing’ a DBS. Can a DBS check EVER protect the first victim? The claim that Jimmy Saville could have had a clean sheet DBS wise seems to me to be quite a reasonable one given he was given the keys for Broadmoor and Stoke Manderville.

It does concern me that existing measure are not smart enough – but this is part of a wider national debate about intelligence gathering, respect for privacy and labelling. It is very complex and not for here.

The local clamour for DBS councillor checks seems more political and profile raising than a reasonable and sound suggestion aimed explicitly at enhancing protection for vulnerable people at large. I fail to understand why anyone truly concerned with protecting vulnerable people would only argue for their district and not the country. Starting local doesn’t wash in such matters. That said, it is worth noting that arguing against it as a councillor opens one up to unhelpful ‘what have you got to hide arguments’ so I understand why the calls may go unchallenged . But, as joe public, and with some knowledge of the system, I can and do challenge the call. I challenge those parties suggesting it as to whether they are really serious about protecting the vulnerable or whether they have another agenda. Do you have a past and proven record of raising it nationally – which would be the sensible thing to do? Have you got the issue lined up for regional and national political conferences. Have you asked questions of government questioning the present system? If you have why haven’t you opened up about it? Let’s see the paperwork if you have, show us just how committed you are to protecting the vulnerable across the country and not just East Devon.

If such evidence is not forthcoming I think we will be entitled to question whether this is just a shameful diversion from East Devon Tories to deflect just how rotten some of their core members have been and how little they have done to keep their house in order, or something else.

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FNBIONYGN

We live in a jungle of acronyms.  Once, like real trees in the real Matto Grosso, they sucked CO2 out of the atmosphere and did the planet no end of good.  Lately, a new acronym has taken root in the thin soil of UK politics and threatens dire consequences.  Welcome to the world of FAF. 

Here in sunny Exmouth we have our share of problems.  Those officially charged with mitigating their worst effects rename them challenges, but semantic slights-of-hand solve nothing.  The current problems, exacerbated this summer by a tsunami of staycationers, include an ever-bigger breed of camper vans,, and a locally-grown crop of eager boy racers. 

A good friend of ours, a gifted entrepreneur unafraid of management structures large or small, has declared a war of his own on these cowboys, and devoted time he can scarcely afford to try and run them out of town.  I suspect he dallied with the full vigilante, including punishment beatings and those stinger things the cops drape across roads to shred the tyres of the ungodly, but as a super-concerned warrior citizen he decided to play within the rules. 

As anyone who’s ever tried to thread the needle of local government will attest, this isn’t easy.  Key fault lines between organisations that should be talking to each other are everywhere.  West of the Lifeboat station on Exmouth’s seafront, for instance, the seaward side of the road  belongs to Devon County Council, while the rest takes its orders from East Devon District Council.  This may sound wildly theological but if you’re trying to stop parked monster camper vans overhanging both the promenade and the road itself, it helps to know which doors to bang on.  In other words, it takes an act of the wildest optimism to assume that one arm of local government belongs to the same body as the other. 

Undaunted, our friend figured out a strategy, wrote himself a carefully-sequenced action plan, spent weeks collecting visual evidence, recruited support from the like-minded, and then used Zoom and his remaining stock of patience to set up virtual debates between all the interested parties.  Given the targets on which he was drawing a bead, these sessions had to include officers and councillors from Exmouth Town Council, East Devon District Council, a uniformed inspector from Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, plus sundry other interested parties. 

The problems were defined, aired, and debated.  Minutes were kept, rival positions explained, the civic meadow thoroughly ploughed.  At the end of this consultative phase, each interest group retired to review exactly what might have changed.  The weather, meanwhile, took a sudden turn for the worse and a series of grey days have made life slightly tougher for both the campervans and the boy racers.   

Undeterred, our friend has commendably made it his business to keep everyone in this rapidly-expanding citizen loop fully up to speed with his latest thinking.  Long memos seek to penetrate local government defences and make a forced landing on their turf.  He – and we – want some semblance of order imposed on both the rogue campers and the cowboy racers.  In the interests of peace and quiet, might there not be a call for properly policed parking sites with a range of facilities?  For a lower speed limit?  And for effective law enforcement to put the boy racers back in their cage? 

To their great credit, the police have a scheme to enrol locals in this latter battle, and there are signs that this will happen.  Councillors are likewise eager for action, as – privately – are certain local government officers.  But the timescales involved are geological – aeons of meetings, e-mails, local consultations, letters to the Exmouth Journal, and sundry other eruptions of local rage.  Nonetheless, our friend has called on years of experience in the private sector and come up with a cunning plan in order to maintain the momentum.   

This, I need hardly tell you, has now been released into the wild as an acronym. TAFF means a Task and Finish Forum.  Ironically, this management tool appears to have come from local government in the first place.  Each next step in our collective journey towards a better seaside life, insists our friend, is to be carefully described, and ticked when agreed and certified.  This, of course, is marking local government’s own homework, and has raised a thin smile amongst officers in Honiton and Exeter. 

One of them happens to be a friend, and we had a drink a while back.  In his heart, and I believe him, he’s totally with us.  He lives in Exmouth.  He loves the place.  He has kids.  And he likes to sleep at night, undisturbed by pimped exhausts and burning rubber.  But the real problem, he says, is resource.  Central government have kept local councils on starvation rations for most of the decade and now there’s no fat left.  Whatever you do, wherever you turn, costs money.  And there isn’t any. 

When I asked him whether this might be deliberate, an equally cunning plan to make local councils the sitting ducks for public protest, he simply nodded.   

‘We’re knocking on Whitehall doors every working week,’ he said.  ‘And we get precisely nowhere.’ 

‘How come?’ 

‘They’ve come up with an acronym.  It’s beyond cynical but it’s bloody clever.  Eff A Eff.   Faff And Forget.’ 

Were it not for the triple whammy of Brexit, Covid, and now Kabul, FAF would be mildly funny, but apply the Whitehall acronym to the whole range of governmental responsibilities and maybe we find the explanation for where we currently find ourselves, as both a seaside town beset by yobbery, and as a nation hopelessly adrift. 

FNBIONYGN   For nothing, believe it or not, you get nothing. 

                                                                                                     Graham Hurley 

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Ban on second homes in new crackdown

Second homes could face bans under new legislation reportedly being considered by the Government.

Aaron Greenaway www.devonlive.com

It’s been reported that the Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick is planning a range of reforms that will give councils the power to ban the creation of second homes if they are deemed damaging to the community without a referendum on the issue.

The changes will form part of a ‘triple clampdown’ which it is reported will alleviate some of the extreme housing pressures in Devon and Cornwall along with granting Councils powers to insist developers build more starter homes as opposed to focusing on properties likely to be attractive as holiday homes .

New changes to planning rules could also be on the horizon, too, with a potential change of the rules to require owners of a property to get planning permission before conversion to a holiday let.

The Daily Mail reports that a Government source has insisted that while ministers were ‘not anti-second homes’, there was a need to tackle the issues in areas where ‘high levels of second home ownership are blamed for pricing local people out of the housing market.’

It also reports that while no final decision has yet been made on the subject, Mr Jenrick was ‘open’ to the proposals. In addition, where the plans to be put into law would primarily target traditional holiday lettings and Airbnbs – as well as not being applied retrospectively or apply to long term rentals.

Any new changes in legislation will come as part of new planning legislation this autumn with the intention of providing respite to areas seeing exceptional demand.

The proposal to prevent newly built properties from being sold to a non-residential buyer without a referendum closely mirrors a decision taken in St Ives, Cornwall in 2016. After residents voted for the proposals in a referendum, a ban on developers building new properties for the second home market was implemented, with new homes only able to be sold to people who can prove they will use it as a primary residence.

Under the new proposed legislation, Councils would not have to win a referendum to make this possible.

In 2019, a study by the London School of Economics said that the ban implemented in St Ives may have backfired, with developers choosing to build elsewhere with locals facing stiffer competition from those seeking to buy existing properties from elsewhere.

Professor Christian Hilber, who authored the study, however, noted that restricting second homes may have ‘positive effects on amenities and affordability while coming at a cost of a significant adverse effect on the local economy.’

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Second homes fury as tourists ‘drive out locals’

Last month, DevonLive launched its Priced Out Campaign, which aimed to explore the impact of increasing house prices in our communities.

Alex Davis www.devonlive.com 

In response to our Priced Out of Devon survey, more than 1,000 people have shared their thoughts as to whether there is a housing crisis in the county.

Currently, 75% of participants in the survey believe Devon is currently in a housing crisis, with 76% agreeing with the statement that houses are more expensive now than 20 years ago.

80% of participants believed that there should be a cap on second homes in the county, while out of 1282 responses, 80% of participants believed that locals were being priced out of their communities.

Of the people who completed the survey, 60% owned a home, 32% rent and 6% registered themselves as currently homeless.

One participant said: “My son is saving for a deposit but he’s also renting 50 miles away as it’s cheaper inland. Most of his wages go on rent so he will be saving for years.”

Another said: “Second homes are killing the community and driving out locals. Second home owners put a drain on local amenities and don’t put anything back. Long term it will kill off communities.”

Despite the majority of participants agree that Devonians are being priced out of their area, some readers believed that people could prioritise more in order to find a house on the market.

One participant in the survey said: “Most young couples run two cars, take foreign holidays, gym contract, the latest mobile phones and WiFi. They need to learn to prioritise, stop moaning and pull their belts in just like the generations before them did.”

Another commenter added: “People need to expand their horizons. They might not be able to afford to live in high demand coastal locations, but move 10 or 15 miles inland or to larger towns and they will find it more affordable. This has always been the case.

“When we bought our first house nearly 20 years ago we could not afford to live in the village where I grew up. We bought a house in a nearby town saved up some more and then could afford to move to the village where we wanted to be. Patience and priority are what is important: not the latest iPhone or another tattoo!”

In South West England, listings for properties in South West England have fallen by 49% since 2019, with rents also up 23%.

Availability of housing has made it incredibly difficult for residents to find homes in the county. On August 4 2021, there were 2591 holiday let listings for properties in North Devon, compared to 21 properties listed to rent on Zoopla and 30 on Rightmove. In South Hams, 10% of landlords have holiday lets; the analytics website AirDNA counts 2521 holiday lets, but there are just 31 homes to let on Zoopla.

While housing crises have been announced in coastal towns, such as Ilfracombe, they have also been declared in Bideford, Great Torrington and Braunton.

Many responses from DevonLive readers showed that the housing issues in Devon are not restricted to younger people.

One participant in the survey said: “My husband and I cannot afford to buy our next property, we are both in our sixties. We live with our daughter who owns her home. We sold our property before COVID moved in with her and due to COVID and my husband shielding lost our chance to buy a property at a reasonable price.

“We live in Torbay and are shocked by how many people are buying and own second properties and more. In our road there are holiday rentals and an empty holiday home. There needs to be high taxes on holiday homes to bring more to the market or fund more affordable homes. All new homes need to be rst and only homes.”

Another said: “I am a 30 year old working professional and house prices mean it is difficult to save for a deposit when rental prices are so high. You can’t afford to live and save.”

Increasing rent has become a greater struggle for single parents or lone tenants, who often don’t have a combined salary to hit the salary requirement.

One reader said: “I am a single doctor and cannot afford to upgrade and move from my two bed flat to somewhere with a garden as they are out of my price range. It must be even harder for others.”

Another participant said: “I am a single dad with two children living with me both with a disability, I’ve been on Devon home choice since 2016 and still getting on there. Since COVID, people are buying up houses like no tomorrow down here rather than living up North. It seems the single family parents are suffering, just because we are single parents. We shouldn’t be treated like this.”

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Devon and Cornwall Covid rates no longer the highest in England

Covid rates in Devon and Cornwall have dropped by a third in the last week and are no longer the highest in England.

Owl notes the increasing part being played by the local public health teams, who were by-passed in the early stages of the pandemic.

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com

A total of 6695 new cases were confirmed across the two counties – with the total since the start of the pandemic at 119433 – down by 33 per cent from last week’s total.

And while rates remain relatively high, they are no longer at the top of the charts in England, as last week 11 of the top 13 areas were in Devon and Cornwall, but that is no longer the case.

Plymouth has the 5 th highest rate in England, with Cornwall 6 th , the only two areas in the top ten. Torbay is 11 th , with South Hams 13 th , and Teignbridge in 17 th the only other areas in the top 20.

Rates have fallen everywhere though, as have the number of new cases recorded, in all of the areas of the two counties.

Government stats show that 6695 new cases have been confirmed across the region in the past seven days, to 9685 new cases confirmed last week.

Since August 28, of the 6695 new cases confirmed, 2366 were in Cornwall, 516 in East Devon, 419 in Exeter, 320 in Mid Devon, 342 in North Devon, 1063 in Plymouth, 344 in South Hams, 435 in Teignbridge, 494 in Torbay, 211 in Torridge and 185 in West Devon.

This compares to the 9685 cases confirmed between August 21 and 27, of which, 3781 were in Cornwall, with 715 in East Devon, 662 in Exeter, 428 in Mid Devon, 448 in North Devon, 1229 in Plymouth, 375 in South Hams, 748 in Teignbridge, 679 in Torbay, 335 in Torridge and 285 in West Devon.

The fall comes despite Plymouth, Torbay, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly being elevated to ‘Enhanced Response Area’ status, because case rates in the county were among the highest in England – and the fall in cases and infection rates almost certainly relates to infections caught before the introduced of the status last Friday as they have yet to have time to take any effect.

While no extra restrictions are in place, measures have been rolled out which will help with support measures for education settings and increased national communications support, clearly outlining the continued risks of Covid-19 and the need to take personal action, such as the wearing of face masks and social distancing.

Infection rates across Devon are currently highest in the 0-19s, then the 20-39s, and then by the 40-59s, 60-79s and 80+. But in Torbay and Cornwall, the 20-39s have the highest rates, as does Torridge, West Devon and East Devon at a district level, while in Exeter, the 40-59s have the highest rates.

The latest Government figures, which give the position as of Tuesday, August 31, show that across hospital trusts in the two counties, there has continued to be a rise in the number in hospital – reflecting the rise in cases from previous weeks – going from 152 to 179.

Numbers in Cornwall have gone from 24 to 39, at Derriford Hospital they have risen from 52 to 54, at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, numbers are up from 40 to 51, and in North Devon District Hospital, they have stayed level at 19. But in Torbay, the numbers at Torbay Hospital have fallen from 19 to 16.

The figures show how many patients are in hospital following a positive test for Covid-19, but not whether they were admitted for Covid-related reasons, whether they were infected inside the hospital, or whether their admission was entirely unrelated but they happened to have Covid at the same time – figures for the South West show on August 24, around 17 per cent of beds were occupied by patients ‘with Covid’ and 83 per cent ‘for Covid’.

In the last week, there has been 16 deaths in Devon, two in Cornwall, eight in Plymouth, but just one in Torbay.

In terms of the latest MSOA cluster maps, that cover the period of specimen dates between August 23-29, all 230 areas of Devon and Cornwall reported three or more cases, including the Isles of Scilly with 10, one of four areas alongside St Just & Land’s End, Bow, Lapford & Yeoford and Sidmouth Town recording ten or less.

Newquay East reported 115 cases – half the 228 for the previous seven days, and was the only area above 100, compared to five for the previous week.

St Columb Minor & Porth reported 83, with Ivybridge (77), Cranbrook, Broadclyst & Stoke Canon (75), St Austell Central (72), Chelston, Cockington & Livermead (68) and Ham, Beacon Park & Pennycross (67) the only areas above 67.

Highest areas for each of the other districts were Middlemoor & Sowton (53), Tiverton West (42), Barnstaple South (40), Teignmouth North (52), Bideford South & East (65) and Tavistock (59)

In terms of infection rates, the four worst areas in England are all in Cornwall, with Newquay East, followed by St Columb Minor & Porth, Mid Saltash and Grampound Road, St Newlyn East and Cubert, with Padstow & St Issey 12 th , they are only areas in the top 20 – when last week, there were 17 areas in Devon and Cornwall. Ham, Beacon Park & Pennycross is 23 rd , while Devon’s top area is Tiverton West in 54 th .

Of the population aged 16 and up, 85.9% in Cornwall, 89.8% in East Devon, 78.7% in Exeter, 88.5% in Mid Devon, 87.2% in North Devon, 83.3% in Plymouth, 87.6% in South Hams, 88.8% in Teignbridge, 85.2% in Torbay, 88.4% in Torridge, and 89.9% in West Devon, have had one dose.

And of the population aged 16 and up, 78.8% in Cornwall, 82.8% in East Devon, 69.2% in Exeter, 81.1% in Mid Devon, 80.1% in North Devon, 73.9% in Plymouth, 79.9% in South Hams, 81.8% in Teignbridge, 77.4% in Torbay, 80.9% in Torridge and 82.6% in West Devon, have had a second dose.

Steve Brown, Director of Public Health Devon, said; “We’re going to see better use of our community testing vans. We’ve got five testing vans, which go out across Devon. Two of those vans already have embedded vaccination teams, so they’re going out to areas where there’s low uptake of vaccine and encouraging particularly young people and people who probably wouldn’t ordinarily go to our fixed vaccination sites to come forward to get vaccinated.

“We’re going to be looking at testing as well to make sure that there is testing capability across the whole of Devon, so people can access testing swiftly and easily.

“We’re also going to see an increase in our public health campaigns, to encourage people to get tested if they have symptoms, and obviously to take up the vaccination programme.”

Coronavirus cases have fallen a little in the latest recorded week, Mr Brown added: “We’ve all got a vital role to play. Please, if you’re eligible to be vaccinated, get your vaccination.

“If you have symptoms of COVID-19 – high temperature, loss of sense of smell or taste, or persistent cough – please isolate and then book yourself a PCR test.

“I’d also encourage people to test regularly using lateral flow tests, particularly when going out to visit vulnerable people; or you’re going to an event maybe; or you’ve come back from an event. These would be ideal times to take a lateral flow test.

“And also please don’t forget the good, old-fashioned public health measures – washing your hands, wearing face coverings in enclosed spaces, and social distancing where we can.

“Together we can help keep the rate as low as possible as we go into the Autumn and Winter.”

Professor Mike Wade, Deputy Regional Director and NHS Regional Director for Public Health England South West said: “With cases of COVID remaining high everyone is asked to continue to act carefully and responsibly.

“Day trippers, holidaymakers and residents need to protect themselves and others from COVID-19 and continue to exercise caution.”

FULL LIST OF MSOA in the Devon Live article

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We can’t build our way out of the environmental crisis

“If you want a greener world, resist the rising tide of concrete.”

George Monbiot www.theguardian.com

Dig for victory: this, repurposed from the second world war, could be the slogan of our times. All over the world, governments are using the pandemic and the environmental crisis to justify a new splurge of infrastructure spending. In the US, Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure framework “will make our economy more sustainable, resilient, and just”. In the UK, Boris Johnson’s build back better programme will “unite and level up the country”, under the banner of “green growth”. China’s belt and road project will bring the world together in hyper-connected harmony and prosperity.

Sure, we need some new infrastructure. If people are to drive less, we need new public transport links and safe cycling routes. We need better water treatment plants and recycling centres, new wind and solar plants, and the power lines required to connect them to the grid. But we can no more build our way out of the environmental crisis than we can consume our way out of it. Why? Because new building is subject to the eight golden rules of infrastructure procurement.

Rule 1 is that the primary purpose of new infrastructure is to enrich the people who commission or build it. Even when a public authority plans a new scheme for sensible reasons, first it must pass through a filter: will this make money for existing businesses? This is how, for example, plans to build a new hydrogen infrastructure in the UK appear to have been hijacked. In August, the head of the UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, Chris Jackson, resigned in protest at the government’s plans to promote hydrogen made from fossil methane, rather than producing it only from renewable electricity. He explained that the government’s strategy locks the nation into fossil fuel use. It seems to have the gas industry’s fingerprints all over it.

For the same reason, many of the beneficial projects in Biden’s infrastructure framework and American Jobs Plan have been cut down or stripped out by Congress, leaving behind a catalogue of pork-barrel pointlessness.

Much of the time, schemes are created and driven not by a well-intentioned public authority, but by the demands of industry. Their main purpose – making money – is fulfilled before anyone uses them. Only some projects have the secondary purpose of providing a public service.

Worldwide, construction is the most corrupt of all industries, often dominated by local mafias and driven by massive kickbacks for politicians. If infrastructure is to create any public benefit, it needs to be tightly and transparently regulated. Boris Johnson’s plans to deregulate the planning system and to build a series of free ports, where businesses will be able to escape many labour, customs and environmental rules, will ensure that the link between new building and public need becomes even more tenuous.

Rule 2 is that there’s an inherent bias towards selecting projects with the worst possible value for money. As the economic geographer Bent Flyvbjerg points out, “the projects that are made to look best on paper are the projects that amass the highest cost overruns and benefit shortfalls in reality.” Decisions are routinely based on misinformation and “delusional optimism”. HS2, whose nominal costs have risen from £37.5bn in 2009 to somewhere between £72bn and £110bn today, while its alleged financial benefits have fallen, is not the exception: it’s the global rule. By contrast, for £3bn a year, all bus tickets in the UK could be issued without charge, a policy that would take more cars off the road and reduce emissions much faster than this gigantic white elephant.

Rule 3 is that the environmental benefits of new schemes are routinely overstated while the costs are underplayed. HS2 is again emblematic: though it has been promoted as a greener way to travel, the government’s estimates suggest that it could, overall, release more carbon than it saves. Bypasses that were meant to relieve traffic jams merely shunt congestion to the next pinch point. Big hydroelectric dams routinely produce less electricity than promised while destroying entire ecosystems.

One reason for the environmental costs of new infrastructure is the massive footprint of concrete, whose carbon emissions may never be recouped. Another is the way new building creates new demand. This is an explicit aim of the government’s national infrastructure strategy and its “10-point plan for a green industrial revolution”. But you don’t solve a problem by making it bigger.

Rule 4 is that in countries with high biodiversity, infrastructure is the major driver of habitat destruction. As a paper in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution shows, new infrastructure and the deforestation it causes is highly “spatially contagious”. In other words, one scheme leads to another and then another, expanding the frontier inexorably into crucial habitats. There is an almost perfect relationship between the proximity to a road and the number of forest fires. Roads, above all other factors, are tearing apart the forests of the Amazon, the Congo basin and south-east Asia.

Rule 5 is that massive infrastructure schemes disproportionately affect territories belonging to indigenous people: for centuries their land has been treated as other people’s frontiers. Indigenous groups fought long and hard to establish the principle of “free, prior and informed consent”, which is recognised by the UN and in international law but ignored almost everywhere. This rule applies to all kinds of infrastructure, even those we see as benign. A report by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre shows how renewable energy schemes have often driven a coach and horses through indigenous people’s rights.

Rule 6 is that greener infrastructure will produce a greener outcome only if it’s accompanied by the deliberate retirement of existing infrastructure. In addressing the climate and ecological emergencies, the key issue is not the new things we do, but the old things we stop doing. But while the UK government has plans to fund new rail links, bus services and cycle lanes, it has no plans to retire any road or runway. On the contrary, it boasts about its “record investment in strategic roads” (£27bn). Every major airport in the UK has plans for expansion. Last week, for example, Gatwick airport announced a consultation to raise its passenger numbers from 46 million to 75 million a year.

Rule 7 is that rich nations tend to be oversupplied with some types of infrastructure. One of the simplest, cheapest and most effective green policies is to set aside existing motorway lanes for buses, to create a fast, efficient inter-city service. But where’s the money for construction companies in that?

Rule 8 is that environmental change cannot be delivered only by infrastructure. To be effective, it needs to be accompanied by social change: travelling less as well as travelling better, for example. We need to develop not only new railways and tramlines and wind farms and power lines, but a new way of life.

But while governments and construction companies are happy to give us more of everything, the one thing we cannot have is less. The overarching rule is this: if you want a greener world, resist the rising tide of concrete.

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“Captain” Raab, his spad lads’ army and the “five Is”

Step forward “Private” Jupp

If he wasn’t Johnson’s fall guy, Raab would be up the creek without a paddleboard

 Marina Hyde Extract from www.theguardian.com

“… To put things into perspective, Raab appears to have tired so completely of the bare-knuckle briefing in Westminster that he’s gone for a mini-break in the Middle East. Or diplomatic mission, as his department officially has it. Alas, that same department has a whole lot more to say unofficially, with a series of hilariously unflattering off-the-record lines reported by the Economist probably the pick of the bunch. According to these, Raab is “tightly wound”, “controlling” and “cold”, and has sidelined ambassadors, diplomats and officials in favour of some kind of spad lads’ army, which has failed to build him any significant relationships with global counterparts. Some Foreign Office officials call him “five Is”, which apparently stands for “insular, imperious, idle, irascible and ignorant”.   …

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Housebuilder Barratt sees revenues soar in pandemic property boom

Housebuilder Barratt Developments has seen revenues soar above pre-pandemic levels after it sold more homes at higher prices amid a booming property market.

Camilla Canocchi www.thisismoney.co.uk 

Revenues for the full-year to the end of June came in at £4.8billion, which is a 40 per cent increase compared to 2020 and also 1 per cent higher than 2019.

Pre-tax profits at the FTSE 100 company also rose 65 per cent to £812.2million compared to last year, although they remain some 11 per cent below 2019 levels. 

Boss David Thomas said there was a ‘very strong demand for houses across the country’ 

The surge in profit and revenue comes as house prices leapt this year thanks to a mix of rising demand, stamp duty holiday and low mortgage rates, 

Barratt saw the average selling price for private homes soar to around £325,000, from £310,600 in 2020 and £312,00 in 2019. 

The most recent Nationwide house price index reported the average house price across the UK had risen 11 per cent to £248,857 in the year to August.

Barratt completed the sale of some 17,243 homes, which is an increase of 37 per cent from 2020 but still around 3 per cent below 2019.

And it said it plans to increase the number of home sales in the current fiscal year to pre-pandemic levels wholly owned completions allaying concerns about a cooling housing market.

The group is targeting between 17,000 and 17,250 sales in the current financial year, with an additional 750 joint-venture completions, which would take the total above the 17,856 home sales completed in 2019.

Chief executive David Thomas said there was a ‘very strong demand for houses across the country’, leaving the company on on track to hit its long-term target of 20,000 a year. 

Forward sales – a key housing metric for homes to be delivered and paid for at a later date – as of the end of August stood at £3.94billion, against £3.71billion in 2020 and £3billion in 2019.

However, it also said it was seeing build costs rise, currently by between 4 per cent and 5 per cent, with materials more expensive due to wider industry supply issues, as well as skilled labour shortages pushing worker wages higher amid a booming sector.

Annual results confirmed a £81.5million bill for cladding safety works in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster, taking its total hit so far since 2017 to £184.2million. 

The group unveiled a final dividend payout of 21.9p a share, bringing the full-year payout to 29.4p, up from 29.1p in 2019, with the group halting dividends last year due to the pandemic. 

Barratt shares were down 2.9 per cent to 721p at 1pm. 

Nationwide said the average house price has risen close to the £250,000 mark, but that remains considerably below Barratt’s average sales price

Nicholas Hyett, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the fall in shares is probably down to a lack of detail about shareholder returns.

‘All the signs in Barratt’s results are that the housing market remains robust,’ he said. 

‘Despite the progress the market seems disappointed with the results, and we suspect that’s down to limited detail about additional shareholder returns. The group exited the last financial year with over £1.3bn in net cash. 

‘A good portion of that is earmarked for helping the group reach 20,000 completions a year, but with land purchases already approaching that level that still leaves some surplus.

‘Still, with a dividend yield north of 5 per cent, profits back on track and end markets that look robust despite the recent housing boom, Barratt’s weathered the storm well, coming out of the pandemic with solid foundations on which to build.’

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Village loses affordable homes after council blunder

A village in North Devon has lost its affordable housing due to a council mistake.

Alex Davis www.devonlive.com 

Planning permission for Lower Broad Park, in West Down, Ilfracombe, was approved in January 2016 and was intended to provide five affordable homes for local people. Despite this, residents were told last year that this requirement would no longer be fulfilled.

Stewart Bryant, former landowner of what is now Lower Broad Park, has lived in West Down, Ilfracombe all his life and grew up himself in council housing provided by the village. Stewart read a speech to the Planning Committee in 2016 highlighting his intention to provide five affordable homes where local people could grow the community, resulting in the addition of a Section 106 requirement to the application.

The Section 106 attached to the planning permission created the legal requirement of five affordable homes within the new development, which could only be rented to tenants with an existing tie to the village. In addition, the application promised financial contributions to the community to be used to make improvements to the village hall, local primary school and community field.

In November 2017, Acorn Developments submitted applications for a drainage ditch, followed by an application to amend design and layout in August 2018.When signing off these amendments, North Devon District Council failed to carry over the Section 106 requirement across to the new application, due to oversight by an officer.

Stewart says the council’s lack of monitoring throughout the development has left his vision for the site in tatters.

He said: “The processes North Devon District have in place are not fit for purpose. With the Section 106 agreement, they should have monitored the site but they didn’t. They let this drift by.”

“This is such a lovely, working community here and that Section 106 was really valuable to this community. This was our own opportunity to get some affordable housing for local people and to have that torn away from us on the 11th hour was a huge blow to everyone.”

“We all make mistakes but I feel the council should stand up and make it public that they made a mistake. I doubt we’ll get another opportunity to provide new homes here for the next 30 years and I think they are now trying to sweep this under the carpet.”

The properties first appeared on Devon Home Choice in September 2019. After being told they would be moved in by Christmas, prospective local tenants were put on hold until Spring 2020, before being told a change of tenure removed the social housing requirement.

Many of these prospective tenants had already moved out of their homes and were on standby in temporary holiday accommodation.

According to the report, the council did not become aware of the error until March 2020, when Acorn Homes contacted them to state that acting on legal advice, they believed the site was no longer bound to S106 restrictions.

North Devon District Council and Acorn Homes have now agreed that one affordable house will now be sold and a payment of £106,500 is to be made for community projects.

In a report to the Planning Committee on December 9 2020, former Head of Place Michael Tichford stated: “A deed of variation should have been produced to modify the S106 agreement so that it related to the consent as amended by the subsequent applications. Unfortunately, this was not done, due to an oversight.”

Despite acknowledgement for the error, Stewart claimed many of the emails sent by residents and the Parish Council have been ignored.

A spokesperson for North Devon Council said: “It is confirmed that an error was made in relation to application 60385 which was an application for the erection of 17 dwellings on land adjacent to Pearldean, West Down, now known as Lower Broad Park.

“The error was that the terms of a section 106 agreement negotiated in relation to an earlier application on the site were not carried forward to this application. Subsequently, the developer, Acorn Homes, also argued that the level of benefits secured via the agreement could not be achieved through the development.

“North Devon Council (NDC) and Acorn Homes did not agree on the legal effect of the error but a compromise was reached whereby some of the benefits that had previously been agreed would still be provided. In particular, one unit of affordable housing and financial contributions totally £106,500 were to be provided.

“Those contributions are secured under a further section 106 agreement which is binding on the land and are to be paid towards community facilities and education. Whilst the triggers for making the payments have now been reached, payments have not yet been made by Acorn Homes and the council is currently corresponding with the developers to secure those contributions.

“The original error was unprecedented and is very much regretted by the council. That error has been acknowledged by NDC in its dealings with the Parish Council and with affected local residents and the council will continue in its efforts to secure the benefits described”.

Mark Thomas, Managing Director of Acorn Developments, said: “We have contributions to make and we are aware of those.

“The scheme has lost money, so it has been more challenging to make those payments, but we are looking to make a payment on September 31, followed by a final payment on October 31.”

According to Cllr David Worden, Leader of North Devon Council, 117 affordable homes have been delivered during the pandemic, with 636 affordable homes awaiting completion since May.

Within his statement, Cllr Worden said the housing crisis in North Devon “needs a joined up approach from local and national government to resolve these issues and will need honesty and commitment from all those involved.”

Stewart said the council’s handling of the development at West Down shouldn’t be repeated elsewhere in North Devon if it wants to discuss housing as their highest priority.

He said: “There’s a lack of affordable housing in the area and this is one example where the process has failed. The council are talking about creating affordable housing in North Devon, but the way that these developments are being managed needs to change.

“The affordable homes aspect of the development has been finished and empty for at least 18 months. At that time, it was a disgrace. Five homes empty and not occupied with the housing crisis in North Devon.”

“I think their approach has been incredibly rude, especially to our parish council. Our parish council are very passionate about the village but throughout this whole situation they have just been ignored and shut out.

“This is something that will affect our village for years and years to come.”

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Tory response to the Humphreys case is to call for DBS checks on all councillors, even candidates.

There are four levels of DBS check. They reveal what criminal records may be held on central police records and for enhanced checks, local records as well. Lower levels report “unspent” convictions, higher levels “spent” convictions as well:

  • Basic DBS
  • Standard DBS
  • Enhanced DBS
  • Enhanced DBS with barring list

Which are we going for?

The interesting question is whether or when DBS checks would have prevented either of the “rotten apples” cases highlighted by Owl.. Remember you are innocent until found guilty.

As has been pointed out in a recent comment, DBS checks are not without flaws and may provide a false sense of security.

The introduction of blanket DBS checks for councillors just by virtue of being a councillor, rather than on the basis  of their access to vulnerable groups, is something Owl believes should be considered nationally, not introduced by councils piecemeal.

Owl notes the Tory commitment to promoting openness and transparency. Maybe councillors’ declaration of interests would benefit from being given greater scrutiny?

Clearing the way forward – East Devon’s Conservative Group calls for mandatory DBS checks for councillors

Councillor Phil Twiss exmouth.nub.news 

Following the sentencing of a former member of East Devon District Council (EDDC) after being found guilty of despicable sexual crimes against children, the Conservative Group of councillors on EDDC are calling for Disclosure and Barring (DBS) checks for all existing councillors.

The Conservative Group wants every prospective candidate and all existing councillors to undergo the checks which show any criminal convictions now, with the enhanced version required if an individual is expected to work with vulnerable people, including children, being demonstrated as necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move would improve safety and protection whilst promoting openness and transparency. Previous calls by the Conservative Group to introduce such a measure have been ignored by other groups within the council.

Cllr Colin Brown, Leader of the Conservative Group, said: “We are shocked and appalled by the horrendous crimes that have come to light and our thoughts are with the victims.

“We must do everything we can to protect the public and we are calling for DBS checks to be carried out on every existing councillor and future candidates.

“I would like to see this initiative implemented as a prerequisite for standing and serving as a councillor and we plan to introduce the measure for anyone wanting to join the Conservative Group.

“We are calling on every councillor and the current leadership of the council to back our call and introduce the checks as soon as possible.

“It may not currently be a legal requirement, but it is unquestionably the right thing to do and if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.”

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Another week, another Cornish festival

This one is a lot smaller than “Boardmasters” but Covid-19 is still likely to have a good time. So much for “enhanced response” – Owl

Latest rates of cases of Covid-19 in Devon and Cornwall show small decreases. The rates remain high when viewed in a national context.

www.bbc.co.uk

The figures show the number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in the seven days up to and including 29 August, with the previous week’s numbers in brackets.

The breakdown of the figures by local authority area is:

  • Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly – 485 (down from 509)
  • Plymouth – 497 (down from 521)
  • Exeter – 360 (down from 380)
  • Mid Devon – 403 (down from 448)
  • East Devon – 380 (down from 385)
  • Torbay – 419 (down from 446)
  • Teignbridge – 407 (down from 420)
  • South Hams – 420 (up from 409)
  • West Devon – 374 (down from 387)
  • North Devon – 376 (down from 385)
  • Torridge – 375 (down from 397)

For comparison, the figure for England is 301.

There were 11 deaths in Devon and 6 in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

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Why might the anti-corruption tsar be smearing us? – Good Law Project

goodlawproject.org 

“Unimaginable resources” were thrown at Test and Trace. Yet it “cannot point to a measurable difference to the progress of the pandemic”. That’s what the Conservative-majority Public Accounts Committee found. There was a measurable difference, though, for the owners of the biggest of the pandemic contract winners, Innova. The LA Times reported that they flashed “an Innova bank statement with a $175-million balance as proof of funds”.  They also went on “a corporate and personal luxury buying spree”, including several Gulfstream jets and luxury houses.

Things are no better when one turns to PPE procurement. The Government’s own Counter Fraud Function         “assessed a high risk of fraud in the procurement of PPE”. 

You might think this is cause for the Government’s Anti-Corruption Champion, John Penrose MP, to take a look. His role, after all, is to “scrutinise and challenge the performance of departments and agencies”. And the sums involved are no laughing matter. Together, the Test and Trace and PPE programmes cost a staggering £50bn – about the size of the whole annual defence budget.

But rather than chasing corruption, he seems to spend his time besmirching those who do. A follower of Good Law Project has shared with us an extraordinary letter he received from John Penrose, which contains a number of out-and-out falsehoods. 

The letter says: 

  • “Since the start of the pandemic [Good Law Project] have brought scores of legal cases against the Government and, so far, they’ve failed to make almost all of them stand up in court.” 

That’s just not true. At the time of writing, we have had only two substantive court decisions and have won both of them. And, of the 14 cases we have issued since the start of 2020, the Court has granted permission in 11 at the first time of asking. Official statistics (beginning in 2010) show that this happens in only 17% of all judicial reviews. Good Law Project’s success rate is 78%.

It also says:

  • “In both cases, the judge said that their broader allegations of dishonesty or actual corruption (i.e. anything more than failing to follow the bureaucratic process precisely enough) weren’t proven.”

That is also false. In none of the decided cases did we allege dishonesty or corruption. So, his statement that judges dismissed our allegations of dishonesty or actual corruption is a pure and false figment of his imagination.

Is Penrose indifferent to the truth of what he says? Or is our notional anti-corruption champion telling out-and-out lies to try and smear those doing the job he should be doing?

Penrose goes on to say:

“I should probably add that a couple of their cases are against appointments at NHS Test & Trace, where my wife worked as a senior volunteer.”

That’s not entirely frank either. 

The truth is that the person in charge of the programme that delivered unimaginable wealth to Innova’s owners but made no measurable difference to the progress of the pandemic is Baroness Dido Harding. And John Penrose is her husband. Yep, you read it right: he’s charged with scrutinising whether there was corruption in the programme headed up by his own wife. It’s laughable – but it’s no laughing matter.

In fact, Good Law Project is bringing a judicial review – for which a court has granted us permission – of the decision to put Harding to lead the £37bn Test and Trace fiasco. 

What does all of this add up to? 

We wouldn’t normally respond to baseless slurs from a Parliamentarian. But what makes Penrose’s letter significant is that the anti-corruption champion has a responsibility to “engage with external stakeholders, including… civil society organisations”.

There is likely to be – the Government itself has acknowledged – fraud in pandemic procurement. And despite being a small not-for-profit without the powers of a law enforcement agency, Good Law Project has uncovered two highly suspicious cases involving contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds: one involving Priti Patel and another involving vast contracts awarded to a jeweller based in Florida.

Penrose’s letter tells the truth about his role. He’s not an anti-corruption champion – he’s a man speaking falsehoods to try and stop those working to uncover it. 

It is only with your support that we can continue to hold Government to account. If you would like to make a donation, you can do so here.

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Mid Devon’s future housing strategy plans published

The public is being invited to have a say on Mid Devon’s new housing strategy until 2025, which includes a target for 160 new council houses.

[Mid-Devon is currently a “no overall control” council with 20 Conservatives, 11 Lib Dem, 8 Independent and 2 Green councillors]

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

The authority’s cabinet approved the draft strategy for a consultation that will begin later this week and last until the end of the month.

The 40 objectives set out in the document include 160 new council houses of a mix of social and affordable rent. Social rent homes are typically let at around half the local market rate by a registered provider, while affordable rent is up to 80 per cent.

The strategy also details how the council intends to retrofit its existing housing stock to a net zero carbon standard by 2050, help provide serviced plots for custom and self-build housing, provide eight new pitches for the gypsy and traveller communities and minimise rough sleeping to five people or fewer in Mid Devon at any one time.

In the introduction to the 56-page document, Councillor Bob Evans (Conservative, Lower Culm), deputy leader and cabinet member for housing and property services, said: “It is important that we support housing growth to meet a growing population and to support economic growth, but this cannot be achieved solely by developing new homes, but also by focusing on our existing stock and making better use of it for everyone, including our vulnerable households.”

Debating the strategy, Councillor Graeme Barnell (Lib Dem, Newbrooke) said that while its contents had been well-received at the scrutiny committee and homes policy development group, the plan was not ambitious enough.

“The housing crisis in Mid Devon – so-called – is one primarily of affordability. This plan, where it does address the issue of council housing and affordable housing, is very limited in its scope. All national studies suggest we need a hundred [social rented] houses a year, in addition to the current figures, and this comes nowhere near that.”

Cllr Barnell also criticised the proposed two-week public consultation on the plan, but Simon Newcombe, group manager for public health and regulatory services, later confirmed the consultation would stay open until the end of September.

Responding to Cllr Barnell’s comments, Cllr Evans said the plan was something the council “will deliver” and the “possibilities beyond this will be worked upon”.

“What we wanted to set out was something that we could be held accountable to and that we know that we can deliver. This isn’t the extent of where we believe we can go.”

Mr Newcombe added that, following the end of the consultation, final updates will be made to the strategy in early October before it is brought back to the cabinet for approval.

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2 Sep 2021

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Schools in poorest parts of England ‘hammered’ by biggest cuts

School spending per pupil in England will remain lower than in 2010 following a decade of education budget cuts, new research has revealed.

www.independent.co.uk

Boris Johnson’s government has committed extra £7.1bn funding for schools in England for 2022-2023 – but it will not reverse a cut in real-term spending per pupil over the past decade, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS).

Total school spending per pupil in England was just over £6,500 in the latest complete year of data in 2019-20, some 9 per cent lower in real terms than its high-point of £7,200 in 2009-10, meaning spending will still be 1 per cent lower than a decade ago after accounting for inflation.

The think tank also said disadvantaged pupils in the poorest parts of England have suffered from the biggest cuts over the decade of austerity, and its research shows they are now receiving the smallest increase in extra spending.

Between 2017–18 and 2022–23, funding allocated for the most privileged schools will increase by 8 to 9 per cent in real terms, compared with only 5 per cent for the most deprived schools.

Labour said Conservative cuts have “hammered” school budgets over the last decade and accused the government of “stripping away” children’s opportunities.

The opposition urged ministers to invest more in post-Covid catch-up funding, as House of Commons library data showed the UK has outstripped most European countries in the length of time schools were closed for during the pandemic.

Luke Sibieta, research fellow at IFS, said the “big squeeze” in school spending per pupil in England was the largest in at least 40 years.

“This will make it that much harder for schools to address the major challenge of helping pupils catch up on lost learning alongside everything else they are required to do,” he said.

The IFS expert added: “Schools serving disadvantaged communities face the biggest challenges. They faced the biggest cuts up to 2019 and are now receiving the smallest rises. This pattern runs counter to the government’s aim of levelling up poorer parts of the country.”

Josh Hillman, director of education at the Nuffield Foundation, the charitable trust which commissioned the research, added: “It is crucial that schools in deprived areas receive appropriate and well-directed funding so that they can help to close the disadvantage gap and ensure all children can reach their potential.”

Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, said the IFS report showed how “Conservative cuts have hammered school budgets over the last decade”.

The Labour frontbencher added: “Children’s opportunities have been stripped away as class sizes have soared to record levels and enriching extracurricular activities have been cut back.”

Since the start of last year children in the UK have been out of class on nearly half (44 per cent) of days – amounting to longer school closures than any European country except Italy.

The shadow education secretary said the long stretches pupils spent out of school was partly the fault of failures by education secretary Gavin Williamson.

“The Conservatives’ failure to respond to the Covid crisis has kept kids out of class for far longer than their European counterparts,” said Ms Green – calling on the government to make sure proper ventilation is in place so Covid outbreaks can be minimised this autumn.

“As the new school year starts, Gavin Williamson is again burying his head in the sand, ignoring the advice of scientific experts and risking creating a climate of chaos for schools if Covid rates rise,” she added.

A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said the £7.1bn increase in funding for schools, compared to 2019-20 funding levels was “the biggest uplift to school funding in a decade”.

The DfE added: “Next year, funding is increasing by 3.2 per cent overall, and by 2.8 per cent per pupil, compared to 2021-22. The National Funding Formula continues to distribute this fairly, based on the needs of schools and their pupil cohorts.”