A Neighbourhood Plan for Kilmington is coming closer following the parish council’s publication, on Thursday 17th December, of a draft plan. 

Owl applauds the effort put into this endeavour by a small community and hopes that neighbourhood planning continues to be recognised in future government planning policies. – Stick with it! Owl

Joseph Bulmer www.midweekherald.co.uk 

In accordance with Regulation 14, residents and organisations are invited to comment on the draft Kilmington Neighbourhood Plan, which is displayed on the Kilmington Village website or available from the Clerk to the Parish Council. 

The plan, written by a team of volunteer members from the community and from Kilmington Parish Council, proposes a number of policies to influence the future planning of the parish. 

It is the community’s vision for how they would like to see the parish change in the coming years.  

Consultation work started five years ago and local residents have completed questionnaires and provided comment and ideas which, together with the previous Village Design Statement, underpin the plan. 

Neighbourhood planning enables communities to play a much stronger role in shaping the areas in which they live and work and in supporting new development proposals. 

This is because unlike past parish, village or town plans that communities may have prepared, a neighbourhood plan forms part of the development plan and sits alongside the local plan prepared by the local planning authority. 

Decisions on planning applications will be made using both the local plan and the neighbourhood plan, and any other material considerations. 

Kilmington Parish Council is keen to have feedback on the plan. You can download a response form on the website. The consultation period runs until Sunday, February 28, 2021. 

All feedback will be considered by the neighbourhood planning team. A planning judgement will be taken and a decision will be made over whether or not to amend the plan in response to each representation before the plan is submitted to East Devon District Council for further consultation and on to independent examination. 

Neighbourhood planning gives communities direct power to develop a shared vision for their neighbourhood and shape the development and growth of their local area. They are able to choose where they want new homes, shops and offices to be built, have their say on what those new buildings should look like and what infrastructure should be provided, and grant planning permission for the new buildings they want to see go ahead. 

The Heart of the South West Growth Support Programme (GSP) is launching its new “Adapt + Revive” initiative which aims to equip businesses in the region with vital digital skills to help support economic recovery. 

Didn’t EDDC get there first for East Devon businesses in September – see post? Owl

Joseph Bulmer www.midweekherald.co.uk

Businesses across Devon, Somerset, Plymouth and Torbay will be offered support and training focusing on digital marketing, e-commerce and website management through the scheme. 

A number of training webinars are also being aimed specifically at businesses operating in the tourism, food and drink and retail sectors. 

Businesses that have been through the GSP have been able to apply the insights and skills gained through the scheme to greatly improve their business’ practice and digital presence online. 

Through the programme, which continues until the end of March, businesses receive an initial 1:1 appointment with a local business adviser who is able to review the existing business’ strategy and identify further support. 

After an initial consultation, businesses that qualify for additional support are offered a further nine hours of advice in 1:1 sessions and online webinars, covering a range of essential business topics: finance, human resources, innovation, digital marketing, business planning and e-commerce. 

Councillor Rufus Gilbert, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Economy, Skills and Training, said: “The support being offered on digital marketing and online retail through this initiative, has become even more valuable to businesses since the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. I would encourage anyone who would benefit from the training to register their interest now. 

“We’re really pleased with the number of businesses who have responded positively to the Growth Support Programme since it started. The continued business advice that the Programme offers with be increasingly helpful as businesses continue to navigate the changing economic landscape – especially when considering the implications of Covid-19 and the end of the UK Brexit Transition period next month.” 

The Heart of the South West Growth Support Programme project is receiving up to £1,294,302 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. 

To find out more about the Growth Support Programme, check your business’ eligibility and to register your interest, see the page on the Growth Hub’s website. 

Devon County Council and South West business leaders have joined forces in calling on the Government to commit to upgrading the full length of the delay-ridden A303/A30/A358 corridor. 

Government getting cold feet, when were they ever warm? – Owl

Joseph Bulmer www.midweekherald.co.uk 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps’ backing for the Stonehenge tunnel has been warmly welcomed, but there are mounting concerns that the Government has got cold feet over funding vital improvements to the whole route despite Highways England citing an independent report that says it would boost the South West economy by £39 billion. 

Analysis commissioned by a campaign partnership of South West local authorities and LEPs showed that improving the whole A303/A30/A358 corridor would not only deliver a massive uplift to the region’s economy from Cornwall to Wiltshire, it would also create 21,000 new jobs over time. 

The call has been backed by the British Chambers of Commerce South West and CBI South West who represent thousands of businesses across the region. 

Doctors will be paid an extra £10 for every Covid vaccine dose they give to care home residents or staff, NHS England has said.

Xantha Leatham www.dailymail.co.uk

GPs will be given the additional payment, on top of the standard £12.58 fee for each jab, to compensate for the ‘additional time and resources’ required to visit patients on site.

A letter sent to all primary care networks by health leaders said they had asked local Covid vaccination services to prioritise care home residents and care home staff to ensure this priority group is vaccinated against Covid-19 as quickly as possible.

It reads: ‘We appreciate the additional time and resources needed to deliver the vaccine in a care home setting, especially at this pressurised time of year. Therefore the NHS is providing an additional supplement of £10 per dose on top of the item of service fee for all vaccines delivered in a care home setting.’

But we were supposed to have a stockpile of 30 million doses by now weren’t we? – Owl

Rhys Blakely, Science Correspondent | Oliver Wright, Policy Editor www.thetimes.co.uk 

Two million doses of the Oxford vaccine are due to be supplied each week by the middle of this month as pressure builds on the government to speed up immunisations.

Concerns are growing over the rate achieved so far and the NHS is having to cope with record numbers of hospital admissions driven by a new, more transmissible strain of the coronavirus.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said on Wednesday that only 530,000 doses of the Oxford vaccine would be ready on Monday, despite original plans to have a stockpile of 30 million by the autumn.

A key member of the Oxford-Astrazeneca team told The Times that they expected two million doses to be ready each week in just over a fortnight. The source said that there would be a million ready in total next week, adding: “The plan is then to build it up fairly rapidly — by the third week of January we should get to two million a week.”

Members of the team are frustrated at the pace of production, for which they blamed Britain’s virtually non- existent vaccine manufacturing capacity before the pandemic.

The government has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine, which was approved this week. Scientific advisers have calculated that at least two million vaccinations a week could be needed, as well as a lockdown that includes school closures, to avoid the pressures on intensive care exceeding the peak of the first wave.

From another Times article “When will I get the Covid vaccine?” (which contains a handy interactive ready reckoner) these are the number of people in the East Devon vaccine queue, assuming everyone chooses to get vaccinated:

East Devon

17,322 care home staff and residents, frontline healthcare workers and over-80s.

6,780 over-75s

11,738 over-70s and clinically vulnerable

9,453 over-65s

16,442 people at risk

7,437 over-60s

6,319 over-55s 

6,312 over-50s.

Nationally the numbers are:

4.4 million care home residents and workers, frontline health staff and over-80s

1.6 million over-75s

3.9 million over-70s and clinically vulnerable

2.3 million over-65s

7.5 million at risk people

1.9 million over-60s

1.9 million over-55s

2.3 million over-50s.

On the 30 December health care workers were informed that:

 “Prioritising the first doses of vaccine for as many people as possible on the priority list will protect the greatest number of at-risk people overall in the shortest possible time and will have the greatest impact on reducing mortality, severe disease and hospitalisations and in protecting the NHS and equivalent health services. Operationally this will mean that second doses of both vaccines will be administered towards the end of the recommended vaccine dosing schedule of 12 weeks.” 

This provoked a debate and criticism from the BMA to which the four Chief Medical Officers responded:

“We have to follow public health principles and act at speed if we are to beat this pandemic which is running rampant in our communities, and we believe the public will understand and thank us for this decisive action.”

The Guardian article below summarises the debate and Owl’s next post may help to put some of the pressures in perspective.

Covid vaccine: chief medical officers defend rescheduling of second doses

Linda Geddes www.theguardian.com

The UK’s chief medical officers have defended plans to delay giving the second dose of a Covid vaccine to more than 500,000 people who have received the first jab, saying they believed the public would “understand and thank us for this decisive action” despite an outcry among doctors.

Recipients of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had previously been told there would be a three-week gap between doses, with many already booked in for their second jab.

But the government announced a change to its Covid vaccination strategy on Wednesday, saying second doses of the newly approved Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and the previously approved Pfizer/BioNTech jab would now be given up to 12 weeks after the first dose.

The move applies to people scheduled to have their second dose of the Pfizer jab after 4 January, as well as those yet to receive either jab. The government said it hoped the approach would free up more doses and mean as many people as possible would soon get their first jab and have some protection against the disease.

The new regime was backed by the chief medical officers of the four UK nations, with instructions given to health service leaders in England by NHS bosses on Wednesday to postpone many of the scheduled second Pfizer/BioNTech jabs.

The announcement caused controversy, however. Pfizer and BioNTech warned that two doses of their vaccine were required for maximum protection against Covid and that they did not have evidence that the first dose alone offered protection after three weeks.

Azeem Majeed, a professor of primary care and public health at Imperial College London and a practising GP, said he was shocked by the change of plan.

“We’ve got thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of people who have already booked their second jabs, and these are people who are all elderly, so they often have to make special arrangements for their care or have someone to bring them down. Someone is going to have to ring all these patients to cancel their appointments and rebook them, so it is going to create a lot of work for people as well,” he said.

“Clearly the people making these rules are not the ones having to enforce them. I understand the rationale that the government wants to increase the vaccine supply to make sure more people are immunised, but I think that could have been done for people starting from now, rather than cancelling the ones who have already been booked in, which is very disruptive.”

In a joint statement on Thursday night, Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer of England, and his counterparts in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland stood by their decision, although they acknowledged that it would “distress patients who were looking forward to being fully immunised”. They added: “However, we are all conscious that for every 1,000 people boosted with a second dose of Covid-19 vaccine in January (who will as a result gain marginally on protection from severe disease), 1,000 new people can’t have substantial initial protection which is in most cases likely to raise them from 0% protected to at least 70% protected.”

They added: “We have to follow public health principles and act at speed if we are to beat this pandemic which is running rampant in our communities, and we believe the public will understand and thank us for this decisive action.”

Earlier, one doctor who spoke to the Guardian on condition on anonymity said they hoped to continue with the original schedule for the second dose rather than cancelling appointments, saying that to do otherwise would put their most vulnerable patients at risk and break promises to patients.

Alison Bolam, a GP at Horfield health centre in Bristol, said her practice would take a similar approach. “If we try to ring and cancel 1,000 80-year-olds, and then ring 1,000 75-year-olds and ask them to come in instead, we risk wasting vaccine because we don’t have the staff capacity to do that with the bank holiday in the way,” she said. “If anyone gets the first vaccine now, the second one will be 10 to 12 weeks later, but for anybody who has already had it, they will get their second vaccine as originally scheduled.”

The British Medical Association said it was unreasonable and unfair to expect practices to cancel and rebook appointments for patients to have their second dose.

The chair of the BMA’s GP committee, Dr Richard Vautrey, said: “Local leaders are telling us that is unprofessional and impractical to amend the appointments for thousands of frail, elderly patients, particularly those booked and who have already made arrangements to have their second vaccination in the next two weeks.”

Vautrey called on the government to publish a scientifically validated justification for the new approach, adding that rebooking appointments would cause huge logistical problems.

The Guardian understands a number of NHS clinical commissioning groups were holding meetings on Thursday on the issue, to decide how to proceed.

Dr Helen Salisbury, a GP and medical adviser to the health experience research group at the University of Oxford, tweeted that the health secretary Matt Hancock, should help to phone her elderly patients and explain why their second jab had been delayed. She said her primary care network needed to cancel and rebook 1,160 appointments.

“At 5 mins per phone call, that’s 193 hours’ work. Not to mention the grief & anger,” she tweeted.

Her comments unleashed a flurry of responses from other GPs, with some questioning whether it was ethical to delay a second dose when patients had given consent for the first dose on the premise that they would receive the second three weeks later.

The Doctors’ Association UK said it had sent a letter to Hancock and others involved in the change of strategy regarding the Pfizer vaccine. “A patient can’t consent for a treatment then have the treatment changed without their permission, especially when the evidence for change is lacking,” it said. Dr Vinesh Patel, a GP partner and spokesman for the DAUK’s GP committee, said using the Pfizer jab outside the trialled vaccination regime was a huge gamble.

Others, however, welcomed the change in approach. Dr Ed Turnham, a GP in Norwich, said the MHRA should be congratulated for its “brave, pragmatic decision”.

“I think most of our elderly patients will be happy that this will reduce the delay in protecting their friends and relatives, and reduce the risk of hospitals being overwhelmed,” he tweeted.

Prof Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, sympathised with GPs and their patients but said the new strategy had merits. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation had “put forward a compelling case that this is the best way to protect as many people as possible from the virus, and this is the decision that has been made,” he said.

But he added: “NHS England’s guidance does allow for some clinical discretion for practices to go ahead with second vaccinations where necessary, and if a practice uses this it is important it is respected.”

COn the 30 December health care workers were informed that:

 “Prioritising the first doses of vaccine for as many people as possible on the priority list will protect the greatest number of at-risk people overall in the shortest possible time and will have the greatest impact on reducing mortality, severe disease and hospitalisations and in protecting the NHS and equivalent health services. Operationally this will mean that second doses of both vaccines will be administered towards the end of the recommended vaccine dosing schedule of 12 weeks.” 

This provoked a debate and criticism from the BMA to which the four Chief Medical Officers responded:

“We have to follow public health principles and act at speed if we are to beat this pandemic which is running rampant in our communities, and we believe the public will understand and thank us for this decisive action.”

The Guardian article below summarises the debate and  Owl’s next post may help to put some of the pressures in perspective.

Covid vaccine: chief medical officers defend rescheduling of second doses

Linda Geddes www.theguardian.com

The UK’s chief medical officers have defended plans to delay giving the second dose of a Covid vaccine to more than 500,000 people who have received the first jab, saying they believed the public would “understand and thank us for this decisive action” despite an outcry among doctors.

Recipients of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had previously been told there would be a three-week gap between doses, with many already booked in for their second jab.

But the government announced a change to its Covid vaccination strategy on Wednesday, saying second doses of the newly approved Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and the previously approved Pfizer/BioNTech jab would now be given up to 12 weeks after the first dose.

The move applies to people scheduled to have their second dose of the Pfizer jab after 4 January, as well as those yet to receive either jab. The government said it hoped the approach would free up more doses and mean as many people as possible would soon get their first jab and have some protection against the disease.

The new regime was backed by the chief medical officers of the four UK nations, with instructions given to health service leaders in England by NHS bosses on Wednesday to postpone many of the scheduled second Pfizer/BioNTech jabs.

The announcement caused controversy, however. Pfizer and BioNTech warned that two doses of their vaccine were required for maximum protection against Covid and that they did not have evidence that the first dose alone offered protection after three weeks.

Azeem Majeed, a professor of primary care and public health at Imperial College London and a practising GP, said he was shocked by the change of plan.

“We’ve got thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of people who have already booked their second jabs, and these are people who are all elderly, so they often have to make special arrangements for their care or have someone to bring them down. Someone is going to have to ring all these patients to cancel their appointments and rebook them, so it is going to create a lot of work for people as well,” he said.

“Clearly the people making these rules are not the ones having to enforce them. I understand the rationale that the government wants to increase the vaccine supply to make sure more people are immunised, but I think that could have been done for people starting from now, rather than cancelling the ones who have already been booked in, which is very disruptive.”

In a joint statement on Thursday night, Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer of England, and his counterparts in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland stood by their decision, although they acknowledged that it would “distress patients who were looking forward to being fully immunised”. They added: “However, we are all conscious that for every 1,000 people boosted with a second dose of Covid-19 vaccine in January (who will as a result gain marginally on protection from severe disease), 1,000 new people can’t have substantial initial protection which is in most cases likely to raise them from 0% protected to at least 70% protected.”

They added: “We have to follow public health principles and act at speed if we are to beat this pandemic which is running rampant in our communities, and we believe the public will understand and thank us for this decisive action.”

Earlier, one doctor who spoke to the Guardian on condition on anonymity said they hoped to continue with the original schedule for the second dose rather than cancelling appointments, saying that to do otherwise would put their most vulnerable patients at risk and break promises to patients.

Alison Bolam, a GP at Horfield health centre in Bristol, said her practice would take a similar approach. “If we try to ring and cancel 1,000 80-year-olds, and then ring 1,000 75-year-olds and ask them to come in instead, we risk wasting vaccine because we don’t have the staff capacity to do that with the bank holiday in the way,” she said. “If anyone gets the first vaccine now, the second one will be 10 to 12 weeks later, but for anybody who has already had it, they will get their second vaccine as originally scheduled.”

The British Medical Association said it was unreasonable and unfair to expect practices to cancel and rebook appointments for patients to have their second dose.

The chair of the BMA’s GP committee, Dr Richard Vautrey, said: “Local leaders are telling us that is unprofessional and impractical to amend the appointments for thousands of frail, elderly patients, particularly those booked and who have already made arrangements to have their second vaccination in the next two weeks.”

Vautrey called on the government to publish a scientifically validated justification for the new approach, adding that rebooking appointments would cause huge logistical problems.

The Guardian understands a number of NHS clinical commissioning groups were holding meetings on Thursday on the issue, to decide how to proceed.

Dr Helen Salisbury, a GP and medical adviser to the health experience research group at the University of Oxford, tweeted that the health secretary Matt Hancock, should help to phone her elderly patients and explain why their second jab had been delayed. She said her primary care network needed to cancel and rebook 1,160 appointments.

“At 5 mins per phone call, that’s 193 hours’ work. Not to mention the grief & anger,” she tweeted.

Her comments unleashed a flurry of responses from other GPs, with some questioning whether it was ethical to delay a second dose when patients had given consent for the first dose on the premise that they would receive the second three weeks later.

The Doctors’ Association UK said it had sent a letter to Hancock and others involved in the change of strategy regarding the Pfizer vaccine. “A patient can’t consent for a treatment then have the treatment changed without their permission, especially when the evidence for change is lacking,” it said. Dr Vinesh Patel, a GP partner and spokesman for the DAUK’s GP committee, said using the Pfizer jab outside the trialled vaccination regime was a huge gamble.

Others, however, welcomed the change in approach. Dr Ed Turnham, a GP in Norwich, said the MHRA should be congratulated for its “brave, pragmatic decision”.

“I think most of our elderly patients will be happy that this will reduce the delay in protecting their friends and relatives, and reduce the risk of hospitals being overwhelmed,” he tweeted.

Prof Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, sympathised with GPs and their patients but said the new strategy had merits. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation had “put forward a compelling case that this is the best way to protect as many people as possible from the virus, and this is the decision that has been made,” he said.

But he added: “NHS England’s guidance does allow for some clinical discretion for practices to go ahead with second vaccinations where necessary, and if a practice uses this it is important it is respected.”

There have been a number of Covid related stories swirling across the media in the past few days and Owl will attempt to bring them together in a succession of posts.

Given Owl’s first post today about crowd behaviour in tourist spots, recalling the impassioned “blood on their hands” call from an exasperated consultant would seem a good place to start: 

Fuming Covid doc says Brits not wearing face masks ‘have blood on their hands’

Matt Clemenson www.dailystar.co.uk

One of the UK’s top intensive care docs has sensationally hit out at the nation’s Covidiots – claiming anyone who is still not wearing masks this far into the pandemic “has blood on their hands”.

Prof Hugh Montgomery, a consultant at University College Hospital in London, was speaking on Times Radio when he insisted the government cannot solely be to blame for the recent spike in coronavirus infections and deaths.

“We can’t blame the Government, we can’t blame the Tier system. This is people behaving badly. I’m just very angry about this,” he said.

“If we were wearing masks, washing hands, this virus would not be as it is.

“‘Anyone who doesn’t wear their mask – they have blood on their hands.”

It’s the first day of 2021 and people have been heading out in their droves to idyllic waterfront spots across Devon and Cornwall to take their first stroll of the year.

[Online Plymouth Herald contains many more comments and short videos]

Sarah Elmes www.plymouthherald.co.uk

But due to ongoing Tier 3 restrictions – forcing food businesses to close apart from collection and takeaway – beaches and waterfront locations have been packed full of people queuing up for fish and chips and other Westcountry delights.

Many people have got in touch to say they personally didn’t want to risk the crowds, which can prevent social distancing from taking place.

Others have said they have simply turned around and gone back home again.

The Plymouth Hoe promenade was one such busy spot today.

One concerned resident got in touch to say: “Have you seen the amount of people on the Hoe? I’ve just gone to walk my dog but had to turn around – it’s heaving with no social distancing and groups of more than six.

“There were queues outside the chip shops and ice cream vans. It’s making all of our hard work within the NHS absolutely seem pointless.”

Elsewhere in Devon, Charlotte Evens took a trip to Exmouth beach today only to be confronted with queues and queues of people.

“We’ve just popped out for a walk but decided to turn around and go home again due to the high amount of people,” she said.

“It’s absolutely crazy down there.”

(Image: Charlotte Evens)

She added: “There were huge queues at The Ice Cream shop and the chip shop next door. Also the new coffee hut by the large new building.”

The moors have also been extremely busy today and police have warned snow tourists not to visit.

Tavistock response sergeant Sgt Si Wellfair said: “It’s pretty bad. We’ve got at least two to two-and-a-half miles of parked cars. People really need to avoid this road for the time being and we’re trying to avoid more difficulties by urging folks to find different spots on Dartmoor to go for their New Year’s Day walks.” Read more on that here.

New official data shows where coronavirus infection rates and cases are rising across Devon.

Robert Rowlands www.devonlive.com 

Statistics released from the Government today show there have been 142 new cases reported across the county.

That takes the total since the pandemic arrived to 12,067.

Analysis of clusters in the county – areas where more than two cases have been reported – shows where infection rates are rising, falling and staying the same.

The data for the seven days to December 26 shows that 10 areas of East Devon have seen their rate rise according to the new data.

The same is true of eight areas of Exeter, nine areas of Mid Devon, two areas of North Devon, eight areas of South Hams, six areas of Teignbridge, five areas of Torbay, six areas of Torridge and five areas of West Devon.

In addition, one new area without a cluster has emerged – Paignton Central in Torbay.

Five other areas remain cluster-free, meaning they have two cases or fewer: Oakehampton, Seaton, Totnes Town, Great Torrington and Ipplepen & Broadhempston.

The area with the most positive cases remains Chagford, Princetown and Dartmoor (64) after an outbreak at the prison.

[Owl reproduces the detailed data for East Devon and Exeter – see devonlive article for details of the remaining Devon districts]

Data from UK government released December 31, showing new confirmed cases and infection rate per 100,000 in the seven days to December 26. Note – place names that are bolded up have seen their infection rate and case numbers go up

East Devon

	East Devon (Devon)	Axminster	13	139.5
	East Devon (Devon)	Budleigh Salterton	6	96.5
	East Devon (Devon)	Clyst, Exton & Lympstone	11	160.9
	East Devon (Devon)	Cranbrook, Broadclyst & Stoke Canon	26	193.1
	East Devon (Devon)	Dunkesewell, Upottery & Stockland	14	241.1
	East Devon (Devon)	Exmouth Brixington	6	92.6
	East Devon (Devon)	Exmouth Halsdon	13	187.4
	East Devon (Devon)	Exmouth Littleham	21	279.5
	East Devon (Devon)	Exmouth Town	8	108.3
	East Devon (Devon)	Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh	12	161.9
	East Devon (Devon)	Feniton & Whimple	19	216.9
	East Devon (Devon)	Honiton North & East	13	214.9
	East Devon (Devon)	Honiton South & West	11	200
	East Devon (Devon)	Kilmington, Colyton & Uplyme	4	47.9
	East Devon (Devon)	Ottery St Mary & West Hill	27	303.1
	East Devon (Devon)	Poppleford, Otterton & Woodbury	3	48.8
	East Devon (Devon)	Seaton	0	0
	East Devon (Devon)	Sidbury, Offwell & Beer	4	74.1
	East Devon (Devon)	Sidmouth Sidford	6	85.3
	East Devon (Devon)	Sidmouth Town	6	114.5

*Indicates there were fewer than three cases

Exeter

	Exeter (Devon)	Alphington & Marsh Barton	12	163.4
	Exeter (Devon)	Central Exeter	17	140.6
	Exeter (Devon)	Countess Wear & Topsham	11	142.6
	Exeter (Devon)	Exwick & Foxhayes	12	158.6
	Exeter (Devon)	Heavitree East & Whipton South	13	172.4
	Exeter (Devon)	Heavitree West & Polsloe	11	128.8
	Exeter (Devon)	Middlemoor & Sowton	18	143.4
	Exeter (Devon)	Mincinglake & Beacon Heath	6	85.5
	Exeter (Devon)	Pennsylvania & University	11	94.6
	Exeter (Devon)	Pinhoe & Whipton North	12	128.1
	Exeter (Devon)	St James’s Park & Hoopern	10	104.3
	Exeter (Devon)	St Leonard’s	17	253
	Exeter (Devon)	St Thomas East	16	195.5
	Exeter (Devon)	St Thomas West	13	178.7
	Exeter (Devon)	Wonford & St Loye’s	15	181

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

Modelling at the time suggested we, in the South West, needed six times more beds than currently exists in the region (600 per cent), i.e. we have least slack. These metrics  showed that London (surprise, surprise) should be the best equipped to manage the pandemic.

So it is very surprising to hear that London is having to move critical care patients elsewhere and, more particularly, Kent patients have been transferred to Bristol and Plymouth. See:

Kent’s critical care patients are being transferred to Plymouth

Carl Eve www.plymouthherald.co.uk 

Critical care patients from Kent are being transferred to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

Patients from the South East are being moved to hospitals in the South West to alleviate pressure, it has been confirmed.

The Health Service Journal (HSJ) recently revealed it had seen a leaked report which suggested requests had been made to transfer patients in need of intensive care from London’s hospitals to Yorkshire, where Covid-19 rates are far lower.

It noted that sources in intensive care had told the HSJ there had been requests in recent days for transfers from London to several major hospitals in Yorkshire, because of a lack of capacity in the capital.

Now it has been confirmed critically ill patients are being moved to Derriford Hospital. The requests so far relate to small numbers of patients.

Sources at the hospital have told PlymouthLive that the South West is taking or preparing to take intensive care patients to lighten the pressure on the South East’s hospitals.

Currently critical care is running at more than 100 percent of capacity across London and the South East.

On Monday night, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) occupancy was at 114 and 113 per cent respectively.

In comparison, the North East and Yorkshire region has 67.6 per cent occupancy while the South West is basking in an occupancy rate of 66.5 percent.

HSJ claim this internal NHS critical care capacity dashboard reveals intensive care unit occupancy as of Monday night (Image: HSJ)

The HSJ reported that it had asked NHS England how many inter-regional transfers had taken place in the last month because of a lack of ICU capacity. It did not respond specifically to this question but said the NHS’ plans to manage “significant pressure” have always included mutual aid to manage admissions.

The statement added: “While the NHS is opening more beds in places like London to care for the most unwell patients, it is vital that people continue to follow government guidance and do everything possible to reduce transmission of the virus.”

The below table, taken from the critical care dashboard data leaked to HSJ, shows critical care occupancy figures for each NHS region as of the evening of December 28:

Region	Critical care occupancy of “standard footprint”	% covid-19 patients (“covid load”)
London	114	62
South East	113	60
East of England	100	60
Midlands	84	57
North West	81	43
North East and Yorkshire	67	41
South West	66	30

In response to questions as to whether patients had been brought to the South West from London and Kent, or if plans were afoot to do so, an NHS spokesperson told PlymouthLive: “The NHS has tried and tested plans in place to manage significant pressure either from high COVID-19 infection rates or non-Covid winter demands and this has always included mutual aid practices whereby hospitals work together to manage admissions.

“While the NHS is opening more beds in places like London to care for the most unwell patients, it is vital that people continue to follow government guidance and do everything possible to reduce transmission of the virus.”

Tonight the BBC has confirmed patients from the South East are being transferred here to Plymouth.

Millions of people across the UK at risk from Covid will be offered a single first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, with a booster jab within three months, in a bid to return the country to some normality by the spring, the prime minister has said.

Helen Pidd www.theguardian.com

Rollout of the Oxford vaccine will begin on 4 January following its approval for emergency use by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA). The government hopes the vaccine, of which it has ordered 100m doses, will transform prospects in the UK and check the spread of the rampaging coronavirus variant which has caused cases to surge. Pharmacies as well as GPs will be able to give the jabs to those at risk.

But the MHRA and the government’s advisory Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation delivered a surprise by announcing approval of a regime that was not trialled. Both the Oxford vaccine and the Pfizer/BioNTech jab which is already in use will be given to people as one shot, followed by another up to 12 weeks later, in order to extend some protection to as many people as possible as quickly as possible.

Boris Johnson said at a Downing Street press conference that the benefits from the vaccine would kick in within 21 days. “What that means is we can vaccinate and protect many more people in the coming weeks,” he said.

He hoped that by spring of 2021, many coronavirus restrictions would be able to be lifted. “If we’re right and the vaccination programme does have the positive effects that we think it can have, and I stress these are ifs, then clearly a lot of the non-pharmaceutical interventions … will recede into the past,” he said. “We’ll be able to do things very differently.”

The prime minister added that the public may need to carry on with “basic disciplines” such as washing hands and wearing masks “for a while after”.

The approval of the vaccine by the MHRA after weeks of examining trial data was greeted with excitement and relief by experts. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine already in use needs to be stored in the long-term at -70C and is hard to deploy. The Oxford vaccine, however, can be kept in a normal fridge at 2-8C and is easily transported from UK factories, meaning it will not have to be kept in central hospital and community hubs, enabling a swift rollout to GP practices and care homes.

Amid the widespread praise for Oxford University and AstraZeneca in gaining UK approval for a vaccine that is vital to the global prospects of ending the pandemic because of its low cost and normal refrigeration, some experts were anxious at the proposed mode of use. They said it was pragmatic to try to ensure as many people as possible had a first shot, giving them some protection, but that there were unanswered questions. These include the evidence for extending the time between injections to 12 weeks, which could lead to some people not returning for the second dose.

Pfizer/BioNTech said that their vaccine was not designed to be used in two shots 12 weeks apart. In a statement, the firms said there was no evidence the first shot continued to work beyond three weeks.

“Data from the phase 3 study demonstrated that, although partial protection from the vaccine appears to begin as early as 12 days after the first dose, two doses of the vaccine are required to provide the maximum protection against the disease, a vaccine efficacy of 95%. There are no data to demonstrate that protection after the first dose is sustained after 21 days,” they said.

The decision to approve the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine followed “rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA, which has concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness”, the DHSC said.

AstraZeneca said its vaccine would be made available to some of the poorest regions of the world at a low cost and was not being manufactured for profit.

Talking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, its chief executive, Pascal Soriot, said the company could provide the UK with as many as 2m doses a week and would start shipping the first doses “today or tomorrow”.

He said: “Vaccination will start next week and we will get to 1m a week, and beyond that a week, very rapidly. The good news with this is we are going to be able to inject a lot of people with one dose very quickly, provide them with a reasonably good dose of protection until they get their second dose two to three months later. That will enable us to protect many more people because we can wait two to three months for the second dose.”

Matt Hancock, the UK health secretary, said every adult in the UK could eventually be offered vaccination.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said: “Because we’ve got enough of this vaccine on order to vaccinate the whole population – we’ve got 100m doses on order – add that to the 30m doses of Pfizer and that’s enough for two doses for the entire population.

“So I can now say with confidence that we can vaccinate everyone, except of course for children because this vaccine has not been trialled on children, and anyway children are much, much less likely to have symptoms from the disease.”

Appraisal of the Oxford vaccine has taken longer than it did for the Pfizer/BioNTech product, which the UK was the first country to approve on 2 December. The dossier of testing and trial results for the Oxford vaccine was more complicated.

Pfizer/BioNTech, whose vaccine is based on novel mRNA technology, had clear results, with 95% efficacy from a single international trial involving 43,000 people. Oxford/AstraZeneca had 62% efficacy in their largest trial, of 11,636 people, but 90% efficacy in a small additional sub-group in the UK numbering 2,741 who were given half a dose of the vaccine followed by a whole dose four weeks later.

The MHRA in effect dismissed the finding from the trials that there was 90% efficacy in that subset, which was made up of fewer than 3,000 people in the UK, who were mostly under the age of 55, so was not typical of the population’s most vulnerable. However, the MHRA said it was not the age of the participants that caused the high efficacy rate. Instead, it suggested it may have been because there was a longer gap between the administration of the first and second doses of vaccine. More details of their assessment was to come, the authority said.

Overall, the MHRA said, the efficacy of the vaccine reached about 70% between three weeks and 12 weeks, when given as a single standard dose. The second dose, not later than 12 weeks afterwards, was necessary because the effect may not last without the booster shot, it said.

The MHRA acknowledged there was limited data on the effects of the vaccine in elderly people. Ongoing trials in the UK and US will supply more evidence, but it said it was satisfied the vaccine was safe and effective in the older population.

The researchers have pointed out that none of the volunteers in the trials who had the vaccine became seriously ill or were admitted to hospital.

Prof Andrew Pollard, the director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and the chief investigator of the Oxford trial, said: “The regulator’s assessment that this is a safe and effective vaccine is a landmark moment, and an endorsement of the huge effort from a devoted international team of researchers and our dedicated trial participants.

“Though this is just the beginning, we will start to get ahead of the pandemic, protect health and economies when the vulnerable are vaccinated everywhere, as many as possible as soon possible.”

The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, tweeted: “We now need a national effort to get vaccinations delivered across the country.”

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, welcomed the news, tweeting: “Now let’s go hell for leather to get jabs rolled out. We’ve seen how more virus circulating means opportunities for variants to emerge. This is now a race against time. We need vaccination ramped up especially for NHS staff urgently.”

Johnson said the UK had already vaccinated more than 800,000 people with the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

Tesco, Pizza Hut and Superdrug are among more than a hundred firms “named and shamed” by the government for not paying workers the minimum wage.

BBC News www.bbc.co.uk

Almost 140 companies investigated between 2016 and 2018 failed to pay £6.7m to more than 95,000 workers.

The minimum wage ranges from £4.15 an hour for apprentices, to £8.72 an hour for over-25s.

Tesco, Pizza Hut and Superdrug said the underpayments were historic errors and staff had been swiftly reimbursed.

Ministers said the offending firms – which included hotels, restaurants, car washes and shops – short changed tens of thousands of workers, in what they described as a “completely unacceptable breach of employment law”.

Cases included employers taking deductions from wages for uniforms, training or parking fees or failing to raise employees’ pay after a birthday which should have moved them into a higher minimum wage bracket.

‘Wake-up call’

It is the first time the government has named firms for failing to pay the national minimum wage since 2018, following reforms to the process to make sure only the worst offenders are revealed.

The Business Minister Paul Scully said he was especially disappointed to see big household names on the list but he said it should be a “wake-up call” to bosses.

“It is never acceptable for any employer to short-change their workers, but it is especially disappointing to see huge household names who absolutely should know better on this list,” he added.

What is the minimum wage?

The UK national minimum wage sets out the least a worker can be paid per hour by law.

As of April 2020, it stood at £8.72 an hour for people aged 25 and older – the government refers to this main rate as the National Living Wage.

There are four minimum wages below this amount for younger workers and apprentices:

• The National Minimum Wage for 21 to 24-year-olds – £8.20
• For 18 to 20-year-olds – £6.45
• For under-18s – £4.55
• For apprentices – £4.15

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said may firms which failed to pay their workers the minimum wage still wouldn’t be named.

“The government raised the threshold for naming employers compared with the old scheme, meaning fewer bad bosses are exposed.”

Tesco said a technical issue in 2017 meant some workers’ pay “inadvertently” fell below the minimum wage and it had reported the issue itself to HMRC.

“In most cases the reimbursement was £10 or less,” the supermarket said.

Pizza Hut and Superdrug both said the error was related to a previous uniform policy, which required staff to wear a particular colour trousers and shoes.

“It is important to stress that there was never any intent to underpay our employees,” said Pizza Hut. Superdrug said it had changed its policy to make sure the issue did not happen again.

All University of Exeter students will be recommended to take a coronavirus test as soon as possible when they return to campus in the New Year – with advice saying they should complete two before beginning in-person teaching.

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com 

The university will be offering free tests to all students, including postgraduate researchers, between January 4 and February 5 using their existing test centres on the Streatham and Penryn campuses.

All students are being recommended to book tests for when they arrive in their term-time accommodation and before starting any in-person teaching, or using study or social spaces on our campuses, and should isolate until they receive a result. Students should plan to take two Covid-19 tests before beginning in-person teaching.

Mike Shore-Nye, Registrar and Secretary, said: “It is essential that you allow enough time to take your test and you should book your test to be taken as soon as possible after you arrive at your accommodation. If your preferred slot is not available choose one as close as possible to your arrival time and try to keep away from other people.

“Only by testing can we identify those who are positive and support them to isolate, and this is how we can keep each other safe, avoid further outbreaks and find ways to return to a more normal University life. If you have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 90 days, there is no need for you to take another test.

“Students should plan to take two Covid-19 tests before beginning in-person teaching.”

Speaking at a Team Devon Local Outbreak Engagement Board meeting in December, Sean Fielding, Director of Innovation, Impact and Business, had added: “We will do 50,000 tests over the first month of the new year. We don’t want people coming into the city and creating an infection risk.

“The return of students will be staggered and there will be a testing schedule as and when they arrive. Every student will be asked to do two tests.”

Examinations for some students begin on January 4, with all exams online, and teaching begins for all students on January 11, but for many students this will initially be online-only

Those degree programmes with placement or practical elements which cannot be delivered online will resume in-person teaching first, with most resuming from the week beginning January 11.

New postgraduate taught students will also begin their in-person teaching from the week beginning January 11, while other final year undergraduate students and returning postgraduate taught students will resume in-person teaching in the week beginning January 25

All other Undergraduate students will resume in-person teaching in the week beginning February 1, while postgraduate research students can resume their research from January 4.

Government guidance adds: “The return of students should be staggered over five weeks – this is to minimise transmission risks from the mass movement of students, with practical and placement students returning first.

“All students should be offered testing on return to university and students who returned home over the winter break should not be encouraged to return to their term-time accommodation until their face-to-face teaching is scheduled to resume

“To minimise the risk to themselves and others on their return to university, before travelling, students should act responsibly, follow local restriction tier guidance on social contact and use local community testing programme and take a test before travelling if they have spent the winter break in a local restriction tier 3 (very high) or tier 4 (stay at home) area where this fits with locally-targeted programmes led by the Director of Public Health.”

And:

Cllr Paul Arnott, Leader of East Devon District Council, said: “The threat from the new and more transmittable strain of the virus is extremely serious and the people of East Devon must do all they can to protect the health of both themselves and others.

“I wish everyone a happy new year and urge you to celebrate safely from your own home and respect at all times the increased safety obligations of Tier 3.”

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com 

Devon’s move into Tier 3 restrictions has left MPs disappointed, but they felt it was inevitable.

The government has reviewed the tier restrictions, and Devon is to move up to Tier 3 from Thursday, December 31.

The rules means that you must not meet socially indoors with anybody who you do not live with, or you are not in a support bubble with and you must not meet socially outdoors (in a private garden or at most outdoor public venues) with anybody who you do not live with, or you are not in a support bubble with*.

Hospitality settings, such as bars, pubs, cafes, restaurants and social clubs must close except for takeaway, delivery and click and collect services. Food or drink bought via these must not be consumed on the premises including beer gardens.

Hotels, B&Bs, campsites, holiday lets and guest houses, must close, except for those travelling for work, while most tourist venues and entertainment must close, but some outdoor venues are permitted to remain open.

Steve Brown, Director of Public Health Devon (Designate) said: “Cases in Devon, while we have been in Tier 2, have been rising in all age groups, as per the national trend. Without further intervention with tighter restrictions, we are likely to have seen cases continuing to rise and therefore I feel this announcement was inevitable.

“The decision has been made to place us into Tier 3 and what is important now is we do everything we can to adhere to these tighter restrictions to help bring down cases in Devon

“We will have heard the welcome news today that a second vaccine has been approved for use from early January, but we cannot sit back and relax on the strength of that. Please keep up the effort, and remember the key messages, to social distance, wear your face coverings when in a public space where social distancing is not possible, and wash your hands properly and regularly.”

Anne Marie Morris, MP for Newton Abbot, said: “It is unsurprising that Devon has been placed in Tier 3, given the rising rates across the county & country. January is traditionally the busiest month of the year for the NHS and I would urge people to continue following the rules, in order to reduce the spread of this terrible disease and protect the most vulnerable in society. Alongside colleagues, I continue to call on the Government to publish data on the impact this pandemic is having on non-Covid health conditions.”

Ben Bradshaw MP for Exeter said: “This is clearly disappointing, as our figures are still among the lowest in the country, but I suppose the dire and deteriorating situation elsewhere & the huge pressure on the NHS made it inevitable. We are now paying the price of locking down too late in October, coming out of that lockdown too early & the chaos & confusion over Christmas. I fear we could see another national lockdown before the benefits of the vaccination programme begun to be felt.”

Simon Jupp, MP for East Devon, said; “Devon will move into Tier 3 tomorrow. Case numbers continue to rise across the county and our NHS remains under strain. There is hope and optimism following independent approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which will be rolled-out from next week. This is very welcome news, but we can’t let our guard down.”

Kevin Foster, MP for Torbay, said: “Whilst infection rates in our bay are still relatively low, they are steadily rising, and we cannot ignore the situation in the rest of Devon and the UK as a whole, especially relating to the new strain.

“I appreciate the hard work many in our tourism and hospitality industry have put in over the last month to keep our community safe whilst they were still trading, yet if South Devon were an island of Tier 2, with surrounding areas in Tier 3 and nearby Somerset in Tier 4, it is sadly all too predictable we could see activities and people gyrate towards our bay, potentially bringing the virus with them.

“It is therefore right we move into Tier 3, along with the rest of Devon and Cornwall, at this stage. Yet with the vaccination programme now set to step up massively, we can look forward to the Summer Season with confidence.”

Clodagh Murphy, Chairman of Exeter Chamber, said: “Exeter Chamber understands the need to take tough measures against this rapidly spreading new strain of Coronavirus to protect the NHS and our communities, but this must not be at the expense of further damage to our economy.

“With hospitality businesses already reporting an 80 per cent reduction in takings over the Christmas / New Year period, and now facing closure once again, we urgently call for emergency measures to support those businesses that are most affected by these new restrictions. These include, but not limited to, the hospitality, leisure and tourism sectors which are vital to both Devon and the wider Westcountry’s economic success.

“We want thank all of our local businesses and hospitality for all their hard work over the last nine months as we have tackled the changing landscape of this pandemic. These businesses are the lifeblood of the Devon economy and they have been tremendous.

“The rollout of the vaccine programme, and the approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, gives us all hope of a return to something approaching normality later in 2021. However, in the meantime, we must not allow businesses to fail due to lack of Government support in these final months, so that they are able to come back in the spring/summer and continue to help the region’s economy prosper and grow.”

Anthony Mangnall, MP for Totnes, said: “I have been a firm believer that an end to lockdown is very necessary but we also have to take into account that the numbers are increasing in the South West, along with the rest of the country. I do support the Government in the action today, but important that we have a second vaccine coming online and that will be a lot quicker to rollout.

“We are nearing the light at the end of the tunnel and hoping we can get it to those in most need of it. I understand the frustration – we are at the last moment and the light is almost darkest before the dawn – and we are like a marathon runner on the last mile and we have to focus on the rollout of the vaccine and getting life back to normal, but we have to do it without jeopardising the NHS and the capacity that goes with it.”

But the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the UK, with the first doses due to be given on Monday.

On the approval of the Oxford vaccine, Ms Morris said: “It is fantastic news that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use by the MHRA. This is a game changer and will enable the NHS to significantly increase vaccination capacity, especially in harder to reach places such as rural care homes. The sooner we can roll out the vaccine, the sooner we can begin to head back to ‘normality’.”

Kevin Foster, MP for Torbay, said: “This is a triumph for British Science and a leap forward in our fight against Covid-19 both in the UK and globally, given it can be distributed via existing vaccination routes due to it being able to be stored in a fridge. I know plans for using it are already well advanced in our bay, including ensuring it reaches the most vulnerable living in care homes.”

“Whilst there will still be some difficult days ahead, the Oxford Vaccine holds out the hope of a more normal summer season for our bay and its tourism industry, but for now we cannot let our guard down.”

Sir Gary Streeter, MP for South West Devon said: “”The approval of the Oxford vaccine is wonderful news. I hope we can vaccinate around two million per week starting almost immediately and also people in care homes.”

MP for Exeter, Ben Bradshaw, said: “It’s great news that the Oxford vaccine has been approved, as this is the one that most of us will get, as it is easier to deploy. The Goverment must now ensure that the NHS has the resources and staff to administer the vaccines round the clock so we can get on top of this pandemic as soon as possible.

“I also agree with those who argue that administering one dose to as many people as possible as quickly as possible would be better than two doses to fewer people, as all the vaccines provide a very good level of protection at one dose and doing that is likely to get us out of this crisis sooner.”

Cllr Paul Arnott, Leader of East Devon District Council, said: “The threat from the new and more transmittable strain of the virus is extremely serious and the people of East Devon must do all they can to protect the health of both themselves and others.

“I wish everyone a happy new year and urge you to celebrate safely from your own home and respect at all times the increased safety obligations of Tier 3.”

A previous post from Owl headed:  “Otter restoration project: stop the swamp, or future proof against climate change?” exposed some of the emotion swirling around this project. There have been over 500 comments from members of the public.

So it is interesting to see how the case, which will be determined by EDDC’s planning committee next Wednesday, is summarised by DevonLive’s democratic reporter.

The Exmouth Journal publishes today rather than on its usual Wednesday but does not cover the story.

Daniel Clark www.devonlive.com 

Multi-million pound plans to restore the Otter Estuary to its natural and historic flood plains to avoid a catastrophic failure of sea defences are set to be given the go-ahead next week.

East Devon District Council’s planning committee are being recommended to approve the Lower Otter Restoration Project, which will create 55 hectares of mudflats, saltmarsh and other valuable estuarine habitats.

The project, led by landowner Clinton Devon Estates and the Environment Agency, would see the Big and Little Marsh floodplains around Budleigh Salterton restored, with breaches created in the Little Bank, the Big Bank and the River Otter Embankment to allow water to flow through.

The Lower Otter valley is the subject of plans from the Environment Agency

The funding will support the Lower Otter Restoration Project’s aims of climate change adaptation by working with natural processes to provide benefits for people and wildlife.

It follows the significant risk that a major flood or extreme tidal event could lead to catastrophic failure of embankments, with unpredictable environmental and social impacts, with recent years having seen part of the South West Coast Path that runs along the embankments closed to the public for significant periods due to erosion caused by such events.

As part of the plans to restore the historic floodplain of the River Otter, breaches in existing embankments would be created to allow water from both the River Otter and the Estuary to inundate the site, creating intertidal saltmarsh and mudflats.

In addition, South Farm Road will be realigned and raised at a point just to the south of the existing road, and a small car park created at its western end and a new road bridge will be required, and a new footbridge to the South. Existing footpaths will be realigned and the landfill site capped and planted with grassland and woodland.

The spit to the South will be allowed to evolve naturally, necessitating the removal of the southern part of the loop path known as Donkeys Turn.

The cricket club will be moved from its current location to land off of East Budleigh Road, permission for which has already been granted under a separate planning application. Floods have left part of their current Ottermouth home under water on three occasions in the last 10 years, with a plan to relocate to Janie’s Field on the outskirts of the town having been agreed.

Recommending approval, the report of planning officers says: “This is a significant application within the Lower Otter Valley which will result in a change to the existing landscape, which has been managed over the past two centuries. The proposal would clearly significantly change the area, particularly by way of breaches to the embankments which would irreversibly change the habitat and visual appearance of the estuary.

“The ambition to return the river to a more natural watercourse will result in the inundation of water to the project area and will result in large areas of new habitat creation. In addition, significant rerouting of the existing South Farm Road is required, and there will be a requirement for additional car parking and a new footbridge to provide adequate facilities for those accessing the area by car, on foot or by bike.

Option 3 – Big and Little Marsh Floodplain Restoration (estimated cost £8-9m) for the Lower Otter Restoration project

“The scheme is widely supported by a number of significant conservation bodies which have an interest in the site, this is a result of a number of years of consultation on the project including working groups.

“The Flood Risk Assessment and modelling have fully considered the impact of the scheme on nearby residents and businesses, and have concluded that the risk is minimal.

“Concerns have been raised regarding the positioning and size of the proposed car park which will be addressed by a planning condition, which will also include the requirement for a footpath from the proposed car park and impacts on trees, local landscape, the setting of heritage assets, use of the estuary and contamination have also been addressed.

“It is considered that the proposal is acceptable subject to appropriately worded conditions relating to archaeology, materials of the footbridge, access details and public rights of way, contamination, a construction management plan, groundwater levels, adequate car parking, the provision of a footpath, arboricultural and tree protection details.”

The Environment Agency has submitted plans to East Devon District Council on behalf of LORP as the £15 million project enters its final phase and if approved, work will start in 2021 and be completed by spring 2023.

The River Otter

The Lower Otter project is largely funded by the European Interreg programme through an initiative called Promoting Adaptation to Changing Coasts (PACCo). It is partnered with a similar project in the Saâne Valley in Normandy, France.

Both schemes aim to demonstrate that early adaptation to climate change brings greater benefits than a delayed response or inaction. If successful, the adaptation model for these two projects will be rolled out to other locations in the UK and France.

East Devon District Council’s planning committee meets on Wednesday, January 6, to determine the fate of the application.

Devon and Cornwall move up to Tier 3 tomorrow

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tier-3-very-high-alert

Josh Halliday www.theguardian.com 

Millions more people in England will be placed under stay-at-home orders from New Year’s Eve, the government has confirmed, after the new variant of Covid-19 contributed to a record rise in infections across the country.

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, announced that 75% of England – including all of the north-east, Greater Manchester, large parts of the Midlands and the south-west – would be in the strictest tier 4 rules from Thursday morning.

They will join nearly 24 million people in England already under the “stay at home” restrictions, meaning the closure of non-essential shops and strict one-to-one outdoor meeting limits between households.

There have been growing calls for tighter coronavirus restrictions in England as cases continue to rise and hospitals report mounting pressure. All of mainland Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are already in the tightest restrictions, meaning the closure of hospitality and non-essential retail.

The number of Covid-19 patients in English hospitals surpassed the first-wave peak on Sunday, with 21,787 people in hospital with the disease on Tuesday morning and numbers expected to rise further as cases climb.

The infection rate in England increased by a third in the week to Christmas Eve, while the number of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital rose by 8% on the week before – to 14,915 people.

On Tuesday, cases reached a record high, with 53,135 reported in the UK, including 47,164 in England. The Covid variant discovered earlier this month accounted for a majority of all new cases in London, the south-east and east of England, Hancock said on Wednesday.

Areas moved into tier 4 include all of the Midlands except Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Rutland, which will all be in tier 3. In the north-west, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen, Cheshire, Warrington and Cumbria will be in tier 4. Liverpool will be moved up to tier 3.

In the south-west, Gloucestershire, Swindon, Somerset, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole will be in tier 4, while the remainder of the region – including Cornwall, Devon and Dorset – will be moved up to tier 3. The Isles of Scilly, which have a population of 2,224 people, will be the only part of England not in tiers 3 or 4.

Hancock told the Commons that Wednesday was “a day of mixed emotions” due to the announcement of the new restrictions hours after the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was approved by the UK’s medical regulator.

He told MPs: “It brings forward the day on which we can lift the restrictions that no one in this house wants to see any longer than are absolutely necessary. But we must act to suppress the virus now, not least because the new variant makes the time between now and then even more difficult.

“And so whilst we have the good news of the vaccine today, we also have to take some difficult decisions.”

Hancock said he knew the measures would place a significant burden on businesses and livelihoods but that it was “absolutely necessary because of the number of cases that we have seen”.

From the Western Morning News:

Tougher restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus are expected to be announced today as rising cases put an increasing strain on hospitals.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock will address the recalled House of Commons after MPs have passed key legislation on the post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union.

With case rates rising in all regions of England, as well as the number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals, any changes are likely to involve areas moving up a tier rather than down.

Devon’s director of public health designate, Steve Brown, said before Christmas he was surprised the county had not been put into Tier Three at the last review. Cornwall was raised from Tier One to Tier Two from Boxing Day, but Devon stayed where it was. 

Mr Brown said: “Given our rising case numbers and emergence of the new variant, I am surprised that Devon has not yet been lifted into Tier Three.”

Last night, Cornwall Council said it was becoming increasingly concerned at a 44% rise in cases in the last seven days.

Now an expert adviser to the Government has said national coronavirus restrictions are needed to prevent a “catastrophe”, and the head of an organisation representing health trusts said “as much of the country as possible” should go into the harshest Tier Four.

Exeter University’s expert in infectious diseases, Dr Bharat Pankhania, said it would be ‘prudent’ to delay schools reopening after Christmas and to increase the closure period beyond the one additional week announced by Michael Gove.

Owl has been keeping a record of the daily active Covid cases as estimated by the Covid Symptom Tracker App since the end of November. It is interesting to compare the trajectory of estimated cases per head of population (ppm so ten times larger than the usual measure) for East Devon and Cornwall (Cornwall with a larger sample presents less scatter). Looks like they are both on the rise, with Cornwall ahead.

Key dates:

Lockdown 2 ended Dec 2. East Devon moved to Tier 2, Cornwall placed in Tier 1.

Revised Tier system, raising Cornwall to Tier 2, introduced Dec 26

Anton Bailey had just taken a delivery of a new set of fishing nets and was patiently sorting them on the harbour-side at Brixham in Devon. The skipper, who first boarded a fishing boat four decades ago when he was just three, was feeling a mixture of optimism and frustration.

Steven Morris www.theguardian.com

He is optimistic that when he chugs out to fish for pollock with his fresh nets in the new year he will be lucky and return with a good catch, but frustrated that, to his mind, the Brexit fishing deal has sold the British industry short.

“The Europeans always get what they want. It’s a simple as that,” said Bailey.

His main gripe is that under the deal EU boats will be able to operate up to six miles off the UK coast while British boats will have to remain 12 miles off the beaches of mainland Europe. “How is that fair? We’re not allowed inside their 12, I don’t see why they should be allowed up to our six.”

Andy McLeod, who owns and skippers the Brixham beam scalloper van Dijck, is also puzzled over the six/12 mile disparity. “One thing I did hope for was that we would get the 12-mile limit,” he said. “It should be a level playing field.”

But he is not one of those who feels that every fish off the coast of Britain belongs to UK fishers. “I thought it was a bit harsh to try to cut the rest of Europe off from our fish completely,” he said. “To be honest we don’t have the fleet to catch all the fish. If they suddenly said: ‘All the fish is yours’, actually we don’t have anything to catch it with.”

Brixham bills itself as the birthplace of the trawling industry. It has been a fishing port since the middle ages, but in the 18th century pioneered the use of sailing trawlers, fast powerful robust boats that targeted demersal fish – cod, sole, plaice, haddock.

The port boasts England’s largest market by value of fish sold and this year enjoyed a run of million-pound weeks, with sales of the more than 40 types of fish landed here regularly reaching seven figures.

But, as McLeod points out, most of the Brixham boats have seen better days. McLeod’s vessel was already 16 years old when it arrived in Devon from the Netherlands 30 years ago.

“There’s never been much help for the fishing industry in the UK compared to other countries where their governments back them, give them grants for new boats,” he said. “That’s why our fleet is second-hand Dutch and Belgian boats. They get the grants, run them for 20 years and sell them to us.”

A seal bobbed its head up as Matt Shepherd, at 32 one of the younger skippers, prepared his small boat for a trip out. “You hear a lot about Brexit and the EU all the time. Some are for, some are against. I’m just trying to get on and make a living.”

But it is hard to forget Brexit. On the way into the town a “Fishing for Leave” banner with the slogan “Save Britain’s fish” still flutters in a farmer’s field.

Mike Sharp, the owner of two Brixham beam trawlers, took part in the Fishing for Leave protest on the Thames in London during the EU referendum campaign.

Four years on, he is furious at the EU deal. “I’m hoping the deal gets voted out by parliament. I doubt it. Boris came to Brixham and promised us everything. He’s used fishing as a lever to get whatever he wants. Fishing’s not important to them. I have a fish merchant friend who calls two-faced people kippers. Boris is a kipper.”

The government has promised a £100m funding package for the industry. “But £100m goes nowhere,” said Jim Portus, the chief executive of the South West Fish Producers Organisation. “You won’t be able to replace old vessels with new ones. You’ll just be patching up in the same way we have been doing for the last 20 years.”

Brixham-born Sean Irvine, 61, who has been fishing from the port since the early 1990s, said he was glad, at least, that there had been a deal but he is concerned about the new paperwork that will be needed to send fish to mainland Europe – as much as 80% of Irvine’s catch is exported.

“We’ll be catching the same fish in the same water as the French but we’ll have to produce a mountain of paperwork for it. It seems to me what we have achieved is minuscule when you think of the upsets it has caused in families and communities. All that effort for so little.”

The Labour Party has doubled down on demands for the Conservatives to launch an investigation into London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey’s campaign over “fake” warnings sent out to voters appearing to threaten a council tax rise from City Hall. 

www.independent.co.u

In a letter obtained by The Independent, MP Angela Rayner, deputy leader and party chair of Labour, admonished the Conservative Party for failing to act in the weeks after Mr Bailey’s campaign sent out flyers made to look like official warnings from Mayor Sadiq Khan’s office that their Council Tax would be raised unless they “take action”. 

“The public rightly expects honesty and integrity from political parties, elected politicians,  candidates and their campaigners so it is extremely concerning to me that Mr Bailey, an  elected representative of the London Assembly, and your candidate for Mayor of London,  would continue to seek to deceive Londoners with false information presented as being from  trusted public bodies,” Ms Rayner wrote in the letter, which was addressed to MP Amanda Milling, co-chair of the Conservative Party, and dated to Sunday.

Noting that she had already written a previous letter “inquiring whether weaponising fake news is now official Conservative Party policy,” the Labour deputy leader said she was now writing again to demand that the Tories launch an investigation into the incident and push Mr Bailey’s campaign to issue a public apology. 

Ms Rayner also called on the Conservatives to publicly condemn the actions of the mayoral candidate’s campaign team. 

Mr Bailey’s campaign has faced significant scrutiny after being accused earlier this month of playing a “heartless, cheap trick” on voters by sending out the controversial flyers.

Liberal Democrat mayoral contender Luisa Porritt had initially flagged concerns around the initiative, demanding an immediate apology from Mr Bailey. 

The Tory candidate’s campaign team has defended the flyers, however, with a spokesperson telling The Independent that  “Londoners have a right to know the full facts. And the fact is Sadiq Khan’s planning to hike his share of council tax.”

The campaign accused Mr Khan of planning to raise Council Tax to “pay for the cost of his management”. 

However, the London mayor had previously only expressed that he was considering the possibility of raising Council Tax to cover gaps in TfL funding worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic and left unplugged by central government.

On 16 December, however, the day that Mr Bailey’s flyer campaign made it into headlines, Mr Khan issued a warning that a council tax rise was likely.

“I must sound a warning for Londoners that instead of providing the funding we need, Ministers are pushing for an extraordinary and significant increase in Council Tax in London and across the UK,” he said in a statement.

“I will be honest and upfront with Londoners about exactly what this means for your bills as soon as possible,” he added.

In Ms Rayner’s letter, the MP accuses Mr Bailey’s campaign of failing to acknowledge that much of TfL’s borrowing was incurred “under the previous Mayoralty, under a Conservative Mayor”. 

“By contrast, the current Mayor has dramatically cut TfL’s rate of borrowing and hugely improved its finances during his mayoralty,” she said in the letter, which can be seen below.

The MP further accused Mr Bailey’s campaign of failing to “acknowledge the devastating impact that Covid-19 has had on TfL finances, which as you know is the reason emergency funding was needed in the first place.”

In a statement sent to The Independent, a London Labor spokesperson said: “The Tory Mayoral candidate is now making a regular habit of deliberately lying to Londoners and spreading fake news.”

The spokesperson accused Mr Bailey’s campaign of exaggerating what a potential Council Tax increase might look like to “scare Londoners at a time when many are facing financial hardship because of the pandemic.”

“There is simply no way Sadiq would choose to increase council tax by anything like those levels. He should immediately withdraw these leaflets and apologise to Londoners for lying yet again,” the spokesperson said.

The Independent has contacted the Conservative Party for comment.

This article has been updated with a comment from London Labour.

By James Gallagher www.bbc.co.uk Health and science correspondent

The coronavirus vaccine designed by scientists at the University of Oxford has been approved for use in the UK.

It marks a major turning point and will lead to a massive expansion in the UK’s immunisation campaign, which is aimed at getting life back to normal.

The UK has ordered 100 million doses from the manufacturer AstraZeneca – enough to vaccinate 50 million people.

The approval, by the medicines regulator, means the vaccine is both safe and effective.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was designed in the first months of 2020, tested on the first volunteer in April, and has since been through large-scale clinical trials involving thousands of people.

It has been developed at a pace that would have been unthinkable before the pandemic.

It is the second jab to be approved in the UK after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was given the go-ahead in December.

More than 600,000 people in the UK have been vaccinated since Margaret Keenan became the first in the world to get that jab outside of a clinical trial.

But the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will lead to a significant increase in vaccination as it is cheap and easy to mass produce.

Crucially it can be stored in a standard fridge – unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech jab which needs ultra cold storage at -70C – so it will be far easier to get the Oxford vaccine to care homes and GP surgeries.

Priority groups for immunisation – including the elderly, care home residents and health and care workers – have already been identified.

The new vaccine approval comes after Public Health England said the country was facing “unprecedented” levels of infections, and health officials in parts of Wales, Scotland and the south of England voiced concerns about the increasing pressure on the NHS.

How does it work?

The vaccine is a genetically modified common cold virus that used to infect chimpanzees.

It has been altered to stop it causing an infection in people and to carry the blueprints for part of the coronavirus, known as the spike protein.

Once these blueprints are inside the body they start producing the coronavirus’ spike protein, which the immune system recognizes as a threat and tries to squash it.

Then, when the immune system comes into contact with the virus for real, it already knows what to do.

Two full doses of the Oxford vaccine gave 62% protection, a half dose followed by a full dose was 90% and overall the trial showed 70% protection.