Judicial review on “biased consultation” could be pointer for NHS consultation

“Ministers have been accused of launching an “unlawful” consultation on the second part of the Leveson inquiry meant to investigate corrupt dealings between the press and police, as well as new legal costs provisions.

Two victims of press intrusion and an investigative website have filed a claim for a judicial review of the decision to consult on two remaining aspects of the Leveson inquiry, set up in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.

Former Crimewatch presenter Jacqui Hames, online news publisher Byline Media, and an anonymous phone-hacking victim have jointly filed the claim against the lawfulness of the consultation exercise, claiming to be “particularly affected by any decision to resile from the promises made”.

The claim against the culture, media and sport department and the Home Office states that the 10-week consultation seeking the public’s views is “misleading and unbalanced in fundamental ways, which render it plainly unfair”.

It argues that the consultation launched by the culture secretary, Karen Bradley, is unlawful because both Leveson part two and the controversial section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 concerning legal costs were previously promised, and because the consultation document itself is biased. …

…Evan Harris, joint executive director of Hacked Off, said: “This legal challenge is no surprise, given the shameless conduct of the government in breaking its promises to victims, intervening to frustrate the will of parliament, and issuing a consultation paper so biased that it could have been written by the Daily Mail or the Sun.” …

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/dec/22/claim-for-judicial-review-of-unlawful-leveson-consultation-launched?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Government to use old technology to get fast(er) broadband to rural areas

They will use copper wire technology rather than fibre which may mean that although people may get faster broadband they will be in the slow lane of the digital highway. And what about the 3% NOT connected by 2020?

” … The scheme will deliver superfast broadband of up to 24Mbps , which will allow families to watch TV on multiple devices at the same time or let children do homework while parents do online shopping or banking.

The government says the rollout means that the proportion of the UK population that can get superfast broadband has risen from just 45% in 2010 to 90%. The goal is 97% by 2020.

“We have made great progress but there is still more to do,” said Bradley.”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/22/government-pledges-400m-broadband-fund-to-help-600000-homes?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Auditor General throws out Dept of Education annual accounts – not true or fair

This throws the latest round of funding for schools into total chaos!

“Auditor general Amyas Morse has issued an adverse opinion on the truth and fairness of the Department for Education’s group financial statements and warned the ministry faces many challenges to provide a better picture of spending by academy schools.

In his statement on the department’s 2015-16 accounts, Morse said the adverse opinion meant he considered the level of error and uncertainty in the statements to be both material and pervasive. He also issued two qualifications after the DFE exceeded two of its authorized expenditure limits.

The error and uncertainty is due to the inclusion of spending by academy trusts in the report.

The DFE has a different reporting period from that of the academy trusts, which presents it with a financial management challenge to provide true and fair financial reports. The department must produce its financial statements by a year end of 31 March whereas the trusts have a year end of 31 August (to align with the end of the school year). For 2015-16, 2,910 academy trusts operating 5,552 academies were included in the report.

This is the second year in a row that the National Audit Office has issued an adverse opinion on this basis, and the report stated the department has chosen not to change the reporting period for the trusts nor to request a second set of statements to cover the period to the end of March. Instead it has sought to prepare the group financial statements by using the academy trusts’ financial statements to the end of August and then making adjustments where necessary. This is based on an assumption that financial data for the year to the end of August, with the adjustments, would not be materially different for the equivalent to the end of the following March.

However, Morse said he considers this approach does not give a true and fair view of the department’s financial performance or position. Furthermore, the approach does not provide the required accountability to Parliament. The report did not, however, identify material inaccuracies in the financial statements of the individual bodies making up the group.

An alternative approach to accounting for academy trusts is now being developed by the DFE to improve transparency through the production of a separate aggregated account for academies as at 31 August. This will remove academy trusts’ financial results from the DfE’s group financial statements, which will instead reflect only grants paid to academies.

Morse said this would, if implemented effectively, provide a solution to a number of the issues faced by the department, but would not address all of the causes of error and uncertainty, such as the recognition of land and buildings.

“The department has many challenges to overcome if it is to implement successfully its plans to provide Parliament with a better picture of academy trusts’ spending next year,” he stated.
Responding to the adverse opinion, a DfE spokesman said: “We recognise the challenges with the current format and have developed a new methodology for the 2016-17 financial year, which the NAO has said will provide a solution to a number of these issues.

“With the Education Funding Agency’s rigorous oversight of the academy system and the expanding role of the Regional School Commissioner we are confident that the accountability system for the expanding academies programme is robust and fit for purpose.”

http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2016/12/auditor-general-issues-adverse-opinion-department-education-accounts

Government’s 32 advisers cost only 4 times more than those at EDDC

“The pay bill for the Conservative party’s special advisers will total an estimated £7.9 million this year, Government records show.

Theresa May will keep 32 advisers in Downing Street, the same number as David Cameron, but has reduced the number across Government from 95 to 83.

The lower number of “Spads” means the total bill for their salaries has fallen by £500,000 from its level of £8.4 million under David Cameron.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/special-advisors-spads-pay-theresa-may-wages-bill-total-labour-a7489221.html

Japan scraps useless, eye-wateringly expensive nuclear reactor

“Japan is a scrapping an experimental reactor which has worked for just 250 days of its 22-year lifespan and cost $9bn (£7.2bn).

The Monju reactor, in western Japan’s Fukui city, was designed to burn most of its own spent fuel, eliminating the need to deal with the nuclear waste.
But it suffered its first problems months after it went live, and has not worked properly since.

It would now need billions more for safety upgrades to be restarted.
“We have decided to decommission Monju because restarting it would require significant time and cost,” chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
But officials are not giving up altogether, as it had been hoped the reactor would prove to be the solution for Japan’s scant natural energy resources.

They are understood to be seeking another fast reactor to replace Monju, despite opponents saying Japan should give up the programme and shift to direct burial of spent fuel as waste.

According to the Japan Times, Monju will cost at least 375bn yen ($3.2bn; £2.6bn) to decommission and will only be fully dismantled by 2047.
Local officials oppose losing Monju, which rakes in subsidies and provides jobs.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38390504

EDDC expenditure on consultants and agency staff2015/16 almost £2 million

Consultants £1,430,867
Agency staff £477,119

Total £1,907,986

A full list of payees appears with the appendix. Relocation supremo Steve Pratten (Aecom) takes up a large chunk.

But what is the £11,000 paid to Monitoring Officer and Legal Officer Henry Gordon-Lennox as “Legal Services Retainer”? Surely he is not employed by an agency?

Click to access item-10-consultants-fees-with-appendices.pdf

Lamest resignation excuse of 2016!

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2016/dec/21/steve-bell-ojamie-reed-quitting-labour-cartoon?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

“One of Jeremy Corbyn’s most persistent critics is to quit as a Labour MP and take a job in the nuclear industry, triggering a three-way fight for his marginal northern seat with the Conservatives and Ukip.

Jamie Reed, the MP for Copeland in west Cumbria since 2005, told the Guardian he was resigning because he believed he could achieve more for his community in his new job, working for the nuclear processing site Sellafield, than on the backbenches.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/21/corbyn-critic-jamie-reed-quits-labour-mp-byelection-copeland?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Translation?: I am being offered shedloads of money in my new job and so stuff you lot!

Budleigh Salterton “Health Hub” – the “hospital” with no beds

A commentary moved to post:

“So the Budleigh Hospital opens as a Hub – the first hospital in Devon to have no beds.

“A Hub, according to its website, is a term used to describe a place where many different services and organisations are based. This usually has a focus on a building, but can be virtual – internet or literature based.” [I don’t think they mean Jane Austen – just bumf].

“[At the Budleigh “health hub”] It is anticipated that a range of activities, such as arts, sport, dances and other social events will provide opportunities for people to socialise. There will also be an internet café, public WiFi and cinema space screening educational productions as well as films.”

“Staff at the centre will be able to refer people onto other services if required, meaning that waiting times are reduced, and you will be able to access support as and when you need it.”

According to the Oxford Dictionary a hospital is an institution providing medical and surgical treatment and nursing care for ill or injured people. Welcome to the brave new post truth world where words mean what you choose them to mean (Alice in Wonderland). [I bet “access support” doesn’t mean what you think either].

Oh and another thing – the Friends are reported to be donating c. £200K to pay the rent to NHS Property Services (a private limited company currently 100% owned by the S of S for Health) who are now charging economic rents for the property. But remember where this property came from. The Budleigh Hospital, like many others, started as a charity but was absorbed into the NHS in 1948. Looks like donors are having to pay twice over!

what happens when you tell truth to power in these post-truth times

“A consultancy firm has apologised to the government for the “disruption” caused by a leaked memo that suggested ministers had no plan for Brexit.

Deloitte said it regretted the publication, adding it had proposed a plan “to put this matter behind us”.

The Times reported this included an agreement not to bid for government contracts for six months.

Downing Street dismissed the memo when it was published last month, saying it had been unsolicited. The document claimed “well over 500 projects” were being undertaken by Whitehall departments to implement Brexit, creating the need for up to 30,000 extra civil servants, and highlighted “divisions” within government over the strategy.

Its publication in The Times generated a backlash from No 10, which said it “wholeheartedly” rejected the comments it contained, and Deloitte played down the memo’s significance. Five weeks on, the company has said: “Deloitte regrets the publication of the two-page note, and has apologised for the unintended disruption it caused government.

“The note was for internal audiences and was not a Deloitte point of view. We have put forward a plan for working with central government to put this matter behind us.”

Downing Street did not dispute The Times’ report that the agreement involved Deloitte not bidding for government contracts for six months, but the the company declined to comment on any withdrawal from such bids.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38390147

Fast broadband more important than good schools or good transport when buying houses

If you don’t have fast broadband (at least 10 mbts/second measured by a service such as Speedtest which is free) contact EDDC councillor Phil Twiss (ptwiss@eddc.gov.uk) who took us out of the consortium now bringing fast speeds to Exmoor ans Dartmoor because he thought we would be better off going it alone with a grant we didn’t get.

“… That has been confirmed by several studies. Most recently, Broadband Genie research found that slow broadband would put three-quarters of respondents off buying or renting a new home, and that 28% would be prepared to pay more for a property with fast internet.

Another study – this time from property website Rightmove – found that broadband speed has become a deal maker or breaker in many property sales, and incredibly that broadband is ranked as more important than transport links and nearby schools when people search for property details.

Other experts now describe broadband as the ‘fourth utility’, after water, gas and electricity, demonstrating the fundamental role the internet now plays in our everyday lives.

More working from home

Andrew Sayle, Zen’s product manager for broadband, agrees: “It’s easy to see why broadband is so important to those looking to buy or rent property. Look at everything we use the internet for, from shopping and paying bills to booking appointments and watching films. More people than ever are choosing to work from home, so their ability to make a living is directly affected by the speed and reliability of their broadband connection. I suspect broadband will only become a more important factor in property decisions in future.”

Andrew is undoubtedly right. According to Cisco, by 2019 the gigabyte equivalent of all the movies ever made will cross the global internet every two minutes. More and more of us will be using the internet to download large quantities of data, often through streaming films and TV shows.

And that’s not all. Many of us already remotely control our homes through WiFi-enabled appliances. Everything from heating and lighting to home security systems and kitchen appliances can now be controlled with a smartphone app. A good broadband connection will only become more crucial to 21st century life.”

https://blog.zen.co.uk/good-schools-good-transport-links-good-broadband-new-rules-house-buying/

Government tells developers (including Taylor Wimpey) to stop leasehold house money grabber

“Major housebuilders such as Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon may be forced to spend millions compensating home buyers locked into unfair leasehold contracts, following a warning by housing minister Gavin Barwell.

Amid accusations in the House of Commons of “the PPI scandal of the property sector”, Barwell ordered developers to halt future sales of leasehold houses or face government action next year.

He also told developers to come up with solutions for householders already stuck in homes where soaring ground rents have made their property virtually unsaleable.

“There is a widespread problem here that needs addressing. These practices are not illegal but it seems to be one of those cases where there is a gulf between the letter of the law and our sense of what is right.

“The secretary of state and I are clear that it is not just a matter of stopping this practice going forward, but it is also about addressing hard working people who believe they have bought their home but actually they are in a position where they may find they are unable to sell that home down the line.”

A series of reports in Guardian Money has revealed how developers have been selling detached and semi-detached houses as leasehold, with clauses which allow the ground rent to double every 10 years. The freeholds are then sold on to private companies which extract the ground rent, charge high fees if a homeowner wishes to make alterations, and refuse to sell the freehold except for a huge premium.

Homebuyers have been left with houses they cannot sell as lenders will no longer offer mortgages against them because of the ground rent clauses. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/dec/20/housebuilders-must-halt-leasehold-sales-of-houses-compensation

EDDC Leader’s (post truth?) Christmas message

Owl will not be passing on Leader Diviani’s full-blown Christmas message, just the most choice ten phrases from it so you can add your own comments.

And this is the picture that the Communications Department chose to go with the press release, just in case anyone has forgotten what he looks like:

3619eb05-3b22-4bfa-90f2-959cf05d60d8-3741-0000032ccb274029_tmp

1. Relocation and evolution of efficient, innovative services remains a priority for district council …

2. Improving and we will continue to improve …

3. We will continue to face financial pressures …

4. How we can deliver our services in new and innovative ways.

5. We must evolve from being service providers and instead become enablers …

6. Support communities to come together so they can do more for themselves …

7. We will also be focusing on a more commercial approach to delivering our services …

8. We must deliver the £2.6m savings that central government require us to make …

9. Outstanding council, which works together with local people to create great value services and an outstanding community, economy and environment for East Devon, both now and for future generations.

10. Everything we do is aimed at making East Devon a place where people want to live and work, as well as a top destination for visitors.

Riddle: if it costs £1.95m to turn a small library into a community hub how much for Exmouth Town Hall refurbishment?

“Topsham Library is set to be converted into a multi-purpose community hub for Estuary League of Friends after the group was awarded a

£778,100 grant.

The charity, which works to improve the quality of life for the vulnerable in and around Topsham, has raised 85 per cent of the

£1.95million needed

to fund the development after receiving the grant from the Big Lottery Fund. …

… Estuary League of Friends’ home will be converted into a two-storey complex with a day room, community café and kitchens, fitness rooms, improved library facilities along with other rooms.”

http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/778_000_to_turn_library_into_community_hub_1_4821439

“The NHS is headed for a devolution iceberg – whilst MPs argue about deckchairs”

“…Under cover of Devolution, local authorities and Combined Authorities are gaining the freedom to take their own piece of the NHS pie and dish it out as they see fit. By 2020, there may be a patchwork of local health services, ushered in by local authorities, starting with the 10 Labour-controlled authorities in Greater Manchester’s Devo Manc deal, but potentially spreading across England. The real prospectus is a devolved, deregulated, local service, partly privatised, its social care component already 90% privatised, facing a meltdown in local authority finance, competing with other localities for patients and funds, with local pay and conditions for healthworkers, and all branded as “integrated”.

If so, those who want to rescue our National Health Service will need more than a repeal of the Health & Social Care Act (2012). The NHS will need renationalising in a truly integrated form, eliminating the internal market and restoring the legal responsibilities of the Secretary of State. The NHS Bill, backed by Jeremy Corbyn and Caroline Lucas but yet to win the endorsement of any major party, would do this. But there will be facts on the ground to confront as well. …”

https://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/greg-dropkin/nhs-is-headed-for-devolution-iceberg-whilst-mps-argue-about-deckchairs

Rural areas – beggared every which way

Rural funding screwed:
http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/services/rural-dismay-at-governments-funding-announcement

Rural carers overwhelmed:
http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/analysis/are-rural-carers-overwhelmed-by-need

Mobile coverage ‘worse than Albania’
http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/services/rural-mobile-coverage-worse-than-albania

Add reduced bus services, potholed roads, no social or affordable housing, fewer shops and post offices – and the countryside is no place for quality of life these days.

Is Mr Cohen up to his job?

Richard Cohen has not had a good year (well, actually he has, as he remains Deputy CEO and Relocation Manager for EDDC).

He came under fire last week for saying (twice) that the DMC had “stymied” relocation plans – though actually if anyone stymied anything it was PegasusLife putting in a planning application that was unfit for purpose.

Just so show this wasn’t a one-off, let us remind ourselves of this is transcript of part of a speech by a well-known Sidmouth businessman with experience of property development, made at a Sid Vale Association Meeting at the Unitarian Church, Sidmouth, 9th December 2014.

The speech begins with a discussion of Cohen’s estimate of total relocation costs at about £10 million.

“The numbers are completely, hopelessly and scandalously wrong. They are useless, they are terrible and have to be challenged vigorously and strenuously. These numbers are rubbish. They don’t include the green travel plan, they don’t include compensation for the staff, they don’t include the cost of the move itself, they don’t include the costs of hubs the other towns and, most importantly, they don’t include the cost of officer time and members time that is involved in all of this.

The expert, Mr Steve Pratten from Davis Langdon, he is going to cost £1million or more on his own. It doesn’t include the legal costs in all this. I say to the District Council that I have estimated the real costs to be £20million. That figure was not disputed – Richard Cohen did not say it was exaggerated – he said he didn’t recognize the number. What that means is that I was bang on the money.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are trusting Richard Cohen to mastermind this whole process and we are assuming that he’s accurate in the mathematical calculations. This is the same man who measured the Knowle 40% smaller than it turned out to be! He got it wrong by 40%. Robin Fuller had to write a paper, he was rubbished in the press and it turned out that he was correct. The Knowle is 40% bigger than Richard Cohen thought it was.

This is the same man who was responsible for four attempts to compose the economic impact assessments rejected by his own planning committee. He can’t get simple mathematics right. This same man tells us that energy prices are going to go ahead for the next 20 years at 10% over inflation. He is alone in the entire world in thinking this. Nobody else believes that including your energy companies who will fix your energy costs for the next four years. That instantly takes £1.5million out of all the savings that are supposed to be made by moving, so he hasn’t even bothered to explore that possibility.

He is also the man who shifted the southern boundary of the Knowle to include the second tier of parkland without telling anybody and in contradiction to the specific instructions of the Development Management Committee. I was told this would not be investigated because the Inspector would look at it, which he would not do because it was not in his remit. So that has never been investigated by anybody at the Knowle.

He did it without managing to record that process; without managing to record any conversation with any individual, without writing a single email, or keeping a single note or sending any kind of correspondence to any third party. Because I made a freedom of information request, and there was nothing there.

He did it unilaterally, on his own, secretly, and he didn’t tell a single soul, and I only found out by accident.

This is not the kind of person I would trust to do these calculations. Now when he says it is going to cost £15.9million to refurbish the Knowle, I would tell him that that’s a load of bunkum. This relates to the entire building, which nobody advocates retaining. Why is anybody working in a bathroom when the Knowle is two and a half times the size of the building EDDC says it needs? How can that be possible? Mr Cohen in his calculations also asserts that there is nil chance, not 1% chance of local government reform in the next 20 years.”

Hospital boss has double the pay of Prime Minister

“Eileen Doyle, who was appointed interim Chief Operating Officer at North Middlesex Hospital in May, is on twice the Prime Minister’s salary. …”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/hospital-chiefs-300000-year-pay-9476332

Government ready to increase housing numbers above and over current Local Plans

“Theresa May and senior Cabinet ministers face a backlash from constituents after Government planning experts recommended increasing of up to 25 per cent in housing forecasts in the Home Counties.

The original forecasts were published by a Government panel which wants to cut the amount of time it takes for councils to publish local plans which set out where building can take place.

The news comes ahead of a major push, which could include relaxing building restrictions, by the Government in the new year to encourage more homes to be built.

Campaigners warned that the new year assault on housing will create “battles across England” because of the ambition of the targets.

Analysis of the forecasts by countryside campaigners found that voters in the Maidenhead constituency of Mrs May, the Prime Minister, will have to increase their plans for new housing by 15 per cent.

In the Runnymede area represented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, local residents will have to prepare to accept a 20 per cent increase on top of existing forecasts.

In Tunbridge Wells, which is represented by the Business secretary Greg Clark, there could have to be another 22 per cent of new homes.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England which carried out the research said: “Considerably higher targets would necessitate the finding of even more sites, incur the loss of even more countryside, and make already-controversial local plans even more controversial.”

The CPRE warned that local residents could fight the plans if they threatened the countryside.

Shaun Spiers, the CPRE’s chief executive, said: “Communities are increasingly willing to support housebuilding, but nothing is more toxic or calculated to cause battles over planning than excessively high housing targets.

“These force councils to release green fields and Green Belt for development and we all know what happens next.

“Developers cherry pick the most profitable rural sites, encourage sprawl and neglect brownfield land.”

Mr Spiers said that the Government should “think again and come up with a sensible, realistic way of calculating housing which everyone can get behind.

“If they choose instead to ratchet up the housing targets still further, there will be battles over housing across England – lots of strife, little delivery. That would be a huge shame.”

Councils are duty bound to publish five year housing plans in local development plans but only two thirds of local authorities in England have done so.

Last year ministers raised the prospect forcing councils which have not set up local plans to accept housing quotas.

The Local Plans Expert Group, which developed the new targets, was commissioned by Government to investigate reforms to local planning.

In March last year the group made a number of recommendations designed to increase the amount of land allocated for housebuilding in Local Plans.

One such recommendation was to increase the level of housing need identified in Objective Assessments of Need by including a ‘market signals’ uplift.

Academics who examined the plans estimated that the method would produce an extra 312,000 new homes a year, 90,000 more than the Government’s projections in 2012.

The Government’s response to the group’s report is expected to be included in the Housing White Paper next month.

The group was criticised when it was first set up in September 2015 because it comprised a number of developers, lawyers and planning experts.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/18/nimby-backlash-fear-cabinet-ministers-ahead-major-new-year-assault/

EDDC fails “good boss” test

From a correspondent:

Eight things exceptional bosses tell their employees – applied to EDDC

1. I have total confidence in you – EDDC do NOT believe that the public knows best – they do not have confidence in us.

2. “This is what I want us to accomplish…” – EDDC keep most of their their agenda secret and do not inspire the public with a vision based on reality.

3. “What can we do better next time?” – EDDC are never willing to admit mistakes and so never learn lessons.

4. “I want to play to your strengths.” – EDDC do not put the best councillors up for each job regardless of party.

5. “What is your opinion?” – In other words, consultation. Need I say more.

6. “How can I better support you?” – I can’t imagine Mark Williams asking, say, Matt Dickins if he needs help – but who knows – stranger things may have happened.

7. “Let me know if you have any questions.” – Answering questions is not EDDC’s forte.

8. “Good work.” – Giving plaudits to others is a great trait – blowing your own trumpet on the vaguest premise of success or even the vaguest promise of success isn’t the same thing.

EDDC Score: 0/8

http://www.inc.com/elle-kaplan/8-things-exceptional-bosses-constantly-tell-their-employees.html