Not too well if you read this story, where a large company preferred to go to the Hill Barton Business Park, further away from the M5 and a few miles extra driving on the A3052 road towards Sidmouth:
What is it about EDDC-owned Skypark that made Hill Barton more attractive, Owl wonders? Especially as developer St Modwen has gone to (expensive?) lengths to pretty it up, sacrificing 5 acres of rental opportunity land to do so:
Swire pinched the first part of Claire Wright’s election slogan (“free to speak, free to act”) in recent press coverage about his recent demotion to the back benches but, tellingly, he did not pinch the second part.
Swire is NOT, of course, free to act. He is bound by the devices and desires of his national party policies and subject to a very firm whip to ensure that he behaves himself now and in the future.
It rather circumscribes his ” freedom”.
“The government lacks a “coherent, enduring framework” for planning and managing policy implementation, according to the National Audit Office.
In two reports published today, the NAO assessed the means by which the government plans and manages its business through Single Department Plans, and the execution of the 2015 Spending Review.
Almost £2tn was allocated to departments in last year’s Spending Review and another £2tn was budgeted for welfare and benefits payments over five years. This involved complex cooperation between the centre of government and departments to set overall strategy.
Despite improvements in this area, auditors found that the government was lacking an overall management framework. Adopting such a system would allow the government to plan into the medium term, set achievable goals, know whether it is on track, adjusting its approach where necessary, and provide Parliament with clear accountability.
The NAO refuted the government’s claims that it already operates such an arrangement in the form of processes and guidelines. The auditors said this did not add up to a framework, and said the outcome of this lack of structure could be seen in projects that were not value for money and blighted by an absence of long-term, joined-up thinking.
Making the change to a more effective system would not be easy, however, due to the scale of government and the significant challenges facing the country, which have been compounded by the recent vote to leave the EU.
Some progress had been made following previous NAO and Public Accounts Committee probes, but improvements had not been as significant as expected. Although the government is working with departments more effectively, it is not making the most of in-house expertise. Also, the report noted that a heightened focus on the spending period up to 2020 had drawn attention away from longer-term funding decisions and their impact.
NAO head Amyas Morse said: “Time and again, we find that problems in the delivery of public services can be traced back to the way government goes about planning and managing business in pursuit of an administration’s policy objectives.” …
http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2016/07/government-has-no-coherent-framework-implementing-policy
From eight very highly paid senior managers to five – well, it’s a start.
Whereas, in East Devon, after managing perfectly well on half a CEO when we shared him with South Somerset, we had to take him back full-time when they decided they could do without him.
Don’t get your hopes up – East Devon District Council has already stamped on it saying it would be just awful as they would lose control of planning!
“CREATING a national park across part of Dorset and east Devon could help ensure affordable housing goes to local people, according to campaigners.
The Dorset and East Devon National Park Team gave a presentation to Lyme Regis Town Council last week – pointing out the benefits the proposals could bring to the town and west Dorset.
Richard Brown, speaking on behalf of the national park team, said the proposals could “help affordable homes stay affordable”.
He added: “I think so many communities across Dorset are passing motions recognising that this is a great opportunity for Dorset.
National parks have a good track record in promoting the provision of affordable homes and keeping such homes affordable and available for local people.”
He added: “It would help develop affordable homes and a coherent Dorset tourism strategy.”
Speaking about a national park established in the South Downs, Mr Brown said that “people now stay longer and spend more”.
Although the project could be “five or six years away”, Mr Brown pointed out that “the proposed national park for Dorset remains unfinished business”.
The team say Natural England has already undertaken a positive first assessment of the proposal submitted to them in 2013.
The team’s current proposal for a national park includes the Dorset AONB land from Lyme Regis to Blandford Forum, excluding the Dorchester area, as well as much of Purbeck and east Devon, excluding Seaton and Sidmouth. But the national park boundary has yet to be finalised.
Mr Brown added: “The environment and the economy are two halves of the same coin.
“All of Dorset would benefit from the economic stimulus a national park brings. They are not against development. They work hard through local partnerships to deliver what local people want.”
The concept of creating a national park gained the backing of some town councillors.
Cllr Derek Hallett remained cautious, urging members to “look at it very carefully”, while Cllr Jeff Scowen described the proposals as “a marvellous idea”. …”
“… Supposedly the costliest power station on Earth lies like a beached whale on the shores of the Bristol Channel. Whitehall’s department of energy hated it from the start, seeing it not as sensible investment but diplomatic fantasy. The French government, which owns the contractor EDF, is happy to proceed, but only if the soaring cost, now put at £37bn, is guaranteed by future British governments and energy consumers. Accountants working for EDF have run screaming for the hills.
The world of nuclear energy has moved on from these giant 20th-century plants, not one of which has yet been made to work. But the lobbyists have been hard at work: from Weber Shandwick, Bell Pottinger and Finsbury, to the pro-nuclear former minister, John (Lord) Hutton. The cry is always: stop arguing the cost and get building. We don’t want the lights to go out, do we? Someone else will pay.” …
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/21/theresa-may-lobbyists-trident-heathrow-business
This comment is re-posted here, beginning this time with its final sentence:
…. my biggest overall impression is that there was nothing, NOTHING [during the years that Swire felt free to speak in Parliament] requiring any substantial expertise that a new Independent MP like Claire Wright couldn’t have done just as well if not better.
Hugo Swire became a minister in 2010, so we should get some indication of how he behaves as a back bencher from his time as an MP prior to 2010 – though in opposition at this point of course. I guess we should expect that, as an opposition MP charged with holding the Labour government to account, we should be seeing a far more questioning approach. Fortunately, his contributions are available online as part of the Hansard archive for us to review, as follows:
In 2006/2007 session, Hugo spoke in the commons on only 15 occasions – that’s 15 occasions out of several hundred sitting days and several thousand hours of debate, though of course not all of these 15 occasions actually contained anything of any significance. For example on one of these occasions he only said “Will the right hon. Lady give way?” to Tessa Jowell – not exactly earth shattering. He did speak about the lottery funding of the 2012 Olympics, the BBC and drugs in prisons on several occasions.
He started rehearsing his role as a Foreign Office minister by asking asking about Gaza, but did manage to mention East Devon a couple of times – on one occasion pleading for better protection against wrecks like the Napoli at Branscombe, and on another occasion to congratulate Devon Air Ambulance on backfilling for shortcomings of the NHS. However he did not secure a single debate on issues of serious import to East Devon.
So that is two mentions of East Devon in 2006-2007 but without securing any specific debates about issues affecting East Devon. Not IMO exactly good value for money – several hundred thousand pounds in salary and expenses for one short plea for support for the coastline after a shipwreck.
In 2007/2008 session, he spoke on 27 occasions. He rehearsed further for his ministerial role with questions about Zimbabwe, Afghanistan & Serbia, Muslim law, bank support for South American exports, and relationships between Harriet Harman and foreign oligarchs (perhaps he felt this was something he should research in case he needed to know about it in his future role). He also spoke about art collectors (presumably based on his expertise as a fine art auctioneer), female genital mutilation (not sure about his expertise on this subject), the sale of Shackleton barracks, casinos / gambling (again), election funding (oh, the irony considering the current scandals), called for hard evidence in support of government arguments about foetal abnormalities (oh, irony again given the lack of hard facts during the referendum), farmers growing eco-fuel, and against the EU Lisbon Treaty.
But to his credit he did speak very briefly about Job Centre closures in Sidmouth, Exmouth and Axminster, about cut-backs in care for the elderly, about the Waterloo-Exeter rail link, about funding for community power and heat generation in Cranbrook, pensions funding for Devon & Somerset Fire Service. More notably he secured two debates about the closure of Post Office Counters in small communities, and about the sell off “to the highest bidder” of Rolle College, Exmouth and more generally about education funding in East Devon cf. UK averages. (Of course, the Conservative government of which he was a minister made education funding in East Devon even lower cf. UK average, but surely that should not detract from his stance when in opposition, should it?)
For 2007/8, having secured two debates for East Devon issues I would mark Hugo as delivering better value-for-money than the previous year, though undoubtedly there were many more occasions where he could have spoken about issues of importance to East Devon and 27 occasions in several thousand hours of debate is not exactly a major contribution to political thinking. So, still poor value-for-money.
IN 2008/9 Hugo spoke on about 40 occasions. He continued his rehearsals for a ministerial role for a 3rd year running with comments on Afghanistan, Iran and Gaza, and drew on his expertise of army life (a very short experience indeed – a bit like his university experience) to ask questions about reductions in the strength of the TA, equipment shortages, and armoured vehicles held up in Israeli customs. He also spoke about transparency for MPs expenses (whilst his position on transparency was unclear on this occasion, we know from his outburst re his families use of tax havens that he is not that keen on transparency), on reducing the number of MPs (but funny how the government he was a minister in failed to make this happen), on getting more people registered to vote, on Labour economic disaster, Swine Flu, funding for local councils for heritage archives (of course later made made MUCH, MUCH worse under his own government), banks privatised after the financial crisis, Lyme disease, that we should join the Euro (yes – really!), and the perception of MPs having their “noses in the trough at a time of an economic recession if not a depression” (irony again). But he also spoke very briefly about tourism and taxes on furnished holiday lettings, road links to Exeter Airport and funds for mitigating its environmental impact, marine conservation cf. MV Napoli, Samurai Sword crime in East Devon, SW educational funding (again), fuel poverty (particularly in Exmouth), the EDDC judicial review into boundary changes, and secured debates on much higher than average sewerage charges in the SW, and about the MSC Napoli shipwreck.
So again, Hugo secured debates on two areas of interest to East Devon, by 40 comments in several thousand hours of debate is hardly stunning. Still terrible value-for-money.
Hugo spoke 28 times this year. He spoke on Gaza/Hamas/Israel, Afghanistan, Pakistan, USA/Argentina/Falklands, EU regulations, on restricting freedom of protest (in Parliament Square), on Lyme disease (again), on treatment for wounded armed servicemen, TA funding (again), bovine tuberculosis, pensioners cold weather payments, dementia, lottery funding, and unitary government in Devon, educational funding for Devon, upper gastro-intestinal surgery (based on a complaint by a constituent), water charges in the SW (though this time for drinking water rather than sewerage), Met Office redundancies, raising a 69 signature petition about home education (but of course later being a minister in a government that ignored petitions with several thousand times as many signatures) and securing a debate on Seaside Town Regeneration to discuss tax changes for furnished holiday letting.
Whilst this was perhaps a shortened parliamentary year (because of the election), 28 comments including securing one debate is still a pitiful result. Conclusion: Still poor VFM.
I should add that with the exception of the debates he secured which he introduced with a substantial speech, most of these were short comments or questions rather than making any serious points.
Swire has sprung to life in Parliament!
And what aspect of life in East Devon did he see fit to talk about?
Students in Exeter!!! Bet Ben Bradshaw is miffed!
Here is the extract:
Higher Education and Research Bill (19 Jul 2016)
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19a.702.0&s=speaker%3A11265#g749.0
Hugo Swire: Has my hon. Friend made any study of the outrageous
discrimination suffered by English students studying at Scottish
universities after we come out of the European Union?
Higher Education and Research Bill (19 Jul 2016)
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19a.702.0&s=speaker%3A11265#g750.1
Hugo Swire: The right hon. Gentleman will have heard what my hon. Friend
the Member for Cannock Chase (Amanda Milling) said, citing Sir Steve
Smith, the vice-chancellor of Exeter University. He will also be aware
of the huge number of overseas students at Exeter University, which make
it one of the leading universities in the country, if not in the world.
I know that the Minister shares my view about…
Etc, etc.
Perhaps he might next focus on the closure of Tipton St John Primary School – Owl is sure they would appreciate his help – although Claire Wright is doing as much as she can, an extra pair of hands would surely help!
Here is the consultation letter and, below it, the maps showing the two possible routes that it might follow onshore. Also details of where and when representatives of the project will be available for questioning.
Several points spring to mind:
How wide will trenches be?
Will roads need to be closed and, if so, for how long?
How big is the converter station?
Why are some of the cables put in fields, yet others are embedded in roads? Roads particularly affected are the B3178 disrupting Budleigh Salterton, East Budleigh and Colaton Raleigh and the B3184 to the airport, Many other key strategic routes will also be cut across and possibly interrupted, including the A30 and also the railway line.
The two routes out of Budleigh Salterton are very sensitive environmental areas – moleing underground was originally mentioned but seems to have been dropped
The consultation letter (followed by maps of alternative routes included with the letter)
I am writing to invite you to take part a public consultation on proposals to build a 220 kilometre underground and subsea electricity interconnector and converter station which will see power flowing between France, the Channel Island of Alderney, and East Devon.
The FAB Project has the approval of the UK energy regulator Ofgem to build the interconnector, linking the British electricity grid from the existing National Grid substation at Broadclyst to the French grid to help ensure the security of supply to both the UK and the continent. Alderney Renewable Energy (ARE) and Transmission Investment LLP formed a joint venture company, FAB Link, and FAB Link is working with the French grid company RTE – Reseau de Transport d’Electricite – to develop the FAB Project.
The project also intends to take advantage of proposed tidal generators in Alderney to provide reliable, sustainable and low-carbon electricity for consumers on both sides of the Channel, hence the FAB name, which stands for France-Alderney-Britain. It is also our intention to increase competition in electricity markets, cutting prices for consumers.
As shown in the enclosed maps, the cables would come ashore in Britain at Budleigh Salterton and thereafter would run underground between the coast and a new above-ground converter station.
The interconnector cables would run completely underground between the coast and a new above-ground converter station to be built near Exeter International Airport. From the converter station the high-voltage DC electricity transmitted through the interconnector would be converted to or from high-voltage AC current used by the National Grid. Further underground cables would then link up with the grid at Broadclyst. There will be no pylons associated with the FAB Project, and our intention is that we will leave the environment along the route exactly as we found it.
We are holding three public consultation events in East Devon and one public consultation event in Alderney where we will be able to explain our project in more detail. Each of the events is open to the public from 2pm to 8pm. They are:
• Tuesday, 26th July, 2016: Temple Methodist Church Hall, Budleigh Salterton;
• Wednesday, 27th July, 2016: Younghayes Centre, Cranbrook;
• Thursday, 28th July 2016: Woodbury Park Hotel, Woodbury;
The events will provide you with opportunities to express your views on the project. The opinions of all stakeholders will help to inform our proposals for the route of the interconnector and the construction of the converter station before the relevant planning applications are submitted to the relevant authorities at the end of 2016.
If you are not able to attend one of the events, please visit our website to learn more. Copies of the detailed plans, technical reports and environmental appraisals of the onshore and offshore proposals available at the public consultation events will also be available online at http://www.fablink.net from 25th July, and there will be opportunities to express your opinions via the website, phone or by post. The consultation will run until 5th September 2016.
If you do not have access to the internet the information will also be available to view at Budleigh Salterton Library in Station Road, Budleigh Salterton, EX9 6RH, from 25th July to 5th September during normal library opening hours, which are currently 09.30-18.00 on Mondays, 09.30-13.00 on Wednesdays, 09.30-17.30 on Thursdays, and 09.30-13.00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Please note the library is not open on Tuesdays or Sundays.
Route 1
Route 2:
“Owen Smith, who now faces Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership battle, worked as a lobbyist in the pharmaceutical industry for five years before becoming the MP for Pontypridd in 2010.
After working for the US giant Pfizer, Smith moved to the controversial biotech firm Amgen in 2008. At the time, Amgen was battling an investigation into one of its most successful anaemia drugs, Aranesp.
Amgen was ultimately fined $762m for illegally promoting the drug to cancer patients in a way that increased the likelihood of their deaths. Amgen was hit with the fines after it emerged that the California company was “pursuing profits at the risk of patient safety” as it promoted a non-approved use of Aranesp.
Smith was in charge of corporate affairs, corporate and internal communications and public affairs at the British division of Amgen while the biotech company was being investigated.
The main whistleblower on Aranesp filed her case against Amgen in 2006, sparking a US investigation that took several years to conclude. The whistleblower also claimed that Amgen systematically overfilled vials of the drugs, when selling them in America, which enabled doctors to “pool” the excess amounts.
The doctors were then encouraged to bill Medicare and private insurers for the use of the excess drug, creating a system of “liquid kickbacks” according to one lawyer on the case.
Amgen also produces a drug called erythropoietin – better known as EPO – which it produced under its Epogen brand name. Epogen was connected to the international cycling scandal, which involved cyclists such as Lance Armstrong. …”
David Cameron was “Director of Corporate Affairs” at Carlton TV (i.e. a lobbyist):
“In July 1994, Cameron left his role as Special Adviser to work as the Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications. Carlton, which had won the ITV franchise for London weekdays in 1991, was a growing media company which also had film-distribution and video-producing arms. Cameron was suggested for the role to Carlton executive chairman Michael P. Green by his later mother-in-law Lady Astor. Cameron left Carlton to run for Parliament in 1997, returning to his job after his defeat.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cameron#Carlton
and our own dear Hugo Swire had a similar job at the National Gallery:
“He was a financial consultant, then became of Head of Development for the National Gallery, then Director of the auction house Sotheby’s directly before his election from 1996.”
When it is the BIG, BIG story about EDDC dropping their development partner (Moirai Capital Investments) and going back to the drawing board for the seafront, which appeared on its website for only 24 hours, displaced by stories on the Tour of Britain, a school fete in Ottery and a by-election in Littleham.
Wonder how that decision came about?
“He said: “It is wonderful that the Pebblebed Heaths are enjoyed for recreation and provide a place to experience nature. However, the intensity of use of the Pebblebed Heaths can cause significant disturbance to wildlife, with adverse impacts of people and pets including predation of ground nesting birds, trampling and erosion of paths and tracks, along with nutrient enrichment through dog mess.”
Owl worries that it sounds as if Clinton Devon Estates would really like to ban or restrict people and dogs in the area.
And what about the quarrying that is being expanded around the heath and its impact?
And what happens when Mrs Leadsom decides that they are not being ” productive”?
“The Council is proposing to replace the existing narrow, substandard single carriageway in the Monkton area with around five miles of new road between the Honiton Bypass and Devonshire Inn – the junction of the A30 with the A303.
The scheme will comprise a wide carriageway with three lanes. It will be a laid out with two lanes in one direction and one lane in the other to enable overtaking in one direction, alternating along the route.
…
Exhibitions will be held at the following venues:
Thursday 4 August, 8am-6pm – Honiton Show
Friday 5 August, 2pm-8pm – Upottery Village Hall
Saturday 6 August, 10am-6pm – Upottery Village Hall
Tuesday 16 August, 12pm-8pm – Monkton Court Hotel
Saturday 20 August, 10am-6pm – Mackarness Hall, Honiton
Saturday 10 September, 10am-6pm – Upottery Village Hall”
Is this to make the road better for our councillors and officers to reach (or get away from) the forthcoming plush new offices in Honiton – centre of the EDDC universe?
“Some of my detractors locally consistently point to my not mentioning East Devon in Parliament although I have repeatedly pointed out that as a Government Minister I was only able to speak to my brief. Of course it didn’t suit some to believe that but that is the case. But now no such restrictions apply and I am free to question and debate anything I choose. Liberated from office I can mention East Devon as much as I see fit.”
http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/east_devon_mp_hugo_swire_back_to_the_back_benches_1_4623156
How about not just mentioning East Devon when you see fit (translation: much more in an election year than at any other time) but REPRESENTING EAST DEVON and talking about the district when it is needed, not just when it suits YOU.
Oh, and we look forward to seeing you have surgeries on a weekly basis.
” …Without a change of tack, Hunt is likely to become the minister for the visible deterioration of the NHS – think Stephen Dorrell 1995-97. To survive and prosper, he will have to start being honest about how serious NHS understaffing is, stop depicting health professionals as lazy or unprofessional, somehow raise flagging staff morale, get real about delivering a “truly seven-day NHS” with no extra money or bodies, and start to offer hope that an NHS finally freed of austerity may once again be a place of pride, progress and improvement for staff, patients and maybe even politicians.”
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/19/jeremy-hunt-survived-cabinet-reshuffle-what-now
“Ministers must deliver on a manifesto pledge for a 25-year plan to boost nature and cut the costs of environmental damage, it has been urged.
Harm caused by floods, air pollution, water pollution and chemicals in the atmosphere are adding billions of pounds a year to bills, insurance premiums and costs for businesses, farms and households, environmentalists warn.
But after the Brexit vote, there is uncertainty whether environmental protections provided by the European Union will be maintained.
And the promised 25-year plan for the environment has been delayed, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) said.
Air pollution costs the UK an estimated £15-20bn a year, flood damage £1.4bn, water pollution can add up to 17% on consumer bills, £129m is spent cleaning farm run-off from water supplies and farmers incur an extra £180m in growing costs a year due to chemicals in the air.
But efforts to protect nature would deliver significant economic and social benefits, a report by WWT said.
For example, creating 100,000 hectares of new wetlands from restoring upland peat and coastal salt marshes to creating “pocket ponds” in cities could reduce flooding, purify water, save money and improve mental health.
The report urges the government to deliver on the 25-year plan, and to make itself accountable to parliament by producing an annual budget statement on the value of nature alongside the value of the economy.
Ministers should also ensure UK environmental protection is as strong or stronger after Brexit and appoint “catchment commissioners” to co-ordinate a joined-up approach in each area and reward action across the landscape, it said.
WWT is also calling for ministers to establish guidance and accreditation for organisations providing “green prescriptions” which give access to nature to deliver affordable benefits to physical and mental health.
Opposition parties have backed the call for the government to keep its promise for a 25-year plan for the environment.
They urged ministers to commit to consulting on a plan which sets out strong policies, with long term legally-binding targets to improve the environment, maintains protection after Brexit, and ensures international co-operation on the issue.
In a joint statement, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, shadow environment secretary Rachael Maskell and Green party MP Caroline Lucas warned “our environment must not be a victim of short-term political unrest”.
WWT chief executive, Martin Spray, said: “We all end up paying for environmental damage through higher prices and taxes, as well as the social and health costs of Britain being a less healthy place to live.
“Our recommendation is remarkably simple. Make the government accountable to parliament for the value of the environment as well as the economy. Transparency will drive improvement.
He added: “This is a key early test for the new prime minister.
“Will she deliver a manifesto commitment to value our environment? And in a post-Brexit Britain she has another question to answer: Will she commit to environmental protection improving on – or at least being equal to – that provided by the EU?”
A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) spokeswoman said: “Developing a 25-year plan for the environment is a Conservative manifesto commitment and a priority for this department.
“While the precise nature of the plan may change now the UK has decided to leave the EU, we will seize this opportunity to consider our long-term vision for the environment and work with a range of interests to determine and deliver it.”
“Improving the income of the working poor is the key to reducing inequality, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies.
Its study Living Standards, Poverty and Inequality in the UK: 2016, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, was published today at an event in central London. It highlights some significant changes to the nature of poverty in the UK.
Pensioners’ incomes have risen to the extent that they are now the least likely major demographic group to be in income poverty, after housing costs. Another crucial development is that more people are in work than ever before.
Also, the proportion of children living in a household where no-one works has fallen from nearly one in four in 1994-95 to less than one in six in 2014-15.
Subsequently, the report found the “new poor” tend to be located in houses where there is someone in work. Only one-third of children below the government’s absolute poverty line now live in a workless household. The remainder (two-thirds) of those classed as poor are poor despite the fact that at least one of their parents is in work.
A negative consequence of this change is that poor households are therefore more sensitive to labour market fluctuations than those of the past. It also means that initiatives designed to allay child poverty will be less effective if the focus remains on getting people into work.
For the poorest fifth of households today, income from employment makes up half of total income. Twenty years ago, this figure was under one-third, indicating a greater reliance on benefits and tax credits.
In the report, the IFS stated that if new prime minister Theresa May took the decision to continue the ‘life chances’ strategy started under David Cameron, it should be aimed at raising the economic prospects of working households. …”
http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2016/07/poverty-now-resides-within-working-households-says-ifs
Extract from a report by the government’ select committee on health, chaired by former Totnes GP Sarah Woolaston:
” …Following the conclusion of the committee’s recent inquiry into the spending review, Totnes MP Dr Sarah Wollaston argues Government cuts to public health budget are likely increase costs in the long-term. …
… Last autumn, then chancellor George Osborne announced NHS England would receive an extra £8.4 billion above inflation by 2020/21 to help it cope with growing demand.
However, according to the committee’s findings,this only equates to a real term increase of £4.5 billion of 2015 is used as a base year.
Dr Wollaston acknowledges the NHS “has been treated favourably” compared to many other departments but concludes the increase “is less than was promised if assessed by the usual definitions”. …
http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/mp-warns-of-false-economy-in-government-approach-to-health-spending/story-29526995-detail/story.html
Well, oddly, first for the Blackdown Hills!
What a surprise! Yet another “we told you so” moment to savour!
“East Devon District Council (EDDC) says that having overcome legal delays, its leaders want to make sure that the development of leisure facilities in Queen’s Drive, between the old lifeboat station and the Maer, is of ‘high quality’, to sit alongside the proposed watersports centre, which the council says is set to progress having been agreed with a developer.
Property developers Moirai Capital Investments were identified as the council’s preferred developers for the main leisure area last year, and EDDC says Moirai made significant efforts to move their proposals forward in difficult circumstances.
EDDC says it has spoken with Moirai, advising it that due to the length of time the process has taken, it’s considering the re-marketing option, and would welcome a further proposal from it as part of this if it does so.
It is more than two years since the main part of the site was originally marketed, and EDDC says the circumstances which influence what happens to Queen’s Drive ‘have changed for the better’.
Councillor Philip Skinner, chairman of East Devon District Council’s Exmouth Regeneration Programme Board, said: “We want Exmouth to be in the best possible position to bring more money and vibrancy to the largest town in Devon. Exmouth has grown continuously for decades, but our seafront leisure facilities haven’t while other seaside resorts have invested and modernised.
“We are considering re-marketing the main Queen’s Drive leisure area to investors and developers who, because of these changing times and our progress on site, now see the potential that Exmouth has to offer.”
Chris Lewis from Moirai Capital said: “We fully appreciate the council’s decision to review this project following the legal delays.
“We remain extremely interested in the potential for the site but understand that time has elapsed and the original concepts will need reviewing. As such we remain committed to the site and will look to rebid as we see Exmouth has the potential for a vibrant and exciting scheme to attract visitors, create jobs and drive forward wet weather facilities for the area.”
The council has outline planning permission to develop the Queen’s Drive site to include a cafe and public open space, retail units, a hotel or holiday accommodation, car parking, and indoor and outdoor play facilities for children and young people of all ages.
This includes the proposed watersports centre at the front of the site, for which the council has forged a partnership with Grenadier Estates.
The council also has approval to realign the road and car park to the rear of the proposed watersports centre once planning permission for the centre is in place.”
http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/council_considers_re_marketing_exmouth_seafront_site_1_4622392
