‘Enforcement action is being considered’ in the Ware Farm case
The delegated report re the failed application by Graham Brown for a ‘certificate of lawfulness’ can now be seen on the EDDC planning website.
Some issues that make this of interest to the general public, are raised at this link: https://eastdevonwatch.wordpress.com/2014/09/23/express-and-echo-reports-on-concerns-about-browns-application/
50% of EDDC staff to be made redundant?
In Cabinet papers is the following:
...”In the interim, Exmouth Town Hall has been vacated by Devon County Council Services and represents a new opportunity within the relocation … new HQ in Honiton can be restricted in size and cost to a 170 desk equivalent scale with an improved Exmouth Town Hall for 80 EDDC staff ...”
This is a total of 250 full-time equivalent staff
Click to access 031214-cabinet-agenda-public-version.pdf
According to this link, there are around 500 current full-time equivalent staff currently employed by EDDC
http://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/employee_statistics
Does this mean that 50% of staff will be made redundant in the next two or three years? And if 50% of staff are to be lost, surely the newer part of Knowle offices would accommodate the rest as EDDC has made it clear that for much of the time, some staff will be constantly on the road or hot-desking?
Or will so many people be working so often from home that they will have to declare this for tax purposes?
Or is it yet another case of figures not making sense? Or the new reality of how the move must be funded in these austerity days?
Positively the last word(s) on culling politicians and councillors!
http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/tory-calls-cull-waverley-councillors-4816974
http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/local-news/cull-conservative-councillors-ahead-elections-5966664
http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Tories-cull-councillors-ignored/story-11862155-detail/story.html
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/8388924.Cull_of_councillors_could_save___200k_in_Southend/
Another bit of help for our struggling councillors
When you finally settle on your new HQ (it sometimes seems in East Devon that as well as a Gypsy and Travellers Policy there should be an Itinerant Council HQ policy) do be careful that
a) if you have to tender, you check the rules
and
b) use this handy checklist to make sure that the companies tendering are not bid-rigging, which seems to be a particular problem in public sector procurement. So big that there is actually a hotline to report it.
Better safe than sorry.
Author Frederick Forsythe to be reported to police? Too late!
Funny, he posted this in 2008 but don’t remember him going to prison!
But the statute of limitations has probably ruled it out now!
Phil Twiss worried about Tory councillors being assaulted in car parks
This is a reply from Phil Twiss to an elector who wondered whether Councillor Twiss might have over-reacted somewhat to the (correct) use of the word “cull” by a commentator on the blog of Independent Councillor Claire Wright (bold lettering ours). The letter to which this is a reply is below Councillor Twiss’s response:
“Dear (Voter)
The Conservative Party takes all threats of violence or incitement to violence very seriously and will always take appropriate action (no matter how innocuous or isolated/infrequent they may seem to casual observers like yourself) on a better safe than sorry footing. There are no exceptions to this and whilst the problem is more frequent with higher profile politicians (particularly during election periods) it is none the less a problem at all levels. I was election agent for Neil Parish M.P. during the 2010 General election and speak from a position of experience and it is pretty unpleasant.
Following concerns expressed by fellow EDDC Councillors on the precise wording of the comment made on Claire Wrights blog site yesterday as Secretary of the EDDC Conservative Group (a quite distinct role from Party Whip) I asked that it was removed which it was. A complaint was then made to Devon and Cornwall constabulary about the person who submitted the comment and where it was published; this is now subject to police investigation. The police have confirmed that this was the correct course of action to take and if after investigation they conclude there is no problem then that is the end of the matter.
As an illustration of a regrettable and unfortunate aside you may have read that a Councillor was recently attacked in Coventry by three people over a car parking issue, see http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventry-city-councillor-attacked-car-8191149 which is also the kind of function EDDC deal with and therefore why this kind of threat is unsettling to our Group members.
I make no apology for this apparently uncompromising position which has absolutely nothing to do with the size of the EDDC Conservative Group.”
Regards
Phil
philtwiss-conservatives@hotmail.co.uk
T: 01404 891327
M: 07971 871651
Web: http://www.tivertonhonitonconservatives.co.uk
One has to hope that the police are more widely read than Mr Twiss.
Here is the original letter to Mr Twiss
“Cllr Twiss,
What on earth has made the majority party, (of which you are not the Whip so why are you reacting on their behalf?) so twitchy as to provoke your over-the-top language and threatening behaviour towards Cllr Wright?
I suggest you read the East devon Alliance website where you will see quotations from Messr Cameron, Clegg and Robinson all using the word cull in the sense of reduction in numbers, not as mass murder.
An apology to Cllr Wright for the threat would be in order if you are man enough.”
“Build on those sites that have already felt the hand of man”
Martin Hesp, writing in the Western Morning News yesterday, gives a clear case for choosing brownfield sites. See http://www.facebook.com/eastdevonalliance
Sidmouth District Councillors invited to meet the public at Open Meeting (Tues evening, 9th Dec)
Knowle and the Local Plan will be the main topics for discussion. Details here http://saveoursidmouth.com/2014/11/28/public-open-meeting-in-sidmouth-tues-9th-dec-at-7pm-our-local-district-councillors-have-been-invited/
Twiss to report Cameron, Miliband and Clegg to Metropolitan Police?
In each of these articles the jounalist uses the word “cull” in relation to David Cameron, David Miliband and Nick Clegg
http://toryaardvark.com/2014/07/15/uk-david-cameron-culls-greens-from-government/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29319189
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/sep/03/nick-clegg-ends-agreement-on-mps-cull
Who should be reported to the police: the journalists or the Leaders?
Councillor Twiss gets his dictionary in a Twiss!
I honestly wish we had made this up!
Councillor Phil “I have never been and I am not currently the EDDC Tory Party Whip” Twiss is reporting Independent Councillor Claire Wright to Devon and Cornwall Police for publishing a comment on her blog, from a contributor, which suggested that Tory councillors should be culled (i.e. reduced in number)!
I think poor old Phil has been spending too much time with seagulls and not enough time reading his papers! As Paul Arnott (in his private capacity) said in his response to this news on Claire Wright’s blog:
āCullā is a commonly used expression which in a political context means āreduceā. When the BBCās Nick Robinson talks of a cull of Labout MPs in Scotland after the next election nobody imagines them being chased across grouse moors with shotguns. … Do the people of Honiton St Michaels really want their member to be wasting police time like this?
But the serious side of this is how dirty local politics has now become. Mainstream parties are now not just rattled but panic-stricken at the once unbelievable (to them) idea that they would not rule forever.
EDDC: Please stop calling it “Plan B” – there was no Plan B!
It is NOT Plan B!
Why?
1. You did not factor into your Skypark choice that the supermarket destined for Honiton might change its plans (evidence: you told tenants of the East Devon Business Centre to start looking for new premises).
2. You did not know at the start of your deliberations that there would be space at Exmouth Town Hall (evidence: Devon County Council only recently announced that it would be vacating its space at Exmouth Town Hall).
3. If Exmouth had really been a viable alternative to Skypark, EDDC would have investigated the Rolle College site.
And, surely, with the empty space at Exmouth Town Hall, DCC is charged with getting best value for it. How can EDDC be sure of securing it?
Still, EDDC can always rent a few rooms at the Premier Inn!
Another loophole to avoid “Section 106” payments
S 106 payments are payable by developers to offset the disadvantages of their developments. They pay for such things as play areas or new facilities for residents. Developers do not like them (though they like Community Infrastructure Levy even less as it is a fixed cost per square metre and harder to get out of, especially when they are trumpeting the size of their luxury houses).
But, fear not developers, one of your number has worked out how to avoid shelling out on some S 106 payments:
Might a betting company open the odds on which East Devon developer will be first to take advantage of this newly-created loophole? So many to choose from!
“Real Power” to Exmouth with EDDC move
… or just a touchdown hot-desk base for those ever-roving, lower-level employees destined to roam the outer reaches of the district for ever whilst their Lords and Masters enjoy life in their new Honiton HQ.
Could “working for EDDC at Exmouth” become the new Siberia?
http://www.devon24.co.uk/news/eddc_to_bring_power_to_exmouth_1_3866187
Left hand, right hand, upper hand, under hand – or no hand at all?
The agenda for the Cabinet next week makes reference to:
The Office Accommodation Executive Group,
the Office Accommodation Project Executive Group and the
Member Executive Group.
We have heard only of a fourth group: the “Office Relocation Working Party”.
Is the “Member Executive Group” a jargon phrase for the Cabinet?
Why does it seem there no less than FOUR groups working in this: Secret, Top Secret, MI5 Secret and So-Secret-That-Don’t Officially Exist secret perhaps!
Or is it just one group with four names or three groups with two names or two groups with one nameor 4 groups with four names? My head hurts.
Or no groups at all – just one or two people working without supervision calling themselves whatever name seems good on the day?
Or, is it a case of divide and rule, more groups les information? Or just plain old incompetence?
It gets easier and easier to see how omnishambles happen!
Is this why Skypark fell apart?
Page 42 of next week’s cabinet papers:
“Also, a key plus point regarding Skypark was the prospect of a turn-key guaranteed maximum price arrangement to completion of a new HQ that would minimise uncertainty and reduce risk”.
This reads as if EDDC were expecting their new HQ to be constructed (by whom?)ready to move into at a fixed price (turn-key). They say in their paperwork that it was only after “due diligence” and a “legal opinion” on 4 June 2014 that a situation about the need to take account of EU regulations was revealed, coincidentally around the time that the supermarket was reducing the price it was prepared to pay for the Heathpark site.
Of course, we cannot know what went wrong for sure as all costs and cost deliberations have been kept secret not only from the public but also from the majority of councillors of all parties.
This debacle urgently needs Overview and Scrutiny and/or Audit and Governance intervention – and possibly a report by internal and/or external auditors so that those involved can learn from their mistakes and other councillors can understand what was being done in their name and work out how to stop it happening in future.
Presumably the Cabinet will recommend one or more of these actions at their meeting next week.
Why didn’t they ask almost anyone but EDDC councillors and officers? The signs were there …
9 February 2014 from EDA website:
āANOTHER COSTLY HEAD OFFICE ERROR BY EDDC ?
Local residents, EDDCās own watchdog committee, and own staff defied
The Cabinet of the East Devon District Council has selected Skypark as its preferred site for its headquarters. If the decision is approved by the full Council on 26th February, officers would carry out further research into the viability of the move. Marketing of the Knowle would begin āpromptlyā. A final decision would be taken in the summer. No financial details of the proposed move were announced to justify the decision to leave the Knowle in favour of a site which, currently, has poor transport links and certainly does not fit the Councilās claims that its District headquarters should be somewhere more central than Sidmouth.Ā
The East Devon Alliance deplores this choice, and EDDCās undemocratic insistence on a project which has no clear financial justification. As Head of the Relocation Team, Richard Cohen , admitted to the Councilās own Scrutiny Committee recently, he has not asked the Head of Finance for āa full breakdown of the costsā. And yet, in addition to the substantial expenses already incurred (well over Ā£350,000), the Council plans to set aside a further Ā£400,000 of tax payersā money over the next two years, just for preparations.
EDA Chairman Ian McKintosh says, āEconomically, this is not the time to rush ahead with a massive spending of public funds, on a move that is widely regarded as imprudent.ā Coherent arguments in favour of retaining the Knowle have been ridiculed by the Leadership, without serious debate. Sidmouth resident Robin Fullerās detailed suggestions for refurbishment of the existing purpose-built buildings, and possible sale or conversion of the historic former hotel, were patronisingly dismissed by Councillor Diviani in just two words, as āFullerās Folly?ā.
From Save our Sidmouth 27 February 2014
“A Full Council meeting last night, that began with repeated warnings from senior Councillors about tough financial times ahead, terminated with a swift show of Tory hands which will result in a multi-million pound spend of public funds. The marketing of the Knowle, and pushing on with the relocation āambitionā, were voted mindlessly through with the Cabinet minutes.
Independent Councillor, Ben Ingham, had shrewdly said earlier,āI do not believe you know what you are doingā. Debate had been initiated by Independent Councillor Claire Wright and colleagues, but was persistently stifled by the Tories, with some appalling personal attacks and as Councillor Roger Giles had to point out in one instance, downright lies. The Councilās audio recording of the meeting will make interesting listening.”
http://saveoursidmouth.com/2014/02/27/knowle-sale-and-skypark-spend-voted-through-under-veil-of-cabinet-minutes/
From Sidmouth Independent News 27 February 2014
SIN hears from reliable sources that Leader, Paul Divianiās poor performance on Good Morning Devon this week, has alarmed councillors.
Cllr Diviani was clearly rattled by Matt Woodleyās reference to the ārelocation fiascoā and floundered badly when trying to justify the Cabinetās proposal to move to a business park on the edge of Exeter.
He failed to address Cllr Claire Wrightās comments on the same programme that it was a reckless suggestion at a time of austerity that would export East Devon jobs to Exeter and make it more difficult for residents to visit the offices.
āIt is a business that we runā, he said and made the promise that if people canāt visit the new HQ āwe will visit themā (SIN āHow much will that cost?) His only comment on the financial aspect of the move was that āthe cost has shifted around a bitā!
He bumbled on, seeming to argue that because he had to travel a long way from his Yarcombe home to Skypark, lesser mortals could be expected to bear some hardship as well.
Ā Sceptics are beginning to wonder if the choice of Skypark for EDDCās HQ move is an attempt to bale out one of the leaderās pet projects. The huge new business parkĀ site isĀ rumoured to be rather short of eager tenants.
http://sidmouthindependentnews.wordpress.com/page/6/?s=Skypark&submit=Search
Knowle relocation and EU Regulations: the questions that Overview and Scrutiny and/or Audit and Governance probably won’t ask
In Cabinet papers:
“On 4 June 14, Cabinet agreed that specialist expertise be commissioned to advise on the specialist area of European procurement, relating to Skypark. This advice has confirmed that a European procurement process for site acquisition and development was likely to be required, with additional cost and associated delay. Since June, however, as the body of the report explains, Skypark has in any case become less affordable due to the reduction in projected capital receipts likely to be available for the office relocation project.”
So, how come that for around 3 years no-one spotted that the new HQ project would require that it be done under EU regulations to promote fair competition and that this would result in additional costs?
What was EDDC planning to do that would have fallen foul of the regulations?
Who spotted it and how?
How much did the expert advice cost?
Why did the Relocation Manager not spot it earlier – wasn’t he recruited as an expert in these matters at huge cost?
Why is the construction of a new HQ in Honiton not under the same rules (or is it)?
Has anyone checked?
Why was Skypark dependent on the “all eggs in one basket” approach that fell at the first hurdle when the supermarket lowered its offer?
Was this included in the risk assessment?
Was there a risk assessment?
Whose head will roll?
And for future reference councillors and officers, here are the thresholds above which strict EU procurement guidelines are mandatory:
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/rules/current/index_en.htm
We like to be helpful where we can.
Trust and accountability
Why does the Cabinet at EDDC not trust its elected members? The Tories have a large majority, so even if it did not trust OTHER councillors it can, presumably, rely on its own members to agree with its policies.
It seems, from the element of surprise shown, that neither minority councillors nor majority councillors could be trusted by the Cabinet with the knowledge that EDDC was seeking a “Greater Exeter” solution to its current problems.
It also seems that those same majority and minority councillors could not be trusted to give useful input and feedback on a plan to move from Knowle to … well, where rather depends what month you are in!
If you are the Leader of a Cabinet that does not trust the majority of councillors, whatever their political persuasion, and keeps most of its business secret, why on earth would a councillor not in the Cabinet continue to accept such a situation?
Voters expect their councillors to represent them, yet how can they do this when the councillors themselves have no idea what is going on with two of the biggest issues facing the council.
To that we must add a third: the lack of a Local Plan and no 5 year land supply and all the problems that is causing. Yet we hear nothing from majority councillors on this dreadful state of affairs, and none of them seem to feel the need to question what is going on.
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee should be investigating these matters, instead of which it is just another rubber stamp committee which asks no questions and uncovers nothing that needs critical examination.
The only hope is that the public can shine lights – but their speaking rights have now been severely constrained, again with almost no dissent from ordinary majority party councillors.
Something is surely badly amiss in the “sovereign state” of East Devon.
Is the (latest!) relocation plan best for business?
From a correspondent:
‘As the EDA website correctly points out, EDDC recognises that local government reorganisation is in the offing.
But Chief Executive Mark Williams has already stated that in the event of local government reorganisation, the Knowle would have to be sold. Save Our Sidmouth (SOS) recently issued a press release highlighting his comments. If the Knowle will be sold for this reason, as Williams predicts, then logically so would the new HQ at Honiton and the surplus space at Exmouth. Why, then, are we proposing to spend Ā£10 million + on a new building that can only be sold for a fraction of that cost?
The extremely lame offering from EDDC is that the new building could be used as a bigger East Devon Business Centre. Unfortunately, that idea has been scuppered by their recently commissioned Carter Jonas report, prepared when they wanted to close the Business Centre and use the funds to build Skypark, which concluded that the Business Centre was out of date, under-used and losing money….
