Exeter & SW depend on EU trade
Exeter is the city in the UK, and the South West the region, most dependent on trade with the EU, according to a new report. We already risk losing European tourism, which benefits Seaton and other coastal towns.
We should not be losing our membership of the European Single Market (which was not what we voted on in the referendum) for the nebulous prospect of a trade deal with Donald Trump, who believes trade deals should be skewed to the US, not the other party.
Once again confirmed, Devon is ‘unaffordable’
Devon is one of the least affordable places in Britain for people who want to own their own homes, according to a new report.
Seaton Primary faces £34k cut
I have now seen figures (sent to schools as part of the consultation) which show the losses local schools would have taken if the new National Funding Formula had been implemented in 2016-17:
- SEATON PRIMARY SCHOOL (right) £34,000 (-2.7% of total allocation)
- COLYTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL £81,000 (-2.9%)
Axe Valley Community College funding would have been almost the same as existing (+0.1%), and Colyton Primary School would have seen a small (+0.7%) rise.
As Independent County Councillor Claire Wright said, the new system is supposed to be ‘fairer’ – but many East Devon schools are losing out! We need to press our MP, Neil Parish, to ensure that local schools are protected from cuts when the new system finally comes in next year.
The Department for Education’s consultation documents can be found here.
Now it’s schools being cut
Independent County Councillor, Claire Wright, writes (picture: Seaton Primary School):
Last week every Devon County Councillor received a letter from the Devon Association of Primary Headteachers and the Devon Association of Secondary Heads (DAPH and DASH).
The message is depressingly familiar. And simply cements my long held belief that this government is steadily dismantling public services and instead squandering that money in tax breaks for the wealthy, government consultants, a third runway at Heathrow, a war in Syria and many more things that shouldn’t remotely be a government priority.
Like many other public services in Devon, including health and social care, education in Devon gets a rough deal in the government funding formula. It is near the very bottom of the UK league table on per pupil funding, short by over £290 a head, which is equivalent to a £25.5m shortfall across the county’s schools.
Devon County Council has lobbied central government on this issue for a very long time, unfortunately with very little effect.
Last year, there was an unexpected flurry of activity among Devon Conservative MPs, who were suddenly coincidentally apparently pushing at an open door. The outcome was the government agreed to introduce a new and fairer funding formula for schools.
Unfortunately and sadly, the government has backtracked on its promise to do this by April 2017. It has been delayed by one year, leaving schools, especially those in our county, in limbo and increasingly desperate for funds.
To make matters worse, new education initiatives have been introduced by central government BUT without any extra funding to help schools cope. These include:
– young people with special educational needs now being able to remain in education until 25
– the removal of the education services grant from next year
– extensive house building across the county
– increases in staffing costs, including the living wage, pensions, and national insurance contributions
– the introduction of the apprenticeship levy from next April, resulting in a bill for Devon County Council run schools of £424,000
The ongoing financial situation for Devon schools means that 26 schools across the county are now predicting a deficit at the end of this financial year.
The letter, which is signed by Paul Walker (DAPH) and Matthew Shanks (DASH), paints a bleak picture. It states: “…. Schools have financially now reached a real crisis point in the immediate future.
… “urgent necessity to take some very undesirable as well as far-reaching decisions to reduce costs in order to balance the finite resources available.
“Sadly, the implications of these decisions will undoubtedly impact upon the children in our care, including those from some of our most vulnerable families, and these will ultimately manifest further into the wider community.”
The letter urges local councillors to act on their behalf by lobbying education ministers to implement an urgent solution to “mitigate the impact of the present crisis.”
I will be writing to my own MP, Hugo Swire about this, but PLEASE, wherever you are reading this in Devon, write to your own MP and urge them to lobby ministers for more funding for our schools and retain the excellent education that our children deserve.
Green Wedge development refused
EDDC has refused the application for a development including 150 houses on land east of Harepath Road, in the Green Wedge between Seaton and Colyford. This was a delegated decision, which did not go to the Development Management Committee, because planners, councillors, Seaton Town Council and Colyton Parish Council all agreed. The full reasons can be found here.
Royal College criticises bed cuts & Autumn Statement failure
The Royal College of Surgeons vice-president, consultant urological surgeon Ian Eardley, says that figures showing continuing over-occupancy of NHS hospital beds in England ‘suggest bed reductions have now gone too far in the absence of sufficient social care or community care alternatives.’
Exactly what we are all saying to NEW Devon CCG! Time to SUSPEND THE CONSULTATION AND GET ON WITH IMPROVING THE COMMUNITY CARE ALTERNATIVES.
The RCS leader added “We are now seeing increasing numbers of frail older patients in hospital because they have nowhere else to go. The lack of additional money in the autumn statement for social care and the NHS is only going to make this even harder.”
Neil Parish MP said he would press for additional resources – what will he do now that his Government has let him down?
Exeter rally to Save Devon’s NHS, 3rd Dec.
3 December at 12:00–14:00, Exeter (Princesshay). ‘Anyone from all parts of Devon are due to meet as one and show a united front against the closures of our hospitals and beds. It follows on after a recent similar Sees Red Day in North Devon. So the theme will be for all to wear something RED. Please forward this far and wide and let’s get a huge gathering together to tell the health authorities that these cuts and closures are totally unacceptable.’ EAST DEVON people meet 11.45 at Civic Centre opposite bus station, Paris Street:
Somerset NHS services handed over to Virgin
Just over the border in Somerset: services handed over the Richard Branson’s Virgin Healthcare. Once this happens, will we ever get a proper NHS back? Coming to the NHS Devon in the near future?
EEDC Tory leader votes against Claire Wright DCC motion to re-examine Honiton hospital closure
At Devon County Council, Claire Wright (Ind.) proposed that the CCG consultation be suspended while the CCG included both Honiton and Okehampton in the options to retain beds. Conservative councillors voted it down and her resolution was lost 5-7.
Reblogged from the site of Claire Wright, indefatiguable independent councillor fighting non-stop on health service cuts.
NOTE: EDDC Tory Leader Paul Diviani sabotaged her effort to “stop the clock” on cuts to re-examine the effects of closing Honiton and Okehampton hospitals.
REPORT FROM CLAIRE WRIGHT, DCC HEALTH SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
“• CCG does not know how many more staff it needs
• No answer (yet) to public health stated assumption that care at home costs the same as care in big hospitals
My proposal at yesterday’s health and wellbeing scrutiny committee meeting to suspend the consultation which proposes to halve the remaining community hospital beds in Eastern Devon, fell by two votes.
There was a packed public gallery. Several members of the public, including Di Fuller, chair of Sidmouth’s patient and public involvement group and Cathy Gardner, EDDC Independent councillor for Sidmouth spoke powerfully, expressing deep concerns about the bed losses.
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Seaton & Colyton MATTERS 