The Knowledge

The Knowledge

www.eastdevon.gov.uk 29 April 2016 Issue 49 2015/2016

Quick links

‣ Blackdown Hills AONB

‣ Campaign to Protect Rural

England: Devon

‣ Community Council of

Devon

‣ Department for

Communities and Local

Government

‣ Devon & Cornwall Police &

Crime Commissioner

‣ District Councils’ Network

‣ East Devon AONB

‣ EDDC Countryside Service

‣ EDVSA (East Devon

Volunteer Support Agency)

‣ Exeter and East Devon

Growth Point

‣ Government Business

Newsletter

‣ Grants and funding

‣ Jurassic Coast

‣ Jurassic Coast Trust

‣ Local Government

Association (LGA)

‣ Rural Services Network

‣ Rural Services Network –

East Devon Profile

‣ South West Councils’ News

Meetings

Please note meetings shaded pink are NOT open to the public

Meeting DSO Date Time Location

‣ Licensing & Enforcement Sub Committee CL Wednesday 4 May 09:30 Exmouth Town Hall

Cabinet AC Wednesday 4 May 17:30

Postponed until

11 May due to PCC

elections

Community Fund Panel CL Monday 9 May 10:00 Council Chamber

‣ Development Management Committee HW Tuesday 10 May 10:00 Council Chamber

Licensing & Enforcement Sub Committee CL Wednesday 11 May 09:30 NOT REQUIRED

Exeter Airport Consultative Group CL Wednesday 11 May 15:15 Exeter Airport

Social media café DV Wednesday 11 May 16:00 Committee Room

Cabinet AC Wednesday 11 May 17:30 Council Chamber

‣ Development Management Committee

(additional meeting)

In the press

HW Thursday 12 May

‣ Care home insolvencies gather pace as costs rise

11:00 Council Chamber

The number of care home businesses falling into insolvency rose by a sixth in 2014/15 East Devon as the profile

industry grappled with cuts to local authority fees, and rising staff and energy costs. Fortyseven

care home operators in England and Wales went insolvent during this period, up from

40 the previous year, according to analysis of official figures by accountant Moore Stephens,

who said care home operators may have been hit by a 5% cut in the fees paid by councils for

elderly residents since 2010.

Contact us:

knowledge@eastdevon.gov.uk

Democratic Services Officers

Diana Vernon 01395 517541

Amanda Coombes 01395 517543

Chris Lane 01395 517544

Debbie Meakin 01395 517540

Alethea Thompson 01395 571653

Hannah Whitfield 01395 517542

‣ EE to improve 4G and customer services

Mobile phone operator EE is aiming to bring 4G to 95% of

the UK landmass by 2020 as well as relocating its

customer services to the UK and Ireland. In 2015, the firm

was fined £1 million by communications watchdog Ofcom

over customer service failings. The network will also

switch on high-speed 4G in the Shetland Islands and the

Isles of Scilly this week.

---

Minutes

Licensing & Enforcement

Sub Committee

‣ 20 April 2016

Council

‣ 20 April 2016

Housing Review

Board vacancy

EDDC’s tenants and

leaseholders are being given

the opportunity to stand for

election to the Housing

Review Board, the committee

that oversees the Council’s

landlord functions:

‣ Find out more

‣ City uses vinegar to kill weeds

Bristol City Council has started using vinegar as a weedkiller substitute. Residents have

complained it is smelly and less effective on the larger, more

established weeds. Gillian Douglas, Council Interim Service

Director for Clean and Green, said: “This trial of glyphosatefree

weed treatments is still in its early stages, having been

implemented in response to widespread public concern

about the use of glyphosate as a weedkiller. We are sorry to

hear some residents are concerned and we will monitor

feedback throughout the trial.”

‣ Fly-tipping epidemic

A feature piece looks at the rise of fly-tipping across Britain, with reported incidents

increasing by 27% over the past two years to 900,000 cases in 2014/15. It says the rising

trend may be due to councils imposing new restrictions on household refuse, including less

frequent collections, charges for the disposal of certain items and the closure of household

waste centres, although it acknowledges that the increase in cases could be due to greater

reporting of the issue. Councils are using covert CCTV to catch fly-tippers. Not only does flytipping

create an eyesore for residents, it is also a serious public health risk, creating

pollution and attracting rats and other vermin. There are a number of additional changes

that would help tackle littering and fly-tipping, including sharing more of the responsibility

with product producers. This includes manufacturers providing more take-back services so

people can hand in old furniture and mattresses when they buy new ones.”

EDDC news

‣ Read the latest news

‣ Bluebell Celebrations at

Holyford Woods on 1 May

Photo: Peter Vernon

‣ East Devon

Conservation volunteers

set to mark their third year

of service

‣ £400 instant fines in war on fly-tippers

Fly-tippers will face on-the-spot fines of up to

£400 from next month. The new fixed penalty

notice for small-scale offences give councils

more power to crack down on illegal rubbish

dumpers. Until now their only option has been

to haul suspects through the courts often at

significant cost. The LGA has backed the

change from May 9. Councils had to deal with

900,000 incidents in 2014/15, up nearly

60,000 from the previous year. LGA

Environment spokesman Cllr Martin Tett said:

“At a time when councils face difficult choices about services in the light of reducing

budgets, they are having to spend a vast amount each year on tackling litter and fly-tipping.

This is money that would be better spent on vital front line services. The Government has

responded to our call for councils to be able to apply Fixed Penalty Notices for small scale

fly-tipping – and this is a big step in the right direction.”

‣ Charity chuggers fined £165,000 for breaking rules thousands of times

Charity fundraisers have been fined more than £165,000 in the past three years for

repeated breaches of their own rules. Fundraising firms and

charities were caught committing 3,300 offences while

seeking on-street donations. It is thought the scale of the

fines will further alarm critics of the fundraising sector, who

complain that “chuggers” – short for charity muggers –

harass the public. The figures were revealed by the Public

Fundraising Association, which negotiates with local councils

and fundraisers to regulate face-to-face fundraising.

---

‣ Help our hedgehogs!

‣ Council calls out to

landlords for

accommodation for Syrian

refugees

‣ Seasonal controls for

dogs on beaches comes

into force on 1 May

‣ Parishes Together panel

approves community

scheme applications

‣ Forage for food with the

Countryside team

‣ Trinity Hill welcomes

back Exmoor ponies

‣ Restaurants advised to give families tap water

Restaurants should offer free tap water to families eating out rather than waiting for

customers to ask for it, say councils. They say this

would offer a healthy alternative to sugary drinks.

Councils, which have responsibility for public health,

want restaurants to do their bit to tackle childhood

obesity. All licensed premises have to provide free tap

water in England, Wales and Scotland - but not

Northern Ireland. Yet one in five people are not aware

of the rules, says the LGA. Cllr Izzi Seccombe, LGA

Community Wellbeing spokeswoman, said: “We want restaurant owners to play their part in

tackling childhood obesity by offering families tap water. While most restaurants will

happily provide a glass of tap water on request, we’re saying it shouldn’t be something you

have to ask for. Some people may be too embarrassed or find it awkward to ask for tap

water. Others may simply forget it’s an option. Water brings important health benefits and

keeps people hydrated. For children it’s an alternative to a sugary drink, while for adults it

might dissuade them from ordering another alcoholic drink.”

Cllr Simon Blackburn, Chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, was

interviewed on BBC Breakfast and BBC Radio Five Live.

‣ Call for FOBT stakes to be lowered

Councils have called for the Government to reduce the

maximum stakes on fixed odds betting terminals which

can see players lose hundreds of pounds per minute. The

LGA wants the £100 maximum stake to be reduced and

bought into line with other gaming machines on the high

street, where the top stake is £2. The Association has also

called for licensing laws to be updated to allow councils

to take health issues associated with problem gambling

and anti-social behaviour concerns into account when

considering applications from betting shops.

‣ Study says more than 1m people destitute

More than a million people in Britain were so poor that they could not afford to eat

properly, keep clean or stay warm, according to a new study by the Joseph Rowntree

Foundation. It found that in a typical week last year, 184,500 households experienced a

level of poverty that left them reliant on charities for essentials.

‣ Go wild in East Devon as

part of Naturally Healthy

Month

‣ THG Takeover at

Exmouth Festival

‣ Birthday beacon on

Sidmouth seafront makes a

blazing tribute to Britain’s

reigning monarch

‣ More clean air zones needed, say MPs

"Clean air zones" targeting drivers of high-polluting

vehicles should be extended to more cities in England,

the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee

has said. MPs said more cities should get the

enhanced powers being granted to London, Leeds,

Birmingham, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton.

The powers allow cities to charge high-polluting

vehicles to discourage them from entering the city

centre. Its report said emissions had been declining

significantly but there were up to 50,000 early deaths

each year in the UK because of cardiac, respiratory and other diseases linked to air

pollution. The LGA said clean air zones “are not the answer to tackling air pollution” on their

own. It insisted councils need a range of powers and devolved funding to combat the issue.

---

What’s on

‣ Thelma Hulbert Gallery

‣ April newsletter

‣ Manor Pavilion, Sidmouth

‣ Exmouth Pavilion

‣ The Gateway, Seaton

‣ The Beehive, Honiton

‣ Countryside events

CBI chief urges rethink on apprenticeship training levy (FT p4 28/4/16)

The CBI has called on the Government to "radically rethink" the Apprenticeship Levy which

will be introduced next year. Businesses with a pay bill of £3 million or more will pay a 0.5%

payroll tax to pay for millions of apprenticeships across the country from April 2017. Carolyn

Fairbairn, CBI Director General, said businesses are concerned about the impact of the

"rushed out" plans. The LGA said the levy would cost councils £207 million a year with less

than 10% of local authorities exempt. It wants the money raised to be pooled locally so local

areas can ensure the money is spent on closing skills gaps and meeting employers' needs.

Town & Parish websites

‣ All Saints

‣ Awliscombe

‣ Axminster

‣ Aylesbeare

‣ Beer

‣ Branscombe

‣ Broadclyst

‣ Broadhembury

‣ Budleigh Salterton

‣ Chardstock

‣ Clyst Honiton

‣ Clyst St Mary

‣ Cranbrook

‣ Dunkeswell

‣ Exmouth

‣ Farringdon

‣ Honiton

‣ Lympstone

‣ Kilmington

‣ Musbury

‣ Newton Poppleford

‣ Northleigh

‣ Otterton

‣ Ottery St Mary

‣ Payhembury

‣ Plymtree

‣ Rockbeare

‣ Seaton

‣ Sidmouth

‣ Stoke Canon

‣ Talaton

‣ Uplyme

‣ Upottery

‣ Upton Pyne

Lyme Regis Fossil Festival

There’s so much to see at this year’s festival

29 April – 1 May

View and download the full programme

here.

‣ Town & Parish contacts

Please advise if you would like to

share the link to your council's

town/parish website in the

Knowledge

Democratic Services produces

this weekly information sheet

every Friday for Members of

East Devon District Council.

Please contact Diana Vernon

if you have any comments

about the newsletter.

Orange Tip Butterfly on Forget-me-not (left) and Garlic Mustard (right)

Photos by Peter Vernon