Councillor Andy Swain’s reply published 18 July.

I read with interest the letter on Saturday 7th July from Linda Piggott-Vijeh Somerset County and South Somerset District Conservative Councilor. The letter makes some interesting points but omits some significant ones.

I wonder why anyone is recommending a massive upheaval of our local government just now. The country is in the grip of a pandemic, some say the worst crisis since the world wars. Would a former prime minister have said “We will fight them on the beaches, and we are going to have a radical shake up of local government.”? Local councils, forced to commercialise by funding cuts, have lost eye watering sums of money many times larger than reserves. It is still unclear how they will survive that and recover. Whatever the pros and cons in the long term, a reorganisation as a unitary is going to be hugely expensive and massively disruptive in the short term. The last thing our beleaguered public services need right now is massive disruption.

I’m concerned by the dismissal of “work that was commissioned concluded that a single council for Somerset is the wrong solution”, adding “how much taxpayers money was spent on the work undertaken”. This is implying that the District council is wasting public money, but it sounds like they are dutifully finding out if the proposals will be a benefit before committing far larger sums of public money to what may be unnecessary and harmful. In fact the findings say it is harmful, so well done district councils for performing that scrutiny, this is why we need opposition. I am not surprised she finds “little hard evidence” of “anything from the districts” when she dismisses issues like “quality of life” and “positive change” as “buzz words”. For some of us those things are important and affect the decisions we make.

If this is such a bad idea, why are County Councils so keen? We must indeed “tease out any hidden agendas”. Ignoring party politics might be comfortable but it is naïve. In her, and my areas, Somerset and Devon County Councils both have Conservative Majorities. South Somerset and Teignbridge District Councils both have Lib Dem majorities. Our first Past the post elections favour the Conservative party in larger elections often delivering majorities of seats far in excess of any majority in vote, and dividing and ignoring opposition votes. Could this be why Conservative County Councilors favour larger unitary councils? An opportunity to hollow out the opposition and further reduce the scrutiny and limited representation that opponents have? A “protectionist element” to use her words.

We have much more immediate problems. The Covid emergency is real, and pressing and ongoing. It has been mishandled by the current national government on a massive scale, we have seen disdain for genuine expertise and showboating at the expense of the public good. A sneering disregard for its own rules by a senior adviser who is apparently above the law. On this point I agree “things must change”. I also agree that “central government funding for local authorities has declined significantly, whilst demand for services has increased” but that is a policy of the current government, to demand more and pay less, cutting taxes to the bone and beyond. To hollow out essential services, cutting costs, resilience and safety nets until even professionals turned to food banks, and when a crisis arrives, the resilience has already gone. To say “not helped by the reluctance of all parties to increase taxes” is ignoring a world of different party policies for a system of taxation that is fair, affordable and makes public services fit for purpose and secure. The Liberal Democrats have for years had a policy of a penny on income tax to secure the NHS.

On top of that, we face the end of the transition period which is now inevitable in January, because the national government deliberately ignored the deadline to request an extension despite the world wide lockdowns. They were elected on slogans like “Oven Ready Brexit” and similar ignorant platitudes. The majority in the country are sick and tired of the whole sorry business and want it over but sadly the reality is that “Project Fear” will become “Project Reality” in January because our government has chosen no deal, or a botch job.

If the current government understands anything about the future they have secured for us, they will be absolutely desperate for distractions and scapegoats. A major reorganisation of local government offers opportunities to distract from the mishandling of Covid and the reality of Brexit, while gerrymandering local politics and strengthening the stranglehold on our democracy. Yes, “things must change” but nationally, not locally.

Andy Swain
Teignbridge District Councillor

https://kennvalley.mycouncillor.org.uk/

Published in Western Morning News, Thursday 21st May 2020.

I have recently seen a number of letters suggesting that critics of government incompetence are often members of political groups. An example is Mike Green’s letter of 13/5/20 “Government critics have an axe to grind”.

The author seems to assume that anyone in any party is only motivated by gain for that party. That may be true of many in the party he defends while claiming to have no allegiance, but most people I know in the Lib Dems, Greens, and Labour are in it because they want a better society, and are working to bring it about. Party allegiance is not relevant to the quality of their argument, and certainly not a reason to dismiss it.
It would be ridiculous to claim “they only say government is inept because they are in a party”. It is much more likely that “they are in a party because government is inept”. It would cast doubt on their views if they had a track record for lying, for example if they declined joint PPE Purchasing with the EU, saying it was because we voted for Brexit, then claimed it was only because an email got lost. I might wonder how long before we hear that “the dog ate it”. 
Mike Green might suggest this is “the same old vitriol” but it isn’t. The government keeps making new mistakes, they are now ignoring the deadline next month to extend the EU transition period, which will take us to a no deal Brexit and Project Fear/Project Reality at the end of this year. This is totally avoidable and absolutely not what was promised.
So let’s be clear. If people criticize government, it might be because government is incompetent. If you are only motivated by seeing your own party win, regardless of consequences, then it would make more sense to vote Tory. If someone supports Lib Dems, Green or Labour, it is almost certainly not because they just like to win, but because they want something better. Those who genuinely have no allegiance should listen carefully and think.
Andy Swain

Teignbridge meetings are starting up again online, which is helpful. The waste collection services including kerbside recycling have continued uninterrupted and many residents have been showing their appreciation. The only exception is textiles which are on hold. Emptying the bins is pretty important during a health crisis. The recycling centres are reopening and TDC are still taking new subscriptions for the green bin service.

In the first round of government support for local councils TDC were awarded around £60,000 which sounds a lot, but barely covers the lost revenue from car parks for a week. In round 2 TDC was allotted around 1.3 million which is much better. Current estimates of the lost revenue in TDC are around 11 million, so there are still some serious problems to solve. These figures are all in the public domain.

The local plan consultation is active. A great deal of work has been done on this by my fellow Councillors and there are some very welcome changes including much stronger climate change measures. Zero carbon buildings makes a welcome return. This plan should never have been scrapped nationally in 2015 and I welcome its return in Teignbridge. Comments on the plan are welcome.

The new Teignbridge Local Plan is about to go out for public consultation. This will be for an eight week period (up from the normal 6) from Monday 23 March til Monday 18 May.
The local plan plays a critical role in deciding planning applications and this review is an opportunity to guide future development, and also a chance to get climate change action into policy. All documents will be on the council’s website and will be freely downloadable and printable
Full documentation will also be available for purchase at a price which reflects cost of production.
This is a major opportunity for all to take part and respond to the proposals. This new Local Plan is prepared in conjunction with the emerging Greater Exeter Strategic Plan (GESP) which is also an important strategic document addressing the wider issues facing the District – look out for public consultations on that too.
The Local Plan concentrates on more detailed aspects of planning and localised issues such as design, development in town centres, local employment opportunities, rural development, affordable housing schemes.