April 2017

Older people want to be cared for at home. Micro-providers are the answer

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Gore Vidal famous said something along the lines of: “Every-time a friend of mine succeeds something inside me dies”. I felt that sentiment for a few moments before vigorously applauding the fact that someone has pulled off something akin to my idea of a village company. This article, tells us of a hugely exciting achievement in field of rural micro-care for old people. It explains:

Dutton [the founder of home care service] was inspired – and set up her micro-provider business a year ago with the help of Community Catalysts (CC), a social enterprise that helps people to develop grassroots solutions to address health and wellbeing needs. She found out about the organisation through her GP. It took her through the basics of setting up a business, helped her with insurance and criminal record checks and even gave her a grant to buy cleaning equipment. It also introduced her to the village agent, local social workers and other nearby micro-providers so that they could pass on referrals and provide holiday backup.

What CC is achieving in west Somerset is quite remarkable. In 2014, despairing of getting any established homecare provider to run a reliable service in the area, Somerset county council put up £75,000 a year of pooled council and NHS money to see if CC could spark development of small-scale enterprises to plug the gap. The gamble has paid off.

Given a target of 50 micro-enterprises, providing paid employment for 80 people, CC achieved 133 businesses and 180 jobs by the end of the initial two-year contract in November. Since then, the numbers have risen further to 173 social enterprises, providing 220 jobs and supporting a total of 700 older people. “The return on investment is phenomenal,” says Stephen Chandler, Somerset council’s director of adult social services.

Countryside Alliance demands ‘pragmatic’ trade deals

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We’ve not heard much from the Countryside Alliance recently. This article is the intro to a very interesting paper. It tells us:

The UK government needs to maintain tariff-free trade access with the EU post-Brexit and be “pragmatic” when it comes to developing new trading relationships with non-EU countries, according to the Countryside Alliance.

The rural lobby group has published a Brexit policy document which outlines its demands to ensure that the countryside remains “living and working” once the UK is outside Europe.

The group argues that if high tariffs are imposed on the agricultural sector then it will be damaging to UK producers and EU consumers.http://www.fwi.co.uk/news/countryside-alliance-demands-pragmatic-trade-deals.htm

“Approximately 90% of UK beef, sheep and dairy exports go to the EU and high tariffs would be particularly damaging to some of our most rural areas where farming is a vital part of the local economy and community,” it says.

The document also calls on the UK government to ensure food and agricultural produce are central to any new trade deals with non-EU countries.

However, it adds that while the government should be ambitious, it must also be pragmatic, because some farmers will always struggle to compete on the global market.

“Farmers in the uplands, and other marginal areas, are not in fair competition with global producers who are operating in very different environments, often with fewer safety and animal welfare laws to comply with.

‘What election?’: West Midlands mayoral race struggles to overcome apathy

Rural communities seem to resile from the idea of supra-county arrangements and mayors. This article certainly puts the West Midlands in a brighter spotlight than many of us could dream of achieving for our rural causes. Reason to think again? or perhaps not?? It tells us:

There is another narrative that makes the mayoral job look much tougher. “Central Birmingham would pass for Boston, Massachusetts, its poorer outskirts for the less fashionable districts of Bucharest,” wrote the Economist recently. According to this counter-narrative, beyond the glitz of real-estate projects – such as the one behind the Town Hall boldly called Paradise – is the very hell of broken Britain itself. That’s not to mention Coventry, Solihull, Wolverhampton, Walsall, West Bromwich and Dudley, all of which fall under the mayoral ambit.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s recent report Inclusive Growth in the West Midlands: An Agenda for the New Mayor pointed out that homelessness in the West Midlands is nearly double the national average. Three in 10 kids here grow up in poverty. There’s such a regional skills shortage that employers report 18% of vacancies cannot be filled in Birmingham and Solihull, while the figure is 28% in the Black Country (across England it is 22%)

No politics, please – we’re UK public servants. A guide to election purdah

My view has always been that purdah at election times is a bit of a nonsense. However if you want to be squeaky clean as a local government officer read this:

If you’re one of the UK’s 400,000 civil servants, you will already know not to tell anyone who you’re going to vote for in the June general election.

Ahead of the election on 8 June, civil servants enter the pre-election period known as purdah, when what they do is restricted. Guidance (pdf), which takes effect from 21 April 2017, is published by the Cabinet Office.

Pre-election restrictions for local government are governed by the Local Government Act, which says councils should “not publish any material which, in whole or in part, appears to be designed to affect public support for a political party”.

While the everyday business of central and local government continues in the run-up to the elections, all staff must be scrupulous in the purdah period to ensure that public resources are not used for party political purposes and must not undertake any activity that could call into question their political impartiality. The rules apply to all communications, including social media.

Some local government officers and civil servants are already in purdah because of the local elections and mayoral elections taking place on 4 May. The new purdah restrictions ahead of the general election will run through to the general election on 8 June.

For those not already in purdah, the “washup” period between the general election being announced and the purdah rules kicking in at the start of May will be a busy couple of weeks, according to Catherine Haddon, fellow of the Institute for Government thinktank, who has written an excellent countdown to the 2017 election.

Haddon points out that many of the 15 bills now going through parliament may have to be put on hold, and that the Commons select committees, which carry out a lot of scrutiny of government business, will have to elect new chairs after the election.

John Constable’s Suffolk village in bid to defect to Essex

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On first reading this story ostensibly appears ridiculous. It does however demonstrate the ongoing and deep seated controversy wrought by the NPPF. It tells us:

Historic Suffolk landmarks made famous by the paintings of John Constable could soon become part of Essex, if furious villagers get their way.

Residents of the, for now, bucolic idyll that is East Bergholt believe changing counties is the only way to protect the local landscape from the threat of developers.

It means settings made famous around the world by the romantic artist, such as Willy Lott’s Cottage and Flatford Mill, could be lost to Suffolk forever.

But villagers feel so betrayed by their local council that “that’s their problem” best sums up the current mood.

Sitting in the picturesque Stour Valley and accommodating fewer than 3,000 souls, East Bergholt is in the throes of a bitter struggle to fight off the development of a further 144 homes.

So determined is the Parish Council to prevent the expansion, that it is threatening to break free from Babergh District council and defect to the Essex borough of Colchester.

Suffolk’s borders have remained largely unchanged for decades, with the last major shakeup taking place in 1974, when six villages lost to Norfolk.

However the entire area, commonly dubbed “Constable Country”, is coming under increasing pressure because Babergh District has recently been judged to have less than five years of housing land supply.

It means local planning regulations are overruled in favour of national policy, which favours developers.

Constable was born in East Bergholt in 1776, where his father owned Flatford Mill, which was immortilised in an oil painting in 1816.

The young artist developed his skills sketching the local countryside, and in particular the area around the River Stour, returning in later life to complete other standout works like the Hay Wain.

Two hundred years on, the Parish Council is preparing to decide whether to call a local referendum to secure a mandate for attempting succession from Suffolk.

Wales’ first fire investigation dog Sam dies at 18

We lost our black lab at 14 a month before Christmas and so this story brought a tear to my eye. So And Finally this week is sentimental rather than funny. The story we feature tells us:

Golden Labrador Sam joined South Wales Fire and Rescue in 2003 and attended over 5,000 incidents during his five years of service.

He was trained to sniff out petrol, lighter fuel and other substances used in arson attacks.

Sam’s handler Matt Jones said he was “instrumental in finding evidence” and he was “extremely proud” to have worked with him.

One of the most-memorable cases to Mr Jones was Sam finding evidence that helped secure the convictions of two men who set fire to a bingo hall in Ely, Cardiff which killed a firefighter in 2004.

“He was more than just a dog as he was my partner and with me 24/7,” said Mr Jones.

After he retired, Sam went to live with Mr Jones’ parents in Rhymney, Caerphilly county.

“He was kept fit and my parents were certainly not shy in spoiling him.”

Litter strategy ‘a missed opportunity’ to tackle fly-tipping on farms

I like Minette Batters – I think here comments here are highly appropriate about the scourge of fly tipping. The article states:

The government’s new litter strategy is “a missed opportunity” to tackle the £50m rural scourge of fly-tipping as an environmental crime, the NFU has said.

Defra secretary Andrea Leadsom unveiled the government’s first Litter Strategy for England on 10 April. It includes proposals to fine litter louts £150 and issue penalty notices to vehicle owners when it can be proved litter was thrown from their car.

It also contains plans to force fly-tippers to clean up their own waste and councils banned from charging residents to dispose of DIY household waste at the tip.

NFU deputy president Minette Batters welcomed the proposals but said the law courts needed to use their sentencing powers to deliver tougher penalties to fly-tippers.

Under current laws, serious offences of fly-tipping are punishable by an unlimited fine or up to five years in prison. But the NFU says magistrates are not using their full sentencing powers to punish fly-tippers appropriately.

Placing social value at the heart of procurement

About time more was done to give the public sector a push in favour of social value. I think social value should be a key feature of rural proofing. This article tells us:

CCS [Crown Commercial Services] today publishes a statement outlining how it will do more to help public sector bodies to deliver additional social benefits in line with legislation including the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

The legislation requires buyers to consider what additional social, environmental and economic benefits can be delivered through the contract.

Sam Rowbury, Director of Policy at CCS said:

“We recognise that for many of our customers across the public sector, maximising value means both saving money and securing social value for citizens.

“We’re making sure that our customers can use our deals to deliver the specific social value benefits they are looking for.

“Social value benefits could be anything from creating more apprenticeships for young people, to reducing carbon emissions or promoting equality and diversity.”

What we’re doing

CCS will work to increase social value by:

  • making sure all relevant new deals offer social value opportunities and give customers the flexibility to specify and evaluate social value at call-off
  • reviewing current deals to identify social value opportunities
  • providing tools and guidance to help build social value into procurements and measure the social value element of bids received
  • listening to customers, understanding their needs and learning from other organisations
  • working with suppliers so they are ready to respond to the requirements of public bodies

The most popular 20 frameworks that CCS offers to its customers have already been assessed and are ready to help customers secure social benefits now. This includes the Energy Performance Contracting and Technology Products 2 frameworks.

In future, frameworks will be designed to give customers the flexibility they need to decide their own, specific social value benefits, in keeping with their own social value objectives.

Have charities weathered the worst of the storms? The forecast is mixed

The voluntary and community sector sits at the heart of many strategies to address the challenge of public sector austerity in rural areas. Very often the work is done by charities. This article tells us:

The word is that Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), is going to be upbeat when he gives his “state of the sector” address to the annual conference of the voluntary sector umbrella group on Thursday 20 April. Curious, then, that the motivational speaker following later is survivalist Bear Grylls.

Will the assembled charity leaders be captivated more by Etherington’s reasons to be cheerful or by Grylls’ tips for wrestling alligators? After seven years of austerity, many charity bosses must feel up to their armpits in the latter.

Yet there’s good reason for Etherington to accentuate the positives. Of late, he has played an important, if often unpopular, role in spelling out some home truths to a sector seemingly in denial about the dangers of questionable fundraising practices and opaque senior pay policies. The worst of those storms now appear to have been weathered.

If charities are to play a key part in shaping the UK’s Brexit settlement – and Etherington has acknowledged that they failed to make their voices heard sufficiently ahead of the referendum – they need to regain their composure and confidence.

Latest survey findings suggest grounds for doing so. According to the Charities Aid Foundation’s annual UK Giving report, donations to charity are holding steady at £9.7bn a year despite Brexit uncertainty. Intriguingly, though, there has been a marked rise in the proportion of people saying they did something charitable – giving money or goods, or volunteering – last year, up to 89%, compared with 79% in 2015.

In addition, 56% of people say they signed a petition in 2016 and 6%, equivalent to 3 million of us, went on a demonstration. Is Brexit stirring activism?

Could shared medical appointments help the NHS and patients?

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A really interesting idea for reducing the pressure on the NHS – highly applicable to rural places. This article tells us:

In medicine, the private one-to-one consultation is sacrosanct.

Yet shared medical appointments have been used successfully for years at the Cleveland Clinic in the US. Patients appreciate them. They compare experiences with other patients, learn from their questions, gain more advice than they might otherwise, and improve their understanding of their symptoms.

For the hospital, the gains are seen in improved outcomes, higher patient satisfaction, dramatically reduced waiting times and lower costs.

Here, then, is an innovation that could help the NHS, caught between rising demand and squeezed budgets, which is leading to longer waiting lists and growing discontent. By sharing appointments, more patients could be treated more quickly, reducing waiting times, saving costs, yet raising standards of care.

They have been tried by GPs in Edinburgh, Sheffield and Newcastle, following the lead of doctors in the US and Australia.

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