Wessex devolution proposal not included in government plans
The programme comes as part of a local council shake-up, announced by government in 2024, which would see smaller district councils merge with local county councils to create single bodies known as unitary authorities.As well as merging the councils, the government said it wants more places in England to have mayors.Ms Rayner told parliament the six new devolution areas she hoped would get to elect mayors in May 2026 were Cumbria, Cheshire and Warrington, Greater Essex, Hampshire and Solent, Norfolk and Suffolk, and Sussex and Brighton.She told MPs: "These places will get a fast-track ticket to drive real change in their area."While devolution can sound techie, the outcome is simple - it's a plan for putting more money in people's pockets, it's a plan for quicker, better, cheaper transport designed with local people in mind, a plan for putting politics back in the service."
'Essential funding'
Following the announcement, the leaders of the four councils hoping to become a Wessex group have released a statement.Councillors Millie Earl, Nick Ireland, Richard Clewer and Bill Revans said: "Despite the fact we felt government were moving too quickly to deliver devolution, and our discussion about the format of Mayoral Strategic Authority as the most appropriate solution for our region, we worked collaboratively with ministers throughout to deliver a strong proposal. "Therefore, the decision not to include Wessex within the Devolution Priority Programme is extremely disappointing."We feel the Wessex proposal aligned with the aims of the White Paper, encompassing a population of approximately 1.9m, with the region well-placed to support the government's growth priorities, particularly in clean energy, defence, digital technologies, life sciences, and tourism."The councillors also raised concerns their areas could now "miss out on essential funding".
You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Angela Rayner hit with legal challenge over datacentre on green belt land
The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, has been hit with a legal challenge after she overruled a local council to approve a hyperscale datacentre on green belt land by the M25 in Buckinghamshire. Campaigners bringing the action are complaining that no environmental impact assessment was made for the 90MW datacentre, which was approved as part of the Labour government's push to turn the UK into an AI powerhouse by trebling computing capacity to meet rising demand amid what it terms 'a global race' as AI usage takes off. The home counties datacentre is relatively small compared with one planned in north Lincolnshire that will have about 10 times the capacity, and is dwarfed by one planned by Meta's Mark Zuckerberg in Louisiana, which will be more than 50 times larger as he seeks to achieve digital 'superintelligence'. But Foxglove, the tech equity campaign group bringing the legal challenge alongside the environmental charity Global Action Plan, said the energy demand could push up local electricity prices and said it was 'baffling' that the government had not carried out an environmental assessment. Oliver Hayes, the head of campaigns at Global Action Plan, said Rayner's 'lack of meaningful scrutiny' was a worrying signal as more datacentres were planned around the UK. 'Are the societal benefits of chatbots and deepfakes really worth sacrificing progress towards a safe climate and dependable water supply?' he said. 'The government must reconsider its rash decision or risk an embarrassing reality check in court.' Last June, Buckinghamshire council refused planning permission for the facility in Iver on what was once a landfill site, saying it 'would constitute inappropriate development in the green belt' and would harm the appearance of the area, air quality and habitats of protected species. Local objectors said the two buildings rising to 18 metres would 'dwarf the area' and would be an 'eyesore' for ramblers, and that there were more appropriate brownfield sites. Other locals complained datacentres were intrusive and noisy and provided few jobs, although the applicant, Greystoke, claims it will create about 230 jobs and support hundreds more in the wider economy. Following an appeal against the refusal, a public inquiry favoured consent, concluding that no environmental impact assessment was needed. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion In March, the technology secretary, Peter Kyle, attacked the 'archaic planning processes' holding up the construction of technology infrastructure and complained that 'the datacentres we need to power our digital economy get blocked because they ruin the view from the M25'. Rayner granted planning permission last month in what was seen as an example of the government's pro-development 'grey belt' strategy to build on green belt land viewed as of lower environmental value. But Rosa Curling, co-executive director of Foxglove, said that thanks to Rayner's decision, 'local people and businesses in Buckinghamshire will soon be competing with the power-guzzling behemoth to keep the lights on – which, as we've seen in the [United] States, usually means sky-high prices'. The energy industry has estimated the rapid adoption of AI could mean datacentres will account for a 10th of electricity demand in Great Britain by 2050, five to 10 times more than today. And while the Iver datacentre is proposed to be air-cooled, many use vast quantities of water. In March, Thames Water warned that its region was 'seriously water-stressed … and yet there could be as many as 70 new datacentres in our area over the next few years, with each one potentially using upwards of 1,000 litres of water per second, or the equivalent of 24,000 homes' usage'. A spokesperson for Greystoke said Rayner had reached the right decision and recognised that the datacentre 'meets a vital national need for digital infrastructure, and will bring over £1bn of investment, transforming a former landfill site next to the M25'. 'Modern datacentres play a key role in advancing scientific research, medical diagnostics and sustainable energy,' they said. 'The datacentre campus incorporates measures which benefit the environment, including appropriate building standards, solar panels and heat pumps.' The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government declined to comment on threats of legal action.
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Raising her glass to a war on the middle classes? 'Woman of the people' Angela Rayner is snapped sipping rosé on the beach in £165 Dryrobe
may be planning to soak the middle classes with her new council tax reforms, but judging from these exclusive photos, she clearly intends to stay warm and dry herself. The Deputy PM's plan to hit Middle England with a hefty hike in council tax has already met a wave of opposition, but she seemed unconcerned as she sipped a glass of rosé on the beach, snuggled up in a £165 Dryrobe. The scene might not have fitted with the Deputy Prime Minister's 'woman of the people' image, but she was clearly enjoying herself with a small group of friends on Hove beachfront on Monday evening. The impromptu party came just before news broke of Ms Rayner's (appropriately named) 'Plan For Change' assault on middle class homeowners by reforming the council tax system and forcing householders in the countryside to subsidise residents of cities. The move was branded 'spiteful' by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. An onlooker said he wouldn't have even noticed the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government if it hadn't been for her companions constantly scanning the beach for cameras. 'I guess she must have been in for a dip, but I only noticed her when the wine came out when she was already in her Dryrobe, and her friends started looking furtively around the beach,' said the eyewitness. The image with glass of rose in one hand, wrapped in the garishly coloured robe, may not have met with the approval of Ms Rayner's aides, but it's not quite in the same league as John Prescott playing croquet. And it's not the first time fun-loving Angela has been photographed letting her hair down – last October she was snapped raving behind a DJ deck in Ibiza, belting out the lyrics to a remix of Gotye's hit Somebody That I Used to Know. At the time she said: 'I won't apologise for taking a day off'. Ms Rayner doesn't apologise for very much – it took her about a month to say sorry for famously calling Tories 'scum' in 2021. According to reports, the new planned Rayner tax raid will mean that middle-class families in rural areas will face an extra average £376 in council tax. The County Councils Network (CCN) has warned that leafy towns and villages will 'foot the bill' for a planned overhaul of local finances, hitting households in wealthier places such as the Home Counties. According to the CCN, which representing local authorities outside of big cities, a family in a band D countryside property will see their annual council tax bills rise to £2,756 by 2029, up from £2,380 at current rates. Ms Rayner, wants residents of middle class rural areas to pay more in council tax to help fund services in poorer neighbourhoods. The CCN forecast that local authorities in rural areas would have to increase council tax by the maximum rate of 5pc over the next three years. While money would flow to the cities, the CCN said this would lead to less money for local authorities in the country – despite their households facing higher council tax bills. As part of its research, it found that £1.6bn in council tax income from dozens of rural authorities would be effectively redistributed to other parts of the country, including major towns and cities in the North. Surrey County Council stands to be the biggest loser from the overhaul, according to the CCN. A spokesman for Ms Rayner's department said: 'We do not recognise this analysis. The current, outdated way in which local authorities are funded has left communities behind and damaged local services. 'This must change and is why we are taking decisive action as part of our Plan for Change to reform the funding system so we can improve public services, while maintaining the previous government's referendum threshold on council tax rises so taxpayers have the final say and are protected from excessive increases.'
The Herald Scotland
15 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
I'm not surprised Swinney hasn't read Sturgeon's nasty book
After all Mr Swinney has a country to run and hefty government papers to absorb. But there are deeper reasons too why the First Minister may not be racing to digest his former boss's autobiography - and may be wise to keep it that way. Since extracts were serialised by The Times earlier this month and the book was published last week it has caused huge controversy in the SNP and considerable hurt to Mr Salmond's widow Moira and wider family members. READ MORE: The former First Minister's niece Christina Hendry said Moira, 88, was still grieving the sudden death of her husband 10 months ago in North Macedonia and the book had added to her distress. She accused Ms Sturgeon of lacking human decency after the 'new wave of personal attacks' and 'scurrilous accusations' against him in her memoir. And today Mr Salmond's former chief of staff Geoff Aberdein, who is close to Mr Swinney, stepped up criticism on Ms Sturgeon too. "I was brought up that you didn't speak ill of the dead. But if you're going to speak ill of the dead, at least make your claims accurate," he told the Holyrood Sources podcast. The former SNP staffer then described the claims about Mr Salmond in Ms Sturgeon's memoir as: 'Falsehoods at worst, fabrications at best.' He listed claims made by Ms Sturgeon in her book which were in his view "obviously false" and "nonsense". They included that Mr Salmond leaked the allegations about his conduct to the Daily Record, that he was against same sex marriage and that he didn't read the White Paper on independence. He said none of these claims were true and went on to say he wouldn't be reading the book. "I could say a lot more, but I won't because I know that Moira particularly upset and frustrated at a lot of what has been said of late," he said. "I think it was important to set out and correct the record not just because Alex is not in position to defend himself but for myself and the series of other officials and civil servants that have contacted me - a lot people work bloody hard in that government and to have this sort of stuff mis-characterised I think is totally unfair." Essentially Mr Aberdein slammed the memoir not only as inaccurate and misleading about the work of civil servants, but also distasteful in that it breached socially acceptable norms about how we speak about people who have recently passed away. One problem for Ms Sturgeon is that while Mr Salmond may be an historical figure, he is among many independence supporters a hugely popular one, the one SNP leader to have delivered an independence referendum and brought the country closer to independence than any other SNP leader - Ms Sturgeon included. A second is that while she felt she may have the right as a close former colleague to critically assess his performance as a man and as a politician, he only died less than a year ago, in tragic circumstances, away from his beloved Scotland and his family, on a work trip and of a heart attack. At a basic level society has a different set of norms to how an historian can judge what can be said about a figure who has died some time ago, to what someone can say about a former friend killed by a massive heart attack not many months ago. Mr Swinney now faces having to deal with the fallout and I would expect the First Minister to be asked repeatedly by journalists if Ms Sturgeon should apologise to Mrs Salmond. All this at a time when there appeared to be a slight warming of relations between the SNP and Alba. Last year SNP depute leader Keith Brown even said his party would back an independence convention including 'all democratically elected representatives' from Yes-supporting parties. Now of course, Frankly has heightend hostilities again and with the next Holyrood election just round the corner in May next year that is something Mr Swinney could well do without.
