WITH the untimely death of her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, there have been very few meetings so far in September. However, I did attend one very interesting meeting last week, namely the Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee.

Much of what is discussed at most committee meetings has little direct impact on our parishes but there were things from this report that I would like to draw to your attention.

Easily the most interesting item was that about roads and repairs. So far this year there have 7,000 reported defects that have been triaged to such an extent that 60 per cent of them have been deemed unnecessary!

In July of this year 2,758 potholes been reported. There were no figures as to how many have been repaired! Judging by my division not very many.

The responsible officer reported that even if the budget stays the same as last year this will mean a reduction of 20 per cent in real terms because of higher salaries, materials and fuel costs.

I think he was saying we should not be expecting any improvement in pothole repairs or road and gully maintenance.

Complaints from the public were also considered and it was sad to report that those are on the increase especially in the area of children’s services.

This service recently received yet another OFSTED report which sadly concluded that not enough progress has been made in key areas previously identified so we have to wait to see what the outcome will be, special measures or ministerial intervention!

If anyone is really interested in the detailed figures of budget and other such items I would recommend that they go online to the Devon County Council website. The more you use it the easier it becomes, believe me!

To end on a more positive note I can report that the Lidl planning application is reaching its final stages with the planning officer agreeing the planting and soft landscaping. We should soon have a new supermarket!

Last week there were 51 people in Devon hospitals with covid, just one on a ventilator and seasonal deaths were down on this time last year.

Really good news is that Cabinet has rescinded their idea to freeze our locality fund so I now have the capability to award grants to local community groups for future projects. I stress future projects because it cannot be used to pay past bills.

Cllr Frank Letch MBE