Teignbridge Managing Director Phil Shears said:  "This doesn’t mean that we will need a major reorganisation across the County, become a single unitary authority or have an elected Mayor, although we’re still waiting for more clarity from government about this. 

"What it will mean is a more formal arrangement of the work we’re already doing with our district council partners, with Devon County Council and our neighbouring unitary authorities of Torbay and Plymouth, with greater opportunities for collaboration and a unified voice for Devon."

Council leaders want to avoid disruption to services and additional layers of bureaucracy which any major reorganisation brings.

Teignbridge Council Leader Alan Connett said:  “For me, the devolution bid was based on the strong foundation of the councils in Devon working well and closely together, as they have for many years, but especially so throughout the pandemic. A new purpose and unity has, without doubt, been forged.

“We must be pragmatic and seize the opportunities that are available - and if we can get the additional resources we need to deliver more and better jobs, the affordable housing that is so essential and boost Devon's reputation as a place to do business, then we shouldn't stand on the sidelines - but grasp what is available, work with Government and continue together to lobby for Devon.”

The White Paper contains 12 national missions which will be given status in law in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and which the  Government says will be its policy objectives for levelling up.

Council tax reduction to help with energy bills

Yesterday the Chancellor announced that millions of households will receive £350 of Government support to help protect them from rising energy costs.

All domestic electricity customers will get £200 off their energy bills from October, with 80% of households receiving a £150 Council Tax rebate from April.  

We are expecting to receive details from the Government during next week on how the Council Tax rebate will be applied and we will provide more information on our website as soon as it is available.

Help available from Household Support Fund

If you are struggling to make ends meet, our household support fund may be able to help you.

We're working with Citizens Advice Teignbridge to get money to people in the district who need help to cover essential living costs such as food, clothing, bedding, energy and water bills.

If you are over 16, live in Teignbridge and unable to make ends meet you can apply for help by completing the simple online application form. 

Anyone unable to apply online can call Citizens Advice Teignbridge on 01626 326123 or call our Customer Support team on 01626 361101 (Monday - Thursday 8.30am - 5pm. Friday 8.30am - 4.30pm).                      

Have your children had their MMR jabs?

The UKHSA South West has launched a new campaign this week, warning parents and guardians of the serious risk to their children’s health from measles.

With the MMR vaccine update the lowest for a decade parents are being asked to ensure their children are protected by taking up two doses of the MMR vaccine.  The UKHSA say that research shows that 9.6% of children aged five in the South West are not up to date with their MMR vaccine and 45% of parents and guardians are unaware of the risks of measles and its complications which on rare occasions can be fatal

Children are offered two doses of the MMR vaccine by their registered GP surgery, the first when they turn one and the second at around three years and four months, before they start school.

The UKHSA has also published a blog - What do I need to know about the MMR vaccine?

Car park improvements start on East Devon Pebblebed Heaths

Work to improve visitor access on the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths starts on Monday.

Four Firs Car Park on Woodbury Common and Joney’s Cross Car Park on Hawkerland will be closed to the public and work is expected to take up to six weeks.  During this time, visitors are asked to make use of other car parks provided across the heaths.

The car parks are managed by the Pebblebed Heaths Conservation Trust with funding for the refurbishment work from South East Devon Habitat Regulations Partnership to improve access for visitors and protect the rare and vulnerable wildlife found on the heaths.  

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Carbon action plans ranked

Last week, Climate Emergency UK published score cards as part of a pilot scheme to rank carbon action plans published by county and district authorities.

We have significant programmes of work underway in Teignbridge to tackle our climate emergency, including local plan work, housing retrofit schemes, grant funded decarbonisation projects and cycling and walking infrastructure schemes.  

Disappointingly, Teignbridge was ranked just below the national average at 43%; but this was explained when Climate Emergency UK confirmed that the score related only to the plans put in place by local authorities and not for the active projects already underway to address the climate and ecological emergencies.

Next year’s scoring is due to account for both plans and action, by which time we expect to have completed our decarbonisation projects, continued our work on a number of other projects and finalised our carbon action plan, which will better represent our climate and ecology work and improve our score.

"It’s ok to be stressed or nervous, but there’s nothing to be worried about" 

New films featuring Devon’s Vaccine Ambassador featuring Devon’s Vaccine Ambassadors, have been launched to offer encouragement and reassurance to people from communities across the county who are not yet fully vaccinated.

Feedback from community leaders in early 2020 suggested that trusted voices would be important in encouraging uptake of the vaccine among diverse communities.  As a result, NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning group developed a Vaccine Ambassador programme.

Devon has 20 Vaccine Ambassadors, recruited from across health and social care, local authorities and charities since March 2020. The ambassadors represent different communities, including some that have been more hesitant to have the vaccine. Their role is to listen to their communities, promote reliable information about the Covid-19 vaccination and help people to have confidence to have their vaccine. 

Changes to international travel restrictions

From 4am on 11 February, all testing measures for fully vaccinated travellers arriving in the UK will be removed.

Before the end of February, fully vaccinated travellers will only need to fill out the passenger locator form, confirming their vaccination status, travel history and contact details.  People will have an extra day to fill it out before travelling.