Tuesday 28 September 2010

Sita confident of an incinerator in St Dennis?

The waste managment firm Sita -who are contracted to deal with Cornwall's waste and recycling- are currently in the middle of a planning appeal with Cornwall Council. The French firm sought planning permission for an energy from waste incinerator in St Dennis. This was opposed by a local campaign group St Dennis Anti Incinerator Group. Cornwall Council rejected the planning application over health concerns and the size of the project, Sita appealed this decision. At the moment this appeal is winding up and as the West Briton reported on September the eighth
"Closing statements by all parties will be heard at the planning inquiry from October 5 to 7 in the One Stop Shop Council Offices in Penwinnick Road. The final decision is not expected to be made until Autumn 2011."
This same impression can be gleaned from the local councillor Dick Cole's blog and from the Cornwall Council website page about the appeal. However this does not seem to coincide with Sita's actions who have on the 23.9.2010 opened the project to public tender. An article in the Construction Enquirer explains about the planning appeal:
"Sita is currently appealing against a decision by councillors in March 2009 to refuse planning permission and expects a decision shortly."
Really am puzzled, will the decision be made after the appeal or are we kidding ourselves that this planning inquiry is in fact a charade?

Thursday 23 September 2010

NHS funding boost, meagre crumbs for Kernow

Today's BBC news broadcasts on the radio,television and on the internet, triumphantly announced that Cornwall was to receive an extra NHS funding boost from central government. Now, before we break out the champagne lets put this in some context and not simply rely upon a press release to tell us whats good and whats not. At the outset I must say I do think it is a good thing that the Cornwall and Scilly PCT has been  received this money in a form of a grant, however its not as great as the news first seems. We are still a long way from getting our fair share of funding from central government and despite Mebyon Kernow's effort as Dick Cole's blog explains, there has so far been no discernable action by the Conservative led council.

According to Department of Health figures, Cornwall is joint bottom in terms of underfunding. The table below is taken from the DoH website (PDF file), I have reordered the columns from alphabetical to descending in terms of Distance from Target (DFT). These DFT figures are shown as a percentage, a positive number meaning over target funding and negative numbers under target funding. I apologise for the size of the table, but nothing makes the case better than seeing how many PCTs that Cornwall sadly lags behind.

2009-10 AND 2010-11 PCT REVENUE ALLOCATIONS

PCT
2009-10 allocation £000s
2010-11 allocation £000s
Two year increase £000s
Two year increase %
2010-11 closing DFT %
Richmond and Twickenham PCT
267,442
281,193
27,031
10.6%
23.4%
Westminster PCT
447,789
470,813
45,259
10.6%
20.8%
Kensington and Chelsea PCT
337,424
354,773
34,104
10.6%
20.4%
Hammersmith and Fulham PCT
326,448
343,232
32,995
10.6%
16.2%
Lambeth PCT
580,017
609,840
58,624
10.6%
14.8%
Wandsworth PCT
488,965
514,106
49,421
10.6%
14.4%
Kingston PCT
249,459
262,286
25,213
10.6%
13.5%
Camden PCT
453,989
477,331
45,886
10.6%
12.4%
Lewisham PCT
484,939
509,873
49,014
10.6%
12.0%
Islington PCT
412,126
433,316
41,655
10.6%
11.7%
Surrey PCT
1,565,807
1,646,316
158,260
10.6%
11.6%
Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT
523,451
550,366
52,906
10.6%
10.2%
Sutton and Merton PCT
583,188
613,174
58,944
10.6%
9.7%
Bromley PCT
466,265
490,239
47,126
10.6%
8.6%
Ealing PCT
545,775
573,837
55,163
10.6%
8.0%
Brent Teaching PCT
501,538
527,325
50,692
10.6%
7.7%
Brighton and Hove City PCT
438,902
461,469
44,361
10.6%
7.7%
Trafford PCT
340,332
357,831
34,398
10.6%
7.7%
Harrow PCT
313,370
329,483
31,673
10.6%
7.4%
Barnet PCT
528,745
555,931
53,442
10.6%
6.7%
City and Hackney Teaching PCT
472,222
496,502
47,729
10.6%
6.6%
Hillingdon PCT
379,496
399,009
38,357
10.6%
6.4%
Southwark PCT
492,748
518,084
49,803
10.6%
5.7%
West Hertfordshire PCT
773,604
813,380
78,190
10.6%
5.3%
Berkshire West PCT
597,061
627,760
60,346
10.6%
5.1%
Croydon PCT
526,752
553,836
53,240
10.6%
5.1%
Hounslow PCT
362,964
381,627
36,686
10.6%
5.1%
Bath and North East Somerset PCT
255,385
268,516
25,812
10.6%
4.4%
Greenwich Teaching PCT
424,160
445,968
42,871
10.6%
4.0%
Berkshire East PCT
532,623
560,009
53,833
10.6%
3.7%
West Sussex PCT
1,172,602
1,232,894
118,518
10.6%
3.7%
Bournemouth and Poole Teaching PCT
509,384
535,575
51,485
10.6%
3.6%
Stockport PCT
431,751
453,950
43,638
10.6%
3.4%
Tower Hamlets PCT
447,591
470,605
45,239
10.6%
3.4%
Oxfordshire PCT
830,948
873,673
83,986
10.6%
3.2%
Newcastle PCT
466,097
490,062
47,110
10.6%
2.8%
East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT
513,310
539,702
51,881
10.6%
2.4%
Wirral PCT
565,696
594,782
57,176
10.6%
2.3%
South Gloucestershire PCT
323,108
339,722
32,657
10.6%
2.2%
Waltham Forest PCT
395,510
415,846
39,977
10.6%
2.2%
Buckinghamshire PCT
652,120
685,650
65,911
10.6%
2.1%
Enfield PCT
436,718
459,173
44,140
10.6%
2.1%
Haringey Teaching PCT
424,321
446,139
42,887
10.6%
2.1%
Hastings and Rother PCT
303,746
319,363
30,700
10.6%
2.1%
Sefton PCT
479,220
503,861
48,463
10.6%
1.9%
Liverpool PCT
906,876
953,504
91,817
10.7%
1.7%
West Essex PCT
390,481
410,562
39,470
10.6%
1.6%
Bexley Care Trust
321,350
337,896
32,552
10.7%
1.4%
Barking and Dagenham PCT
301,080
316,599
30,789
10.8%
1.3%
Gloucestershire PCT
825,908
868,490
83,597
10.7%
1.3%
Peterborough PCT
244,676
257,356
24,830
10.7%
1.0%
Darlington PCT
166,081
174,705
16,913
10.7%
0.9%
Newham PCT
510,371
536,897
51,869
10.7%
0.9%
Sheffield PCT
885,052
931,076
90,381
10.8%
0.9%
Western Cheshire PCT
375,103
394,678
38,320
10.8%
0.8%
Hampshire PCT
1,709,698
1,799,471
175,170
10.8%
0.7%
Wiltshire PCT
610,462
642,526
62,527
10.8%
0.6%
Havering PCT
376,447
396,316
39,278
11.0%
0.5%
South Tyneside PCT
279,272
294,039
29,326
11.1%
0.5%
Bristol PCT
660,306
695,459
68,412
10.9%
0.4%
Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT
645,100
679,543
67,099
11.0%
0.4%
Medway PCT
391,582
412,814
41,635
11.2%
0.2%
Sunderland Teaching PCT
510,293
537,800
54,110
11.2%
0.2%
Gateshead PCT
357,224
376,601
38,000
11.2%
0.1%
Salford PCT
425,994
449,125
45,339
11.2%
0.1%
Solihull Care Trust
294,018
310,080
31,371
11.3%
0.1%
South Birmingham PCT
587,304
619,168
62,482
11.2%
0.1%
Portsmouth City Teaching PCT
311,043
328,095
33,267
11.3%
0.0%
South West Essex PCT
602,217
635,283
64,461
11.3%
0.0%
West Kent PCT
926,518
977,459
98,922
11.3%
0.0%
Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT
358,484
378,201
38,405
11.3%
-0.0%
Knowsley PCT
303,843
320,554
32,552
11.3%
-0.1%
East Lancashire Teaching PCT
629,300
663,912
67,419
11.3%
-0.2%
Coventry Teaching PCT
529,616
558,745
56,739
11.3%
-0.3%
Dorset PCT
580,964
613,261
62,584
11.4%
-0.6%
East and North Hertfordshire PCT
759,311
803,338
83,612
11.6%
-0.6%
Middlesbrough PCT
257,714
271,888
27,610
11.3%
-0.6%
Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT
1,151,643
1,216,563
124,958
11.4%
-0.8%
Devon PCT
1,088,020
1,152,427
121,128
11.7%
-1.0%
Redbridge PCT
365,515
385,618
39,159
11.3%
-1.1%
Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT
810,920
856,745
88,101
11.5%
-1.2%
Isle of Wight NHS PCT
232,671
245,882
25,341
11.5%
-1.2%
North Tyneside PCT
345,791
364,810
37,046
11.3%
-1.2%
Swindon PCT
277,524
294,545
31,489
12.0%
-1.3%
Calderdale PCT
308,563
325,895
33,418
11.4%
-1.4%
Northamptonshire Teaching PCT
927,249
983,436
104,527
11.9%
-1.4%
Oldham PCT
379,096
399,946
40,614
11.3%
-1.4%
Warrington PCT
290,606
306,628
31,172
11.3%
-1.4%
Warwickshire PCT
739,819
781,747
80,496
11.5%
-1.4%
Tameside and Glossop PCT
383,015
404,080
41,033
11.3%
-1.5%
Redcar and Cleveland PCT
233,544
246,388
25,020
11.3%
-1.6%
Leeds PCT
1,169,992
1,235,149
126,152
11.4%
-1.7%
Kirklees PCT
598,931
631,872
64,165
11.3%
-1.8%
North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus
259,146
273,399
27,763
11.3%
-1.9%
Southampton City PCT
368,298
388,555
39,457
11.3%
-1.9%
Cumbria Teaching PCT
783,807
826,917
83,971
11.3%
-2.0%
Cambridgeshire PCT
777,313
827,498
90,708
12.3%
-2.1%
Central Lancashire PCT
688,006
725,915
73,777
11.3%
-2.2%
South East Essex PCT
500,226
527,738
53,591
11.3%
-2.2%
Walsall Teaching PCT
425,164
448,548
45,549
11.3%
-2.2%
Blackburn with Darwen PCT
258,536
272,755
27,698
11.3%
-2.4%
Luton PCT
282,841
298,802
30,707
11.5%
-2.4%
North Yorkshire and York PCT
1,076,587
1,139,019
118,557
11.6%
-2.4%
Birmingham East and North PCT
674,108
711,184
72,219
11.3%
-2.5%
Bolton PCT
439,803
463,992
47,117
11.3%
-2.6%
Somerset PCT
751,518
796,505
84,166
11.8%
-2.6%
Wolverhampton City PCT
408,545
431,015
43,769
11.3%
-2.6%
Worcestershire PCT
771,728
815,248
83,752
11.4%
-2.6%
Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT
361,014
381,535
39,341
11.5%
-2.9%
North Staffordshire PCT
316,252
333,646
33,881
11.3%
-2.9%
Bury PCT
282,130
297,647
30,225
11.3%
-3.1%
Herefordshire PCT
256,778
272,050
28,658
11.8%
-3.1%
Milton Keynes PCT
315,520
338,522
39,450
13.2%
-3.2%
Northumberland Care Trust
498,897
526,337
53,448
11.3%
-3.2%
Torbay Care Trust
236,008
249,424
25,720
11.5%
-3.4%
Bedfordshire PCT
551,987
585,386
62,176
11.9%
-3.5%
Manchester PCT
925,276
979,818
102,780
11.7%
-3.5%
Mid Essex PCT
461,830
488,887
51,133
11.7%
-3.5%
Blackpool PCT
263,731
278,236
28,254
11.3%
-3.6%
North Lancashire Teaching PCT
520,037
549,674
56,748
11.5%
-3.7%
Shropshire County PCT
412,573
436,629
45,564
11.7%
-3.8%
Dudley PCT
461,918
487,324
49,487
11.3%
-3.9%
Suffolk PCT
820,056
869,582
92,277
11.9%
-4.0%
Hartlepool PCT
163,405
172,392
17,506
11.3%
-4.3%
Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT
511,831
539,982
54,834
11.3%
-4.5%
Halton and St Helens PCT
537,116
566,657
57,543
11.3%
-4.5%
Norfolk PCT
1,069,968
1,133,968
119,781
11.8%
-5.1%
North Somerset PCT
287,957
306,265
33,320
12.2%
-5.2%
North East Essex PCT
489,796
520,205
55,943
12.0%
-5.3%
County Durham PCT
886,825
935,601
95,008
11.3%
-5.4%
Sandwell PCT
523,488
552,279
56,083
11.3%
-5.4%
Doncaster PCT
502,312
529,939
53,814
11.3%
-5.5%
Stoke on Trent PCT
451,376
476,202
53,205
12.6%
-5.5%
Leicestershire County and Rutland PCT
830,158
879,975
93,096
11.8%
-5.6%
Derby City PCT
405,847
428,169
43,479
11.3%
-5.8%
Plymouth Teaching PCT
393,303
416,482
43,682
11.7%
-5.9%
Hull Teaching PCT
455,982
481,061
48,959
11.3%
-6.0%
Stockton-on-Tees Teaching PCT
287,728
303,980
31,252
11.5%
-6.0%
Leicester City PCT
488,731
515,611
58,787
12.9%
-6.1%
Barnsley PCT
409,151
437,291
57,837
15.2%
-6.2%
Bassetlaw PCT
167,978
182,407
26,671
17.1%
-6.2%
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCT
808,369
856,214
94,181
12.4%
-6.2%
Derbyshire County PCT
1,048,875
1,107,225
118,065
11.9%
-6.2%
East Riding of Yorkshire PCT
432,198
458,519
49,720
12.2%
-6.2%
Lincolnshire Teaching PCT
1,060,265
1,127,697
136,737
13.8%
-6.2%
North Lincolnshire PCT
238,152
252,197
28,256
12.6%
-6.2%
Nottingham City PCT
487,694
514,727
53,945
11.7%
-6.2%
Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT
943,520
997,415
105,012
11.8%
-6.2%
Rotherham PCT
409,554
432,140
45,922
11.9%
-6.2%
South Staffordshire PCT
826,224
873,709
104,752
13.6%
-6.2%
Telford and Wrekin PCT
237,482
251,590
26,636
11.8%
-6.2%
Wakefield District PCT
564,093
595,118
66,463
12.6%
-6.2%



I hope this puts the funding boost in some context. With these unfair funding formulas in mind it is easy to see why Cornwall only has one major hospital in stark contrast to English counties and London boroughs.