Devon County Council is to stop providing direct residential care for older people in most of its homes so it can help more elderly people live independently at home or in supported accommodation, and in other residential homes.
Half of the county’s day centres will close with the rest being retained, supporting the most vulnerable and people with disabilities.
Devon already buys 90 per cent of the residential home places it needs from the independent and private sectors.
But it spends nearly 30 per cent of its £70 million residential care budget on providing places...
Devon County Council has today (Monday 16 June) started its unannounced spot checks on school buses operated by Carmel Coaches.
Independent vehicle examiners inspected buses and coaches at the company’s depots in Exeter and Northlew last week. No major defects were found and no vehicles have had to be taken off the road.
It followed the decision last week by the Traffic Commissioner to revoke the licence of Carmel Coaches from July 31, a decision against which the company has said it will appeal.
Twenty two vehicles owned by the company have now been checked, with...
Firefighters were called to Howarth Close, Sidmouth at 7.43am yesterday (Sunday).
The first officer in attendance immediately requested three fire appliances for man power and to assist breathing apparatus teams.
Soon after this, the Incident Commander requested the incident was increased to a five pumping appliance attendance, as it was unclear how many people were still inside the building. Fire Aplliances were mobilised from; Honiton, Seaton, Ottery St Mary and Sidmouth.
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Britons have seen a three percentage point rise in their disposable income over the last quarter, according to a new report out today. On average, people in the UK now have eight per cent of their take home salary left each month, up from five per cent since last quarter.
The findings come from the latest Disposable Income Index from ISA provider Scottish Friendly, which examines people’s attitude towards saving and investing. According to the report, the increase in disposable income has prompted a rise in the levels of saving with 60 per cent of people in the UK now choosing to...
Devon County Council is carrying out £7 million of repairs on roads damaged during the wettest winter on record.
The County Council programme of work is underway on almost 250 repair schemes, restoring nearly 40 miles (63km) of roads across the county.
Devon received £7 million of Severe Weather Recovery funding to help with much needed road repairs. This was a share of £183.5 million made available by the Department for Transport in response to the impact of the severe winter weather
Since the grant allocation was announced earlier this year, Devon’s highways teams...
Hundreds of employees from a waste management firm which collects waste in Devon have geared up to take part in a 2,400 mile, UK cross-country cycle tour to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.
The Big Ride cycle relay, organised by national recycling and waste management company SITA UK, staged a Grand Depárt from one of the company’s northern-most sites near Aberdeen on May 12 and will now finish at its most southerly facility in St Erth, Cornwall, on June 20 – six weeks later. (They are currently in Hampshire).
The winding route, designed to include as many of SITA...
