Devon County Council will receive £220m to spend on repairing potholes and improving roads, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced today.
The cash is part of a record £847 million that will be spent on improving local roads between 2015 and 2021 in the South West.
It is the first time councils have been given locked-in funding over this length of time, which will help them plan ahead and save money for the taxpayer. Patrick McLoughlin said: “Roads play a significant part in everyday life. Poorly maintained local roads, blighted by potholes, are a menace to all...
Landlords in the South West are least at risk of rent arrears, according to research from the UK’s leading landlord association*.
Those in the South West were found to be less at risk with a quarter (25 per cent) of landlords experiencing rent arrears in the last 12 months, compared to 29 per cent of landlords in the South East.
The research shows that a typical landlord in the South East with rent arrears faces £1,551 of outstanding rent, while those in the South West have £2,157 of outstanding rent, well about the UK average of £1,649.
Which? has teamed up with independent mobile coverage experts OpenSignal to reveal the best and worst mobile phone networks for across the UK, and found that the South West was the second worst region we looked at for coverage and some providers were much better than others.
The analysis of the different networks in the South West found a variation of 40% between the top and bottom 3G provider:
Highest average time on 2G, 3G or 4G: Vodafone (94.4%)
Lowest average time on 2G, 3G or 4G: Three (91.8%)
An image of seal on a pebbled beach glistening in the first hints of morning sun has scooped first prize in an RSPCA photography competition that focuses on young talent.
Owen Hearn, 16, from Stewkley, Leighton Buzzard, was named the overall winner of the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards 2014 (YPA14) for his atmospheric ‘Seal at Sunrise’ (pictured right) photograph taken on the Norfolk coastline on New Year’s Day during a morning out with his grandfather. It wasn’t just a one off for Owen as he also won the 12-15 years category for the same photo and had another two commended photos...
House prices in the UK will see an average increase of three percent over the course of next year, bolstered by recent changes to Stamp Duty, continuing demand and lack of supply of property, according to the RICS housing forecast for 2015. The forecast looks ahead to the next 12 months, across all parts of the housing market, from house prices, sales, rents and housing starts and repossession levels.
Across the UK, RICS expect all parts of the country to see modest price rises during 2015, at an average of three percent. Meanwhile, the South West, Wales and London will experience...
There must be further roll out of badger culling to other areas where bovine TB is rife as soon as possible following the Chief Veterinary Officer’s advice that the results of this year’s cull shows that culling can be carried out safely, humanely and effectively, the NFU said today.
Welcoming today’s announcement, NFU President Meurig Raymond also said the model of culling needed to be looked at to make it more difficult for operations to be disrupted by illegal activity by protesters
Mr Raymond said: “We welcome the fact that the Chief Veterinary Officer has said that...
Schools in some of the least fairly funded areas across the South West will soon benefit from a £68 million cash boost in the biggest step towards fairer schools funding in a decade, Schools Minister David Laws has announced.
A vital part of the Government’s plan for education is ensuring schools are properly funded, so that all pupils regardless of background can reach their full potential.
In July, the Government published estimates of how an extra £390 million would be allocated to increase the budgets of the least fairly funded areas across the country, while ensuring...
82% of Exeter’s research has been rated as world-leading or internationally excellent in the Research Excellence Framework (REF2014).
This is the first national evaluation of research quality in the UK since 2008 and looked at the economic and societal impact of research for the very first time. Exeter has made a huge rise since 2008 (from 56% to 82% world-leading/internationally excellent research) and now ranks first in the South West (BBC region), equal 19th nationally and 18th in the Russell Group on this measure. Exeter performed extremely well in humanities and social...
Rail Minister Claire Perry has welcomed the first major redesign of First Great Western’s mainline timetable in Devon and Cornwall for seven years by waving off the first new 0706 retimed service.
The changes launched yesterday (15 December) see an improved service for the South West, providing an earlier morning direct service from London to Plymouth and Cornwall and shaving over 30 minutes off the current quickest journey time.
Key improvements include:
The 0706 Paddington-Paignton service will now also call at Plymouth, and retimed to arrive 40 minutes
On Friday 5 December, Devon & Cornwall Business Council (DCBC) welcomed speakers from the CBI, Santander, Devon International Trade Forum, UKTI, Business West, Yeo Valley and PWC to discuss, debate, share experience and best practice related to boosting international trade by businesses across Devon & Cornwall. Taking place at Duchy College, near Callington, the event saw more than 60 senior business figures gather for the panel debate and Q&A session.
The event aimed to tackle the Chancellor’s recognition in the Autumn Statement that the UK has not performed at the...
