After WikiLeaks, Luxleaks, WildLeaks and Swissleaks, it appears there is an unmistakable, mutual value in the collaboration between journalists, media organisations and non-profits around the world. How can editors produce and sustain original investigative journalism by tapping into international networks of knowledge and expertise? With: Rachel Oldroyd, Director, Bureau of Investigative Journalism Gerard Ryle, Director, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) Moderator: Peter Bale, CEO, The Center for Public Integrity

4. Section:OBS NS PaGe:5 Edition Date:140209 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 8/2/2014 18:23 cYanmaGentaYellowblack
NEWS | 5
DuchyofCornwallandCrownEstateregularly
getcouncilstoreduceratiosofcheaperhomes
Revealed:royal
estatesfailingon
affordablehome
buildingtargets
by Nick Mathiason, Will Fitzgibbon
and Jamie Doward
TwoofBritain’slargestlandowningbod-
ies, which between them generate mil-
lions of pounds a year for the Queen and
Prince Charles, are regularly failing to
meet affordable housing targets when
building new homes on their land.
Amid an escalating housing crisis,
planning documents unearthed by the
independent Bureau of Investigative
Journalism reveal that both the Crown
Estate and the Duchy of Cornwall are
persuading councils to allow them to
cut their affordable housing quotas on
the grounds that meeting them would
be too expensive.
An investigation by the bureau for the
Observer has examined the two land-
owners’ plans to build 4,299 homes in
31 schemes. Of these, 14 developments,
set to produce 2,470 units, fail to meet
local targets, resulting in at least 213
feweraffordablehomesbeingbuilt. The
bureaualsofoundthat10ofthe19largest
Crown Estate developments have not or
will not meet affordable housing targets.
“I find that quite concerning,” said
Clive Betts MP, chairman of the Com-
mons communities and local govern-
ment select committee. “They have a
special obligation beyond the ordinary
developer and they ought to be doing
what’s right by the community. They
ought to be taking the lead, especially as
it’s public land after all.”
Initsmostrecentfinancialresults,the
Prince Charles has previously expressed concern at the lack of affordable housing in rural areas. Photograph by Ben Birchall/PA
NickClegglobbiesfor‘proper
debate’overdrugslawreform
believes there is a need for politicians
of all parties to confront an issue in a
non-partisan way if the harm caused by
drugs is ever to be tackled successfully.
“If Britain were fighting a war where
2,000 people died every year, where
increasing numbers of our young
people were recruited by the enemy
and our opponents were always a step
ahead, there would be outcry and loud
calls for change,” Clegg says. “Yet this is
exactly the situation with the so-called
“war on drugs” and for far too long we
have resisted a proper debate about the
need for a different strategy.”
His comments, which will dismay
those who believe change will
encourage drug taking, were warmly
received by pro-reform campaigners.
“Bad drug policies have an
international impact, whether it’s black
market related violence or borderless
health crises,” said Kasia Malinowska-
Sempruch, director of the Open
Society Global Drug Policy Foundation.
“So charting a new course is the job of
every country.
“A number of European countries
developed great health services
for people who use drugs, but far
less attention has been paid to the
issues faced by producer and transit
countries.”
ing number of US states move towards
a regulated trade in marijuana, and at
a time when increasing numbers of
Latin American countries have stated
that the war on drugs doesn’t work and
are demanding that the world consider
alternative approaches.
During his visit, Clegg met
the country’s president, Juan
Manuel Santos, as well as former
paramilitaries, guerrillas and human
rights representatives. “All were clear
about the central role of the drugs
trade in perpetuating conflict and
violence and the need to build a better
future,” Clegg says. “Many people in
Britain and the rest of Europe will
be unaware of the impact drug use in
western nations has on countries on
the frontline of the drugs trade.”
Reiterating his call for a royal
commission on Britain’s drugs laws,
Clegg says future legislation should be
based on “what works, not guesswork”.
The Lib Dems are conducting a review
of international alternatives which
will produce what Clegg claims is “the
first proper UK government report
examining different approaches in
other countries”.
It is clear the deputy prime minister
Crown Estate said it had “outperformed
themarket”andachieveda£252.6msur-
plus, 15% of which goes to the Queen to
support her duties as head of state. The
rest of the profit goes to the Treasury.
George Mudie MP, chairman of the
Treasury sub-committee, which scruti-
nises the Crown Estate’s affairs, agreed,
saying the housing crisis should act as a
wake-up call for the body: “They should
besettinganexamplebymeetingafford-
able housing targets.”
Although not legally binding, local
authority affordable housing targets,
usually expressed as a percentage of the
number of homes to be built, are based
on local housing demand, affordability
andlocalwages.Ifadevelopercandem-
onstrate that a target makes a scheme
unviable, that target can be changed or
waived. Under planning rules, develop-
ers are entitled to take 20% of the rev-
enues generated by a scheme.
In its largest development, in Bing-
ham, Nottinghamshire – where there
are 804 individuals and families waiting
forahome–theCrownEstateispropos-
ing cutting the affordable homes quota
to 200. It argued that the 1,050-home
schemecouldnolongersupportthe300
affordable homes it had agreed to build,
as the financial return would be at “the
lowerendofthenationalbenchmark”.It
declinedtorevealwhatthisfigurewould
be, but said it was providing a package
of community benefits and could build
up to 50 more affordable homes if the
scheme outperformed expectations.
Local politicians have been critical.
“OurexperienceisthattheCrownEstate
is not a particularly generous land-
owner,” said George Davidson, a coun-
cillor for Rushcliffe, the local authority.
Steven Melligan, strategic land man-
ager at the Crown Estate, said it was
“proud of the contribution we make to
providing much-needed new housing,
both market and affordable,” across the
country: “For new homes of any sort to
be built, schemes must be commercially
viable, which is why a suitable package
of wider benefits, of which affordable
housing is just one part, is agreed with
local councils based on their priorities
for the local area.”
The bureau also found that four large
housing schemes being developed by
Prince Charles’s Duchy of Cornwall,
failed to meet local affordable housing
targets, in spite of the Prince’s concern
about “the desperate effect the lack
of affordable housing was having on
the social and economic fabric of rural
communities”. At Tregunnel Hill in
Newquay, Cornwall, the Duchy – from
whichthePrincemade£19.1mlastyear–
originally committed to build 60 afford-
able homes. But it persuaded the county
councilthatthewithdrawalofagovern-
ment grant meant it could provide only
48. The Duchy’s revised proposal stated
thatitwouldbuildnohomesifthecoun-
cil did not accept the reduced figure.
“Given the way Prince Charles and
others associated with the Duchy make
statements about social improvements,
theyshouldputtheirmoneywheretheir
mouthis,”saidCornwallcouncillorDick
Cole. “The bottom line for me is that the
Duchy of Cornwall has to act like any
other developer.”
Cornwall’s housing waiting list has
grown by 267% since 2010. The region
has the highest level of street homeless-
ness outside London, according to gov-
ernment statistics.
The Duchy said in a statement that it
is “proud of its achievements in provid-
ing affordable housing,” and pointed to
five developments of 100% affordable
housing that will deliver 67 affordable
units. “The objective of the planning
process is to meet the needs of the area
assetoutbythecommunityandthelocal
authority. In the few instances where
our developments include slightly less
affordable housing, they instead meet
requirementsinotherways,suchaspro-
viding new schools or better transport.”
Continued from page 1
‘Theytalkabout
socialimprovement,
buttheyshouldput
theirmoneywhere
theirmouthis’
DickCole,councillor,Cornwall
“
We’renot
tryingto
takethe
loveoutof
love;we’re
trying
tomake
itmore
efficient
Thesecrets
ofinternet
dating
Tech
Monthly,
pages12-14
*09.02.14
Section:OBS NS PaGe:10 Edition Date:130609 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 8/6/2013 18:13 cYanmaGentaYellowblack
10 | NEWS
Costs soar for
wealthy councils
as benefit cuts
force families to
quit their home
Hanane Toumi with her two children, Salsabile, six, and Waleed, three. Photograph by Antonio Olmos for the Observer
BilltohousethehomelessinWestminster
risesby63.5%topayforhotelsandB&Bs
by Tracy McVeigh, Nick Mathiason
and Toby Helm
The government’s clampdown on bene-
fitsisforcingup,ratherthancutting,the
cost of housing low-income families in
wealthy areas, as people are shifted into
hotels and bed and breakfasts, accord-
ing to new figures obtained for the
Observer.
Charities are also reporting a chain of
misery and chaos as children are forced
to move schools, and parents have to
spend much of their time ferrying them
large distances to classes.
Data obtained through freedom of
informationrequestsshowsthatatWest-
minster council – one of the wealthiest
areas in the country – the bill for home-
lessness has shot up by 63.5% since last
year as new temporary accommodation
has had to be found for those hit by cuts.
The figures show that it has cost West-
minster more to place thousands of
people in temporary accommodation,
including hotels, than the council has
savedthroughthegovernment’swelfare
clampdown.
Thecouncilsaysitcut“around£40m”
from its costs, thanks to the introduc-
tion in 2011 of restrictions to housing
benefit.However,repliestoFOIrequests
obtained by the Bureau of Investigative
Journalism show that it has cost the
council £135.83m to rehouse homeless
people since 2009.
The council’s bill for housing vulner-
able families in temporary accommoda-
tionthisfinancialyearaloneisestimated
tobe£41.8m,comparedwith£25.5mlast
year.
With average monthly rents in Lon-
don reaching £1,100, a rise of 8% in the
last year, new figures released by the
government last week showed that the
number of households made home-
less in England in the financial year to
March 2013 has hit 53,540 – a 6% aver-
age increase on the previous year and a
16% increase in the capital.
Alarmingly, rents are now rising so
fast in London that charities are see-
ing people who found new homes after
beingevictedinthefirstroundofbenefit
cutsbeingmadehomelessagainascosts
soar.
Westminster is also potentially fac-
ing expensive legal action for keeping
families in B&Bs beyond the statutory
minimum six-week limit.
Karen Buck, Labour MP for West-
minster North, said: “We are now see-
ing the costs and consequences of the
government’s salami-slicing approach
tohousingbenefitashomelessnessrises
and millions are being spent keeping
families in hotels and bed and breakfast.
Not only are there massive costs associ-
ated with homelessness, but the lives of
childrenandfamiliesarebeingdamaged
and disrupted, with a particular impact
on children’s education.”
In a statement, Westminster coun-
cil said: “The effect of reform in West-
minster was always going to be more
pronounced than any other area, with
limited space to build new housing and
with high rents.”
It argues that it is “misleading” to
link the cash the council has saved from
housing benefit reform with its tempo-
rary accommodation budget. Most peo-
ple forced out of rented homes because
of housing benefit restrictions are not
“long-term residents of the borough”,
Westminster maintains, and it says it is
working hard to renegotiate the costs of
rents to save housing benefit bills.
Jonathan Glanz, the council’s cabinet
member for housing, said: “Increased
demand, coupled with an endemic
undersupply of housing across London,
hasresultedinmorehouseholdscoming
to us as homeless.”
An investigation last month by the
bureau showed that London’s authori-
ties have rehoused 32,643 households
outside the city, with often devastating
effects on families, jobs and children’s
education. It also adds to the pressure
on “dumping ground” councils such as
Slough, already struggling with housing
shortages and school places and now
‘Thelivesoffamilies
arebeingdamaged
anddisrupted,witha
particularimpacton
children’seducation’
KarenBuck,LabourMP
being stretching to breaking point by
the influx.
CharitiessaycasessuchasthatofZara
Mahamat, whose family were evicted
from a three-bedroom flat in Pimlico,
Westminster, in January, are common.
She and her family had to leave because
thehousingbenefitcapmeanttheycould
no longer afford the rent. Within days
the family will expand with the arrival
of her new baby, and she does not know
where everyone will sleep.
Westminster council acted quickly
to move the family first into a hotel in
Paddington, where they stayed for four
months. Then they went to a serviced
apartment where they are now, several
milesawayintheboroughofSouthwark,
in an eight-storey block mainly popu-
lated by tourists and short-term work-
ersvisitingthecapital.“We’restruggling
now,”saidMahamat.“Similarproperties
can be rented for £169 a night.”
Hamza, 11, is preparing for school
exams, but much of his time is spent
travelling. “It’s very frustrating,” he
said. “I used to be able to get to school in
twominutesandnowitjusttakeslikean
hour. It’s really tiring.”
In the past two years Westminster
councilhassecuredmorethan360prop-
erties outside its own borders to house
vulnerable households such as Maha-
mat’s. The family are booked to stay
until 25 July, but she has no idea what
will happen after that date.
They are being offered support by
Zacchaeus 2000, a London-based anti-
poverty charity that helps low-income
households affected by welfare reform
anddebt,includingthosebeingforcedto
relocate. Romin Sutherland, its project
manager,saidLondonhousingisinmelt-
down: “Residents placed outside of the
borough are being forced to commute
back in to get their children to school,
and often spend the whole day waiting
for them in order to minimise costs.”
Hanane Toumi, 34, is exhausted. Her hair is
falling out due to stress. “I’m running, every
day I’m running,” she said.
“My daughter asks, ‘Mum, why don’t
we move this house so it’s closer to the
school?’” When Toumi, a single mother
of two, finishes her four-hour cleaning
shift in the early afternoon, it isn’t worth
her trying to make the five-mile journey
home and then back, so she hangs around
north London’s Edgware Road area in rain
or shine, waiting to collect her children –
Salsabile, six, and Waleed, three – from
school. The family used to live close to
school and work, but when her husband
left she no longer had the right to live in the
home registered in her husband’s name.
Westminster city council moved the
family into temporary accommodation,
first in Hackney and now, on a three-year
tenancy, to a flat in Brent, overlooking
the North Circular Road. Like many
families having to shift around under the
benefit changes, the transition is painful.
Far from the life she had established in
Westminster, she gets up at 5.45am to
prepare for the five-mile race to drop her
children off by 8.30am and then go on to
work in Kentish Town. She is often late.
Toumi sometimes has to change a
nappy on the bus. She tried to register her
daughter at a Brent school, but was told
there were no places. Nearby nurseries
cost more than the £140 a week she pays
in Westminster, and her monthly salary of
£631 is barely adequate, even with child
tax credit.
Since the family moved, Toumi said her
daughter has started falling asleep in class.
A teacher at the school has testified to the
council that the daily commute has had an
impact on her education and emotional
welfare.
Westminster officers have
recommended that she find work closer to
home, easier said than done for a woman
without qualifications, and have rejected
Toumi’s request to review her Neasden
placement.
“Given the age of Ms Toumi’s children,
I do accept that travelling from Neasden
to school would not be ideal,” wrote a
Westminster housing review officer.
“However,havingconsideredthechildren’s
age and level of schooling, I do not see
any reason why they could not attend an
alternative nursery and school.”
The housing review officer accepted
Toumi’s claim that travelling to school,
nursery and work took more than three
hours a day, but rejected it as grounds for
relocation. With review options exhausted,
Toumi has little hope of returning to
Westminster.
Will Fitzgibbon
CASE STUDY: THE HUMAN COST
Daily3-hourtripfor
asinglemotherto
linkschoolandwork
* 09.06.13
Section:GDN BE PaGe:34 Edition Date:130918 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 17/9/2013 16:35 cYanmaGentaYellowblack
*34 The Guardian | Wednesday 18 September 2013
Thousands of affordable homes axed
Councils cave in as developers refuse to undertake building projects unless they deliver healthy profits
Nick Mathiason
Will Fitzgibbon
George Turner
Housebuilders and councils in Britain’s
biggest cities are failing to comply with
affordable housing targets, and even rip-
pinguplegalcommitmentstobuildcheaper
homes.Athree-monthstudybytheBureau
of Investigative Journalism for Society
Guardian has established that 60% of the
biggest housing developments currently
in the planning system are falling short of
localaffordablehousingtargets,preventing
thousands of cheaper homes being built.
The investigation reveals huge cuts to
the proportion of affordable housing in
one of the largest housing projects and
how none of Birmingham’s biggest hous-
ingdevelopmentsmeetits35%affordable
housing target. Separately, the investiga-
tion also shows how financial viability
assessmentsonbehalfofaleadinghouse-
builder repeatedly persuaded councils
thathavinglargeraffordablehousingquo-
tas would make schemes uneconomic.
Affordable housing includes social,
rented and shared ownership for speci-
fied eligible households that can’t afford
to buy or rent on the open market.
The bureau’s assessment of 82 of the
biggesthousingdevelopmentsin10major
citiesfoundjust40%compliedwithlocal
affordable housing targets. Other than
Birmingham, the cities where at least
50% of housing schemes failed to meet
local affordable housing targets were
Bristol, Bradford, Cardiff, Manchester
and Sheffield.
Leslie Morphy, chief executive of the
homelessness charity Crisis, says: “With
homelessness on the rise and millions of
people languishing on housing waiting
lists, we must do more to increase the
supply of affordable homes. This is not
just a numbers game, but about creating
mixed,vibrantcommunitiesandavoiding
ghettoisation of rich and poor.”
InLondon,wherethenumberofpeople
acceptedashomelessstandsat14,812,one
ofthelargestdevelopmentsgoingthrough
the planning system shows less than 17%
oftheplanned15,000unitswillbeafford-
able. This is despite Lambeth, one of the
two councils involved in the 195-hectare
(480-acre)developmentinsouthLondon,
statingtoitstenantscounciltwoyearsago
that affordable housing could account for
35% of new units built in its section.
PeteRobbins,Lambethcouncilcabinet
member for housing and regeneration,
says: “We are serious about delivering a
high level of affordable housing in every
new development that comes forward in
Lambeth. But this is much harder now
because of the viability tests that give …
developers a chance to avoid our afford-
able housing targets. We continue to
work hard to maximise affordable hous-
ing levels, but the bottom line is that our
hands are increasingly tied.”
Affordable housing targets set by coun-
cils are based on local demand and supply,
thecostsofhousinglocallyandlocalwages.
The targets are usually expressed as a per-
centageofnewhousingsupply.Thetargets
are not legally binding, and if a developer
can demonstrate through a site-specific
financialviabilitytestthatthetargetmakes
a development uneconomic, then the
requirement can be reduced or waived.
Viability assessment
Asthehousingcrisisintensifies,thebureau
foundrepeatedexamplesofhousebuilders
and property consultancies winning
councilpermissiontosignificantlyreduce
the number of affordable homes using
economic viability assessments based on
projections which state that schemes will
only be marginally profitable.
Thebureau’sanalysisofStGeorge–part
of the Berkeley Group– one of the UK’s
most successful developers, showed it
used financial viability assessments
which repeatedly persuaded local
authorities that increasing the number
of affordable homes in its schemes would
stop it meeting “industry-standard”
profit margins of between 17% and 20%.
St George’s published accounts show
that in the six years to 2012 its margins
averaged25.5%anditsaccumulatedafter-
tax profits were £268m.
Michael Edwards, UCL senior lecturer
intheeconomicsofplanning,says:“There
arewell-acknowledgedsystemicproblems
with the viability system. It is not func-
tioning in a way that necessarily reflects
economic reality. When developers make
very large profits and yet cite viability
as a reason not to build more affordable
homes, common sense tells you there
is an anomaly. And the public can’t test
whether the assumptions contained in
viability assessments are fair because the
assessments are confidential.”
This“anomaly”arisesbecauseviability
assessmentsarebasedonasite’sprojected
profit, with little reference to the individ-
ual developer’s financial circumstances.
There is nothing to suggest St George
or any of its related entities has failed to
comply with planning conditions. The
company says it is committed to deliver-
ing 2,000 affordable homes, linked to its
housebuildingpipeline,andithasalready
deliveredthousandsofaffordablehomes.
In addition, it has contributed £76m to
local infrastructure beyond the supply of
affordablehousing,suchasroads,schools
and green spaces.
The company says anticipated profit
figures are only one factor in deciding
viability and are independently assessed
according to industry benchmarks. It
believesitiswrongtocompareoverallpre-
tax profits with the development margin
on an individual site. Greg Fry, chairman
of St George, says: “Councils independ-
entlyassesstheviabilityofaprojectbased
on the site in question, regardless of who
might develop it or how profitable they
are. The profitability of the developer has
nobearingonthelevelofaffordablehous-
ing required on a site.”
Sir Edward Lister, deputy mayor of
London responsible for policy and plan-
ning, says that while the priority is to get
new schemes off the ground, the mayor
would intervene in future to raise afford-
able housing numbers if it was shown
that developers were making dispropor-
tionately large profits: “I’m not trying to
defend the property industry, but I do
believe they have been through a bad
time and I believe it’s more important to
get building moving. Fifteen or 20% of
something is better than nothing.”
Legal commitments
In Birmingham, not one of the nine big-
gestschemesassessedbythebureaumeet
the 35% affordable housing target. In one
planned 353-unit project, even the alloca-
tionof12affordableunits–just3.4%ofthe
scheme–isconsidered“unviable”byplan-
ning advisers representing the developer.
Councillor Ian Ward, deputy leader
of Birmingham city council, says afford-
able housing targets haven’t been met
because major developments in the city
centrefocusonaffluenturbanprofession-
If a developer can show that a council’s affordable housing target makes a development uneconomic, the requirement can be reduced or waived
als. “Requirement to provide affordable
housingislowerinthisareathanforother
areasofthecity,asthereislessdemandfor
family accommodation,” he points out.
But freedom of information disclo-
sures obtained by the bureau show that
over five years more than 2,300 afford-
able homes have been axed from housing
schemesacrosstheUKevenafterbuilders
and councils signed off section 106 legal
agreements specified these homes must
be built. Section 106 is a clause within the
1990 Town and Country Planning Act that
providesamechanismtorecoupcontribu-
tions from developers for infrastructure
requirements to enable a scheme to go
ahead.Ithasbecomethemainwayafford-
able housing is delivered. But under new
legislation that came into force in April,
developers now have the ability to fast
trackchallengesagainsta“section106”ifit
canshowthatbuildingthelow-costhomes
required makes a scheme unviable.
In Cheshire, a council decision to allow
a consortium of leading housebuilders to
axe252affordablehomesinthe1,200-unit
Winnington Urban Village in Northwich
after legal sign-off has “opened the flood-
gates” to developers requesting similar
reductions, says Labour councillor Brian
Clarke.CheshireWestandChestercouncil
says that under the revised arrangement,
moneyforaffordablehousing“willbeavail-
able if the development can afford it”.
In south Devon, research by the bureau
showsthat109affordablehomeshavebeen
scrapped after legal sign-off. Anne Fry, an
independent Teignbridge district council-
lor, warns: “Developers are just picking us
off at the moment.” She says she and her
colleagues struggle to cope with the tech-
nical demands of developers seeking to
reduce affordable housing contributions.
The district council states: “Teign-
bridge has not lost 109 affordable homes
through the s106 process – those homes
would never have been provided because
the developments were not viable. By
demonstrating flexibility and an aware-
ness of market conditions, Teignbridge
has ensured the delivery of a viable level
of affordable housing.”
Councils are bracing themselves for a
big increase in retrospective appeals by
housebuilders.Tenofthebiggestbuilders
– which between them own enough land
to build more than 300,000 homes –
together made pre-tax profits of £1.1bn
last year, according to bureau analysis.
The burden to maintain low-cost
housing supply is increasingly being left
to housing associations. Yet Chancellor
GeorgeOsborne’sspendingreviewinJune
announced that housing associations
would receive only £3.3bn in the three
yearsfrom2015,whichamountedtoacut
of 2.2% on top of the overall 63% funding
reduction made in 2010.
There are 1.85 million people on coun-
cil waiting lists in England – up 69% in 10
years – and, as of last June, there were
56,210 households in temporary accom-
modation, up 9% in the past 12 months.
Data in June showed the number of
affordablehousebuildingstartsbackedby
thegovernment-fundedHomesandCom-
munities Agency and the Greater London
Authorityinthefinancialyearto2013was
36,206 – 33% lower than when the coali-
tion came to power.
“Inhigh-valueareastheproblemsocial
landlords face is access to land, and sec-
tion 106 agreements gives them access to
these sites,” says Rachel Fisher, National
Housing Federation head of homes and
land. “Local councils therefore have a
responsibilitytotheircommunities.They
must ensure that the planning system
continues to take into account what local
peopleandfamiliesneed–andbecommit-
ted to delivering these homes.”
Additional research by Victoria
Hollingsworth and Jude McArdle at the
Bureau of Investigative Journalism
thebureauinvestigates.com
In numbers
2,300The number of affordable homes axed
across the UK over the last five years
after section 106 renegotiations
60%The percentage of Britain’s biggest
housing developments falling short
of local affordable housing targets
£1.1bnThe combined pre-tax profits made last
year by 10 of the UK’s biggest housing
developers
‘When developers make
large profits and yet cite
viability in not building
more affordable homes,
common sense tells you
there is an anomaly’
12-27-2013
Mark Steel
Haven’t you heard? It’s
all the foreigners’ fault!
VOICES P.17
John Lichfield
Our man in Paris on the
fate of François Hollande
WORLD P.27
Rosie Millard
Twitter shows us the true
meaning of Christmas
ANOTHER VOICE P.37
Geoffrey Macnab
Five stars for a stunning
new Robert Redford film
ARTS P.40
Only
60p
When you subscribe
to our seven-day
package for £5
VISIT INDEPENDENT.CO.UK
ISSUE NO.8492 £1.40
WWW.INDEPENDENT.CO.UK
9 7 7 1 7 4 1 9 7 4 2 5 7
5 2
FRIDAY 27 DECEMBER 2013
victims. The confidential
report,obtainedbytheBureau
ofInvestigativeJournalismfor
The Independent, found basic
forensic protocols were rou-
tinelybreachedattheLondon
centre, which was set up to
provide a “gold standard” in
support for rape victims, and
to improve conviction rates.
Dozens of samples taken
fromvictims of sexual attacks
thatshouldhavebeensentfor
forensic analysis were found
leftinafridge,accordingtothe
report, which also exposed
“multiple deficiencies” in the
unit’s dealings with children
andvulnerable adults.
Staff at the unit described
working in “an oppressive,
tense environment” and told
investigatorsthattheydreaded
their shifts but were afraid to
complain to managers.
The report concludes that
many of the problems “ech-
oed the underlying failures
µ Shocking standards exposed in damning report with echoes of Mid Staffs crisis
NHS ‘covered up’
scandal at centre
for rape victims
Continued on P.6 >
A peculiarly British scene: residents of Matlock in Derbyshire brave heavy rain and cold to cheer on competitors in the annual charity
raft race, which raises funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Britain is braced for more severe weather. NEWS, P.4-5
The NHS was accused last
night of suppressing a damn-
ing report that found Mid
Staffordshire-type failings at
a pioneering centre for rape
Salmond
‘hid legal
reality of
Scotland’s
EU status’
Alex Salmond is facing accu-
sations of hiding the full legal
reality behind the Scottish
Government’sassurancesthat
an independent Scotland
would enjoy fast-tracked
membership of the EU.
The SNP leader launched
his administration’s White
Paper on independence last
month by claiming legal
advice given to the UK Gov-
ernment earlier this year
described as “realistic” a
period of 18 months of entry
negotiations between Edin-
burgh and Brussels.
Holyrood’s Deputy First
Minister, Nicola Sturgeon,
recentlyclaimedabreakaway
Scotland would have a
“smoothandquick”transition
to full EU membership.
But both Mr Salmond and
Ms Sturgeon failed to men-
tionasubsequentlegal“clari-
fication” given to the Edin-
burgh government on the
politicallycrucial issue of EU
membership.
The advice, shown to The
Independent,highlights“seri-
ous unresolved issues” and
potential difficulties in the
process. Likely problem
pointsincludevotingrightsin
both the European Council
andParliament,thevalidityof
current UK opt-outs, the use
of the euro and what was
termed “further financial
questions”.
CatherineStihler,aLabour
MEPwhohascampaignedfor
greater transparency over
Scotland’s position on EU
membership, said: “Alex Sal-
mond has form saying one
thing in public but knowing
the opposite to be true. On
this issue you can’t trust a
word he has to say. The idea
thateverythingwillbeallright
on the night just because he
says so isn’t credible.”
ExpertopinionfromJames
Crawford and Alan Boyle,
EXCLUSIVE
JAMES CUSICK
POLITICAL
CORRESPONDENT
Continued on P.6 >
EXCLUSIVE
MELANIE NEWMAN
AND OLIVER WRIGHT
Elephant Appeal: Bid now in our third charity auction P.32-33
GETTY
Revealed: Labour’s mystery
hedge fund donor
OLIVER WRIGHT
WHITEHALL EDITOR
Continued on P.4 >
TIMOTHY ALLEN
Labour has received a huge
donationfrom amultimillion-
pound hedge fund manager
whoseidentitythepartytried
to keep secret, TheIndepend-
ent can reveal. Martin Tay-
lor has given Labour nearly
£600,000since2012,making
him the party’s fourth-largest
donor, and has had at least
one meeting with the Labour
leader, Ed Miliband.
But party officials have
refused to confirm Mr Tay-
lor’sidentityforseveralweeks
despite repeated requests
from journalists. Yesterday,
after The Independent said it
intended to publish details of
Mr Taylor’s identity – with-
out the party’s confirmation
–Labourreleasedastatement
fromMrTaylorconfirminghe
was the source of the funds.
A party spokesman said it
had not previously released
theinformationoutofrespect
for his privacy.
But the case highlights
the continuing lack of trans-
parency surrounding party
finances. Parties are required
to provide details of all their
donors who have given more
than £7,500 – but only the
name of the donor is made
public, making it hard to
identifyindividualswho have
a common name.
It is also embarrassing for
Mr Miliband because he has
been a frequent critic of the
Conservatives’ reliance on
µ Party’s fourth-largest financial supporter works in industry repeatedly targeted by Ed Miliband
µ Officials tried to keep Martin Taylor’s identity secret for weeks while attacking Tories over donations
Plus: Janet Street-Porter Culture vouchers are just what poor children need P.47 Boyd Tonkin How science
is redrawing Britain’s history P.41 Andrew Grice Everything to play (and pay) for after a sobering Budget P.20
Foodies told
to prepare
for flood of
counterfeit
olive oil
British shoppers have been
warned to beware of counter-
feitoliveoil–ascriminalgangs
exploitadisastrousItalianhar-
vestbysellingpotentiallydan-
gerous bootleg bottles.
A senior Italian food fraud
investigator told The Inde-
pendent that he has already
seen evidence that criminals
are moving into olive oil pro-
duction and distribution.
Consumers should be
particularly wary of olive oil
that appears “too cheap to
be true”, experts said. Fake
oil produced in unhygienic
conditions could put Britons
at increased risk of E.coli and
salmonella.
The incentive for fraud has
TOM BAWDEN
ENVIRONMENT EDITOR
Continued on P.5 >
PHOTOGRAPHS:REXFEATURESANDOLISCARFF/GETTY(BOTTOMRIGHT)
Revealed: how exclusive Tory ball plays
matchmaker to donors and politicians
Simon Goodley
Melanie Newman
Nick Mathiason
A doorstep lender, a host of property
tycoons and a Ukraine-born energy mag-
nate were among guests worth £22bn
who attended the Tories’ most important
fundraising event of the year, a table plan
leaked to the Guardian reveals.
The secret list of about 570 guests
attending the Tories’ Black and White
Ball, held last February in London, will
heighten concerns that the country’s
wealthiest people are gaining access to
David Cameron and senior Conservative
cabinet members in private.
The revelation follows details pub-
lished by the Guardian and the Bureau
of Investigative Journalism in July which
showed how lobbyists and oligarchs had
paid up to £12,000 for a table at the 2013
Tory summer party.
At both events, where tickets went for
£450 to £1,000, guests were seated with
ministers whose portfolios were relevant
to the diners’ financial interests.
However, the wealth of the partygoers
attending the February gala – which also
took place at the Old Billingsgate Market,
intheCityofLondon–isestimatedtohave
beendoublethatofthesummerparty.The
table plan for February’s dinner, again
analysed by the Guardian and the Bureau
of Investigative Journalism, reveals that:
• The work and pensions secretary, Iain
Duncan Smith, who has overseen a wide-
ranging programme of welfare cuts, was
seatedwithdirectorsofthedoorsteplend-
ing firm CLC Finance, which advertises
loans at a 769.9% annual interest rate.
• The housing minister at the time, Kris
Hopkins, sat with two of London’s top
property executives, Bruce Ritchie, a
business partner of the chef Marco Pierre
White,andPaulMunford,anadvisertothe
Candybrothers,luxurypropertydevelop-
erswhosefirmsarrangepurchasesof“tro-
phy” London homes for rich foreigners.
•DavidCameronsharedatablewithLord
Chelsea, whose family are worth £4.2bn
and are among London’s largest heredi-
tary landowners.
• Michael Fallon, then energy minister,
dinedwithdirectorsofafirmthatsupplies
the offshore renewable energy industry
and which has directed donations at MPs
whose constituencies are in areas where
offshorewindfarmshavebeenproposed.
• Celebrity glamour was provided by
Joan Collins, who arrived with her friend
Ivan Massow, the financier and gay rights
campaigner.
There is no suggestion that guests
discussed either policy or their business
interests with the ministers and MPs at
the dinner. A Tory spokesman said: “All
donations to the Conservative party are
declared and published by the Electoral
Commission.Listsofallministerialmeet-
ings with external organisations are pub-
lished on a quarterly basis.
“Ministersmeetarangeoforganisations
– voluntary, commercial or educational.
Anysuggestionthatpolicyisinfluenced
by donations is malicious and defama-
tory and will be treated as such.”
However, the fact of politicians mix-
to know, [is] that these events are taking
place together with [people from] indus-
tries and government – so we can track,
over the forthcoming months, if policy
sweeteners have been promised as an
incentive to attract donations.”
Two of the directors of CLC Finance
(which had three executives sharing a
table at the ball with Duncan Smith) are
Philip and Dominic Wilbraham, who
are also members of a family company
named Wilbraham Securities LLP, which
has given £28,500 to the Tories over the
past three years. The donations began in
2011,justaspressurewasmountingonthe
government for tighter regulation in the
high-cost credit market.
Also at that same table was George
Hollingbery,MPforMeonValley,inHamp-
shire,whoisprivatesecretarytothehome
secretary,TheresaMay,andhasaparticu-
larinterestinworkandpensionsandwel-
fare legislation.
A spokesman for the Wilbrahams said
it was “absolutely not the case” that the
family firm had made a donation to the
Conservative party with the intention of
influencing government policy on the
regulation of home credit providers.
He added: “The Wilbraham family
has been supporters of, and donors
to, the Conservative party for over
30 years and the Wilbraham and
Hollingbery families have been
friends for over 40 years. The discus-
Joining them was Hopkins, the housing
minister. Ritchie is chief executive of the
ResidentialLandGroup,whichownsmore
than1,200letpropertiesintheprimemar-
ket of central London. He has called for
less government intervention in the resi-
dential property sector – and along with
his wife and company donated £111,600
to the Conservatives in 2013, more than
twice the previous year’s figure.
Also joining Hopkins at the Ritchies’
table was Paul Munford, whose company
arranges mortgages for wealthy foreign-
ers wanting to buy high-value residen-
tial properties in London. There too was
JamesCaan,theentrepreneurandformer
panellist on the TV show Dragons’ Den.
The general counsel for Caan’s com-
pany, Hamilton Bradshaw, said: “No
policyissueswerediscussedwithMrHop-
kins.” He added that Hamilton Bradshaw
was involved in a number of sectors but
predominantly recruitment.
At the Black and White ball, Alexan-
der Temerko, a Ukraine-born director of
the Tyneside-based firm Offshore Group
Newcastle, which specialises in build-
ing offshore wind, gas and oil platforms,
hostedFallonandtwootherMPswhoalso
havebenefitedfromTemerko’sdonations
– James Wharton and Alun Cairns.
Temerko,whowasaguestattheTories’
2013 summer ball, where he bought a
£12,000 bronze bust of Cameron for
£90,000 at auction, is also a member of
attempt by either Mr Temerko or OGN or
its representatives to influence policy in
relation to wind farms is false,” said an
OGN spokesman. He added that wind
power formed only a small portion of
OGN’s business.
The 21 ministers listed as going to the
ball in February were all asked to confirm
their attendance at it. Only Ken Clarke,
then minister without portfolio, did so.
The Treasury minister at the time, Nicky
Morgan, and Owen Paterson, then envi-
ronment secretary, said that they did not
attend the event.
David Cameron
and Samantha, his
wife, at the Black
and White Ball.
Guests included,
right, from top,
Joan Collins and
Ivan Massow,
James Caan,
William Hague
and Ffion Jenkins,
and, below, Iain
Duncan Smith
Duncan Smith seated next
to doorstep lending bosses
Tycoons deny business
interests were discussed
‘We need
to know
… if policy
sweeteners
have been
promised’
Estimated worth of
the 570 or so guests
who went to the
Conservatives’ Black
and White Ball this
year, which raised
cash for the elections
£
22bn
9 7 7 1 7 4 1 9 7 4 2 2 6
0 6
Help us save
Africa’s elephants
CharityAppeal P.28
ISSUE NO.8524 WWW.INDEPENDENT.CO.UK
£1.40 ONLY 6OP TO SUBSCRIBERS SEE P.24
Steve Richards
The Tory modernisers’
dream has died at last
VOICES P.11
Grace Dent
Why do we forgive the
likes of Woody Allen?
VOICES P.19
Virginia Ironside
Everyone lives with guilt
– so find a way to cope
DILEMMAS P.37
Norman Rosenthal
Georg Baselitz: a portrait
of the artist as an old man
ARTS P.39
despite a 3 per cent rise in
reported rapes over the
period.Thenumberofpeople
chargedwithrapebytheCPS
over that period has fallen by
14 per cent.
Nowaninvestigationbythe
Bureau of Investigative Jour-
nalism for The Independent
has found disturbing links
between the fall in referrals
and changes to the police
approachtorapecasesfollow-
ing updated CPS guidance in
2011. It has also found evi-
dence that police may be
droppingcasesonthebasisof
informal guidance from CPS
lawyers – without files being
formally examined by
prosecutors.
The amended CPS guid-
ance puts more emphasis on
police forces identifying and
stopping cases where the
threshold for charging is not
met before they get to the
CPS. Critics say that police
may be dismissing cases that
could be successfully prose-
cuted. The shadow Attorney
General, Emily Thornberry,
described the Bureau’s find-
ingasprofoundlyconcerning
andsuggesteditmaybelinked
tocutbacksinpoliceandCPS
resources.
Last night the CPS con-
firmeditwouldinvestigateits
guidelines as part of a review
into the falling referral rates.
“We are exploring the
reasons for the drop in rape
referrals with the police,” the
CPS said. “This work will
include looking at the appro-
priate interpretation and
application of the Director’s
guidance and the evidential
standard of the case files sub-
mitted to the CPS.”
A document obtained by
the Bureau shows that on
average police forces across
EnglandandWalessent21per
cent fewer cases to the CPS
for charging in the financial
year 2012-13 than the year
µ Sharp fall in both referrals and charges follows new CPS guidelines issued three years ago
µ Shadow Attorney General expresses ‘profound concern’ as victims’ groups demand investigation
Revealed: the rape cases
police don’t bother with
Continued on P.9 >
Thousands of suspected rape
cases may have been wrongly
discontinuedoverthepasttwo
yearsbecausepoliceforcesor
prosecutorsaremisinterpret-
ing official guidelines.
Since 2011 the number of
rape cases referred by the
policetotheCrownProsecu-
tionServiceforchargingdeci-
sions has fallen by a third –
MELANIE NEWMAN
AND OLIVER WRIGHT
John Walsh: Why lapsed Catholics love this Pope BIG READ P.31
TUESDAY 4 FEBRUARY 2014
Section:GDN BE PaGe:23 Edition Date:141229 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 28/12/2014 19:24 cYanmaGentaYellowblack
*The Guardian | Monday 29 December 2014 23
Financial
Businesseditor:JuliaFinch financial@theguardian.com @businessdesk02033533795
Top 10 housebuilders to rake in £2.1bn in 2014
Profits rise 34% as targets
missed for low-cost homes
Research shows how firms
work around council rules
Nick Mathiason
Britain’s ten biggest housebuilders will
see profits climb to more than £2bn this
year despite falling short of local govern-
ment targets on affordable homes.
While profits surge to levels not seen
since the last credit-fuelled boom, the
number of affordable homes built in Eng-
land has fallen to an eight-year low.
Analysis bytheBureauofInvestigative
Journalism shows that the country’s big-
gest builders, who between them control
enough land to create 480,000 homes,
will make pretax profits of more than
£2.1bn in 2014 – a 34% jump on last year.
The total is based on reported and pro-
jected profits for firms including Persim-
mon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt, many
of which have seen sales boosted by the
government’s Help to Buy schemes.
The return to pre-crash profit levels
comes as official figures forecast 42,710
affordable homes will be built in England
intheyeartoApril–thelowestsince2006,
and a 26% fall since 2010.
Jon Sparkes chief executive of home-
lesscampaigngroupCrisis,said:“Atatime
when the country faces a housing crisis
and with homelessness having risen sig-
nificantly in recent years, we desperately
need developers to provide more afford-
able homes.”
Steve Turner of the Home Builders
Federation whose members account for
80%ofhousesbuiltinEnglandandWales,
said:“Theindustrywasdevastatedinthe
financial crash, profits initially fell very
steeply, or disappeared into losses, and
many companies disappeared. Only now
are profits returning to pre-crash levels
allowing companies to rebuild, restruc-
ture and replace lost capacity.”
Affordabilitycampaignerssuggestpart
of the reason why developers have failed
to achieve targets for cheaper homes is to
befoundinanopaquepartoftheplanning
system, known as the financial viability
test.Thisiswidelyusedbyhousebuilders
to reduce, legally, the number of afford-
able homes to below local authority tar-
gets. More than half of affordable homes
inEnglandarebuiltbyprivatedevelopers
through what is known as the Section 106
system, in which tests of financial viabil-
ity are key. These assessments form the
basis of negotiations with local authori-
ties when developers want to reduce the
numberoflow-costhomesbelowthelocal
authority’s targets.
Targets typically range between 25%
and 40% of the total number of homes in
a scheme set according to local housing
need.Theassessmentworksbycombining
allcostslinkedtoahousingdevelopment,
including a 20% margin for the developer
but excluding the land price. These costs
are then subtracted from projected sales
revenue based on current values.
If the resulting total is not much higher
than its current use value, the scheme is
likely to be considered unviable by devel-
opers who will then argue the number of
affordable homes required must be cut.
This means assumptions on sales and
costs are crucial.
The bureau’s research has found that:
•Theprocessisshroudedinsecrecywith
many developers regularly refusing to
disclose to the public the assessments on
which their figures are based.
•Councilsrarelyemployexternalexperts
to scrutinise housebuilders’ figures con-
tained in financial viability submissions.
• Sales projections used in viability
assessments are frozen at the time a
scheme receives planning consent pre-
venting the council from sharing in any
benefit from rising house prices.
Housing campaign groups point to
1.4m households on council waiting lists
– a 34% rise since 1997 – and 85,000 chil-
drenlivingintemporaryaccommodation.
They argue the government has to put
pressure on builders to meet affordable
housing targets.
Joanna Kennedy, chief executive of
housing and welfare campaign group
Z2K,saidWhitehall“shouldbesupporting
boroughsinchallengingdevelopers’ques-
tionable viability assessments, instead of
undermining council’s efforts to secure
planning gain through section 106”.
A Department for Communities and
Local Government spokesman said: “It
is for local authorities to agree an appro-
priate level of contribution to affordable
housing with developers.”
The number of Londoners buying
homes outside the capital has jumped
50% in a year as rising house prices
have triggered a larger than usual mi-
gration to the home counties.
Londoners spent £21bn on 58,000
homes elsewhere in the UK, the high-
est number since 2007, according to
Hamptons International, the estate
agents. The vast majority, said Johnny
Morris, Hamptons’ head of research,
were bought for relocation purposes.
Top spots included Brighton, Luton
and Bath. Among families, popular
destinations were Esher in Surrey,
Brentwood in Essex and Rickmans-
worth in Hertfordshire. About 80% of
those relocating bought in the south-
east or east of England.
“Over the [economic] downturn,
many Londoners delayed life-stage
moves, restricting the natural flow of
families out of the capital and building
a pent-up demand,” said Morris.
Simon Bowers
Londoners relocate
Acentury
insilver
The Royal Mint
has introduced
the first £100 coins
with a design
incorporating the
Elizabeth Tower,
which houses Big
Ben, issued ‘to
ring in the new
year’. The mint, in
Llantrisant, Wales,
is making available
50,000 of the
commemorative
coins at face value.
Each is composed
of 2oz (57 grams)
of silver. The
mint hopes the
£100 piece will
be a sellout like
Britain’s first £20
coin, issued in
2013, which bears
a St George and
the Dragon design
Photograph: Dan
Rowley/Rex
Childcare costs leave one in 10 families with zero earner
Angela Monaghan
Simon Goodley
Thousands of parents are in effect work-
ing for zero pay, such is the high cost of
childcareservicesintheUK,newresearch
has revealed.
One in 10 working families with young
children has an earner who brings home
nothing after commuting, childcare
and other work-associated expenses,
according to a biannual report into family
finances by the insurer Aviva.
The study also shows that one in four
families includes one parent who brings
home less than £100 a month after costs,
while 4% of women surveyed said they
were actually paying to work because
theircostsweregreaterthantheirincome.
“Aviva’s findings paint a picture of a
nation of parents struggling to keep their
heads,andcareers,abovewaterintheface
of rising childcare costs,” sai
m
m
43%
48m
4%
Hedge fund
millionaire
is Labours
covert donor
SATURDAY
12-pageguidem
Eat! 12-pageguide
Letshave
brunch
R

5. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/24/the-hostages-killed-by-us-drones-are-the-casualties-of-an-inhumane-policy 1/2
The hostages killed by US drones are the
casualties of an inhumane policy
Trevor Timm
Secrecy, misdirection and lies have shielded much of the public from the realization that US drone
strikes have killed countless civilians in the past decade
Friday 24 April 2015 10.00 BST
P
resident Obama’s admission on Thursday that the CIA killed two innocent hostages
in a US drone strike in Pakistan should de nitively prove to the American public
what the White House has been trying to hide from them for a while: the US
government’s secretive use of drone strikes is a transparency nightmare and human
rights catastrophe. It requires a full-scale, independent investigation.
The only thing surprising about the news that US drone strikes killed one American and
one Italian civilian al-Qaida hostage - along with two alleged American members of al-
Qaida who were supposedly not targeted - is that the US actually admitted it.
Secrecy, misdirection and lies have shielded much of the public from the realization that
US drone strikes have killed countless civilians in the past decade. There is literally no
public accountability - not in the courts nor in Congress - for the CIA and the military’s
killings outside o cial war zones. It doesn’t matter who they kill, where, or under what
circumstances.
What we have learned from news reports and human rights investigations over the years
has been disturbing. Consider, for example, that the the government counts “all military-
age males in a [drone] strike zone as combatants … unless there is explicit intelligence
posthumously proving them innocent”, as the New York Times reported in 2012. For
many years, the US government also regularly carried out drone strikes on people they
openly admitted they could not identify. The CIA referred to these as “signature strikes”,
which targeted people who seemed to be up to no good from the sky, but could have just
been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The administration supposedly curtailed signature strikes two years ago but the Wall
Street Journal reported: “it can take the CIA weeks or longer to determine who was killed
in a drone strike” How, then, can we believe they fully stopped it? As ACLU’s Jameel
Ja er put it bluntly on Thursday: “In each of the operations acknowledged today, the US
quite literally didn’t know who it was killing.”
For years, the vast majority of drone strikes victims have never been positively identi ed
as terrorists. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which has the most comprehensive
data on drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, published a study last year showing only