The massive community volunteer response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been marvellous, with lots of genuine volunteers and ‘helping hand’ organisations setting up across the country. Disappointingly, however, nothing is beneath a minority of fraudsters who are seizing the opportunity of a worldwide virus outbreak to cheat people.

In Cambridgeshire, doorstep scammers are reported to have been visiting residents purporting to be from Red Cross or other legitimate organisations, and offering to provide coronavirus testing kits – for a hefty fee.

Other examples of coronavirus scams to watch out for are:

• Flight cancellation scam. If you have had a holiday cancelled, beware of individuals or organisations making contact asking for bank details to refund your money. Your travel agent or airline should refund directly by the original payment method.
• Fake email or website scams. Watch out for authentic looking websites or emails seemingly from official channels such as Public Health England or WHO (World Health Organisation). These may look very convincing and offer enticing information for a fee or a single click on a link or attachment. Clicking may install malicious software which can monitor the victim’s every move and provide the details to criminals. Recent examples include emails or websites claiming to be able to show local cases of Covid-19 but which are in fact designed to infect the victim’s computer with malware to steal banking and login information.
• Online offers for vaccinations. There are currently no vaccines, pills, potions, lotions, lozenges, prescriptions or over-the-counter products available to treat or cure Covid-19 coronavirus. DO NOT send money, buy bitcoin or vouchers to anyone offering this.
• Bogus charity callers. Fraudsters may pose as charitable organisations claiming to help individuals or businesses in these challenging times. Check the authenticity of any caller on the phone or doorstep by contacting the organisation on the number you know to be correct. If the caller was on the phone make sure you wait at least 10 minutes or use a different handset to conduct your authenticity check.
• Tax refund scam. Emails purporting to be from HMRC or gov.uk are being sent by scammers with the promise of a tax rebate ‘for dealing with the coronavirus outbreak’ at the click of a link. The link is likely to infect the device with malware and allow private information to be stolen.
• Good Neighbour scam. People in self-isolation have been approached by criminals offering to help with shopping who take the resident’s money and never return.

Remember, always check ID of people knocking at the door. Do your own independent research to contact the organisation in question rather than using any contact details on the ID itself. Stay safe and look after one another. And visit the CAPASP website for more help and advice on how to avoid scams.

The following planning applications in the Sutton division have been published by East Cambridgeshire District Council.

20/00351/OUT
Little Downham
Spinney End 26 Straight Furlong Pymoor
Residential development for six Passivhaus dwellings (including one affordable).

20/00362/FUL
Little Downham
8 Lawn Lane Little Downham CB6 2TS
Demolition of existing front porch and conservatory, proposed new porch and one storey rear extension, new low level boundary wall.

20/00393/FUL
Sutton
Site north west of Mepal Outdoor Centre Chatteris Road Mepal
Creation of site office, ancillary plant, concrete road and vehicle parking at anaerobic digestion plant.

Further information can be found on the district council’s planning pages. If you would like to respond formally to the council about any planning application, comments should be addressed to the district council and not to me.  Comments may be made

• online using the council’s public access web page (the link above);
• by email to plservices@eastcambs.gov.uk;
• or by post to the Planning Department, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, CB7 4EE.

Absolutely 100 per cent agree with this from Ed Davey MP. Many businesses and individual employees face ruin without extensive and reliable financial help.

Following the social distancing measures announced by the Prime Minister yesterday (16 March), Liberal Democrat Acting Leader Ed Davey has called for the government to bring in “much, much more extensive support for individuals and for businesses at every single level”. 

Liberal Democrat Acting Leader Ed Davey said:  

“People are afraid for their health, but also for their livelihoods. The financial package the Chancellor is expected to announce today must include much, much more extensive support for individuals and for businesses at every single level and across every single region of the country. 

The Government bailed out the banks and the financial sector with hundreds of billions back in 2008. The Government must now be there for millions of businesses, employees and the self-employed – Britain’s real economy.

The Prime Minister was right to advise social distancing, but to do so without formally closing pubs, restaurants, theatres and so forth, he is undermining many firms’ insurance cover and writing these businesses into history. The Government’s current approach will prevent many businesses from claiming for any losses, which could lead to widespread collapse. 

People want to know that – in the face of this extraordinary crisis – their livelihoods and businesses are secure. It is in the government’s power to provide that certainty and the Liberal Democrats urge the Prime Minister to do so with immediate effect.”

The following planning applications in the Sutton division have been published by East Cambridgeshire District Council.

20/00359/OUT
Coveney
Meadow Croft Lodge 10A Gravel End Coveney
Proposed dwelling and cart lodge style garage.

20/00331/FUL
Little Downham
The Briars 1A Park Lane Little Downham
Proposed single storey side and rear extensions including garage to front of the property.

20/00315/FUL
Little Downham
33 Main Street Pymoor CB6 2ED
Construction of a single storey garage to the side of existing dwelling.

20/00354/FUL
Little Downham
2 Bury Green Little Downham CB6 2UH
Construction of sun lounge extension to rear of dwelling.

20/00339/FUL
Mepal
Linda House Chatteris Road Mepal
Proposed stable, hay and tractor store.

19/01535/ARN
Sutton
Meadlands Farm The Gault Sutton
To convert existing agricultural unit to two dwelling houses, including any associated building works and demolition of a shed.

20/00325/FUL
Sutton
Lees Packhouse The Gault Sutton
Proposed 2,000 tonne agricultural store with roof mounted solar PV system.

20/00345/FUL
Witchford
Barrows 3 The Warren Witchford
Proposed rear extension.

20/00323/FUL
Witcham
Plot 2 site west of the Coach House Mepal Road Witcham
Dwelling and garage on land benefiting from extant outline permission 18/01698/OUT .

Further information can be found on the district council’s planning pages. If you would like to respond formally to the council about any planning application, comments should be addressed to the district council and not to me.  Comments may be made

• online using the council’s public access web page (the link above);
• by email to plservices@eastcambs.gov.uk;
• or by post to the Planning Department, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, CB7 4EE.

The following planning applications in the Sutton division have been published by East Cambridgeshire District Council.

20/00295/OUT
Witcham
Land west of Witcham House Farm Back Lane Witcham
Proposed two dwellings and garages.

20/00302/OUT
Witcham
Site south of 10 The Slade Witcham
Proposed outline application for a single dwelling.

Further information can be found on the district council’s planning pages. If you would like to respond formally to the council about any planning application, comments should be addressed to the district council and not to me.  Comments may be made

• online using the council’s public access web page (the link above);
• by email to plservices@eastcambs.gov.uk;
• or by post to the Planning Department, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, CB7 4EE.

For accurate and up-to-date information about coronavirus (COVID-19), check regularly on the government web page here. This is being updated daily.

For information about how to protect yourself and others from contracting coronavirus, useful information from the World Health Organisation can be found here. In summary:

• Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.
• Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
• Cover your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately.
• Stay at home if you feel unwell. If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance. Follow the directions of your local health authority.
• Stay informed on the latest developments about COVID-19. Follow advice given by your healthcare provider, your national and local public health authority, or your employer on how to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.

If you have reason to suspect you may have coronavirus do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. Ring 111 instead for advice.

There were balloons and paper chains everywhere at Ely Library this morning, to celebrate its twentieth birthday. We marked the occasion with speeches from three county councillors including me; the Mayor of Ely and acclaimed local poet Wendy Cope cutting a specially commissioned birthday cake; and a reading by Wendy of some of her poetry for children and adults.

That wasn’t the only thing going on at Ely Library this morning. Peppa Pig and a companion bear were in attendance. There was a harpist, and a ukulele band. There was a tea and coffee stall with cake. And Cambridgeshire Skills were there, offering opportunities as diverse as gardening and screen printing. I had a very useful conversation with the staff from Cambridgeshire Skills, as I’d been writing emails only yesterday about the adult education budget and the need to make sure East Cambridgeshire is included.

Here’s what I said in my speech.

I just want to say a massive Yay for libraries.

My father left school when he was fourteen. My mother’s teenage years were spent under Nazi occupation. Yet despite their educational disadvantages, they ensured that I and my sisters and brother were regularly frogmarched across St Helier, Jersey to the local library to check out our full allocation of books.

A library ticket is a ticket to liberty, and to opportunities like those I and my siblings have benefited from.

Over the last ten years, 800 libraries across this country have closed. That’s one in five public libraries. We need to protect our libraries, reverence them, and work not just to preserve them but to expand them.

Of course libraries have changed and moved on. We hadn’t heard of the internet when I was a child, and we didn’t have DVDs. But libraries are offering these too now, and are centres not just of learning but of creativity and culture.

I very much hope that when I am 91, I will be here to join with you in celebrating Ely Library’s golden fiftieth birthday.

East Cambridgeshire is being overlooked again when it comes to major transport initiatives into and around Cambridge.

A public consultation has just been launched by Mayor Palmer’s Combined Authority on the CAM Metro proposal.

In addition to the consultation pages on the Combined Authority website, six public exhibitions will be taking place, along with six ‘information points’ in various locations.

Not a single one of these events is in East Cambridgeshire, despite the large numbers of East Cambs residents who travel into Cambridge for work, study or leisure.

Many East Cambridgeshire residents would love to have access to regular, reliable, and affordable public transport into Cambridge. Practical and flexible alternatives to the car which don’t place added pressure on the rail network are essential if we’re to tackle climate change, air quality, and congestion.

It’s therefore deeply disappointing that our district is being completely cut out of this conversation, when residents in Huntingdon, St Neots, Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill are all included.

Local Conservatives need to stop paying lip service to alternatives to the car, and start ensuring East Cambridgeshire residents are included in plans for CAM Metro.

• The online consultation is here and runs until Friday 3 April.

In on the Guided Bus from Longstanton this morning to chair the Combined Authority Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting in the Guildhall in Cambridge.

(And yes, we are still allowed to meet in Cambridge, despite a rather odd motion to the Combined Authority Board in January to forbid any Combined Authority meetings at all to take place there.)

We end up having one of our better debates, on housing standards and how the Combined Authority could influence them. Three particular issues arise: accessibility and ‘lifetime homes’, space standards, and carbon emissions.

Much of this is outside the Combined Authority’s powers, being controlled by local authorities through their local plans, or by central government through regulation. However the Combined Authority has some influence, and quite a lot of money. How can it use its position in the local housing market to improve standards of accessibility, space, and environmental sustainability?

We are quite surprised to hear that the Combined Authority currently holds no data on how many of the homes it has invested in are accessible, nor on their likely carbon emissions. That’s surely something it should be doing, and potentially leading the way in better reporting and sharing of these data.

The Combined Authority’s Housing Committee will be receiving a report and presentation on building standards at its meeting in March, and we agree to distil the key points of today’s discussion into some recommendations for them to consider.