Residents of  North East Lincolnshire who have not yet confirmed their electoral roll details are being reminded this week to do so.

Reminder letters are now being sent out – so if you have yet to confirm your details, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

For the first time in the borough, residents can confirm their details on the electoral register via text messaging, a service which complements existing phone and internet confirmation services.

It takes just minutes to verify your details – and the use of automated confirmation services saves the council money.

If your electoral roll details remain unchanged, there are three ways to confirm them:

• Mobile phone text message (SMS) – sending a text made up of your two security codes;
• Dialling the freephone number and keying in your two security codes;
• Via the internet, which allows residents to visit a secure website and confirm their details online.

Don’t forget that you must use the form for your household with its own unique security codes printed on. Full instructions are given on the form, and the service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, throughout the canvass period.

The freephone telephone service is also available in five other languages in North East Lincolnshire.

Residents wishing to register changes to the details for their household must complete the form and return it to the council offices as detailed on the form.

The Electoral Registration Office can be contacted at the Municipal Offices, Grimsby on 01472 324160/324118 or e-mail elections@nelincs.gov.uk

A new report shows that families have been hit by a 30% rise in the price of fruit and vegetables.Poor crop harvests and soaring supply chain costs caused by the rising cost of fuel have led to a massive hike in fresh foods, from the humble potato to ‘luxury’ seedless grapes, according to trade magazine The Grocer.

The price of standard potatoes has jumped 28.7% compared with the same time last year. Carrots, tomatoes and onions have also risen in price over the past 12 months.

Healthy eating comes at a cost as prices of fresh fruit and vegetables soars

The Grocer reports: ‘ Cooks who are fans of hearty soups and hot-pots have been worst hit by increases in fruit and vegetable prices over the past year with onions, carrots and potatoes all showing price increase of 20 to 30% over the last 12 months.  Householders will also struggle to get their vitamin C in the coming winter as costs of white seedless grapes, apples and oranges have also risen by up to 17 per cent.

By contrast, broccoli was the only fresh produce to have dropped in price – by more than 25 per cent.

The magazine blamed the rising potato prices on the delayed effect of two years of high potato prices – caused by the 2006 drought and the 2007 floods – filtering through to the consumer.

A spokesman for the Potato Council, the industry body, said that this year’s wet summer had led to a shortage of the crop, but these would not affect prices.

‘We think overall that 500 hectares has been lost, which, in the grand scheme of things, is not enough to affect prices ‘ said Mr Alder.

 On Saturday I visitted the new Riverside Children’s Centre for it’s official opening. 

Although the Centre has already been running for a month, Saturday marked the official opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

I saw the facilities on offer at the new centre, and met some of the staff who will be working there.  I am sure that the new Children’s Centre will be a fantastic facility for the surrounding community, and it will help to ensure that the area’s children are given the best possible start in life.

The Children’s Centre in Central Parade, which is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. employs eight staff and provides services for parents with children under the age of five, including childcare, exercise sessions, cookery lessons and adult learning.

Centre co-ordinator Gill Bell said: “We are here to support and help families with children under five through what can be a very rewarding but difficult time.

“It brings families and children together. We can offer them help and advice and we can signpost them onto other services.”

Vince Cable today accused his Tory counterpart George Osborne of “playing a hopeless game of catch up” over the financial crisis.

The Conservative frontbencher addressed his party conference today to set out his economic proposals, which included a proposal to freeze council tax rises for two years.

Dr Cable said: “Rather than making tough economic choices over tax and spending, George Osborne is simply passing the buck to local councils, expecting them to make arbitrary cuts.

“This false promise of freezing council tax will be entirely dependent on individual councils being able to cut their budgets, which is likely to leave the poorest areas with continuing council tax rises.”

Dr Cable also criticised Mr Osborne’s “vague aspiration of national tax cuts at some point in the future”.
He added: “This country needs a party that is willing to take the tough choices today to reduce the tax burden for people on low and middle incomes hit hardest by the financial crisis.”

British taxpayers will be liable for more than £150 billion of potentially toxic mortgage debt following the nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley, one of the country’s biggest mortgage lenders.

According to the BBC, Spanish bank Santander is on the brink of taking over the £20bn savings business of troubled bank Bradford & Bingley and treasury officials and bankers are putting the final touches to a deal, An announcement is expected early on Monday morning, which will also confirm that B&B’s £50bn in mortgages and loans is being nationalised.

The Government may merge the bank, which has mortgages worth more than £40 billion, with the nationalised Northern Rock. Every taxpayer in Britain will be exposed to the equivalent of £5,500 in mortgage debt as a result.

European regulators were also rushing last night to rescue Fortis, a large Belgian bank, which is Britain’s third biggest motor insurer. Fears are mounting about the viability of Wachovia, an American bank seeking a takeover.

A group of high-profile hedge fund managers who have been criticised for exacerbating the financial crisis are part of an elite pack of Conservative supporters, reports Jamie Doward in today’s Observer.

The Tories were accused last night of being bankrolled by a City ‘wolf pack’ after it emerged that the party was receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds from hedge fund managers who have been making vast sums of money from plunging bank shares.

After the Financial Services Authority had, in effect, barred the controversial practice of short-selling bank stocks and the Treasury was forced to draw up a rescue package for Bradford and Bingley, it emerged that a small group of City financiers who have made fortunes from falling stock markets are paying at least £50,000 a year to the party.

Their donations entitle them to membership of an elite supporters club called the Leaders Group, which bestows invitations to functions attended by David Cameron, something that has prompted allegations that the Tory leader is supporting ‘cash for access’

Read the complete article on http://tiny.cc/F90np

Over a million workers will gain from an increase in the national minimum wage later this week, with women making up two thirds of those affected, according to a new study.

The TUC said the rise on Wednesday (October 1) from £5.52 to £5.73 an hour will help reduce the gender pay gap and save the taxpayer £245 million in benefit payments.

The 3.8% rise is the ninth increase since the statutory rate was introduced by the Labour Government in 1998, giving an increase of 59%, compared to a 44% growth in average earnings over the same period.

Introducing a minimum wage has not led to any significant job cuts despite predictions from some business lobbyists, said the union organisation.

The TUC said the Low Pay Commission should recommend a “significant” increase in the figure for next year.

General secretary Brendan Barber said: “The increase in the minimum wage will help thousands of families but the low-paid face a high inflation rate as they spend a much greater proportion of their income on food and energy where prices have rocketed.

“It is entirely predictable that some employer groups will say that the minimum wage increase will threaten jobs, yet it has helped millions without significant job losses.

The Low Pay Commission should robustly reject employer scare-mongering and recognise the higher inflation faced by the low paid when it shortly sets next year’s increase.

“Honest employers do suffer, however, when dodgy ones fail to pay the minimum wage. Dodging the minimum wage also leaves the UK’s vulnerable workers in even deeper poverty – and we all pay the price for this.

“Tougher enforcement penalties and greater funding for HM Revenue and Customs are the best ways to crackdown on these minimum wage cheats.”

The minimum wage for 18 to 22-year-olds will increase on Wednesday from £4.60 to £4.77 an hour and for 16 and 17-year-olds from £3.40 to £3.53.

Mr Clegg, who is shortly to become a father for a third time, said young children were being bombarded by advertising and their innocence needed to be protected.  He said he had become acutely aware of the commercial pressures on children.

“There is a channel of cartoons that my children watch in which they are bombarded by advertising every 15 minutes.  I don’t like it.

“I’m increasingly, as a father and politician, thinking we have not got the balance right.”

Mr Clegg also said there was a failure to properly “nurture” children in Britain.  He said: “We fail to protect thousands of children, either by not giving them support when they need it, or by almost wilfully pushing them into the criminal justice system.

“I want to live in a society where we nurture and protect that innocence of children, particularly those crucial years where people’s potential, talents and self-confidence really takes shape.”

Mr Clegg, 41, and his wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, have two boys, aged four and six, and are expecting their third child in February.  They intend to keep their family out of the spotlight.

Mr Clegg said: “For me, as a father, and an absolutely besotted father of two lovely little boys, and Miriam, as a very devoted mother to them, we just took the decision that their innocence was best protected by not holding any hostages to fortune by making them public.”

Earlier this year Conservative leader David Cameron, and his wife Samantha, invited a television crew into their home to film their family.

But Mr Clegg said he did not criticise the Camerons for that.

He said: “I’m not going to start being judgmental.”

The Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference recently backed radical plans to transform Britain’s transport system, outlined in the policy paper Fast Track Britain: Building a Transport System for the 21st Century.

The paper sets out the party’s plans to provide serious investment in public transport without passing the cost on to passengers, while providing a fairer deal for motorists and encouraging freight to be carried by rail and water.

Policies set out in the paper include:

Building a national rail network fit for modern Britain.  This includes starting work on a high speed rail network that would slash journey times to London from the North of England and Scotland.

• Creating viable alternatives to cars and reducing carbon emissions. Investment will be provided by a national road pricing scheme for all lorries and a domestic flight surcharge.
• Phasing out Vehicle Excise Duty and replacing it with revenue-neutral motorway and trunk road pricing, while making it cheaper to drive in rural areas where there is no public transport alternative.
• Increasing the power of local authorities to control bus services. (more…)

When politicians discuss tax, it’s usually in big numbers. A billion here, a billion there, and sooner or later you’re talking about real money. But the Whitehall focus on the big picture obscures what taxes are doing to ordinary families. It’s time to talk about tax in smaller numbers: the £460 a month of payroll taxes paid by the average worker, the £1,000 council tax bill so many can’t afford.

The economic downturn has hit everyone, but those who are really feeling it are people and families on low incomes. Energy bills have doubled in the last few years, food prices are up 10 per cent this year alone – even a cheap loaf of bread is now more than a pound. When you think of the pain families on low and average incomes are facing right now, it is shocking to realise that the way Gordon Brown taxes us is worsening that pain, not alleviating it. The poorest 20 per cent of people in Britain still pay more of their income in tax than the richest 20 per cent. No party that cares a jot about fairness could tolerate such a system – let alone make it worse, as Labour has, doubling the 10p tax rate for the poorest, and opening up loopholes for the wealthiest to exploit.

I want a fair Britain, where no one is held back by excessive tax bills, and no one gets away with paying peanuts because they can afford expensive accountants. That is why the Liberal Democrats will create a truly fair, progressive tax system, which helps those at the bottom and ensures everyone pays their fair share.

Last year the Liberal Democrats committed to cut the basic rate of income tax by 4p in the pound by upping taxes on polluters, and ending multi billion pound tax breaks for the wealthy. This is the most redistributive tax plan we’ve ever proposed – more than twice as redistributive, in fact, than the proposal for a top 50p income tax rate we campaigned on in the 2005 general election. (more…)