Legislation is on the way to remove the £19 million bill for backdated port rates in Grimsby and Immingham.

Local Government Minister Bob Neill was in the Humber area yesterday to inform businesses and council leaders what the Coalition Government is doing to remove the ruinous burden imposed businesses by the previous Labour Government.

Mr Neil also revealed the instructions that have stopped local authorities persuing payments will be extended “for as long as it takes” to get the new law passed.

After speaking to a delegation from North East Lincolnshire in the Port Of Goole, Mr Neill said:

“The key thing was to confirm the legislation requirement to revoke the backdated rates will be part of the Localism Bill, announced in the Queen’s Speech.

“The second thing was to confirm that in the budget the Government has made available £175 million to force that commitment.

“At a time when we are having to reduce public spending, we were able to technically pump back £175 million into the sector. It was really strong evidence of the support for the ports and industry. I am very conscious this was about jobs and ports are a real priority when it comes to the UK economy, with Grimsby, Immingham and the Humber the largest concentration of them all.” Mr Neill told how 59 properties owned by companies in North East Lincolnshire can now look forward with confidence after the £19 million charge was effectively wiped away.

Mr Neil said:

“It has been very nice to feel we have been able to deliver on something we have been working on.

“We will extend the moratorium for as long as it takes to get the new legislation through.”

The leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, Andrew De Freitas, who has been praised by industry for holding off collections when it became a clear political issue in the run up to May’s General Election, said:

Councillor De Freitas said:

“We are now hoping to have a clear steer from Government. The promise we have had is we will get a letter which will make quite clear what is collectable and what is not.

“The new Government has taken the matter seriously and I am delighted with that. For more than two years now, we have had this unjust situation which should never have happened and I am highly delighted for businesses in North East Lincolnshire, which would have possibly either pulled out of the area or gone into receivership.”

Of the authority’s position throughout, he said:

“I am pleased we did what was right at the time and held off. We could have taken enforcement action months ago.”

LiberalDemocrat MP Annette Brooke has been honoured for her commitment to tackling cruelty to animals. The Protecting Animals in Democracy (PAD) project has presented Annette Brooke with a Certificate in recognition of her full support for their VOTE4ANIMALS 2010 manifesto in the run-up to the May General Election.

The manifesto included policies such as support for the hunting ban, the abolition of battery cages and reducing the number of animals that suffer in experiments.

Speaking after the presentation, Annette Brooke MP said:

“I am very pleased to be awarded the Protecting Animals in Democracy Certificate. Cruelty to animals is a shame on our society and our political system needs to do more to protect animals from abuse.”

“I am dedicated to representing the many constituents who write to me about animal welfare problems. Many animals suffer because of political decisions, so I believe it is vital to speak up for these voiceless victims.”

The Government is set to announce a £1billion fund to boost England’s regional economies as David Cameron brings his senior Ministers to Yorkshire for the coalition’s first Cabinet meeting outside London.

Amid concern about the impact cuts in public spending will have on Yorkshire and Humberside, the Prime Minister will hold a Cabinet meeting this morning before answering questions from a local audience as he attempts to ease fears that cutting budgets will widen the north-south divide.

The Government’s Regional Growth Fund is seen as a key plank of a serious attempt to boost the private sector in areas like Yorkshire and Humberside which are highly dependent on the public sector.

Ministers have disclosed that the fund will be worth about £1 billion and is expected to attract private investment in infrastructure projects that will stimulate growth.

Businesses and communities will be encouraged to propose projects and to bid for money from the fund to develop their idea.

Businesses and transport bosses are also concerned by last week’s announcedment from Transport Secretary Philip Hammond that plans for a possible high-speed rail link to Leeds should be put “on hold”.

Council leaders in Yorkshire and the Humber gave the fund a cautious welcome but said they wanted to find out exactly how it would operate.

Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg says:

“We must avoid the kind of North-South divide that has made past recessions so much worse, and, if we’ve learnt anything from the last two years, it’s that London doesn’t hold all the answers. As a Sheffield MP, representing one of the world’s oldest industrial cities, I know that manufacturing and industry must be at the heart of future growth.”

Nick Clegg added:
“It was wrong for Labour to promise money they knew didn’t exist as a pre-election stunt.

“We’ll only make pledges we can afford, like our Regional Growth Fund, which will provide opportunities to businesses here in the North.”

Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire Jo Swinson has welcomed the last week’s Budget announcement that proposals to lift thousands of the lowest paid out of income tax are to be implemented.

In his Budget speech to the House of Commons last week the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the tax-free allowance will be increased by £1000 in April 2011, which will take an estimated 880,000 of the lowest paid out of income tax altogether.

This will be balanced by a 10% increase in Capital Gains Tax and a new levy on bank profits to make sure the wealthiest pay their fair share.

Commenting, Jo Swinson said:

“This Government has to start tackling the enormous black hole that Labour left in the country’s finances, but it is absolutely vital to us as that the burden should be spread fairly across society and not fall disproportionately on the poorest.

“This Budget begins to implement the key manifesto pledge to raise the income tax threshold toward £10,000, which will help make sure that those on low incomes are protected from cuts. This change will put money back into the pockets of low paid working people, and take hundreds of people in East Dunbartonshire out of paying income tax altogether.”

It has been discovered that Tesco was the only supermarket found to be selling it’s alcohol at less than the cost price, after the company called for  the Government to stop this practice. 

Tesco has claimed that it is forced to sell alcohol at less than cost prices due to increasingly aggressive price cutting by it’s competitors, but a survey by The Grocer magazine, which has been carrying out a survey on alcohol prices during the World Cup at Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons discovered that Tesco was the only supermarket of the four to do this.

According to the Mail on Sunday Tesco were found to be selling 24 cans of Stella Artois for £10 on the weekend before the statement by their Chairman, which is 6p per can less than the combined cost of tax and excise duty alone.  The discount will be considerably greater if the cost of manufacture and distribution of the product is also taken into account.

The experiences of credit and debt for families on low incomes over a twelve month period.

Against the backdrop of the global ‘credit crunch’, with recession, increasing unemployment and rising household costs, this study focuses on types of debt, triggers for debt and how people coped, over a period from May 2008 to June 2009.

This study:

• addresses a lack of understanding of how people on low incomes manage credit and debt;
• provides new insights into how debt is defined and experienced over time by households on low incomes; and
• provides information for policy-makers, credit providers and advice services, to help them reduce the numbers of over-indebted people and to support those who experience financial crisis.

You can download a summary or a full copy of the report from http://tinyurl.com/2bjo9zp

Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire, Jo Swinson, has welcomed the announcement in last week’s Budget that the level of the state pension will finally be relinked with rising earnings

In his Budget speech to the House of Commons last week, the Chancellor announced that the proposals of a “triple guarantee” for state pensions is to be put into effect from April 2011. This measure will see pensions increase annually in line with earnings, inflation or 2.5%, whichever is highest.

Jo Swinson led a debate in Parliament on pensioner poverty, in which she called for the link between pensions and earnings to be reinstated.

Commenting, Jo Swinson said:

“For too long, pensioners have been living on the bread line while the average earnings in this country have risen considerably. The last government allowed the state pension to dwindle for thirteen years, now this Budget turns that trend around. The Budget introduces a key Lib Dem manifesto commitment to help older people through what are going to be difficult times for everyone.

“This is a policy that I campaigned for and I am delighted that pensioners will no longer have to see their pensions fall further and further behind average earnings. Pensioners will share in the rising prosperity of the nation in the good times and be protected during the bad.”

I am certain that Liberal Democrat Minister for Equalities, Lynne Featherstone, spoke for all of us when she said:

“I would think that everyone wants those who cannot work because they are incapacitated to receive financial support. I would think that everyone wants those who can work but who claim incapacity benefit falsely not to receive that support.

“However, the previous Labour government tried to get people off such allowances and my experience as a local MP from surgery is that the ‘re-assessment’ of people claiming has been variable at best.

“We need to be sure that there is no perverse incentive to determine that someone can work when they cannot. We also need to be sure that those carrying out the assessment are good at it.”

The Government has given the go-ahead for the council to take over enforcement powers for both on-street and off-street parking.

The long-awaited date has been set for week beginning July 5, when a team of council employed Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) officers will formally hit the streets to tackle parking problems and associated road safety issues across the borough.

The new powers are being implemented as part of the Traffic Management Act of 2004 which will see North East Lincolnshire take up powers formerly used by the police and traffic wardens for on-street parking, including all waiting restrictions and residents’ parking schemes.

Prior to the announcement the council could only enforce parking restrictions at council owned off-street car parks.

Councillor Peter Burgess, portfolio holder for the environment and green agenda, said:

“CPE is all about the council working with residents and communities to solve parking problems, alleviate congestion and improve traffic flows. This will make the borough a better and safer place to live, work and visit.

“It’s not about the council issuing as many Penalty Charge Notices as possible, it’s about letting people know where they can and can’t park. However, if motorists blatantly flaunt the regulations they will receive a charge of up to £70.”

In the run up to the official launch, enforcement officers will be out issuing warning notices to motorists across the area. Leaflets and posters will be widely distributed to let people know where to get more information about CPE.

All yellow lines and waiting restrictions have been reviewed and updated in preparation for CPE going live.

Mick Phoenix, the council’s parking services manager, said:

“CPE will mean existing parking restrictions will be enforced more effectively. It will also bring benefits in terms of improved parking for residents and businesses.

“The vast majority of people, who park sensibly, will not notice any change, except for less congestion on the streets.”

Historically, income generated through Fixed Penalty Notices issued by the police went to central government but under CPE the money will remain in North East Lincolnshire. The income will go towards the cost of enforcement, with any surplus ring-fenced exclusively to transport, parking and other environmental improvements as set out in the legislation.

If you are unsure of the restrictions that exist throughout the borough, visit the council’s Parking Services Web Page to read the guidelines on CPE. Copies are also available at the Municipal Offices, Town Hall Square, Grimsby and the Civic Offices, Knoll Street,Cleethorpes. The CPE guidelines also explain a new statutory process for all appeals against fines.

Dave Anderson, MP for Blaydon, and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Muscular Dystrophy has written the following article, which originally appeared on www.epolitix.com in advance of his adjournment debate on government policy for wheelchair services.

“My debate today will bring to the attention of ministers shocking stories from people, living with muscular dystrophy: families forced to wait years for their wheelchair, to pay hundreds or thousands of pounds towards the cost or simply to put up with a wheelchair that does not fit or causes them pain.

These families have been let down by wheelchair services who do not understand their rare and complex conditions and focus instead on short-term penny-pinching at long-term cost, to both patients and the NHS.

Last year, the All Party Parliamentary Group for Muscular Dystrophy, which I am honoured to chair, produced a ground-breaking report highlighting shocking gaps in services for people living with muscular dystrophy and related neuromuscular conditions: The Walton Report.

During the extensive inquiry that preceded the report, we heard time and time again from people who have waited for years to receive their powered wheelchair, or made to pay to get a wheelchair suitable for their complex condition.

Unfortunately, nearly a year on from the publication of the Walton Report, there has been little improvement.

A recent report from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign makes clear that the standard of care provided by NHS Wheelchair Services is simply unacceptable for people with muscle disease and their families.

The evidence shows that across England too many people are forced to wait far too long for the electric wheelchairs they need while others are denied essential features that aid independence and improve quality of life.

Scandalously, patients and their families are often abandoned by the NHS and left to pay for these vital pieces of equipment themselves, at a cost of several thousand pounds.

Like me, you will be very angry about the experiences highlighted in the report – it is appalling that a young man in Plymouth has had to improvise his own head support with “a Pringles tube and some sponge”.

Not only do families deserve a better service, this will also be far more cost-efficient at this time of limited public spending. Getting the right chair at the right time can prevent the development of pressure sores, contractures or skeletal deformity. The provision of the appropriate chair can actually reduce the cost to the NHS in the long run, decreasing the need for potentially expensive operations and costly inpatient episodes.

I hope that NHS decision-makers decide to work alongside people living with muscle disease, the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, clinicians and health professionals to ensure that all adults and children living with a neuromuscular condition, and in need of a powered wheelchair, experience a far better service in the future.

I am passionate about this issue as I have spent a lifetime in a family that has been devastated by muscle disease. My brother and sister, who were affected by a form of muscular dystrophy, had lifelong disabilities but not very long lives.

Together with people living with muscle disease and their families, I am calling on the new government to take urgent action to fix this failing service.”