The latest  poll by YouGov for the Sunday Times about the support for the cap on housing benefit, has found that 72% of people are in favour, which is similar to the level of support YouGov found when the cap was first announced in the June budget, althought the question asked in the two polls was not the same, so it is not possible to draw any conclusion about whether the level of support is going up or down.

The poll also found that even amongst Labour voters 52% were in favour of the cap with only 35% against.

Liberal Democrat MP for Bradford East David Ward has introduced a bill in Parliament to stop the banks from abolishing the cheque.

Last November the Payments Council, which represents all major high street banks, announced its decision to phase out all cheques over the next eight years.

The bill, which will be presented to Parliament next Tuesday, will create a requirement on banks to continue to offer cheque services as long as consumers want to use them.

The campaign has the backing of the consumer group Which? as well as the Federation of Small Businesses.

Commenting, David Ward said:

“Cheques are the most convenient way to pay for many services which is why over four million of them are issued every day. Axing such a popular means of payment is absolutely nonsensical.

“This decision will create major problems for elderly, disabled and housebound people who rely on cheques in their everyday lives. It also poses a threat to charities who receive a large proportion of their donations through cheques.

“The withdrawal of cheques is simply a cost saving exercise for the banks, who are prepared to ride roughshod over the needs of vulnerable consumers and charities.

“My bill will ensure that cheques continue to be available for as long as people want to use them.”

This weekend is one of the busiest weekends for police all over the UK, historically there is a significant increase in reported anti social behaviour, but police in North East Lincolnshire say they are fully prepared to ensure that Halloween will pass with minimal disruption.

Tonight and tomorrow are sure to see many youngsters dressed in their scariest costumes for a spot of trick or treating on the streets of North East Lincolnshire.

The reason for the traditional increase in anti social behaviour is due to the volume of young people being on the streets at night; the vast majority are well behaved and having fun, but there are occasionally one or two incidents which cause alarm.

Some youngsters can cause problems doing things they class as fun, such as throwing eggs at windows, but the vast majority of youngsters just want to enjoy themselves earning their ‘treats’.

However, Humberside Police officers say they are prepared to do all they can to keep crime and anti social behaviour to a minimum.

To achieve this, police are working alongside Humberside Fire And Rescue Service and North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) in the build-up to and aftermath of Halloween and Bonfire Night to ensure the smooth running of the traditional events and the safety of the public.

This partnership approach is known as Operation Kincorth.

Inspector Will Jenkins, who heads the Grimsby neighbourhood policing team, said:

“More than ever this year we have got a wide range of partnership activities which are running throughout the whole of North East Lincolnshire and police will be working alongside Safer And Stronger Communities, Trading Standards and the fire service, in order to address any safety issues or concerns around illegal fireworks as Bonfire Night approaches.

“This time of year sees a lot of people venturing out into their gardens, particularly on Bonfire Night, so it is important to keep houses secure and ensure doors and windows are always locked.

“We don’t necessarily have more staff on shift at this time of the year, we tend to make sure that the staff are directed to tackle certain areas.

“For instance, some are redirected, and some PCSOs may change their duties so that we can tackle all of the issues across the area.”

To ensure this weekend runs successfully, Humberside Police has released two posters. One is for residents who do not wish to be visited by trick or treaters, and the other offers advice to those taking part in Halloween.

Councillor Steve Beasant, NELC’s portfolio holder for community safety, said: “Vulnerable people – such as the elderly – have got to take extra care this weekend.

“My advice to them is not to answer the door unless it is somebody you know.

“There are going to be a lot of young people out having fun and potentially using Mischief Night for the wrong reasons.

“We do not want any injuries or problems, so if you don’t wish to be disturbed, do not answer the door.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has said that scaremongering and in some cases blatant lies about the coalition’s plans for saving money have spiralled out of control.

Opponents of the cuts have made comments about ‘social cleansing’ and a ‘final solution for the poor’, and they have predicted that ‘hundreds of thousands’ will be forced from their homes, but a rent of £400 a week can still get you decent accomodation even in Central London. 

Official figures show that 96% of 642,200 claimants whose benefits will be reduced will face rent shortfalls of £20 a week or less, and 79% of £10 or less.

The proposals do not affect the millions of tenants in social housing.

Rather than lose their tenants, the Government expects the vast majority of private landlords to cover the shortfall by making a small reduction in their rents.

The real hypocrisy appears to come from the Labour Party, who even make the outrageous claim that changes will lead to the ‘cleansing’ of poor people from the better parts of London.

Some consistency from them would go a long way because if you look back at their 2010 manifesto, written by the current Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband we find this on  Page 20, Part 2:2:

“Housing Benefit will be reformed so we do not subsidise people to live in private sector accomodation on rents working families couldn’t afford”

That is the purpose of the Coalition’s reforms, so how can Labour reconcile their inflammatory language with their own manifesto commitment?

Labour’s deputy leader Harriet Harman has been forced to apologise for branding a senior coalition minister a “ginger rodent”.

Mrs Harman admitted she had been “wrong” to use the description about Liberal Democrat Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander in a speech.

A statement issued by Labour said:

“Harriet Harman has today apologised for her comment about Danny Alexander and says it was wrong.”

The jibe was the most personal of a number aimed at political opponents in Mrs Harman’s address to the Scottish Labour Party conference in Oban. She said:

“Many of us in the Labour Party are conservationists and we all love the red squirrel, but there’s one ginger rodent we never want to see in the highlands of Scotland – Danny Alexander.”

Mrs Harman also dismissed another Lib Dem minister, Scottish Secretary Michael Moore as “the invisible man”, and said she wanted to make the SNP’s Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond and his deputy Nicola Sturgeon “endangered species”.

The joke about Mr Alexander, the flame-haired MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, was greeted with laughter in the hall. However, it quickly backfired as Mrs Harman found herself accused of insulting all Scotland’s redheads.

George Lyon, Scottish Liberal Democrat election chair, said:

“There is no depths to which the Labour Party will not stoop. They aren’t fit to be in opposition, let alone in government.”

The SNP also hit out at the Labour deputy leader over her “childish abuse” of Mr Alexander.

Nationalist MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville claimed the high proportion of redheads in Scotland meant Ms Harman’s “silly remark isn’t anti-Danny or anti-Lib Dem, it’s anti-Scottish”.

Danny Alexander later retorted by saying:

“I am proud to be ginger and rodents do valuable work cleaning up mess others leave behind. The red squirrel deserves to survive, unlike Labour”

Figures released yesterday from the Office for National Statistics’ Labour Force Survey show that nearly nine out of every ten jobs that were created under the previous Labour Government were taken by foreign-born workers.

Official statistics showed the vast majority of the rise in the employment total under the last Government was accounted for by workers born abroad.

The total number of those in work rose by two million during 13 years of Labour Government, but 1.8?million individuals whotook these jobs were classed as ‘non-UK born’, and only a quarter of a million declared themselves to be born in the UK. 

These figures bring home the failure of the last Government’s to control the influx of migrants, train British workers and tackle welfare dependency.

The figures also revealed that the proportion of the foreign-born workforce nearly doubled under Labour – from 7% to 13%.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the Migrationwatch think-tank, said:

“‘This is stunning evidence of the need to cut back on the immigration of foreign workers.

“As long as foreign skills can be obtained “off the shelf”, employers will have no incentive to train British workers.”

The figures were released in a written parliamentary answer to Tory MP James Clappison.

He said:

“This is a reflection of the huge increase that took place under the previous Government. It does nothing to lessen the case for a cap on migrant numbers.’”

The data showed there were just over 26million people aged 16-64 in employment between April and June 1997. Of those 1,946,000 were foreign born, leaving 24,058,000 born in the UK. By the same period this year, the total in jobs was up more than two million, to 28,107,000. Of those, 3,787,000 were born abroad, and 24,314,000 born in the UK.

It means 88% of the rise in employment was accounted for by workers born abroad, and just 12% by those born in the UK.

Immigration minister Damian Green said:

“These figures show just why the Government is introducing a limit on immigration, so that new jobs are available for UK workers.

“We need to control immigration and to improve our training and welfare systems and the Government is tackling all of these areas.”

As Prime Minister, Gordon Brown said economic migration would fall by up to 12%, but his points-based system for overseas workers actually led to totals of foreign workers going up by 20% and foreign students by more than 30%.

This week another defect in the points system was revealed as Home Office figures showed just one in four of the 18,780 ‘highly skilled’ migrants allowed in last year managed to find a highly skilled job.

There were also fears a new EU deal with India will lead to ‘British jobs for Indian workers’, by allowing Indian firms to transfer unlimited numbers of staff to the UK without first offering the posts to Britons.

David Cameron has pledged to limit the numbers of non-EU migrants allowed in, saying he wants net migration  to fall from 196,000 last year to ‘tens of thousands’.

The final details of the limit are to be revealed later this year and the cap will come into force in April.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has told the Daily Mail that scaremongering and in some cases blatant lies about the coalition’s plans for saving money have spiralled out of control.

Opponents of the cuts have made comments about ‘social cleansing’ and a ‘final solution for the poor’, and they have predicted that ‘hundreds of thousands’ will be forced from their homes, but according figures in today’s Daily Mail, 96% of 642,200 claimants whose handouts will be reduced will face rent shortfalls of £20 a week or less, and 79% of £10 or less.

The Government anticipates that the most private landlords, who are already accused of milking the taxpayer, will make a small reduction in their rents to take up the shortfall rather than risking the loss of their tenants.

David Cameron has also appealed for perspective over the cuts.

The proposed changes to housing benefit will only affect tenants in the private rented sector, and there are 790,000 social homes in London alone, which will be unnaffected by the Government’s measures.

Mr Duncan Smith said:

“We have got to bring an end to the hysteria and scaremongering around housing benefit we have seen this week.

“‘Our reforms are not about making people homeless – they are about restoring fairness to a system that has been allowed to run totally out of control under the Labour government.

“Today every working person in Britain is paying almost £700 a year for housing benefit. This is unfair to taxpayers, but also unfair to the people on benefits living in accommodation that they could never afford to maintain if they entered work.

“In this way, the housing benefit system has become yet another barrier to getting off benefits and into work, and I want to break that barrier down.

“If you are vulnerable and need a roof over your head, we will provide it, but we will not go on putting families on benefits in houses that working families could never afford.”

Government sources have also reminded that local authorities will still have a statutory duty to house those who are homeless through no fault of their own.

One source said:

“That duty is not going anywhere – these reforms will not make people homeless, they will just have to adjust their housing to their means, like everyone else.”

The coalition has announced plans to limit housing benefit to a maximum of £250 a week for a one-bedroom property and up to £400 a week for a four-bedroom home. The benefit will also be cut by 10 per cent when the tenant has been on Jobseeker’s Allowance for more than a year.

A trip to London is up for grabs for the winner of North East Lincolnshire’s first annual Singing Star competition.

Freshney Place, Humberside Police and North East Lincolnshire Council have joined forces to find the next Katy Perry or Tinie Tempah, with heats taking place throughout the district from Friday, October 29.

PC Paul Caswell, youth diversionary officer for Humberside Police, said: “This borough-wide ‘Not Just Noise’ Singing Star championship offers solo performers or groups aged 8 to 19 the chance to come along and test their metal to find out who is the Singing Star champion for 2010.

“The project features a number of heats across the area to ensure everyone gets a chance to take part and have their chance at winning the grand prize, which is the trip of a lifetime to London. The weekend cultural visit includes the chance to experience a number of activities in the capital not to mention a trip to see Oliver the musical.

“This really is an opportunity not to be missed so why not come along and see if you have what it takes to be North East Lincolnshire’s first ‘Not Just Noise’ Singing Star champ for 2010.”

The competition ties in with Operation Kincorth, which is seeing agencies in North East Lincolnshire work together to tackle a number of associated problems which can happen in the run up to Halloween and Bonfire night.

Councillor Tony McCabe, portfolio holder for children’s services, said: “The competition will give young people plenty to keep them busy and safe during this time of the year.

“The competition will culminate in a semi-final round on Thursday, November 25, and the grand final will take place in December where the lucky winner will be announced.”

Steve Kay, head of service for integrated youth support services, said: “North East Lincolnshire Council’s young people’s support services have combined our positive activities programme to support our partnership working with Humberside Police and Fire services.

“This means we can work with more young people to ensure they both safe and involved in these exciting activities.

“We are developing a range of consultations with young people throughout this process to enable us to further develop our services in the future.”

Click here for the poster

Click here for the consent form

Humberside Police Authority is proud of the progress that they have made to help make communities safer, but like other public services, the Police Authority have some difficult financial decisions to make  as we approach 2011 and the years beyond. Before they consider making any changes they want to make sure that they have listened and are as informed as possible about what the public want from their police force in the future.

You could help Humberside Police by completeing their online survey.

To access the survey online: click here.

Humberside Police Authority wants to engage with as many groups as possible throughout the process, and they also want to hear from all cross sections of the community, but they realise that some people will have difficulty filling in the online questionnaire – particularly young people.

The Police Authority have now developed an easy read version, which is user friendly and they are hoping that many young people will take the time to fill in this important questionnaire.

For the easy read or young peoples’ version of the questionnaire please click here.

Sir Alan Beith MP has welcomed the announcement by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable of a £1.3 billion funding package over the next four years to maintain and modernise the Post Office network.

Sir Alan Beith said:

“The Post Office network is a cornerstone of British life and we had a hard fight to protect many of our rural post offices here in Northumberland a couple of years ago.

“We argued at the time that it made more sense to invest in the network and expand the range of services to protect the future of our post offices and now this is happening.

“This funding package will secure the long term future of the Post Office network and ensure that there will be no closure programme.

“The package averages out at over £330m a year – more than double the subsidy paid to the Post Office for the past two years. A large proportion of the last Government’s funding was spent on closing post offices. Our strategy is completely different – it addresses the underlying economics of the network, while maintaining its size and reach.”