The inflation figures released this week paint a very contradictory picture.
There is a real danger of entering a world of falling prices, wages and production. But at the same time, food, public transport and council tax costs are still going up and living standards are being squeezed for many people on low incomes.
The Government must use next month’s Budget to cut taxes for low earners. These cuts must be fully funded by closing the tax loopholes which only benefit the wealthy.
The Governments plan to monitor social networking sites such as Facebook is yet more evidence of this Government’s obsession with hoarding vast amounts of people’s personal data.
We need complete clarity from the Government over what data they will retain and how it will be kept secure. Will membership of Facebook groups or people listing ‘suspicious’ interests be caught in their dragnet?
We also need guarantees that the Home Secretary’s ‘Dustbin Stasi’ won’t use terrorism legislation to access retained Facebook data for frivolous purposes, such as identifying people who let their dogs foul the pavement.
MPs from the Labour and Conservative parties failed to turn up last Friday, as the Fuel Poverty Bill was talked out of the House by the Government.
Bath MP Don Foster was one of 89 MPs that backed the Bill, but the required number of parliamentarians did not take part in the vote. The government were set on blocking the bill despite calls to progress the Bill from members of different political parties. Don said,:
With increasing numbers of people in fuel poverty, this Bill would have seen real action taken to reduce heating costs for many people – here in Bath we have learnt that up to 16% of residents are in fuel poverty.
This Bill could have offered so much to so many people across the country. By regenerating the building trade we could have kick starting the economy. By relieving hardship, we could have saved thousands of lives every year. By cutting our energy use, we could have begun to seriously tackle climate change.
Bath MP Don Foster has today met with Wessex Connect, part of Flights Hallmark Ltd, a company with a good track record working in a number of cities in the UK, including Birmingham and Bristol. Wessex Connect are hopeful of operating the 20A/C route from 11th May.
If First do not reverse their decision on this route, Don is optimistic that the service will continue anyway thanks to Wessex Connect. We beleive that they are hoping to significantly improve the reliability of this service by making minor alterations to route, which are being made with the views of local residents in mind.
We are also pleased to learn that Wessex Connect are planning to use larger buses on this route, especially at peak times. Buses are often overcrowded early in the morning with Ralph Allen and University of Bath students using the service.
Don is also optimistic that Wessex Connect will offer a service on the 18 route. Currently, students living in Oldfield Park have to pay extra to get home from the University, as the standard fare is only valid as far as Sainsbury’s. Wessex Connect are planning to allow students to travel to Oldfield Park as part of the standard single fare.
Over 100 people have signed Don’s on-line petition to save the service at http://ourcampaign.org.uk/onthebuses.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary lost more than 550 working days in a single year because of assaults on their officers, new figures reveal. Bath MP Don Foster said:
Violence against police officers is totally unacceptable. Police officers are clearly not being provided with the protection that they need to do their jobs. Current measures are clearly not effective enough as 566 days are lost because of attacks on Avon and Somerset Police officers. There must be zero tolerance on attacks, abuse and threats of violence and this means prosecuting the offenders and putting them through the courts. The Government must do more to ensure the safety of police officers in what is already a very challenging working environment.
The news follows a recent revelation that the force is missing out on £12million of funding.
Figures show that 34 forces lost a total of 15,338 officer working days due to assaults in the latest year for which figures are available. The figures were released in a written parliamentary answer from Policing Minister Vernon Coaker.
War reconciliation ceremony organiser Chris Kilminster, who brought the Bath area national publicity in last year have been given the Mayor of Bath’s Citizen of the Yearaccolade thanks to Cllr Will Sandry.
Chris Kilminster was among five people who received awards in recognition of their tireless work in the community. Mr Kilminster organised a Bath Blitz memorial ceremony last year, which was attended by German bomber pilot Willi Schludecker. The ceremony took place in the Shaftesbury Road Memorial Gardens in Oldfield Park and was broadcast live worldwide. Herr Schludecker was at the controls of one of the planes which caused devastation during the blitz in 1942, and returned to Bath to apologise.
Cllr Will Sandry put Mr Kilminster forward for the award, describing him as a:
strong and firm guardian of the Shaftesbury Road Memorial Gardens
Mayor of Bath, Cllr Tim Ball , said all the finalists were so different he had decided to present all of them with an award.
He said:
There was an extremely high standard of entries this year, representing many aspects of the diverse Bath community. I simply could not choose between the five finalists. They are all deserving winners for vast amount of time and effort they put into improving the quality of life for so many people in Bath.
The annual scheme is sponsored by the Framing Workshop in Walcot Street and Bath Aqua Glass.
More details of the Citizen of the Year award winners can be found at the Bath Chronicle website.
We have found out that today Peterborough City Council has been successful in its application to make a designation for an additional HMO licensing scheme. We understand that they are the first council in the country to be granted this permission.
The designation has now been made and is with Department for Communities and Local Government for formal approval and it is anticipated that the scheme will take effect in the designated area on about 1st July 2009.
The scheme will allow for licensing all HMOs of two or more storeys, containing three or more persons in two or more households where at least one basic amenity is shared.
Cllr McGall will be following up this sucess with Peterborough City Council to see what lessions our Council could learn from their application.
We shall continue to campaign for Bath and North East Somerset Council to apply to central government for the powers to additionally license all two storey HMOs.
Unfortuntately, the current Tory-controlled Council does not believe there are sufficient problems with HMOs to justify an application! Many hundreds of residents across the city and partiularly in Oldfield Park know otherwise.
Liberal Democrats in Bath have slammed as ‘totally inadequate’ a government scheme supposed to help families facing the loss of their homes.
The Mortgage Rescue Scheme was announced in November last year by the Government following an alarming rise in the number of people having their homes repossessed by mortgage lenders.
But Labour ministers have restricted the scheme to only 6,000 homes across the whole of England. That means only one in 25 households facing repossession claims in the courts – the first part of a process mortgage lenders have to go through to repossess a home – will get help under the scheme.
161 repossession claims were issued in Bath in 2008, and many more are expected in 2009. But only 6 are likely to have their homes saved under this scheme.
Bath MP Don Foster said,
The Mortgage Rescue Scheme was launched with a great fanfare by the Government in the autumn. But it is totally inadequate for the tidal wave of repossessions that local residents are facing.
The idea behind the scheme is something Liberal Democrats have long been pushing – giving councils and housing associations the opportunity to help residents in mortgage arrears by buying a share in the equity of the home, or even buying it outright. The householders would then rent back their home, therefore avoiding eviction.
Labour have taken a good idea and then failed to make it a reality. Only seven local families from 161 facing repossession will get help. This is totally inadequate.
Repossession is a terrifying reality for too many people in Bath. The Mortgage Rescue Scheme needs to be expanded urgently or else residents will be face being thrown onto the streets.
Information on the Government’s Mortgage Rescue Scheme can be found here.
Ahead of Friday’s debate in Parliament on the Fuel Poverty bill, our MP Don Foster has praised the work of the ‘Warm Front Scheme’ in tacking fuel poverty in Bath. To date the scheme has helped 1134 homes in Bath by implementing measures that can cut energy bills by up to £600 a year.
Bath MP Don Foster said,
The Warm Front scheme helps those most in need in society to save money on their energy bills whilst improving energy efficiency and helping to combat climate change. While organisations such as this are doing good work, the government is still letting too many people fall into fuel poverty. That is why I am supporting the Fuel Poverty Bill in Parliament this Friday.
We know that up to 16% of Bath residents could be suffering from fuel poverty. That figure is not acceptable. Energy bills are soaring, yet the government is not doing enough to help the most vulnerable in society. Many have to make a choice between heating or eating.
The Fuel Poverty Bill will bring in two measures:
Households signing up to the Warm Front Scheme can benefit from grants towards energy efficiency measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation, new heating systems and draught proofing.
The scheme has invested over £1.125million in projects in Bath since it began. To sign up residents must own their own home or live in privately rented property and be in receipt of a qualifying benefit.
Don has urged all households who qualify to contact Warm Front on 0800 316 6014.
We have joined with local traders to welcome the move by a local newsagents chain, Martin MCColl , to change the branding on its stores. Last year McColl’s came under fire last year for putting up Booze Buster signs on its newsagents in Bath included its branch on Moorland Road.
We criticised the branding and said it was an irresponsible way to market the sale of alcohol which could encourage under-age drinking. Thanks to pressure from local trader and residents as well as us, the company has scrapped the ‘Booze Buster’ branding in favour of ‘Off Licence’.
Cllr Will Sandry said:
This is fantastic and it is a great improvement. It is more appropriate advertising, especially in these tough economic times. It is now more appropriate for Moorland Road. Both residents and traders were quite opposed to it and felt it inappropriate for the street.
Chairman of the Moorland Road Association, David Pye, was quoted in the Bath Chronicle saying:
I found the name a bit vulgar. In this day and age, when there are so many problems with alcohol, I didn’t think it was right that they should then put up signs saying Booze Busters. It is not in keeping with the street that is trying to come up in its standards. I’m pleased McColls has looked into this and has seen sense.
Martin McColl did not wish to make a comment on the issue.