February 2017

Council funding freeze ‘means cuts to many essential services’

I know Gary Porter and I am impressed with what must be a difficult political challenge for him in making the case for better resourcing of those issues where local government has been left “holding the baby” This report tells us:

A senior Conservative peer has warned that councils will need to slash a range of essential services after ministers released a funding settlement for councils that offered no additional money during 2017/18.

Gary Porter, who chairs the Local Government Association, said authorities would have to cut back on filling potholes, collecting waste, maintaining parks and running children’s centres and libraries in order to plug growing funding gaps.

He expressed “huge disappointment” about the decision not to increase funding, warning that while councils would impose tax rises, the money would not be enough to prevent services, including social care, from being hit.

“Councils, the NHS, charities and care providers remain united around the desperate need for new government funding for social care,” said Lord Porter. “By continuing to ignore these warnings, social care remains in crisis and councils and the NHS continue to be pushed to the financial brink.”

The head of the body representing hundreds of councils across England and Wales was responding to the Local Government Finance Settlement, published late on Monday without any notification to the media.

He said that council tax rises were inevitable because of funding constraints but said that wasn’t enough because the extra revenue was being swallowed up to pay for the government’s “national living wage”.

“Social care faces a funding gap of at least £2.6bn by 2020,” he said. “It cannot be left to council taxpayers alone to try and fix this.”

Porter urged ministers not to ignore the issue, which caused anger when it was not addressed during the autumn statement. He said he hoped next month’s budget would take “urgent steps” to help the situation.

MPs launch official inquiry into universal credit as criticism grows

Having done some work on the impact of employability schemes I have grown to like some of the additional flexibility offered by universal credit – particularly the fact that it provides a tapered approach to the loss of benefits for those getting part time work rather than the older approach of the 16 hours cliff edge after which all benefits were lost. This story, and there are many rural dwellers facing the challenges set out here. Has made me think again. It tells us:

MPs have launched an official inquiry into universal credit amid growing concerns that design flaws in the new benefits system are leaving thousands of low-income claimants facing eviction and reliant on food banks.

The Commons work and pensions committee said it was compelled to launch a full investigation after mounting evidence that built-in payment delays and administrative blockages were creating severe problems for claimants and landlords.

A Guardian investigation this month found widespread evidence that thousands of tenants on universal credit were running up rent arrears and debts because they could not manage the minimum 42-day wait for a first payment.

Landlords have also criticised the system, with private landlords warning that they will not let to universal credit claimants because of the high risk of rent arrears and problems navigating byzantine official bureaucracy.

Surveys by housing associations have found that up to nine in 10 tenants on universal credit either run up rent arrears or increase the level of pre-existing arrears because so few are equipped to cope with long waits without income.

Frank Field MP, chair of the work and pensions committee said: “Huge delays in people receiving payments from universal credit have resulted in claimants falling into debt and rent arrears, caused health problems and led to many having to rely on food banks.”

Chancellor to announce measures to help small firms with business rate rises

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This is ostensibly good news for small town high streets.I hope the relief offered is meaningful not just a short term fix. The article tells us.

The government will offer extra help for small firms affected by an imminent change to business rates, the communities secretary has announced, saying that more should be done “to level the playing field”.

Following increasing concern from some businesses and Conservative MPs about the impact of the first business rate revaluation in seven years, Sajid Javid said the chancellor, Philip Hammond, would announce new measures in the budget on 8 March. This would form part of a wider and longer-term re-examination of the business rates system, he added.

The announcement follows a pledge from Theresa May at prime minister’s questions that small businesses left with the highest rate increases would be helped. Javid’s department said it would be revealed at the budget whether the current £3.6bn fund for transitional relief would be increased.

Speaking during a wider Commons debate on local government finance, Javid said the rates revaluation would see three-quarters of all businesses pay the same amount or less than before. “I am also acutely aware of the impact on the quarter that will see increases,” he continued. “If your rates are going up, it’s no consolation to hear that others’ will be going down. I’ve long recognised the need to provide support.”

The transitional relief fund would help more than 140,000 smaller businesses, Javid said, adding: “But as colleagues and the media have highlighted in recent days, there are clearly some individual businesses facing particular difficulties.”

South Ribble: the best place to live in the UK – if you’re in your 20s

More proof- if it were needed of the impact of housing costs on people’s ability to live in rural places. This profile tells us South Ribble is good because:

Name: South Ribble.

Age: 43.

Population: 109,000.

Appearance: Non-metropolitan district in Lancashire.

Never been. What’s it like? It’s the best place to live in Britain.

Is it really? No, sorry – I meant, it’s the best place to live in Britain for people in their 20s.

Is it good for clubbing? It has an active Rotary Club branch, yes.

Are there lots of those coffee shops selling exotic lattes with no actual coffee in them? Not sure what you mean. But there’s a Starbucks in Walton-le-Dale.

Well, then, is it full of derelict buildings housing illegal pill factories? It doesn’t say anything about that on the council website. There are plans for an Ikea, though.

Why on earth would the young people of today be attracted to such a place? It’s cheap.

That’s it? That’s the main reason. The average house price in South Ribble is £157,000 – that’s £138K cheaper than the national average.

Are there any other reasons? According to Channel 4’s The UK’s Best Place to Live, South Ribble is bursting with employment and green spaces. And the area has a surprising number of residents in the 20-30 age bracket.

Lovely. Please tell me where came second. Warrington.

Are you being funny? Not at all. Eight of the top 20 places to live were in the north-west – it’s convenient for both Manchester and Liverpool, and it’s affordable.

National Trust finally owns Lake District island which inspired its creation, after generous donor leaves it in her will

This is ostensibly a good news story. It raises in my mind the real potential an act akin to the Scottish Land Reform Bill would have for rural community determination of the use of the land where people live would have on our green and pleasant land? It tells us:

It was the island which inspired the very foundation of the National Trust: its sale to a private owner frustrating a Lake District admirer so much he vowed never to let it happen again.

More than 120 years later, the charity has finally got its hands on Grasmere Island.

The small island, which is not populated, has been left to the Trust by its former owner in her will, after she learned how much it meant to its founders.

The benefactor, who stipulated she did not want to be recognised for her generosity, is understood to have been familiar with the controversial history of Grasmere Island, and sought to return it to the nation via the Trust.

The Trust has now pledged to the 1,78 hectare land will be “protected for ever, for everyone”.

Swan causes rush-hour chaos after ‘mistaking motorway for river’

How about this for some charismatic mega fauna claiming its own right to roam?!!

Police were forced to chase a swan along a busy motorway as rush-hour traffic queued behind them after it apparently mistook the road for a river.

The bird blocked two lanes of the M27 in Hampshire as it swanned along the eastbound carriageway at about 8am yesterday.

Highways England said the swan – technically owned by Queen Elizabeth II – attempted to fly away but was rescued and “safely taken away”.

UK fishermen may not win waters back after Brexit, EU memo reveals

This article suggests that there may be tears before bedtime in terms of the post Brexit future of fishing. I am increasingly convinced there is real unfulfilled potential in our fishing communities and was beginning to feel quite positive about the new freedoms Brexit would offer to them. There’s still all to play for at this stage though- watch this space….The article tells us:

The hopes of British fishermen that the UK can win its “waters back” after Brexit are expected to be dashed by the European parliament, despite the campaign promises of Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, a leaked EU document reveals.

MEPs have drafted seven provisions to be included in Britain’s “exit agreement”, including the stipulation that there will be “no increase to the UK’s share of fishing opportunities for jointly fished stocks [maintaining the existing quota distribution in UK and EU waters]”.

The document, obtained by the Guardian, adds that in order for the UK and EU to keep to commitments on sustainable fishing – contained within the United Nations stocks agreement – “it is difficult to see any alternative to the continued application of the common fisheries policy”.

It is estimated that there only about 11,000 people directly employed in fishing in the UK, however the UK’s trawlermen were among the most vocal critics of the EU during the referendum, fuelled by frustration over controls on fishing quotas, which have been blamed on Brussels and the common fisheries policy (CFP).

While calling for control over Britain’s waters, Farage, the then Ukip leader, and the Labour MP Kate Hoey led a small flotilla of fishermen up the Thames days before the EU referendum in June, where they clashed with rival boats led by the singer and political activist Bob Geldof.

Speaking at the time, Farage said: “Today’s flotilla is not a celebration or a party but a full-throttled protest. We want our waters back.”

During the referendum campaign, Johnson, who is now the foreign secretary, described the CFP as “crazy” and claimed the EU had inflicted a “tragedy” on the industry, halving the number of people working within it.

But the leaked report from the European parliament’s committee on fisheries insists that the “granting of access to the EU domestic market to the UK” post-Brexit should be conditional on Britain continuing to respect the rights and obligations in the CFP.

EU fears influx of ‘British champagne’ once Brexit ends food naming rules

Along with the story we feature on fishing it seems that the EU is beginning to drip feed a series of positioning stories into the public domain pre formal negotiation. Both this and the fishing example begin to throw some light on the challenges and opportunities facing rural economies as things move forward. This story tells us:

The European Union is concerned that British companies could violate protections given to the names of thousands of European products – such as parma ham and champagne – while the protected status of foodstuffs such as West Country Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese is retained after Brexit.

The European commission has given “geographical indication” (GI) status to 1,150 products, meaning companies can only use the name of a locality in their marketing if the product is from that area.

When the UK leaves the EU, it will no longer need to abide by the directives and could, for example, rename some English sparking wine as English champagne, or ham as English parma ham.

A document from the European parliament’s agriculture committee, which is advising the chamber’s leaders on the Brexit negotiations, says: “As things currently stand, the UK has 59 such registered names [out of a total of 1,150 at EU level], including e.g. Lakeland Herwick Meat, West Country Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese, West Wales Coracle Caught Sewin [sea trout], and [economically important] Scotch Whisky.

“The question of what will happen to EU GIs after the withdrawal of the UK is a difficult one.

“If no arrangements to another effect are made, the protection afforded by the above-mentioned legislation would normally cease to apply in the UK, which means that over a thousand European registered names could be exposed to violation in this neighbouring country of the EU27 [while paradoxically the 59 UK names would remain protected in the EU if the commission decisions granting this protection are not repealed].”

The document drawn up by MEPs warns: “In the hypothesis where the UK, as a third country, would enter into a new relationship with the EU27 based on a free trade agreement it would be important therefore to include a mutual recognition of GIs in such an agreement on the model.”

Government urged to stop property tax hikes for 1,249 NHS hospitals

People are saying local authorities shouldn’t have to develop local funding solutions to the meeting the rising costs of adult social care. This article reveals another challenging irony in the context of the devolution of financial responsibility. Local authorities are going to become increasingly dependent on business rates and yet by so doing they will potentially, as an unintended consequence, drive up the costs of healthcare in their localities. In a world where we have been able to do so many technically brilliant things we must be capable of finding a better way forward than the chaos, which is beginning to embed itself at the heart of the way we pay for our services. There is a strong argument to suggest this policy, when allied to ongoing cuts to central Government funding for local authorities involves taking money out of the NHS to fill the gap left by Government cuts. This article tells us:

The government is under growing pressure to stop a sharp increase in business rates for hospitals that threatens to increase the strain on the NHS.

Changes to the business rates system mean that the 1,249 NHS hospitals liable for the property tax will see their bills increasing by £322m, or 21%, over the next five years from April.

However, a growing number of politicians are calling for the government to reconsider the tax hike for hospitals, including making them eligible for the same 80% discount that charities enjoy.

Some private healthcare providers, such as Nuffield Health, already enjoy an 80% discount because they are registered as charities. Furthermore, the business rates that the 581 private hospitals do pay will not increase as much as it will for hospitals.

The rateable value of private hospitals has increased by 9.6% in the last revaluation while NHS hospitals have seen a 19.8% rise, according to research by the property consultant CVS.

The cross-party group of politicians who have already expressed concern about the tax rise for hospitals include Steve McCabe, Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, Royston Smith, Conservative MP for Southampton Itchen, and Annie Wells, Conservative and Unionist MSP for Glasgow.

Millions of families pushed to brink of poverty by rising living costs, report warns

We know from previous work by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that the minimum income requirement for a decent quality of life is higher in rural areas this report is therefore clearly bad news for rural dwellers. It tells us:

Millions of families have been pushed to the brink of poverty because of rising living costs and stagnating wages, a new report warns.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said the number of people living below an adequate standard of living had increased by four million to 19 million over the past six years.

And it said the situation was likely to worsen unless the Government took drastic action to protect the poorest.

The increase in living costs has been driven by rising prices of goods and services, research found.

Inflation reached a two-and-a-half-year high in January as food and fuel prices pushed up the cost of living.

The price of a minimum “basket of goods” has jumped by up to 30 per cent since 2008, but average earnings have only gone up by half that amount, said the report.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “These stark figures show just how precarious life can be for many families.

“Government focus on people on modest incomes is welcome, but it cannot be at the expense of those at the poorest end of the income scale. It must remember just about managing today can become poverty tomorrow.

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