Where’s the help for unpaid carers Rishi? Asks Labour Councillor Liz Simpson.

 

Rishi Sunak’s attempt at helping families with the cost of living crisis may be one of the best pieces of spin of the twenty first century so far by a politician says Councillor Liz Simpson, told us “ I’m extremely pleased that the chancellor has followed Labours lead and announced a windfall tax on the energy giants profits, but I’m concerned in the fashion of distribution and that he didn’t follow Labour’s plan in how the tax was to be a real tax on energy giants and I believe Sunak was right to call his plan a ‘temporary energy profits levy’ as we the public only keep it for a very short time indeed and it's actually a Tax on public sector pension funds who are huge investors in energy shares.

They have been held back from profits for the last twelve years of Tory austerity and recipients of those funds will suffer later. Labour’s plans included help to offset the tax’s effect for both UK private and public sector pension funds”

“Sunak’s comms people seem to have designed the ultimate non-giveaway from Government, taxing energy giants in order to pay energy giants with the temporary levy and it's really a temporary lets borrow your cash levy, it's an unbelievable stunt of the first order, although I’m pleased people will receive the help from his stunt but the Tories have missed out a huge group of the most vulnerable people in the UK.”

“Unpaid carers have been overlooked in his dodgy giveaway yet millionaires will be given funds that Sunak suggests they should give to charity if they don’t need it”.

“The cost of living crisis will not be halted for the one million plus unpaid carers across the UK as the Government has yet again chosen to leave them behind. Carers allowance increased by 3½%, inflation now sits at 9% and I think that the Government needs to look again at this group of people who need help the most and ensure changes are made immediately to the allowance to keep unpaid carers able to pay their way with dignity and not drive them into poverty his refusal to help them shows how little Tories care about wider society.”

Tory Minister rules out return of UC uplift

 

Growth of businesses in Blyth will slow as a consequence says Councillor Eileen Cartie

With the recent announcement from Simon Clarke, a Treasury minister ruling out restoring the £20-per-week uplift to Universal Credit, introduced during the Covid pandemic, as a measure to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. Councillor Eileen Cartie, Labour Councilor for Wensleydale Ward in Blyth, which covers much of the retail and business area in the Town, challenges his decision.

Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said it had been "explicitly clear" that the increase was only intended to helduring the pandemic. He said that cutting the taper rate - the amount of Universal Credit that is withdrawn for every pound that claimants earn through work - from 63p to 55p in December amounted to "a tax cut worth an average of £1,000 to two million of the lowest earners in society."

 Councillor Eillen Cartie in challenging his decision said:

“This man has no idea how East Coast former industrial towns have suffered over the last twelve years with the permanent and ever ongoing loss of services which when added together allowed families to be able to put food on the table and pay their bills.”

“ The Tories have been very good in attacking the unemployed and have hidden the roll out of Universal Credit to the wider benefit claimants as a way of attacking unemployment, the truth behind their spin is that people who are being forced over to universal credit from other benefits in the main lose thousands of pounds as they go onto the frozen payments slate and will not get a rise for years.knocking back any business growth that the Tories shady ‘full employment’ statements are designed to lead people to believe”

 “This harrying of benefit claimants most of whom suffer problems caused by industrial disease toiling to ensure Britain remained among the richest countries in the world can not and will not help the levelling up agenda as without cash traveling through local businesses the whole tower of economic cards will collapse to the floor and when the political designer of Universal Credit who decided to run with the Steven Brien plan, Iain Duncan Smith openly supports the retention of of the additional £20 per week then it shows to me at
least that some Tories have seen the error of their ways”.

Levelling up? How will the ever more Mayors Conservative Culture Bring back wealth and some form of equity to communities.

 

Now that we have all seen the Conservative Culture Club operating at full speed, pumping out spin,with boozing and debauchery at the top of the agenda and taking no notice whatsoever in the requirements and needs of Communities and the residents of those communities nationwide.

The most recent fairy tales doled out on us, members of a gullible public affected by billionaire sponsored media, was that the new ‘levelling up and regeneration bill’ would be the catalyst to revitalise our high streets.

This new bill, the highlight of the Queen's Speech, dumps the responsibility and blame for the long term run downs of our high streets (as the car owning society we live has shown preference towards out of town single roof spending retail experiences for decades), onto cash strapped Councils and has been criticised from the off by professionals with top property guru Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, she said in response to the bill “such “political gimmicks” were “not the solution and will deter rather than encourage investment into the areas where it is most needed.”

But reading from the bill it's really about expanding Conservative Culture, retaining the centralised drip feeding of future promises, not real cash to communities who comply with the newly exposed culture from Downing Street and the love of Mayors over Development Agencies.

So the question that has to be asked is: ‘Will the bill encourage new Mayors to pull down High Streets, turn them into car parks and have Hydrogen powered green busses cart families to their local out of town shopping experience complete with multiple food banking outlets? Now that's a culture we all want to embrace isn’t it?

Northumberland needs to declare a ‘poverty emergency’: Labour Group Deputy Leader

Councillor Liz Simpson who is also the Deputy Leader of Northumberland Labour Group whilst representing Newbiggin Central and East Ward has been noting the problems people in Newbiggin by the Sea are having to face every day since the Conservative Government's social, energy and cost crisis has come to the fore.

Councillor Simpson who lives in the Ward, one of the most deprived wards in the UK which has extremely high numbers of children living in deprivation and is now beginning to suffer from a huge growth in second home buying, cutting local young families off from living where they grew up which is a crisis in itself, she gains no consolation knowing that her neighbours and her own family members are suffering daily. 

Councillor Simpson told us: “The problems being suffered today by people right across Northumberland are not the making of ordinary people and it's not only the less well off and pensioners who are now caught in the ‘Crisis Trap’”.  “Even the better off are feeling the strain with up to 20% of their former disposable income now being spent to support cost increases which only ever benefit investors in large companies which can survive this current recession. A recession caused by the ‘Lord Nelson effect’ of the Government turning its blind eye to the looking glass whilst looking at what's happening all around them.”

“As a member of Northumberland County Council, a huge and varied Council we spent a lot of time not so long ago supporting and accepting a ‘climate emergency’ which allows the Council to plan for the future and play its part in managing things which will contribute towards change on the world stage.”

“Now we have a real  emergency on our hands and we haven't even discussed the matter yet. We have an agenda full of debate about what has gone wrong with the Council over the last six years, whilst people struggling every day have nowhere and no one to turn to.”

“We need to see where this £billion pound per year machine of local government in Northumberland can help those who live in the County and although it important to change the ethos and culture of the Council for the better we can’t currently change the past but should look to the now and declare a poverty emergency to help those in need and ease the burden of their struggles if we can, talking up the past renders us useless and it can wait until things get better for ordinary folk.”

Councillor Simpson went on to tell us about what she saw as the basis of problems locally and where a poverty emergency could be focussed by the Council.”People across the County are suffering from the inability to afford to place food on the table every day, the damaging effect of the change over of benefits to Universal Credit, fuel poverty, low levels of public transport, no access to private vehicles, inflation and product shortages.” 

“farming needs to turn from its current monoculture base towards growing the crops people need in the shops as we can no longer rely on regular imports for all sorts of reasons and as a major rural council we should be moving towards aiding that change.”. 

“These few items I’ve mentioned can be helped by a Council as large as ours and so can many more matters damaging the tradition and cohesion of families whilst relieving the stress and pressure on our residents and we need to investigate them all but only the declaration of a poverty emergency will focus the Council and its Councillors away from protecting themselves and spinning stories to cover up former actions and drive us towards becoming a benefit to our communities”. 

“Let's do it now and not wait until it's too late.”

 

Councillor Liz Simpson asks: Where’s the advice from Government departments about major shift in Benefit payments?

 From Monday May 9th following the results and fall out from the local government elections the government is to begin shifting a further 2.6 million people on older benefits onto Universal Credit. The government’s Department for Work and Pensions say that only 55% of benefit claimants will gain slightly from the change, 10% will remain on the same level of payment and 35% will lose out. 

 Councillor Liz Simpson the County Councillor for Newbiggin East an area with the highest rate of children living in deprivation in the vast County of Northumberland is asking for help for her residents from advisors who have knowledge if the change will be beneficial or detrimental and damage their personal living standards further, she said: “I have had a number of people ask me about the proposed changes as some letters have begun to drop on peoples doormats but in line with my colleagues we have had no training offered by the County Council and I have been trying to guide them to Citizens Advice who I am led to believe are already being bombarded with people in need of help due to the ‘Cost of Living Crisis’”. 

 “ I am aware that if your a loser in this massive shift over of benefits you may be put onto top up payments that can be frozen for years until they erode away any difference you receive over whatever the current level of Universal entitlement is at that moment in time, its a system that will drag many into the mire and Ministers should be ashamed that people are to be exposed further to monetary problems when so many of their ‘friends’ and donors are allowed to offshore money made in the UK and not pay Tax that would help those in need.”

“It's time help and understanding was brought into the benefit system and not simply enforced change that will in the long run be worse for all, but when we live under a Government who want to spend £millions sending vulnerable refugees to Rwanda to make what they perceive as a problem go away when in fact we have a shortage of Labour in some areas to harvest crops etc., what do you expect?”.

 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/dwp-move-26million-brits-universal-26801308?utm_source=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

 

Councillor Cartie agrees with the Institute for Government who require more and better Performance Indicators from Councils!

 

The Institute for Government think-tank has recently undertaken analysis which illustrates how poorer areas have been disproportionately hit by a combination of cuts which has left East coast towns in particular ‘Hollowed Out’ since 2010.

Their official report ‘Neighbourhood Services Under Strain’, found that  

‘Poorer areas worst affected by spending cuts’, some Councils have coped better than others and that parks, libraries, refuse collection and children's centres have been maintained well, particularly in areas where support from Parish council precepts is made available to support services, but that a lack of information has made it difficult to learn any lessons from reduced spending. 

TheThink Tank stated there's only performance indicators for about a third of local government spending and in a number of Councils secrecy about the Councils performance stops the data being shared. They have warned ministers better data and more of it is essential to being able to drive forward with their plans for levelling up and league tables for best value should be in place to drive up  standards.

Councillor Eileen Cartie of Blyth agrees with the Institute she said: “Blyth neighbourhood services have not suffered as much as other areas as they are well supported by the Labour led Town Council whose priority is employment for local people, but data and indicators down to Parish level needs to be made available by the County Council not only to see how they perform against other Councils but also to see if Parish Councils who contribute to schemes get better or only similar benefits to Parishes who don’t.”

“The County Council don’t share the performance data it collects with opposition Councillors making scrutiny of services a sham and I’m pleased that an organisation with the governments ear has come out to show how plans at all levels link together through data
and ministers need to legislate immediately to begin to equalise society in an understandable fashion”.

 

 

 

Councillor Richardson ‘shocked’ that Northumberland County Council appears on Daily Mirror ‘List of Shame’

 

Councillor Margaret Richardson who represents Cowpen Ward in the town of Blyth, Northumberland as a County Councillor and is the current Mayor of the Town, Northumberland’s largest, was shocked to find the conservative led Northumberland County Council appearing on the daily mirror ‘list of shame’ of councils who hadn’t bothered to pay the Government’s £150 rebate to help offset a small proportion of their ‘Cost of Living Crisis’.

She said:”This revelation by the Daily Mirror has come as a complete shock to me, as most people in the county know who are interested in local government, the current Tory administration at County Hall do not share information with opposition councillors, run a very secretive one party cabinet and play all their cards close to their chests, but as a Councillor I expected that officers of the Council would have begun the process automatically and that families in need would have already received this help however little”.

“I find it shameful that at a time when the Government can find cash to supply the needs and wants of business people who offshore their profits instead of paying tax in the UK that demands from the Government haven’t been fully impressed on councils run by their own party”. 

“Also with the major changes to benefits hitting families in less well off areas from next Monday, 9th May and pensioners finding tax on their second pensions if they have one, is being forced up to cut down the level of rise on the State Pension to next to nothing the Council should have been much more supportive and got their fingers out and paid the rebate as a matter of urgency”.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/six-councils-havent-paid-150-26801032