PCC: Clive Grunshaw on Police cuts

Clive Grunshaw, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire, has been contesting the formula used for calculating the scale of cuts to each force and has written to MPs, peers and ministers requesting that it is urgently reviewed.

He said, "In simple terms, Lancashire will be disadvantaged by having an additional £24.8m removed from our annual budget, the equivalent of 600 police officers being transferred into other forces, with Lancashire still picking up the bill. For the record we have already seen a reduction of over 700 police officers and nearly 500 police staff since 2010, and by 2020 this will rise to over 1100 police officers and approx. 800 police staff – and this doesn't include the changes to the funding formula."

Clive added, "These changes will be disastrous for Lancashire residents. Lancashire is an outstanding force, with outstanding efficiency. These cuts are being forced upon by an intransigent Conservative government, who either do not know, or do not care, of their consequences."

Rishton: Promotional video for Frontier Park

The developers who are looking to start work on the new Frontier Park at Whitebirk have released a new CGI video to demonstrate how the complex is expected to look when it is completed.

The short film can be seen by following the link below:

http://frontierpark.co.uk/

Former County Councillor Doreen Pollitt passes away

Long-serving Labour party member and former County Councillor, Doreen Pollitt, has died.

Doreen was born and brought up in Coppull and became involved in politics at the age of twenty when she was elected Shop Steward with the Transport and General Workers Union at the Royal Ordnance Factory in Chorley.  She was the youngest Shop Steward at the Factory.

Her first political campaigning was alongside Barbara Castle, then MP for Blackburn, on the issue of equal pay for women workers.

In the 1970s Doreen moved to Accrington and became active in the local Party. She was a very successful campaigner, motivator and fundraiser.

She was elected to Lancashire County Council in 1989 and was Chair of Social Services for four years before becoming Deputy Leader of the County Council in 2001. She served for eight years in that position and was an integral member of the team that took the Council to excellent status.

Doreen served in many roles in the Hyndburn Labour Party most notably as Agent for the former MP, Greg Pope, working with him in three successful elections. In 2009 she was Agent for Greg’s successor, Graham Jones, who held the seat for Labour.  Doreen was secretary of the constituency Labour Party for many years until she retired in February 2012.

In September 2010, Doreen was recognized for her services to the Labour Party and was presented with a national award at the conference in Manchester by Ed Miliband and Harriet Harman.

In July 2011 Doreen was recognized for her contribution to life in Lancashire and eminent services rendered to Lancashire County Council over a long period and was awarded the title of Honorary Alderman.

Hyndburn MP, Graham Jones, said, "Doreen was a fantastic party secretary for many years. From tackling militants in the 1980s, she helped build the local party up as well as go on to become Deputy Leader of Lancashire County Council, serving the county for over 20 years. Her great passion was children and she was head of Children's Services at County for many years. She also ensured that there was huge investment in her division of Accrington West to build up broken communities following the Thatcher years. She stood up for ordinary people. She was a big supporter of mine in my Parliamentary selection in 2009 and I cannot thank her enough for that. She is sadly missed."

Doreen's funeral service is on Thursday 5th November at 2.00pm at:

Southport Crematorium
Southport Road
Southport
Merseyside
PR8 5JQ

followed by light refreshments at:

St Stephens Club
12 Hoole Lane
Banks
Southport
PR9 8BD

Family flowers only
Donations to the Alzheimer’s Society

HBC: Still time to have your say on Council Tax Support

There’s still time to have your say about how the Council should fund Council Tax Support from next April, as the consultation runs until 29th November.

There are three options available for Hyndburn residents to consider, option 1 is to raise the minimum Council Tax contribution paid by working age benefit claimants from 20% to 27%, option 2 is to raise Council Tax for all Hyndburn residents by 1%, or option 3 is for the Council to make savings by cutting or reducing other services. Whichever option the Council chooses after the consultation, changes to Council Tax Support will not affect any pension age benefit claimants, which from April 2016 includes anyone over the age of 63.

Council Leader, Cllr Miles Parkinson, said; “If you haven’t already, please take this chance to have your say about the how the Council should fund Council Tax Support from next April. These are difficult decisions and we want all Hyndburn residents to have your say and let us know which of the three options you think is best before the consultation closes on 29th November. It’s easy to take part; you can complete the questionnaire on line, on paper or over the phone, whichever is best for you.”

Cllr Parkinson added; “The background to this is that in 2013 the Government abolished Council Tax Benefit and reduced the funding available to local Councils to fund its replacement, Council Tax Support. Here in Hyndburn, after an extensive public consultation, we asked working age Council Tax Support claimants to pay a minimum contribution of 20% towards their Council Tax Bill. Next year the Council faces even further reduced funding from Government, so along with many other Councils, we must now have to decide how to fund our Council Tax Support scheme from 2016 and need to know which option local residents would prefer.”

The implications of the three options are:

Option 1: Raise the minimum Council Tax contribution paid by working age benefit claimants from 20% to 27%. This would increase an annual Band A Council Tax bill for a working age CTS claimant by £56 for a single person and by £74 for a standard bill. This option would affect all working age claimants of CTS – currently 5,014 households.

Option 2: Raise Council Tax for all Hyndburn residents. The funding we need to find is £34,429. Raising this money via Council Tax would require a 1% increase to Hyndburn’s element of Council Tax in 2016. An annual Band A Council Tax bill (with no CTS applied) would rise by £1.19 a year for a single person and £1.58 a year for a standard bill. This would affect all households in Hyndburn, including those claiming Council Tax Support.

Option 3: Make savings by cutting or reducing other services. Lancashire County Council, Lancashire Police and Lancashire Fire and Rescue all receive funds from Council Tax and together we need to find an additional £229,531 in savings. Hyndburn’s proportion of this is 15% or £34,429. Depending on which services would be reduced to find this saving, this option could affect all households in Hyndburn.

To have your say on the future of Council Tax support in Hyndburn visit www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk/counciltaxsupport, email enquiries enquiries@hyndburnbc.gov.uk or call us call on 01254 388111 to request a questionnaire, or we’ll be happy to help you complete it over the phone.

The deadline for returning the questionnaire is 29 November 2015 and results will be published in December 2015.

Graham Jones MP opens Accrington Pals Cafe

Hyndburn's MP Graham Jones, along with Hyndburn Council Leader Miles Parkinson and other senior Councillors, attended the official opening of an exciting new eatery within Accrington Market Hall on Saturday 17th September. 'The Accrington Pals Cafe' opened its doors to customers this week after an extensive refurbishment of the former 'Peggy's Café'.

Owner Karen Moxham said, "The opening day was a fantastic success. We wanted to bring an exciting new eatery to the heart of our home town with a nostalgic theme for the people of the Borough and there can be no greater theme for this café which is dedicated to the Accrington Pals. We love the people of Accrington and will be serving to them a selection of traditional Lancashire fayre, breakfasts and delicious homemade favourites that were previously popular with the former Peggy's Cafe. Thursday will be a special day for senior citizens with 30% off menu prices, our food is sourced locally and served heartily at very competitive prices in an ambience which takes you back to the era of The Great War."

Huncoat Councillor Eamonn Higgins, Ms Moxham's partner, said, "Karen and myself would like to thank everyone who came down today to officially open 'The Accrington Pals Cafe' and special thanks are due to Miles Parkinson and Clare Cleary. We have had a fantastic response from the public who all seem impressed with the Pals theme, the public are rightly proud of the Pals heritage in this town . Hope you enjoyed your brekkies so do feel free pop in for a brew and a bite!"

Working people set to lose £1,300 a year under the Conservatives

Shocking new research by the House of Commons Library shows that Tory changes to tax credits will leave working families in average £1,300 worse off a year.

The Tories are breaking their promise to stand up for working people. Over three million families will be affected by this cut to tax credits.

In HYNDBURN alone, around 5500 families will be hit. Instead of helping working people, the Tories are pushing through changes which will hit working families in the wallet. The Tories have not planned any transitional changes to protect affected families.

2.7 million families with children will be left out of pocket, and there is a real risk that children will suffer directly as a result of these changes.

Labour has launched a campaign to call on David Cameron to stop the tax credit cut.


Please sign the petition at www.labour.org.uk/taxcredits.

Rishton: M J Gleeson Homes consultation meets with positive reaction

A consultation event to showcase a proposed development at the vacant land along Parker Street attracted plenty of interest from Rishton residents and the plans were generally favourably received.

The event was hosted by M J Gleeson who will shortly be submitting a full planning application for 75 houses on the site with access off Parker Street and Wheatfield Street. The Rishton Councillors have previously made it clear that social housing would not be welcome and this has been incorporated into the designs which were on display.

Cllr Clare Cleary, Cabinet member for Housing and Regeneration, said, "Almost everyone who has seen the plans today thought that they were good and it seems to have allayed a few fears about what will eventually be built there. I'm also glad that we have taken the time over the Canal Masterplan because it has not only generated renewed interest in the vacant sites but is shaping the plans which are being put in front of us to suit the people of Rishton."

Cllr Ken Moss said, "The plans were for 100% affordable housing costing between £80,000 and £120,000 with various help-to-buy schemes put on the table as well. The costings have been drawn up so that 90% of working couples who currently live in Rishton will be able to afford ones of these properties. These developers clearly believe in home ownership rather than rented housing and that can only be a good thing."

Cllr Harry Grayson said, "There is a lot of thought gone into this and I am pleased to see that the site won't be crammed full of houses. They are all good sized family homes with front and rear gardens and driveways plus the development will incorporate enhancement along the canalside. Thumbs up from me."

County Councillor Miles Parkinson, also Cabinet member for Planning, said, "As with all developments, detailed studies will be done concerning the impact on the roads and utilities, plus schools, doctors and emergency services. It is standard in these cases for considerable contributions to be made to accommodate services for an increased population."

Prospective Labour candidate, Jeff Scales, said, "I was impressed with the plans the development makes much more sense than simply leaving an eyesore. The developers said they will be using local tradesmen to do all the work as they are more reliable and it will also provide increased tax revenue to the Council at a time when investment is badly needed. I hope it also gives a boost to trade at the Free Gardeners Club and the local shops." 

A full planning application is expected to be submitted within the next month or so.