Big Cash payment to Pensions

Today marks the biggest ever cash rise in the Basic State Pension in history. Thanks to this Government, millions of older people across our country will take home an extra £5.30 in their pensions this week. For thirteen years, Labour promised to restore the link between earnings and the state pension, but did nothing. This resulted in older people receiving paltry increases in their pension - as little as 75 pence one year. One of the first things we set about doing when we formed the Coalition was to address this unfairness. We didn't just restore the earnings link; we went further, with our 'triple lock', which guarantees that the Basic State Pension will always increase either in line with earnings, inflation, or 2.5 per cent - whichever is the highest. The triple lock ensures older people will have the income to live with dignity in retirement. It's worth £275 to pensioners this year. And the guarantee means that for the next three years, all of today's pensioners will be better off than they would have been under Labour. This state pension increase is another example of what the Conservatives are doing in Government - alongside protecting the Winter Fuel Allowance, free TV licences, free bus passes, free eye tests and prescriptions - to show that we are on the side of older people, putting an extra £4 billion into the Basic State Pension over the next three years. And we're still doing that despite the tough times we are facing as we clear up Labour's mess. We have made history, we've made life a bit easier for many millions of people, and that is something the Conservative Party should be proud of. Yours,

National information

We have secured a landmark deal with the six big energy companies who cover 99 per cent of customers, to give customers a guaranteed offer of the best tariff for them.

Right now, seven out of 10 customers are on the wrong tariff for their needs, so are paying too much. Yet people rarely switch, despite the fact some families could save up to £100 a year. There are currently over 120 different tariffs, making it very difficult to know where to start. That is going to change.

As of this autumn, your supplier will have to contact you with the best tariff for your needs - and if you call them, they’ll have to offer you the best deal too.

Ed Miliband says the energy companies ‘have gone unchallenged’ – but energy prices soared under Labour and he was the Energy Secretary who for almost two years didn’t challenge them. Conservatives in Government is forcing the energy companies to be more responsive and putting power in the hands of consumers, saving hardworking families and pensioners money.

Other Lines

Airbus

This deal between Airbus and Garuda Indonesian Airlines is good news for the UK aerospace industry. It will safeguard jobs at the design facility near Bristol and the manufacturing plant in Broughton in north Wales. It is testament to the expertise of Airbus’s British workforce and a vote of confidence in Britain’s manufacturing base.

The Prime Minister said that he wanted to link Britain up to the fastest growing parts of the world, because we need to trade and export our way out of our economic difficulties. Indonesia is one of those countries. One of the most populated countries in the world, one of the fastest growing countries in the world.

It will be a top 10 economy and these are huge opportunities for British business and British investment, both in Indonesia and Indonesian investment back into Britain. That is why the Prime Minister has packed a plane full of business people to come here to make those links to create those jobs and investment back at home.

Nissan jobs announcement

It is fantastic news that Nissan will be building their new hatchback model in the UK and that they expect to create more than 1,000 jobs at the Sunderland plant and in the supply chain across the country. It’s proof of the strength and vitality of the British manufacturing industry that leading companies like Nissan are expanding their production in the UK.

Nissan’s investment in the UK is a huge vote of confidence in the skills and flexibility of the UK workforce. We want to attract more investment like this and that’s why we’re encouraging foreign companies with incentives like the Regional Growth Fund.

Tax returns

The Prime Minister has said that he is relaxed about the idea of the tax returns of senior Cabinet Ministers being published, but wants the opportunity to explore how this might work.

Syria

We continue to support Kofi Annan’s efforts to implement the plan he set out.

But if this process fails Britain is ready to return to the UN Security Council to call again for a united international response to this clear threat to international peace and security.

We will be ready to intensify our support for the Syrian Opposition, and to support others seeking to do the same.

And we will begin the process of seeking the referral by the Security Council of the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

Tax relief on charitable giving

This Government has introduced a range of measures to support philanthropic giving. It is right to cap tax reliefs for those with the largest incomes because the very wealthy should not be able to wipe out their tax bills year after year. A similar cap exists in the United States. But we will listen to, and work with the voluntary sector and stakeholders to ensure that the cap will not significantly impact those charities which depend on large donations.

As we made clear at the Budget, the Government will explore with philanthropists ways to ensure this new limit of uncapped reliefs will not impact significantly on charities that depend on large donations.

Abu Hamza

We welcome the decision of the European Court of Human Rights to allow the extradition of Abu Hamza and other terror suspects. In five of the six cases, the Court found that extradition would not breach their human rights and in the remaining case, it asked for further information before taking a final decision. We will work to ensure that the suspects are handed over to the US authorities as quickly as possible.

UK Border Agency and the deportation of foreign criminals

At the same time as clearing up the mistakes of the past, we are taking the action necessary to ensure the same errors will not be allowed happen in the future.

We are starting the deportation process earlier and removing foreign criminals more quickly than ever. We are now making better asylum decisions, ensuring cases are properly tracked, improving intelligence and speeding up removals.

This Government has chosen to publish more information than ever before, information which members of the public and Parliament can use to analyse our performance and hold us to account.

Income tax avoidance

It’s shocking that some of the very wealthiest people in the country have organised their tax affairs – within the tax laws – so that they are regularly paying virtually no income tax. We don’t think that’s right. The general principle is that people should pay income tax and that includes people with the highest incomes. So we are taking action.

Tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance are morally repugnant. Existing anti-avoidance measures will increase tax revenue over the next five years by £1 billion, and protect a further £10 billion that could have been lost. However we want to go further so we will introduce a new General Anti-Abuse Rule targeted at artificial and abusive tax avoidance schemes. We will bring forward legislation in the Finance Bill 2013.

Teaching unions and school strikes

In the last week teachers’ union leaders have said we don’t need to teach any facts because children have iphones, that we shouldn’t check to see if children can read at primary school because that’s unfair on those who haven’t been taught properly, that parents shouldn’t have access to impartial information about schools and heads shouldn’t be able to reward good teachers and tackle the problems caused by poor teachers.

If anyone was ever in any doubt that we needed to reform our education system then this week will surely have shown why we need to improve teaching and raise standards.

Taxpayers will be angry at the prospect of more unjustified industrial action. Irresponsible union leaders and their taxpayer-funded helpers should think again.

Health and Safety

All too often jobsworths are the real reason for daft health and safety decisions. We want people who are told they cannot put up bunting or they cannot play conkers to know that there is no basis in law for such rulings.

Common sense is the key to successful health and safety. The Myth Busters Challenge Panel will advise people where they think local authorities, insurance companies or schools have got it wrong.

Communications data

It is vital that the police and security services are able to obtain communications data in certain circumstances to investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the public.

We need to take action to keep up to date with changes in technology.

Existing safeguards will remain in place. Communications data includes time, duration and dialling numbers of a phone call, or an email address. It does not include the content of any phone call or email, which it will still only be possible to intercept with a warrant from the Home Secretary. And unlike Labour, we do not plan to create a Government database of people’s communications.

As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review we will legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Central Message on Labour

Labour left Britain in a mess

Under Labour for every £4 spent by government, £1 was borrowed. Our debt got so big we were spending £120 million every day just paying the interest – and that bill is getting bigger.

The banks made a bad situation worse, but what really got Britain into this mess was years of Labour spending money we didn’t have and couldn’t afford.

Everyone knows that, as when someone runs up a massive credit card bill, the longer you put off dealing with debt, the worse it gets and the more it costs. It would have been much easier not to deal with the problem.

But delay would just pass this generation’s debt onto our children, stall economic recovery and cost even more.

And created a something for nothing culture

Labour’s something for nothing culture was about more than just the Government borrowing money that we did not have. They failed to tackle welfare so that it was easier not to work, they let immigration get out of control and the failed to improve our education system.

And now they don’t have a plan to deal with it

Labour’s ‘Plan B’ of more spending, more borrowing and more debt is a plan for bankruptcy.

What we’re facing is a debt crisis – too much borrowing and too much debt at every level – and the solution cannot be even more borrowing and more debt.

You wouldn’t get Fred Goodwin back to run the banks so why would you get Miliband and Balls back to run the economy?

Back Boris 2012

The Mayoral election on 3rd May comes at a critical time not just for London, but for all of us who need a strong capital city to get the country through tough times.

Londoners are going through one of the toughest periods in recent memory. Despite this there are signs of progress which have resulted from a fresh and honest approach at City Hall. The same fresh-thinking that has delivered the world’s most successful bike hire scheme.

Boris’s determination to end the waste and mismanagement of the previous Mayor has freed up £3.5 billion to pay for a strong plan for our future. It’s a plan that cuts waste and council tax, creates 200,000 new jobs over the next four years, puts 1,000 more police on the streets, restores 300 acres of green space, invests £22 billion in transport and reduces tube delays by 30 per cent.

But this progress is at risk. The return of Ken Livingstone means a return to waste, high taxes, broken promises and Bob Crow and his cronies back at City Hall. Don’t leave your future to chance. Back the energy and optimism that will truly drive London forward. Back Boris to Secure a Greater London.

Five facts on the economy

1. This year, the IMF forecasts the UK to grow twice as fast as Germany and three times as fast as France.

2. Since the general election, the private sector has created over half a million extra jobs.

3. Our borrowing costs have fallen to record lows, showing that UK government debt is seen as a safe haven in the global debt storm and saving money for taxpayers, businesses and families.

4. Over the past year businesses have invested £119 billion across the economy, up £3 billion on the year before.

5. The Government’s necessary deficit reduction plan is maintaining Britain’s AAA credit rating, which Labour’s plans would put in danger.

Five measures the Government is taking to boost growth

To boost growth, the Government is:

1. Introducing a National Loan Guarantee Scheme to get cheaper loans to businesses by allowing participating banks to raise up to a total of £20 billion of cheaper funding over the next two years under a government guarantee, provided they pass through this lower cost of funding to smaller businesses. In many cases, this will lead to a reduction of up to one percentage point on the cost of the business loan.

2. Creating the most competitive business tax system in the developed world by cutting corporation tax to the lowest rate in the G7; introducing a Patent Box to encourage firms to innovate in Britain; and simplifying our tax system.

3. Cutting red tape by scrapping regulations costing businesses over £350 million per year; and radically reforming the planning system by introducing a new default presumption in favour of sustainable development and streamlining over 1,000 pages of planning policy to just 52 pages. We are also getting Britain building by releasing enough public sector land to build as many as 100,000 new homes. We will also increase the Right to Buy discounts, and use the receipts to build a further 100,000 homes. These measures will help support up to 400,000 jobs, will provide a boost to homebuilding, and will make it easier for people to find affordable homes.

4. Boosting investment and exports to rebalance the economy by setting up Enterprise Zones across the country, including in areas affected by potential job losses at BAE, to encourage inward investment; stimulating business growth across England through the Regional Growth Fund; and promoting British exports abroad.

5. Making a more educated workforce the most flexible in Europe by creating the biggest number of apprenticeships this country has ever seen; establishing at least 24 University Technical Colleges to provide cutting edge vocational training; reforming employment law to boost competitiveness, including extending the qualification period for unfair dismissal and consulting on the introduction of fees for tribunals; and radically reforming welfare to get people off benefits and into work.

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Find out about Boris Johnson's 9 point plan for London:

We are getting there

Five facts on the economy

1. This year, the IMF forecasts the UK to grow twice as fast as Germany and three times as fast as France.

2. Since the general election, the private sector has created over half a million extra jobs.

3. Our borrowing costs have fallen to record lows, showing that UK government debt is seen as a safe haven in the global debt storm and saving money for taxpayers, businesses and families.

4. Over the past year businesses have invested £119 billion across the economy, up £3 billion on the year before.

5. The Government’s necessary deficit reduction plan is maintaining Britain’s AAA credit rating, which Labour’s plans would put in danger.

Visiting Houses of Parlement

Cllr Ken Smith with Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans MP

I had the opportunity to visit the House Of Parlement and was able to talk to MPs about the new Localism legislation.

We will all be getting involved shortly with how this is going to be implemented, so this was it was the right place to ask questions and meet some very interesting people.

Mayor 41m for Growth

Mayor announces new £41m capital fund to drive jobs and economic growth in London

16 MARCH 2012

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has announced details of a new £41m London Growth Fund to drive jobs, boost housing and stimulate economic growth across the capital.

Funding has been allocated from central Government after the Mayor successfully bid for a share of the national Growing Places Fund, to free-up potential development. The aim of the capital fund is to encourage private sector investment in key large scale infrastructure and regeneration projects. Applicants must be able to demonstrate how this investment complements their own and how it will be repaid back into the fund over time, to enable continued reinvestment in the capital.

Working with his newly established London Enterprise Panel to approve which proposals will get a share of the funding, the Mayor will announce successful bids in the autumn. Consisting of senior business leaders and representatives from London boroughs, the London Enterprise Panel was set up to advise the Mayor on how best to attract strategic investment to support private sector growth and employment, promote enterprise, increase skill levels and protect and enhance London’s competitiveness.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: “Continued investment in London’s private sector is essential if the capital is to maintain its reputation as the best big city in the world to work and do business. This fantastic new fund means we will be able to plough much needed capital into major regeneration and development projects, which are a crucial catalyst for jobs and growth in London."

Local Enterprise Panel Co-chair Harvey McGrath said: “Members of the LEP are enthusiastic about the potential to use the London Growth Fund to fuel the London economy and create new jobs. Unlike many other funds, a key feature of this one is that successful projects need to repay the capital, ensuring that it is replenished as growth is unlocked, which can then be reinvested in other projects with growth potential.”

Ends
Notes to Editors
Applications can be submitted at http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/business-economy/our-investments/inv...
The £41 million for the London Growth Fund has been allocated by central Government from the national Growing Places Fund pot. The GLA submitted a tender for CLGs Growing Places Fund to generate economic activity in the short term by addressing immediate infrastructure and site constraints which promote the delivery of jobs and housing. Subsequently, the GLA was awarded £41m for London in March.

Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) published a Growing Places Fund Prospectus in Nov 2011 with three objectives:
• To generate economic activity in the short term by addressing immediate infrastructure and site constraints and promote the delivery of jobs and housing
• To allow local enterprise partnerships to prioritise the infrastructure they need, empowering them to deliver their economic strategies
• To establish sustainable revolving funds so that funding can be reinvested to unlock further development, and leverage private investment

The London Growth Fund builds on these three overriding objectives through the following criteria against which bids will be prioritised:

• Projects offer large scale impact and are seeking investment of at least £5m from the London Growth Fund
• The project secures match funding or has secured additional up-front investment from partner(s).
• Levers a substantial, quantified amount of additional investment
• Delivers measurable growth and private sector employment in London’s priority locations
• Is supported by a strong business case demonstrating strong strategic, economic, commercial, financial and project management fundamentals
• Demonstrative support from public and/or private sector partners
• Has secured all the necessary approvals and ideally, with planning approval.
• Otherwise be undeliverable within the timescales and on the scale proposed, without support from the London Growth Fund
• Is compliant with EU State aid and procurement rules
• Fosters partnership working and collaboration, and/or show general support for the benefits the proposal would bring
• The business case must demonstrate repayment mechanisms which are guaranteed to at least some level (ideally 100% in real terms). Repayment terms of less than 100% will only be acceptable in the presence of strong benefits that otherwise cannot be captured financially.

The Mayor is committed to openness in all aspects of his administration and is committed to making the work of this Panel transparent. Agendas and papers for the Panel and any Working Groups will therefore be posted on the GLA’s website at least two clear working days before the meeting to which they relate. Papers will be released with the agenda except in those cases where the Secretary reasonably considers that information contained in the papers may be exempt from disclosure under an applicable exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

Message From Bob Niel MP

Bob Neill MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Communities and Local Government Eland House Bressenden Place

London SW1E 5DU

Tel: 0303 444 3430 Fax: 0303 444 3986 E-Mail: bob.neill@communities.gsi.gov.uk

www.communities.gov.uk

As part of the Government’s transparency drive I want to highlight the importance of your council giving citizens the opportunity to access and experience their local democracy using modern communication methods. It is essential to a healthy democracy that citizens everywhere are able to feel that their council welcomes them to observe local decision-making and through modern media tools keep others informed as to what their council is doing. The mainstream media also needs to be free to provide stronger local accountability by being able to film and record in meetings without obstruction.

Councils are now faced with important budget decisions affecting the day to day lives of people living and working in their communities. Council meetings have long been open to interested members of the public and recognised journalists, and with the growth of online film, social media and hyper-local online news they should equally be open to ‘Citizen Journalists’ and filming by mainstream media. Bloggers, tweeters, residents with their own websites and users of Facebook and YouTube are increasingly a part of the modern world, blurring the lines between professional journalists and the public.

There are recent stories about people being ejected from council meetings for blogging, tweeting or filming. This potentially is at odds with the fundamentals of democracy and I want to encourage all councils to take a welcoming approach to those who want to bring local news stories to a wider audience. The public should rightly expect that elected representatives who have put themselves up for public office be prepared for their decisions to be as transparent as possible and welcome a direct line of communication to their electorate. I do hope that you and your colleagues will do your utmost to maximise the transparency and openness of your council.

I do recognise that there are obligations on whoever is filming or publishing information – be it the council itself or a citizen or mainstream journalist – under the Data Protection Act 1998. But I do not see these obligations as preventing access for journalism. Nor are there grounds for any councilseeking to obstruct a citizen or other journalist from processing information. The Information Commissioner’s Office has told us that:

‘ In the absence of any other legal barrier to comment, publication, expression and so on, the Act in and of itself would not prevent such processing of information.

In the majority of cases the citizen blogging about how they see the democratic process working is unlikely to breach the data protection principles.

In the context of photographing or filming meetings, whilst genuine concerns about being filmed should not be dismissed, the nature of the activity being filmed – elected representatives acting in the public sphere – should weigh heavily against personal objections’.

Moreover there are within the Act itself exemptions from the data protection principles which might apply in the circumstances of the citizen journalist. The first exemption relates to processing of information for journalistic purposes (section 32), the second for the processing of information for domestic purposes (section 36).

In short transparency and openness should be the underlying principle behind everything councils do and in this digital age it is right that we modernise our approach to public access, recognising the contribution to transparency and democratic debate that social media and similar tools can make.

I copy this letter to your monitoring officer given their responsibility for advising on your council’s procedures and decision-making arrangements.

BOB NEILL MP

Postal Voting

Postal Voting useful information

NOTE - the deadline for applying to vote by post at the Mayor of London and London Assembly elections is 5pm on Wednesday 18 April 2012.

If you are a registered elector you can choose to vote by post instead of at your local polling station. If you choose to vote by post, your ballot papers will be sent to you by first class post for you to complete and return. Once you have applied for a postal vote you cannot vote in person at your polling station unless you cancel your postal vote, in writing, by 5pm on the eleventh working day before election day.

Under legislation introduced on 1 January 2007, anyone choosing to vote by post must provide a signature specimen and their date of birth. These Personal Identifiers are securely stored. Each time you vote by post, your signature and date of birth provided on the postal voting statement will be checked against these identifiers to ensure your postal vote remains secure.If an elector is unable to sign in a consistent or distinctive way because of any disability then they may be granted an exemption from doing so. For further information on this, please contact Electoral Services on 020 8547 5026.

If you wish to register to vote by post, then please download and complete the Postal Vote Application form below. You should then return the form to the address below, or alternatively it can be faxed or scanned and emailed back using the details below.

Contact Us

In writing:Electoral ServicesRoyal Borough of Kingston upon ThamesGuildhallKingtston upon ThamesKT1 1EUEmail: electoral.services@rbk.kingston.gov.ukTel: 020 8547 5026Fax: 020 8547 5099

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