ஓWEEKEND IN THE NEWS ! ~ /20 DECEMBER 2014 ~ SPENDING: Hopkins outlines funding cut of 1.8% for councils: The government has said that English councils will face an average cut of 1.8% in their overall spending power. Minister Kris Hopkins said the funding grants settlement for 2015-16 was “fair for all parts of the country”. He said no council would face a loss of more than 6.4% – but Labour said councils in the greatest need were facing the biggest cuts in funding. Local authority officials said cuts of up to 6.4% would “push some authorities to breaking point”. Councils in England say the amount they receive from central government is being cut by 8.8%, but central government says the amount they can spend – taking into account other resources, including business rates – will fall on average by 1.8%. Local government minister Mr Hopkins told MPs the settlement still left councillors with “considerable total spending power” and many councils were seeing growth in income from business rates. He said the actual drop in spending power was 1.6%, when other grants were taken into account. David Sparks, chairman of the LGA, said: “We cannot pretend that this will not have an impact on local government’s ability to improve people’s quality of life and support local businesses. It is individuals who have paid the price of funding reductions, whether it is through seeing their local library close, roads deteriorate or support for young people and families scaled back.” Separately, the Guardian looks at how Northamptonshire County Council has shifted to what it calls a “next generation” council in response to the municipal cuts it has endured since 2010. Financial Times, Page: 2 The Daily Telegraph, Page: 2 The Times, Page: 25 The Guardian, Page: 4, Daily Express, Page: 29 Daily Mail, Page: 4 Daily Star, Page: 2 Ministers spend £1.2m extra on advisers: Official figures show that the bill for special advisers employed by ministers has risen by £1.2m. According to data, the £8.4m bill was a 17% rise on 2013-14. There are now 107 special advisers, up from 98 in the previous year. Some of George Osborne’s aides were not listed as special advisers. Instead, he has appointed four of his team to the Treasury’s council of economic advisers.The Times, Page: 5 The Guardian, Page: 19 Daily Mirror, Page: 4-5 WELFARE: Poland will veto plan to curb migrants benefits Poland has warned that it will veto the Prime Minister’s plan to curb benefits paid to EU migrants in Britain. Writing in The Independent, Rafal Trzaskowski, Poland’s secretary of state for European affairs, describes David Cameron’s proposals as discriminatory, unfair and illegal under EU rules on freedom of movement. Mr Trzaskowski, Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister, declared: “There is a red line we cannot allow ourselves to cross and that is discrimination against EU citizens.” The minister insisted that EU migrants living in the UK contributed more to the country through their taxes than they took out in benefits. “Responsibilities come with rights, including access to social security benefits they are entitled to under the British and EU law.”The Independent, Page: 4 Charities assistance fund warning: The decision to end the Local Welfare Assistance Fund, which helps councils with crisis loans to the vulnerable, is likely to have a particular impact on children, charities have warned. Matthew Reed, chief executive of the Children’s Society, forecast a potential “postcode lottery” for families in poverty. Anne Longfield, chief executive of the charity 4Children, said the move would “make life harder for those already struggling to cope”. She said: “Cutting this sort of support is a false economy. If we can help families get back on their feet, it is not only better for families, but for our wider economy too.”Independent i, Page: 5 ECONOMY: Mortgage lending dips in November: Mortgage lending in November returned to the level seen a year earlier, lenders say, offering more evidence of a post-summer slowdown. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said gross lending totalled £16.9bn in November, down 9% from October. The CML said that stamp duty reforms announced in the Budget would increase activity temporarily. But it has predicted that lending in the next two years will rise at a slower rate than in 2014. The CML said that it expected the number of homes being sold in 2015 and 2016 to slow slightly to 1.18m in each year. It predicts gross lending will increase at a slower rate than it did in 2014, reaching £222bn in 2015 and £240bn in 2016.Daily Mail, Page: 73 The Daily Telegraph, Business, Page: 5 HOUSING: Private construction boosts housing starts: Private construction has pushed housebuilding levels to a post-2008 high. However, levels of public building have been falling. According to figures from the National House Building Council, new housing starts rose 8% year-on-year in the three months to the end of November, to 37,222. Of this, 29,812 homes were started by private developers, up 19%, while the number of public-backed home starts fell by 20% to 7,410. Neil Jefferson, NHBC development director attributed the drop-off to the end of a public subsidy cycle by the Homes and Communities Agency. He said there was no indication of when a new cycle of government funding could start. He also noted that a quarter of home registrations are currently for affordable or social housing, down from half of all applications in 2008.Financial Times Westbrook to sell New Era estate: Westbrook Partners, the US group which planned to evict dozens of families and more than double rents at the New Era estate in east London, is on the verge of selling it to an affordable-housing provider following a vocal campaign against their ownership. According to the Guardian, Westbrook Partners is close to agreeing the transfer following negotiations with London’s deputy mayor, Richard Blakeway, and the elected mayor of Hackney, Jules Pipe. The paper understands City Hall privately expects the sale to go through before Christmas.The Guardian, Page: 1, 2 Hull uses empty homes powers: Two neglected properties will be brought back into use after Hull Council secured its first Empty Property Dwelling Management Order. The powers enable local authorities to take over the management of long-term privately-owned empty homes.Yorkshire Post, Page: 8 HEALTH: ECJ: Obesity could be disability: Obesity can constitute a disability in certain circumstances, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled. The ECJ was asked to consider the case of a male childminder in Denmark who says he was sacked for being too fat. The court said that if obesity could hinder “full and effective participation” at work then it could count as a disability. The ruling is binding across the EU.The Guardian, Page: 6 Daily Mail, Page: 9 Daily Express, Page: 5 The Independent, Page: 9
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 07:47:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015