Another slap on the wrist handed out by the courts with this shockingly lenient sentence that provides absolutely no deterrent to others whatsoever. I know who this this chap is and he drives a very nice Nissan Skyline and guess who has been paying for that..

Hereford Times report

Quote

A COUPLE from Hereford have admitted their part in a £64,000 benefits fiddle.

 

Graham Davies, aged 54, and Maria Thomas, aged 55, were given suspended sentences after pleading guilty to offences of failing to notify the authorities of a change in circumstances over their occupancy of a flat in Blakemore Close, Newton Farm.

 

Prosecutor Kevin Donnelly told Worcester Crown Court that Davies claimed housing benefit and council tax benefit in respect of the flat, owned by Thomas. He also claimed income support.

 

The pair, who had no romantic association, cohabited the flat and Thomas paid the bills for water, TV licence and the mortgage.

 

It had been calculated that Davies was paid £20,103 in income support. With housing benefit and council tax, the pair’s total bill for benefits was £64,255.

 

Mark Thompson, mitigating, said Thomas had a fulltime job as a carer.

 

Davies was also a carer for his mother. The case had been hanging over them for two and a half years and they had started to repay some of the money.

 

Recorder Anthony Lowe said the pair had systematically claimed benefits of £64,000 and he felt the public could rightly be outraged.

 

The public purse had been deprived, but he was suspending the 12-month sentences for two years.

 

Thomas must do 180 hours unpaid work while Davies was told to carry out 240 hours.

 

He ordered each of them to pay £3,250 costs

Apparently Graham Powell has resigned from the Cabinet, confirmed by Tony Johnson in letter today.

He will still apparently remain as Cllr for his ward, Golden Valley South.

David Harlow (Birch Ward) is replacing him.

Remember where you heard it first!

Come along to help celebrate the Queen's Birthday at Belmont Community Centre on Saturday 11 June 2016 from 12 pm to 2 pm.

We will be hold an "afternoon tea" with sandwiches, party food and cakes!!

The cost is £5 per person and bookings needs to be made in advance.  Please call the Centre on 01432 263415 or call in and see us to reserve a ticket.

See you there.

Photograph taken on the day

Clean for the Queen

Can someone please explain what the new wards for Hereford are now since the elections?

I have been made aware that the infamous and elusive Cllr Edwards is busy organising a party for HRH on his doorstep by Belmont Poolside! As far as I am aware no one in the community has been contacted, either to assist or input in this "community party". I have not been able to obtain any further information or provisional dates.

I again attempted to contact Cllr Edwards the other week whilst at the park nearby with mini me. In regards to this and other issues that have been raised throughout the ward. Even though he was in he refused to answer the door!

A press release by the Council a couple of weeks ago was published by HT without challenging the apparent facts. It concerns Herefordshire's electric vehicle charging point network - the Council have handed over management of this to Chargemaster under the brand name of Polar. The Council say 'To continue its support of EV drivers in the county Herefordshire Council will continue to offer free electricity and free parking whilst recharging at all its charge points.' All well good you may think - what they don't say is that Chargemaster (not surprisingly with such an aggressive name) charge £8 a month for the privilege of accessing a charger or £1.20 a connection, when previously there was no cost. I'm told their chargers are not compatible with all electric cars and there are only 9 in the County anyway, 6 of which are in Hereford. Ok, so the electricity is still 'free' which actually means it's subsidised by the government (not the Council) to allow green boxes to be ticked, and for sure this won't last forever.  

Happy 20th birthday (yesterday) to the second Severn bridge, where has the time gone...

Photo credit to Mathew Roberts 

The Herefordshire Leave campaign Battle Bus  will be in Newton Farm on Saturday 11th June , at 2pm travelling along Charlton Ave, Masefield Ave and Goodrich Grove before making its way to the Belmont Haywood Country Park for the afternoon.

Agenda published

http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=4732

I cannot see anything specific on Bath Street Offices but it may be buried in the 14/15 Delivery Plan

Item 8 is in relation to a new audit service and the South West Audit Partnership is recommended.

If any Councillors see this thread I guess a question I would like asked on this is are there any ex Herefordshire Council staff employed by this organisation and is there any connection between the Chief Financial Officer Peter Robinson who moved here from somewhere south (Bristol?) and SW Audit Partnership? Just so we know who is or is not involved!!!!

I thought Nigel held more than his own, bearing in mind the constant attack by the EU funded academic and professional plants in the audience. Having said that Cameron is also on the receiving end of ordinary people's concerns at a personal level. Banks, corporations and restrictive professional association/bodies have little in common with the patriotic citizen, rather more than protecting themselves in their counting houses and milking us dry.

Herefordshire Council is pleased to announce that WM Housing has been selected as preferred partner for the demolition and redevelopment of the former LEA Swimming Pool on Hollybush Walk, Hereford.  The housing association will develop a scheme to provide much needed affordable housing on the site.

The turf has been laid over the past few days surrounding the new skate park and vandals have uplifted it and placed it all over the park, I have no words...

is the Hereford Times website offline or is it me?

LNER class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman will be in Hereford this Wednesday.
The exact arrival time is unknown

Taken from the HT:

Photo from HT

A RECYCLING service which provides low cost furniture for those on low incomes is closing.

I spotted this speed camera scammer outside the Three Counties Hotel again this morning.