megilleland

Surviving Winter campaign The Herefordshire Community Foundation is launching its Surviving Winter campaign to help local people survive the coldest season. It is keen to help as many people -and the organisations they rely on in the winter – to survive this year. According to Herefordshire Healthy Housing report in 2012 14% (one in seven) of households were considered fuel poor. The UK has one of the highest increases in deaths amongst the elderly in Europe. Each winter one older person dies every seven minutes from the cold. The campaign originally began as a vehicle for generous pensioners to ‘recycle’ their Winter Fuel payments and has now developed into a giving portal for anyone who wants to help support vulnerable people live well during the winter. The cost to the NHS in Herefordshire owing to cold homes is considerable.. Research from the national charity Age UK suggested that the cost of cold homes to the NHS in England and Wales is £1.36 billion a year. The figure does not include the cost to other services which much be significant. Considering this national figure, any activity to reduce fuel poverty and its associated effects in Herefordshire is likely to lead to consequential reductions in local health spend, GP referrals and hospital admissions. Philippa Spens, CEO of the Community Foundation, said, “This fund is vital, community foundations are one of the few organisations that help with responsive, crisis payments, when people really have nowhere else to turn and are desperate for help.” Last year, 59 year old Jane had recently separated from her husband after 30 years of marriage. Jane wasn’t used to supporting herself independently and fell on hard times. She had no money for food or bills. Jane eventually managed to find a job as a receptionist but had to wait a few weeks before being paid and was at rock bottom. Because she was earning nothing she went to the food bank for help and although they did help a few times, there was a limit to the number of times she was entitled to food from there. She’s also diabetic, and without food, she was struggling to manage the condition. She approached her Community Foundation and they assisted immediately by providing her with food vouchers and money for her electricity bill. This helped tide her over until her first pay check. 90 year old Norman benefited from a grant last year. He lives alone and has a serious heart condition. He said that the money he received from the Surviving Winter appeal ‘has taken a lot of worry from me. My electricity bills are so high as I feel the cold so much and have to keep the house warm. Your grant has helped me feel comfortable’. Winter Fuel Allowance payments are made in November and December to all pensioners across the UK and is not means tested. If you don’t need yours you can donate it to the Community Foundation and they will help those less fortunate. There isn't any way to simply divert the payment. Instead, the Foundation is asking for a donation of some or all of the benefit you receive. Even if you don’t qualify for the benefit you can send money. To donate online go to https://www.herefordshirecf.org/donate/#form or you can post a cheque made out to the Herefordshire Community Foundation, The Fred Bulmer Centre, Wall Street, Hereford HR4 9HP or ring 01432 272550.

I can't imagine them filling in the next census form. The census in the United Kingdom is decennial, that is, held every ten years, although there is provision in the Census Act 1920 for a census to take place at intervals of five years or more. A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. According to the "72-Year Rule," the National Archives releases census records to the general public 72 years after Census Day. As a result, the 1930 census records were released April 1, 2002, and the 1940 records were released April 2, 2012. The 1950 census records will be released in April 2022.8 Aug 2017 So we have to wait till 2093 to find out whether there were too many people in the UK after the 2021 census, but I am sure we already know the answer to this.

Having listened to the article I am not surprised in the least. Interesting how the locals say the area has changed and the inability to stop the counterfeit trade due to bad legislation. However in the same area - The Daily Express 30th November 2018 £76m lottery winner has 48 hours to claim prize THE search for the winner of a £76million lottery jackpot intensified last night as the deadline for claiming on a missing ticket approaches. The winning ticket was bought in Lincolnshire - in seaside resort Skegness or market town Boston - and the £76,369,806 sum is the largest ever unclaimed prize. The winner will be able to buy plenty of counterfeit cigarettes (only £3.50 a packet) and open a chain of outlets to distribute them.

Where are all these people coming from? Commenting, Lord Green of Deddington, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: The net inflow from the EU is still roughly the size of the British Army despite cries of alarm from industry over Brexit. Meanwhile, non-EU net migration at 248,000 is astonishing. It is the highest for 14 years and the result of the Government's failure to take effective action to reduce it over recent years. Meanwhile More British citizens leave the country than arrive 72,000 arrive against 124,000 leave. Table 1: Latest Migration Statistics, Year Ending March 2018 All Citizenships British Non-British EU Non-EU Immigration 614,000 72,000 542,000 226,000 316,000 Emigration 344,000 124,000 219,000 138,000 81,000 Net Migration 271,000 -52,000 323,000 87,000 235,000 10 Key Points on Mass immigration and Population Growth 1.The current scale of migration to the UK, 330,000 a year, of which roughly half is from the EU, is completely unsustainable. 2. As a result of this mass immigration our population is projected to rise by half a million every year – the equivalent of a city the size of Liverpool – for as long as immigration is permitted on the present scale. 3. England is already twice as crowded as Germany and 3.5 times as crowded as France. 4. The additional population growth makes congestion worse and adds to the pressures on public services. This comes at a time when public spending is being reduced. 5. One in four children born in England and Wales is to a foreign born mother. The rise in the number of births has put pressure on NHS maternity services. 6. It has also led to a shortage of school places. 60% of local authorities will have a shortage of primary school places by 2018. 7. The UK has a serious housing crisis. Mass immigration is the main reason for the additional demand. If it continues at current levels, we will need to build 135,000 new homes a year just to house new migrants and their families. This is 370 per day or one home every four minutes. 8. Population growth on this scale renders integration of newcomers virtually impossible. 9. Three quarters of the public want to see immigration reduced and half of them want it cut by a lot. 10. To stop the rapid rise in the UK’s population size, net migration would have to be reduced to well below 100,000 a year. It is currently at over 300,000.

Yes you only sell assets when you need the cash. The Council will tell you that they are investing it future developments, but most of that is going to disappear on consultations and feasibility schemes.

Council expenditure for October 2018 Total spend for month £15,275,804.17 1. £1,984,514.09 Balfour Beatty Living Places Ltd 2. £1,349,077.00 West Mercia Police & Crime Commissioner 3. £1,312,781.00 Hoople Ltd 4. £1,296,015.50 Hoople Ltd 5. £1,044,809.82 Worcestershire County Council 6. £707,718.85 Balfour Beatty Living Places Ltd 7. £560,874.30 Hereford & Worc Fire & Rescue Service 8. £508,629.51 Balfour Beatty Living Places Ltd 9. £353,612.20 Marsh Ltd 10. £329,872.07 Fcc Environment Services (uk) Ltd 11. £259,793.10 Shaw Healthcare (Herefordshire) Ltd 12. £246,355.01 Whitecross@Stepnell Ltd 13. £207,843.98 Wye Valley NHS Trust 14. £126,479.75 Addaction 15. £113,353.62 Nottingham Rehab Ltd 16. £106,918.17 Nottingham Rehab Ltd 17. £105,049.63 Worcestershire Health & Care NHS Trust 18. £98,133.50 REDACTED 19. £90,361.00 Wye Valley NHS Trust 20. £87,417.80 Kier Construction - Central Div of Kier Construction Ltd Total spend of top 20 £10,889,609.90 = 71% of monthly total BBLP £3,284,711.75 Hereford & Worc Fire & Rescue Service £597,086.30 West Mercia Police & Crime Commissioner £1,350,077.00 Hoople Ltd £2,628,571.84 Marsh Ltd £447,316.22 Shaw Healthcare (Herefordshire) Ltd £330,005.69 Wye Valley NHS Trust £306,791.62 Nottingham Rehab Ltd £273,137.48 Worcestershire Health & Care NHS Trust £106,322.63 Worcestershire County Council £1,122,229.82 Total spent in month by these 10 £6,624,238.60 = 43% of monthly total :

The Daily Mail - 29th November 2018 Bleak winter for the NHS: More than 100,000 jobs are unfilled, trusts are £4.3 billion in debt and 1,000 more patients are waiting a year for treatment than in 2017, report warns * NHS had 102,821 dr and nurses vacancies across its trusts at end of September * And 3,156 were waiting more than a year for treatment when summer ended * NHS Providers' chief executive warns 'this winter may be worse than the last' On the same day in the same paper: The Daily Mail - 29th November 2018 UK aid spending tops £14 billion for the first time with the most money spent in Pakistan and Nigeria, official figures reveal * Government spends 0.7% of national income on foreign aid spending every year * The cash figure rose above £14 billion for the first time in 2017, latest data shows * Total rises each year if the economy grows but is very controversial among MPs * Around 63% of aid is spent directly by the UK in other countries, led by Pakistan * The remaining 37% is ploughed into aid agencies for a multilateral response Pakistan received the most direct cash from the UK, receiving more than £400million in development assistance. Nigeria was second on £327million. Almost £530million was also ploughed into multi-national efforts to respond to humanitarian crises caused by wars in Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Yet we supply arms to Saudi Arabia to blow to pieces the Yemen

The Guardian 26th November 2018 UK has weakest wage growth in advanced G20 nations, says ILO (extract) Britain ranks bottom in group of nine wealthy countries for pay performance since 2009 Workers in Britain have seen the weakest real wage growth among the most advanced nations in the G20, according to United Nations data revealing the scale of the damage in the UK’s “lost decade” for pay. According to the UN’s International Labour Organization, Britain ranked bottom from a group of nine wealthy nations for its pay performance since 2009, after the financial crisis hit. Suffering a loss in real wage growth - which strips out the effect of inflation – of about 5% between 2008 and 2017, the UK ranked slightly worse than Italy and far behind other major G20 nations such as the US and Germany. South Korea saw the strongest real wage growth at 15%. Exactly what Robert Reich says.

Robert Reich spoke about this problem last year in this lecture. When he refers to USA just replace it with UK.

In The Daily Express today: Under Dr Carney's doomsday scenario the pound would crash, inflation would soar and house prices would fall by 30 percent. The UK's GDP would nosedive for at least five years, crippling finances and triggering a worse recession than the 2008 crisis. In a chilling intervention, Dr Carney warned the Bank's job was not to "hope for the best but prepare for the worst".

Fire Alliance Strategic Plan 2018-2022 ‘Securing a resilient and sustainable future’ Seeing that West Mercia and Warwickshire Police couldn't get on with one another. I see there is a a plan to create a strategic alliance between Hereford & Worcester and Shropshire Fire and Rescue Services. Wonder how this will develop and how much money will be wasted?

Should be sited with direct access onto a main road not tucked behind some other buildings on an industrial estate.

Robert Reich was US Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has been raising concerns about the direction we are heading and what he says, is now also happening here in the UK.

From The Guardian today: How will your MP vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal? Between the opposition, the DUP and rebels from the pro and anti-EU wings of her party, May faces an uphill battle getting her deal through parliament MPs may support or oppose the bill for a number of reasons: those on the government payroll, including cabinet ministers, must support the bill or resign. Those who have already resigned from government on this issue can be expected to vote against, as can those who have already submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister. Those of all parties who are campaigning for a “people’s vote” are also expected to vote against. Looks like Jesse will be supporting Theresa May - can't see him resigning. Bill Wigging is also down for supporting Theresa May. Not much patriotism here.

From facts4eu.org/ The Rt Hon Sir Winston Churchill KG June 4, 1940 House of Commons “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…” 78 years later The Rt Hon Theresa May MP 24 November, 2018 Brussels ‘We shall go on to the end, we shall surrender in Belgium, we shall give away our seas, we shall give ground everywhere, we shall surrender our island whatever we have to pay Brussels, we shall welcome them on the beaches, we shall welcome them at our airports, we shall surrender in the Commons and in the Lords, we shall obey their rules and do what they say, we shall fully surrender…’ (Not her words, but our interpretation.)

From Leavers of Britain handout We have been lied to for 40 years. The EU exists to take power from us, not give it. 1973 - Prime Minister Edward Heath "There are some in the country who fear that in going into Europe we shall in some way sacrifice independence and sovereignty. These fears, I need hardly to say are completely unjustified" 1975 - Prime Minister Harold Wilson "Another anxiety expressed about Britain's membership of the Common Market is that Parliament could lose its supremacy, and we would have to obey laws passed by the unelected faceless bureaucrats sitting in their headquarters in Brussels" 1988 - Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher "We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level, with a European super-state exercising a new dominance form Brussels" 1993 - Jeremy Corbyn, Labour MP "It takes away from the national parliaments the power to set economic policy and hands it over to an unelected set of bankers who will impose the economic policies of price stability, deflation and high unemployment throughout the European Community" 2018 - Guy Verhofshadt MEP "Why is there such a problem in this crisis? Because member states are reluctant to transfer new sovereignty and powers to the EU"

Bang on Ragwert. Why does it take German AfD leader Alice Weidel in German parliament (Bundestag) to say what our Government can't face up to about the workings of the EU? Angela Merkel's face throughout the speech was a picture. Merkel has been widely described as the de facto leader of the European Union, the most powerful woman in the world, and the leader of the Free World. Must be joking.

Time for Jesse and Bill to tell us which way they will be voting on May's Brexit deal. If it's voted down in Parliament the Cabinet and the EU have a plan B to make sure we are stitched up forever.

Leavers of Britain We believe in a clean Brexit, one that means the UK controls its own laws, money and borders. We believe in the UK being an independent country from the EU. Simples. We reject all forms of intolerance, discrimination or prejudice towards anyone, as well as Leave voters. We confront and condemn racists and others who seek to hijack the Leave vote for their own ends. We support the efforts of our politicians and social leaders in creating a fairer, more enterprising and freer country. It’s time to see the best in our nation and the hard-working, good people who make it great. We’ll do everything in our power to achieve that – and it starts with the power of the pint! Herefordshire for Brexit go national A press release from Herefordshire for Brexit Date 19/10/18 Herefordshire For Brexit has formed an association with national pro-Brexit organisation Leavers of Britain. Herefordshire for Brexit founders Christopher Kingsley and Sarah Rogan commented: “We are delighted to associate with a fast-growing national network of non party-political pro-Brexit groups. Brexit progress has been confused and over complicated because of the needs of the main party leaders to try to unite all factions of their highly divided parties. It is important that the pro-Brexit majority of voters see non-attached groups that can actually represent what they voted for in 2016”. Leavers of Britain is headed by successful campaigner Lucy Harris who has appeared on national TV as a pro-Brexit spokesperson on several occasions. Lucy commented: “I’m ecstatic to be working with Herefordshire for Brexit. They are a passionate and local team that have worked tirelessly to bring sovereignty back to our country and democracy back to the people of Herefordshire. Leavers of Britain are lucky to have them on board.” Herefordshire For Brexit believes that the current government proposals are a betrayal both of the spirit of Brexit and of specific promises given by both David Cameron in announcing the referendum and, on several occasions, by Theresa May. “If our Herefordshire MPs Bill Wiggin and Jesse Norman believe that supporting the government proposals honours the wishes of the large majority of Herefordians who voted to leave the EU, they are totally mistaken and Herefordshire For Brexit will campaign against them”. In High Town today and signed a petition to come out off the EU. Something needs to happen to wake up our MPs.

Bearing in mind that the council want to encourage £15m investment in this area what has happened to the proposed community centre planned as part of the Keepmoat Homes/Herefordshire Housing development at The Oval - Planning Application P131390/O approved with conditions on 18th September 2013. A facility which would benefit existing and new residents.

In The Hereford Times today: Cost of moving Hereford FC from Edgar Street estimated to be at least £10m By Carmelo Garcia Local Democracy Reporter Needs doing. After dribbling around with this I bet it will get kicked into touch!

I can see more cyclists on the pavement: New analysis by Brake, the road safety charity, for Road Safety Week, shows that those on two wheels face 63 times higher risk of being killed or seriously injured, per mile travelled, than car drivers. On average, a cyclist or motorcyclist is killed or seriously injured every hour, on British roads. Two thirds of bike deaths occur on our rural roads, with the fatal crash risk facing bikes on rural roads at its highest since 2010. Most drivers (52%) believe that bike riders are most vulnerable on urban roads, but rural roads pose three times the risk of a fatal crash to bike riders. The analysis marks the start of Road Safety Week (19–25 November), sponsored by Devitt Insurance Services and Ford, which this year urges people, particularly drivers, to be ‘Bike Smart’ to raise awareness about the safety of those on two wheels. Communities and organisations across the UK take part in Brake’s Road Safety Week – case studies and photo and filming opportunities are available. Analysis by Brake, the road safety charity, has found that, on average, those on two wheels face 63 times higher risk of being killed or seriously injured on British roads, per mile travelled, than car drivers [1]. Bike riders’ safety is being highlighted as part of national Road Safety Week (19–25 November), coordinated annually by Brake with the 2018 theme ‘Bike Smart’. Brake is calling for drivers to be ‘Bike Smart’ by slowing down, taking care to look properly at junctions and doing the ‘Dutch reach’ to avoid car dooring [2]. Brake’s analysis has highlighted the vulnerability of those on two wheels, who, in comparison with car drivers, are 34 times more likely to be killed and 63 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured, per mile travelled, on British roads [3]. Cyclists and motorcyclists account for nearly 4 in 10 of all deaths and serious injuries on British roads, a total of 9,740 in 2017 or an average of one bike death or serious injury every hour. Bike deaths also make up more than a quarter of all British road deaths, with a total of 101 cyclist deaths and 349 motorcyclist deaths in 2017 [4].

Theresa May LIVE: I am NOT modern-day Chamberlain: May says UK will NOT be locked to EU Daily Mail catches up.

Crickhowell: Welsh town moves 'offshore' to avoid tax on local business When independent traders in a small Welsh town discovered the loopholes used by multinational giants to avoid paying UK tax, they didn’t just get mad. Now local businesses in Crickhowell are turning the tables on the likes of Google and Starbucks by employing the same accountancy practices used by the world’s biggest companies, to move their entire town “offshore”. Be interesting to know how this progressed.

Picturesque Brecon Beacons town's high street is named the best in the UK - and it prides itself on having ZERO chain stores * Crickhowell, on the edge of the Brecon Beacons, was named winner of the Great British High Street Awards * Judges were wowed by the bustling street in the picturesque town, which is full of family-run, independent shops * To stop large national chains taking over, 267 residents even collectively bought a pub due to close down Lessons to learn here?