Careers Items Needed
At Sheringham Woodfields Complex Needs School, we begin a transition period for our
students at the age of 14, ready for when they leave school at 19. Part of this transition
is to discuss all career choices and opportunities.
We are currently updating our 'career boxes' and would greatly appreciate any job
related items to fill these boxes. These could include work related materials, tools of
the trade and items of uniform.
If you think you can help, please contact Woodfields 6th Form on 01263 825129 to
arrange a collection.
Trevor Ivory expresses concern at effect of Labour's tax plans on Norfolk
Trevor Ivory has responded to the Government's new tax and spending proposals outlined
in the so-called Pre-Budget Report by warning of Labour plans for higher taxes and record
levels of national debt included in the small print.
Gordon Brown's plans include:
* An inflation-busting 4.5% increase in council tax, which would push up typical bills by
£62 a year from April.
* National Insurance increases for workers and for local firms. This jobs tax will make it
harder for struggling businesses to avoid redundancies and mean anyone earning £20,000 a
year or more will be worse off.
* National debt will hit £1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion pounds), forcing even higher
taxes in due course to pay back the nation's overdraft.
At the same time, plans are being drawn up by the Government to increase VAT to 18.5%
after the next general election and Gordon Brown is even considering a hike to 20%. This
would add £500 a year to the shopping bills of families.
By contrast, Conservatives are advocating a series of positive measures to help beat
Labour's recession, including:
* Freezing council tax for two years by cutting wasteful Government spending.
* Reducing employment costs for small businesses by cutting National Insurance and a tax
break for new jobs.
* Getting credit flowing by guaranteeing lending to business.
Speaking to an audience in Cromer yesterday evening, Mr Ivory said, "Labour is
offering tax cons, not tax cuts. Gordon Brown's tax plans are not about helping our
economy; they are to help him cling to power. I am very concerned about the triple whammy
of record levels of debt, higher council tax and higher National Insurance on families and
firms in Norfolk. And know we also know that further large hikes in VAT could be around
the corner."
"We are in this mess because Gordon Brown has been buying now and paying later for
years by stoking up an unsustainable credit-fuelled consumer spending boom and failing to
get the Government's own finances in order. Now he wants us all to do the same thing
again, hoping that we do not realise how much it will cost us all in the end. Any last
shred of credibility that he had is now gone." |
Norfolk's pubs being ripped off in tax
inspectors' cover-up
Government hides admission that pubs are paying too much in rates
Local pubs in Norfolk are being denied business rate cuts by the Government, Trevor
Ivory, North Norfolk's Conservative Spokesman has warned. Pub landlords could be paying
thousands of pounds over the odds in tax, but are being kept in the dark by Government tax
inspectors who want to avoid paying out tax refunds.
This follows a revelation earlier this year that tax inspectors were hiding the fact
that hundreds of thousands of homes could be paying too much council tax. The tax
officials kept quiet about the information to save money and save face.
The British Beer & Pub Association has estimated that pubs are now closing at the
rate of 36 a week - five a day. They are paying a heavy price for the smoking ban, fragile
consumer confidence, ruthless competition from supermarkets and - not least - higher beer
taxes imposed by Gordon Brown.
Parliamentary questions have brought to light unpublished internal guidance by the
Valuation Office Agency (an arm of HM Revenue & Customs) on how local firms should be
charged business rates. It admits that they have been giving out the wrong advice to firms
on the effect of the smoking ban. Until recently, tax inspectors refused to give any
business rate reduction for the loss of custom due to the ban. Their latest guidance now
admits - thanks to advice from top lawyers - that the smoking ban represents a 'material
change'. Pubs can use this to make a claim for a lower 'rateable value' and so cut their
yearly rates bill. For example, a £5,000 reduction in rateable value would save publicans
£2,300 a year in tax.
The Government has made no announcement about potential refunds to local pubs across
England and Wales. The Government is happy to hike tax bills, but it will not tell people
when their bills could fall. Business rates are the third biggest cost to local firms
after rent and staff costs.
Trevor Ivory said, "Local pubs in Norfolk are a vital part of our social fabric
and community life. Whilst big pub chains may be making money out of Labour's new drinking
laws, small everyday pubs are suffering from the combined onslaught of higher beer taxes,
a weakening economy, supermarkets selling alcohol below cost price and the smoking
ban."
"Whatever people's views on the smoking ban, it has had a major impact on many
pubs. The Government's own tax inspectors have now admitted that pubs may be eligible for
refunds on their business rates, but Norfolk's pub owners are being intentionally kept in
the dark about this u-turn. This is yet another tax cover-up from the same inspectors who
have conspired to hide council tax errors."
"Ministers are only interested in changing the tax system when it raises extra
money for Gordon Brown's coffers. Thanks to Whitehall secrecy and this stealth pub tax,
local firms are going to the wall and everyday pub-goers are being hit in the wallet. I
shall be writing to pubs in North Norfolk making sure that they are aware of their right
to seek a rate rebate." |
