Category: Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues

On Friday evening Wokingham Conservatives held a thank you party for the volunteers who helped with the General election.

After I had paid tribute to those who went out in all weathers to deliver leaflets and talk to voters I reminded them of the four point plan for Wokingham I set out in my main  election address. I suggested to the Councillors present that we draw on that when determining the local Manifesto for the Council elections this coming May.

Where improved and safer junctions and highways, better school buildings, more police and a wider range of social care requires more money I will continue to press for government increases. We are now seeing some of this extra money coming through, so I look forward to working  with Councillors to see we get value for the extra money with visible improvements in local services and facilities.

On Thursday evening I visited the Wokingham night shelter. I thanked the volunteers who are available to help anyone in  need of a bed for the night.

I pointed out that the government is keen to ensure everyone has an option other than sleeping rough and has just announced more cash for our local area and others, as recorded on this site.

I also encouraged the volunteers to help persuade anyone without a bed one night to seek wider help, as often the underlying problem requires assistance from social services and welfare. The state does have many programmes to help people back into work, to help them find and pay for housing and tackle problems of drink and drugs where these are the cause of the difficulties.

Constituents have raised with me the adequacy of the law governing illegal encampments. I have taken this up with government, who are now consulting on how to strengthen the law to prevent such occupation of land.

The consultation is open until March. Those concerned might like to respond, at www.gov.uk/government/consultations/strengthening-police-powers-to-tackle-unauthorised-encampments.

I am glad the government has announced new measures and money to reduce  sleeping on our streets. People should never have to sleep outside, especially when it so cold and wet. West Berkshire Council will receive £69,585 for Homelessness Support next year, and £104,834 to help homelessness prevention.  Wokingham Council will receive £338,056  for Homelessness Support and £65,253 for Homelessness prevention.

These sums are proportionate to the level of rough sleeping we find in our area. It is a much greater problem in parts of London, where for example the Borough of Newham will receive £10.7m under the two headings to deal with their much larger problem. Other London Boroughs also receive several millions each reflecting their higher level of  need.

I look forward to the local Councils adding these sums to their existing housing and social service budgets., Very often the underlying problem for a rough sleeper is wider than the immediate absence of a roof over their heads. It requires help to be offered to deal with addictions or to help  them find work. The policy is for everyone to have the option of a hostel place or temporary accommodation, though of course the authorities cannot make someone take up such an offer. If you do meet someone with no shelter to go to please  tell them that the Council is there with ways to help.

The government is now consulting on its draft local authority finance settlement for 2020-21.

An important part of this is £1bn of additional social care grant, and up to an extra £500m of social care money from increased Council tax.

Both Wokingham and West Berkshire have received poor social care grant settlements in recent years, so I look forward to some of this proposed increase coming our way.

The Government has now published it response to the Loan Charge Review.

It is changing its treatment of pre-December 2010 loans and pre-2016 where full disclosure was made and no HMRC Enquiry launched. The position remains complex and each person involved still needs to sort their affairs out with the Revenue on a case by case basis. I suggest constituents affected should read the detailed Review and response and if necessary take professional advice on it. The Government also clarifies its position on terms and timings of payments, to seek to avoid anyone’s home being at risk.

The link to the Government’s full response is below:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/854490/20191219_Government_response.pdf

The government’s website now publishes the Loan Charge Review and sets out the government reply through Jesse Norman’s response. The government is changing its treatment of pre December 2010 loans and pre 2016 where full disclosure was made and no HMRC Enquiry launched. The position remains complex and each person involved still needs to sort their affairs out with the Revenue on a case by case basis. I suggest constituents affected should read the detailed Review and response and if necessary take professional advice on it. The government also clarifies its position on terms and timings of payments, to seek to avoid anyone’s home being at risk.

The Environment Agency has issued a flood warning for the Swallowfield area. Fortunately their latest posting says they do not expect property flooding.  Their site has details of who to contact if residents become concerned about water levels.

Their floodline is 0345 988 1188

www.flood-warning-information-service.gov.uk

I have written to the Chancellor urging him to publish Sir Amyas Morse’s independent report on the Loan Charge as soon as possible and to suspend the payment deadline of 31 January until a decision on how to proceed is taken.

I have today sent this letter to the Chancellor about the proposed changes to IR35 – a matter of great concern to many of my constituents. I have urged him to start the review immediately before the changes come into effect and potentially become a dampener on enterprise and undermine the self-employed.