Blackpool Against the Cuts

The following message has been recieved from the Blackpool Against the Cuts campaign:

Thank you to those who came to the Blackpool Against Cuts open meeting on 15th April – it was a great success.

Upcoming meetings are as follows:

26th April 2011 at 7pm – Blackpool Against Cuts Committee.

Trades Club, 7 Chadwick Street, Blackpool, Lancashire FY1 5EJ

(meeting moves into full trades council executive and aims to finish by 7.30pm).

2nd May 2011 – Town Centre Demo (details to be confirmed).

Can members note that the Blackpool Against Cuts committee also covers the wider Fylde – any member with ideas for events outside of Blackpool please bring them to one of the upcoming meetings meeting or give them to your local Branch to pass on to us.

Please note that Blackpool Against Cuts has a Facebook page which can be found here.

Impending tax changes on redundancy payments

The following details have been supplied by PCS:

Colleagues have been contacted by members who have heard of the impending tax changes on redundancy payments via the BBC and other media. PCS have been lobbying the civil service and others to oppose this technical adjustment that will mean in practice members who are basic rate tax payers paying higher rates of tax on their redundancy payments and having to claim back the difference. PCS officials cannot give individual financial advice but can encourage members to check their redundancy payments and contact the HMRC on advice about claiming back overpayments where appropriate.

The following paragraphs and attached advice has been received from HMRC in relation to redundancy payments in the civil service:

• Instead of tax code Basic Rate (BR) being operated on all CSCS severance/redundancy payments (20% flat rate tax deduction in excess of the first £30,000), from 6 April Capita are required by the new PAYE regulations to operate tax code 0T (Zero T) Month 1 (on a non-cumulative basis).
• Code 0T Month 1 has the effect of applying not only BR tax of 20%, but for severance/redundancy payments in excess of £32,917 the Higher Rate (HR) of 40% will be applied. In addition, depending on the amount, the Additional Rate (AR) of 50% may also be applied.
• The changes are a result of amendments to the PAYE Regulations and are designed to ensure more taxpayers pay the right amount of tax at the right time.
• Any individuals who initially pay too much tax (for example a Basic Rate taxpayer) will be able to submit a repayment claim immediately by providing details of the payments and the tax paid to HMRC.
• Examples of how this new tax code will work in practice for CSCS severance/redundancy payments, are contained within the attached Executive Summary for illustration purposes.

Injury victims face 'ever tightening screw'

The following details have been supplied by the TUC:

Injured people face an 'ever tightening screw', the head of a top legal body has warned. David Bott, the new president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), told the organisation's annual conference this week that it is 'plain wrong' for injury victims to take a cut of up to 25 per cent of their compensation to meet some legal costs. Commenting on legal reforms introduced by justice secretary Ken Clarke, he told delegates: 'Claimants have not chosen to litigate. They did not arrive at the decision after a cost-benefit analysis. They were injured and rightly expect redress. All that they want, and all that the law can give them, is to get back to where they were before the injury.' He added the government reforms are 'literally adding insult to injury. APIL will work with as many claimant bodies as possible to try to get the voice of injured people, the voice of ordinary people, the voice of the voting public, heard.' When the reforms were announced earlier this month, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'This review has nothing to do with justice, it is simply lining the pockets of insurers at the expense of claimants seeking compensation for injuries caused by the negligence of others. This is yet another attempt to reduce the rights of those at work to secure justice when employers break the law.'

Duncan Smith should apologise for sick 'spin'

The following details have been supplied by the TUC:

Work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith should apologise for his 'outrageous spin' after it was revealed some jobcentre staff had been being forced to stop people's benefits to meet targets, civil service union PCS has said. The union's general secretary, Mark Serwotka, said: 'When this story broke Mr Duncan Smith described it as 'claptrap' and a 'conspiracy', but faced with the overwhelming evidence that these targets are still in place, his department has been forced to backtrack.' Commenting on the cabinet minister's claims to Sky News on Sunday 3 April, the union leader said: 'The secretary of state should issue a full and public apology for what was a piece of outrageous spin when he must have known what was happening. When MPs return from their Easter break, he should also be asked to explain to parliament why he tried to mislead the public in his TV interview. We fundamentally oppose the use of targets for welfare sanctions and we call on the Department for Work and Pensions to put an immediate stop to this abuse of the system.' Following an investigation by the Guardian newspaper, DWP last week backtracked and released a statement confirming the practice had been going on in some offices. It said this was due to a misunderstanding between the department and some jobcentre managers and insisted the practice had now stopped. 'A few weeks ago ministers discovered that their message to be clearer about conditionality had been misinterpreted by a small number of Jobcentre Plus offices who had imposed targets for the number of sanction referrals. These targets were immediately removed,' the statement said. 'We are clear that there is no wrong or right level of how many sanctions an office should make and they should only be made where people have not adhered to their jobseeker obligations. We have already taken rapid steps to reinforce this message to our staff. Ministers would not countenance any target for sanctioning customers.'

DWP Group Elections – Ballot Starts on 20th April 2011

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) Fylde Central Benefits and Services Branch recommends that you vote for the following candidates for officers in the PCS DWP Group Executive Elections 2011:

Group President:
Jane Aitchison


Vice President (5):
Alan Brown, Martin Cavanagh, John McInally, Laura Martin, Katrine Williams


Asst Secretaries (7):
Paul Barton, David Burke, Christine Cuthbert, Sam Hall, Tom Penn, Dave Richards, Rob Williams


Organiser:
Fran Heathcote


Treasurer:
Bashir Chilwan


Journal Editor:
Alan Smith


Committee (21):
Dave Alston, Marie McDonough, Ian Bartholomew, Dave Owens, Alison Carass, Ian Page, Jason Ferraby, Ian Pope, Helen Flanagan, Carol Revell, Jimmy Gill, Sarah Robinson, Janice Godrich, Annette Rochester, Sharon Green, Sian Ruddick, Gavin Hartley, Derek Thomson, Martin Jones, Steve West, Adam Khalif.

Treasurer:
Bashir Chilwan


Journal Editor:
Alan Smith


Committee (21):
Dave Alston, Marie McDonough, Ian Bartholomew, Dave Owens, Alison Carass, Ian Page, Jason Ferraby, Ian Pope, Helen Flanagan, Carol Revell, Jimmy Gill, Sarah Robinson, Janice Godrich, Annette Rochester, Sharon Green, Sian Ruddick, Gavin Hartley, Derek Thomson, Martin Jones, Steve West, Adam Khalif.

Blackpool Against Cuts - Public Meeting

The Blackpool Against Cuts Committee are holding their first Public Meeting, where key speakers will address attendees on the devastating cuts being inflicted upon the Blackpool and Fylde Community by the Con’Dem Government.

Date: 15th April 2011

Time: 7.30pm

Location: St. Kentigern’s Parish Centre, Newton Drive, Blackpool.

 

Confirmed Speakers:

• Gordon Marsden MP
• Councillor Simon Blackburn (Leader of Blackpool Labour Group)
• Matthew Brown (Preston City Council)
• Tyrone Wassell (President of Blackpool & Fylde Student Union for Further Education)
• Steve Holmes (Unison Branch Secretary)
• Others TBC

The venue is licensed and the bar will be available.

Incapacity benefit crackdown begins

The following details have been supplied by the TUC:

Unions and disability groups have warned a nationwide crackdown on incapacity benefit claimants will leave vulnerable people in danger. The one-and-a-half million people who claim incapacity benefit started to receive letters this week requiring them to be tested on their ability to work. The new assessments, which we take place at a rate of 10,000 every week, are part of government plans to reduce the number of long-term claimants in a rolling programme through to 2014. Those deemed unable to work because of sickness or disability will be entitled to the highest rate of employment and support allowance (ESA), and will not be expected to look for work. A middle section - those who have been long-term unemployed but judged capable of doing some form of work - will receive benefits, but be placed in a 'work-related activity group'. The remainder would lose disability-related benefits. Unions and campaigners have warned repeatedly the work capability assessments (WCA) on which decisions are made are rushed and flawed. STUC general secretary Grahame Smith said: 'The government is pushing ahead with plans to subject tens of thousands of people to work capability assessments, a process that is deeply flawed, is operated in draconian fashion and places many thousands of vulnerable people in danger.' These concerns were echoed by disability groups. Richard Hawkes, chief executive of Scope, commented: 'The government's fitness for work test provides no information on the barriers that prevent individuals' moving into work, making it highly likely that they end up on the wrong benefit and unable to access to help they need. The high number of successful appeals against WCA decisions further underlines its inadequacy.'

HSE's no longer all about safety

The following details have been supplied by the TUC:

The Health and Safety Executive is moving away from a dedicated mission seeking 'the prevention of death, injury and ill health to those at work and those affected by work activities' and adopting a new plan that also aims to 'enable innovation that brings economic growth'. In a preamble to its new work plan, HSE chair Judith Hackitt says the changes have been driven by the government's new safety strategy. This has slashed HSE's budget, down from £227.7m in 2009/10 to £198.7m by 2011/12, and demanded a dramatic cutback in inspection activity. The HSE chair notes: 'Change is never easy, but standing still is not an option.' In response to the new government safety strategy, Hackitt says HSE's Delivery Plan for 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 outlines the steps the safety watchdog will take to 'enable innovation that brings economic growth while ensuring that risks are managed properly and proportionately'. The plans are grouped under four main headings: Transforming our approach; Avoiding catastrophe; Clarifying ownership of risk and improving compliance; and Securing justice. Critics say there's plenty of government departments and agencies promoting business innovation and growth, but only one intended to have protecting the life and limb of the workforce as its sole concern.

Hope Not Hate - Big Day of Action

The local Hope Not Hate (HNH) organiser in Burnley has contacted the Branch with news that the BNP is standing seven candidates in their area.

The BNP has announced it will contest wards right across Burnley, including one where the party is defending a seat.

HNH have been working hard over the past few months on the ground in Burnley building a campaign against the BNP in the community. But they need help to make sure they see off the BNP.

Can you help on Saturday 16 April?

They were stopped from winning in the by-election in February, and they can be stopped from winning in the local elections in less than a month’s time.

Join Hope Not Hate at:

St Mark’s Church Hall
Rossendale Road
Burnley BB11 5DQ

People don’t want the BNP dividing their community, bringing its hatred, violence and cruelty to the town. So if you agree, go and help them send the BNP packing once and for all.

You can sign up to show your support here.

PCS opposes unfair, unethical and unacceptable change:

The following details have been supplied by PCS HQ:

Attendance Management Cutback
DWP has decided to impose an Attendance Management policy change, from 11 April 2011, so that managers will have a duty to increase Consideration Points only for disabled employees. This means that increased consideration points for any employees who are not disabled will be withdrawn.

This change is supported by an Equality Impact Assessment, Transitional Arrangements and Complex Case Advisory Service Advice but has been opposed by PCS which has not agreed the change.

PCS will continue to oppose this change in principle and in practice. This change is unfair, unethical and unacceptable and will inevitably bring DWP into disrepute.

It is fundamentally wrong that employees with a health condition will be expected to meet the same 8 day attendance standard as other employees.

Disabled people are exempt from this change.

Post-go live, outcomes will be monitored by DWP to ensure this and to detect any unintended, disproportionate impacts on other diversity groups.

Transitional Arrangements Apply
Non-disabled employees – including those who formerly had access to increased consideration points – will be informed by a general communication that they will be required to meet the 8-days standard from the point of change. A line will be drawn under illnesses formerly accrued against their previous separate consideration point and that consideration point will no longer apply.

Where an employee takes further sick leave, having already accrued sickness absence against the normal 8-days consideration point in the current rolling year, the manager will be required to contact the Complex Case Advisory Service (CCAS) for Advice before deciding an appropriate course of action. As regards warnings, CCAS will advise managers to be tolerant to a level not exceeding the number of days already accrued against the 8-days consideration point.

Openness and Transparency
DWP will publish the Equality Impact Assessment but not the CCAS Advice or Transitional Arrangements. In the interest of transparency PCS will publish all 3 documents.

NEC Elections Ballot - Thursday 14th April

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) Fylde Central Benefits and Services Branch recommends that you vote for the following candidates in the PCS National Executive Committee Elections 2011 (which start on the 14th of April):

President
Janice Godrich

Deputy/Vice Presidents (4 of)
Dave Bean, Sue Bond, Paula Brown, John McInally

NEC General
Ian Albert, Mark Baker, Alan Brown, Eddie Childs, Steve Comer, Alan Dennis, Mike Derbyshire, Mary Ferguson, Cheryl Gedling, Jackie Green, Kevin Greenway, Sam Hall, Joel Heyes, Zita Holbourne, John Jamieson, Emily Kelly, Adam Khalif, Neil License, Marion Lloyd, Dominic McFadden, Kevin McHugh, Lorna Merry, Chris Morrison, Andy Reid, Dave Richards, Glenn Siddall-Butcher, Derek Thomson, Hector Wesley, Paul Williams, Rob Williams.

All Together for the NHS

The Government is imposing huge changes on the NHS. These plans – set out in the Health and Social Care Bill currently going through Parliament – will change our National Health Service beyond recognition.

The speed and scale of these changes is massive. Patients and staff will be the losers. They will mean big cuts in health spending.

Before the election David Cameron said: "I will cut the deficit, not the NHS" yet the cost of this reorganisation could be up to £3 billion. At the same time the government is demanding £20 billion in "efficiency savings" which only ministers believe can be achieved without affecting patients. This is being taken from patient care and leading to job losses (including clinical staff) across the NHS. Waiting times are already on the increase.

• Opening up the NHS to private profit. The Health Bill opens up the prospect of far more NHS services being organised and delivered by private companies. Taxpayers’ money destined for NHS patients will be diverted into shareholder profits.
• NHS patients will be pushed to the back of the queue. The Bill takes the cap off the amount hospitals can earn from private patients – so NHS patients risk being pushed to the back of the queue for care.
• It means competition, not co-operation. The Government wants to run the NHS through competition between different health providers and market forces. Bureaucracy, lawyers and contracts will replace co-operation and joint planning.
• It will create a huge postcode lottery. Under the proposals, the care patients can expect will vary from place to place, increasing costs and health inequalities and hurting vulnerable people the most.
• No-one voted for this: before the election we were told there would be no more top-down reorganisations of the NHS. Now the health service faces the biggest upheaval since its creation – so big that NHS Chief Executive David Nicholson said they could be “seen from space”.
• The NHS is working: Public satisfaction with the NHS is at an all-time high. Doctors, nurses, midwives, support staff, patients groups and more have all spoken out about the dangers of these changes.

All Together for the NHS is a joint campaign co-ordinated by the TUC, bringing together unions and campaigners from across the health sector.

Government to rob injury victims of justice

Government changes to the compensation system will deny thousands of sick and injured workers access to justice, unions and legal experts have warned. Justice Secretary Ken Clarke told the Commons this week that lawyers would no longer be able to claim 'success fees' from the losing side, and should instead receive a share of the damages. 'We are trying to deliver a civil justice system which is more equitable, accessible and just,' Mr Clarke told MPs. The government says it hopes the changes will act as a disincentive to anyone bringing 'spurious cases'. The proposals follow a review carried out by Lord Justice Jackson in 2010 at the request of the previous government. But TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'This review has nothing to do with justice, it is simply lining the pockets of insurers at the expense of claimants seeking compensation for injuries caused by the negligence of others. This is yet another attempt to reduce the rights of those at work to secure justice when employers break the law.' Tom Jones of leading claimant law firm Thompsons said lawyers would turn down more cases as a result of the changes. He added: 'This is the dawn of access to limited justice for the lucky few. Insurers will save tens of millions of pounds whilst injured people who have a valid claim but one that isn't absolutely open and shut, will be unable to find a lawyer able to help them. The lucky ones who can find a lawyer will be hit by deductions from their damages.' And Andrew Tucker, head of personal injury for Irwin Mitchell, said it was 'bleak day for access to justice', adding: 'Our own research shows that just under half of people (47 per cent) would not bring a valid claim for compensation if they thought that they would have to pay some of the legal costs. The proposals favour the defendant over the consumer and are a serious backward step.'