KIRKLEES FUNDING LOSS

KIRKLEES FUNDING LOSS £176m

On three occasions the Nation (not Kirklees) have voted for Austerity, this has given the government the excuse to slash local services to give them chance to cut taxes for their rich friends who have been too lazy to use tax havens to hide their money. This has meant that Kirklees have had our grant cut by £176m.

This cut has not been universal, from day one the Conservatives have fiddled with the grant schemes to help rich Tory Areas. The Kirklees Tories in their usual fashion deny the reality of the situation. Is this because they are lacking in intelligence or are they overawed by deference.

 

  



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



GREAT SCHOOL ROBBERY

GREAT SCHOOL ROBBERY

Three of the Kirklees constituencies feature in the top hundred constituencies who's schools have lost most money in the government shake up of funding. (I am presuming the other constituency is just out of top one hundred)

The worse hit is Huddersfield who are set to loose 13% of their funding with a cut of £668 per pupil, closely followed by Dewsbury who will loose £534 per pupil which is 12% of their funding, Batley and Spen will loose 11%, £510 per pupil.


The good news part of this story is that the money will not go to waste as schools in the Tory Heartlands down South will have a boost in income. Can anyone still be surprised at this callous manipulation of government spending? The only surprise is the number of people who live in the North and still vote Conservative.

TORY HAND OUT TO THE RICH - AGAIN

Brandon Lewis, one of Eric Pickle's protégés, has just handed the Abu Dhabi Investment Council £8.9m in a move that the director of planning at the Conservative-controlled authority the City of Westminster, John Walker, described  as “insane”.

Questions must be asked about this policy. Is "insane" the only description that can be used or should we be looking for other motives?

The policy is the decision to scrap the requirement for developers and speculators to make a contribution to Social Housing (housing that some ordinary people can afford). This has been pushed through even though the departments own estimates (probably on the low side) estimate that £1.9b worth of "affordable" housing will be lost nationwide, all to line the pocket of the "Spivs and Speculators" (to use Vince Cables words).

Among the first beneficiaries of the policy were the developers of a block of luxury Mayfair apartments, including 5,000 sq ft units with cinemas and billiard rooms. The scheme, 20 Grosvenor Square, is backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, and the developers had agreed to donate £17.9m to affordable housing as part of the planning deal, but Lewis’s policy allowed that to be slashed by £9m.

Councils estimated that Lewis’s policy could boost property companies’ profits by hundreds of millions of pounds, while the City of Westminster said it stood to lose £1bn in affordable housing contributions.

Developers condemn housing policy that risks wrecking social mix in London

The Great Tory give-away...Right to Buy/Steal

If the government were to introduce a Right to Buy Scheme for private rented property, and set discounts of up to £75,000 how many people would think that fair? So why do they not object to houses they jointly own through their local authorities being subjected to just such a scheme?

How many people think it fair that someone who has never paid any rent, has had their rent paid by benefits, can now buy the house they were allocated in front of others because they were in greater need at a discount of up to £75,000?

How many people think it right that someone who has never paid a penny in tax in this country can buy the house they were allocated to meet their need can be bought with up to £75,000 discount?

The Tory Government is giving thousands away for rich people to put down a deposit on houses they are purchasing. There is no question of the home owners being expected to fund these discounts, so why should you, through your council?