Tag: city

Notts Uncut (Part of UK Uncut) event in Nottingham on Saturday 21st March at 1pm, plus a Budget Day protest on the 18th.

*** Visit Notts SOS Facebook page for these and many other events: https://www.facebook.com/groups/129772307075242

ACTION CALL OUT: The Great British Tax Robbery: CITIZENS’ ARREST Notts Uncut (Part of UK Uncut) event When? Saturday, March 21 at 1:00pm Where? Boots at The Victoria Centre in Nottingham Details? on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/350093095186852/

Twitter hashtag for other UK Uncut events: #taxdodgingistheft

“Election season is upon us. For the past four years we’ve been fighting the coalition government’s savage public sector cuts and exposing their lies and hypocrisy. Labour and the coalition promise more cuts to come. Lets come together on Saturday the 21st March for a national day of action to send a clear message to the political parties: reverse the cuts!

The government told us they’d “protect the poorest and most vulnerable”. They said “those with the broadest shoulders will bear the brunt of the cuts”. And what have we seen? Dismantling the NHS and wrecking the welfare state. Cutting schools, youth clubs, sure start centres, domestic violence refuges and libraries. Slashing local council budgets. Attacking disabled people with inhumane ‘work capability assessments’ and cuts to vital benefits. Removing access to justice through legal aid cuts. Allowing the big six energy companies to push people into fuel poverty. Cutting jobs, wages and pensions. Selling off social housing and moving people away from their communities. Driving hundreds of thousands into food banks and making families choose between heating or eating.

Angry? Join us on Saturday 21st March on the trail of one of the most obvious crimes of all time: the Great British Tax Robbery. We’re targeting the governments’ favourite tax-dodging bank, HSBC. David Cameron says we can’t afford funding for the welfare state. But the deepest and most brutal cuts to our vital public services have been enacted whilst big banks like HSBC who caused the financial crash pocket billions in tax avoidance and help other companies to do the same.

George Osborne thinks it’s “not his job” to clean up corrupt tax-dodgers. So it’s up to us to show HSBC for what it really is: a crime scene. On Saturday 21st let’s send a clear message to the government and HSBC that what they’ve done is CRIMINAL.

Dress as your detective of choice or as a tax-dodging robber with a bag full of public service swag. We’ll turn our local HSBC into an ‘active crime scene’, cordon off the area, take ‘witness statements’ from passers-by and get set to expose the crimes against our public services.
The government talks about ‘benefits scroungers’, but we all know who’s really scrounging off the state. It’s time to bring the REAL CRIMINALS to JUSTICE.

Lets come together on the 21st and take a stand against austerity.

See you on the streets!

An organising meeting will be posted shortly!”

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Also: Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 05:00 PM at Brian Clough Statue in Nottingham a Budget Day protest will take place organised by People’s Assembly using a ‘pots and pans protest’. Part of a national day of action.

“On Wednesday 18 March George Osborne will publish his final budget before the general election and we’re sure it will be full of tax breaks for his friends in big business, banks and hedge funds. But will he mention food banks, poverty and the housing crisis? Join us after work at the Brian Clough statue with your pots and pans and drums!

By all accounts it will be savage. £12 billion cuts to the welfare budget at least, according to the papers. A budget designed to pour heap on the poorest, and to buy votes in the weeks before an election. With a Labour party unwilling to speak out we need protest to voice opposition and make this the final austerity budget.

With less than 2 months to go before the election it’s vital that we protest austerity, otherwise the parties will continue it regardless of the winner. Join us on Wednesday with your pots and pans, and get involved in the protest against austerity!

Nottingham People’s Assembly
http://www.nottspeoplesassembly.org/

People’s March for the NHS – in Nottingham again on Saturday March 28th, 2015

People’s March for the NHS will visit Nottingham again on Saturday March 28th. The start time is 11am at The Forest Recreation Ground, Gregory Boulevard, NG7 6HB Nottingham. A march will then leave Forest Recreation Ground to Speaker’s Corner (next to Brian Clough statue, Market Square Nottingham) for a rally at 12.30pm. The march is organised by ‘People’s Vote for the NHS’ which is aiming to get Labour back in power to ‘save’ the NHS.
See also event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/936262406398523/

Analysis on the NHS policy of the main parties can be examined here:
http://election.kingsfund.org.uk/

A socialist left viewpoint on ‘are Labour and Tories the same’ with an eye on elections is here: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/01/labour-and-tories-aren-t-same-so-why-do-voters-still-think-they-are

One personal viewpoint on Labour’s NHS record local to Nottingham can be found here in the Notts SOS blog from October 16, 2010: https://nottssos.org.uk/2010/10/16/get-involved-with-notts-sos-%E2%80%93-appeal-from-a-nottingham-city-nhs-worker/

Another view on the cuts and NHS with local relevance, this time from the Anarchist Federation, Nottingham local group, is the anti-cuts leaflet, published shortly after the last General Election, to be found here [PDF leaflet] http://www.afed.org.uk/nottingham/af_anti_cuts_leaflet_sept_2010.pdf

Nottingham City Council budget cuts protest rally on Monday 9th March 2015, 1pm

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate release
Scrap the Bedroom Tax Defend Council Tax Benefit Nottingham: Cathy Meadows 07913476905

Local Group rallies against Nottingham City Council budget cuts in Nottingham Market Square on Monday 9 March 1pm

A campaign group is rallying outside Nottingham City Council’s budget meeting at the Council House at 1pm on Monday 9 March. The group want to protest against :

  • proposed increase to council tax
  • cuts to advice services
  • unspecified cuts to leisure services which could mean cuts to library services including shorter opening hours, fewer staff and increased for computer use at libraries
  • lack of detail in budget proposals during the consultation period (see above)
  • failure of the City Council to publicise Bedroom Tax refund available to all social housing tenants in the City who were overcharged under to the Consequential Provision Regulations (CPR) 2006.

The group which campaigns against the bedroom tax and cuts to council tax benefit say that people hit by the bedroom tax and those receiving council tax support are having to use money meant for food, fuel and bills to try and make up shortfalls in council tax benefit and housing benefit – This is causing extreme hardship, debt and stress made worse by the threat of pursuit by Nottingham City Council . On top of that services which support people with debt, and court cases are being cut.

See also: https://nottssos.org.uk/2015/02/21/nottingham-council-cuts-consultations-what-will-it-mean/

Nottingham Council cuts consultations – what will it mean?

budget-moneyIf you’ve not already seen the dire projection for the Nottingham City 2015/16 budget see this Council page:
http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/yourcityyourservices
Similar stories are being told in Nottinghamshire County, and in Derby and Leicester.

The question is what can be done? One thing we can see clearly is we now have Labour Councils in the City and County in Notts both poised to make ordinary people pay for the so-called economic crisis and ‘deficit’ through imposed ‘austerity’. All we are being asked to do is help them choose what to cut, or to increase cost to users, so there will inevitably be ‘winners’ and ‘losers’, while the big bad central Libdem-Tory coalition government is blamed. Clearly the councils are lobbying hard for more money, even to the extent mounting an East Midlands-wide campaign to highlight existing serious problems of deprivation.

Since the broad-based group that launched Notts SOS and this website (and the regular newsletters) is no longer operating, we have a fragmented set of left-wing currents in Notts who believe, for the most part, that the best way to effect a change is through the ballot box, either the Labour Party (and Green Party) supporting ‘People’s Assembly’ or the TUSC and Left Unity coalitions who are standing candidates in the General Election. There is an overlap between TUSC and the Bedroom Tax campaign that has challenged the City Council over its implementation of this (hopefully soon to be doomed) very nasty public housing policy. PA have also opposed bedroom tax evictions, notably that of Tom Crawford. and were also delighted by Notts County Council’s vote to support a ‘Jarrow March’ last year for the NHS, going through the North of the county (berating the ‘no’ votes from coalition councillors). Others have been picking up the pieces of the cuts by running Food Banks, such as the NG7 one at the Sumac Centre (which recently stopped operating).

So what’s next if (and almost certainly when) most of these cuts or cost increases are enacted? Will getting tied up in the General Election publicity show be any use? It really seems a broad campaign without the baggage of party politics is needed more than ever in our region, to oppose austerity from the grassroots and to increase the use of direct action.

—
Here is a list of threatened services in Nottingham City, from the consultation website (most with a view to increase costs to individuals who use them, plus job 240 cuts and a council tax increase of 1.95%):
– Reviewing charges for Adult Social Care – Introducing an average contribution of £20 a week for around 250 citizens receiving Care, Support and Enablement services
– Increasing Fees and Charges Review of charges for Adult Social Care Proposals: Day Care from £5 to £12 per day, transport to Day Centres from £5 to £8 per return journey, Jack Dawe from £17.50 to £22.50 per hour
– Reducing case management capacity in the Youth Offending Team
– Removing vacant posts in Youth Provision
– Reviewing Sports and Culture fees and charges
– Increasing cost of school meals from £1.75 to £1.80 per meal
– Changing day centre and residential care provision
– Children’s Centres – Expanding opportunities for schools to use children centre buildings, while maintaining Children’s Centre services to the community

Scrap the Bedroom Tax – Press Release about City Council protest on 13-Nov-2014

PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate release

Scrap the Bedroom Tax Defend Council Tax Benefit Nottingham: Cathy Meadows 07913476905

Protesters rally to demand Nottingham City Council refund bedroom tax tenants.

Tenants and supporters are protesting outside Loxley House at 1pm today because Nottingham City Council have:

– Ignored tenants who have tried to claim bedroom tax refunds (under CPR 2006 or 1996 loophole[i])
– Paid money to landlords which should have been refunded to tenants.
– Delayed investigating tenants’ exemptions and requests for refunds.

One tenant who was exempt but paid bedroom tax for nearly a year has been trying to claim a refund since June and has still not received it. Nottingham City Council paid the refund to Nottingham Community Housing Association but neither the Council nor the Housing Association will hand over the money. Another tenant had to write three letters to the Council between August and October before the Council would investigate whether they were exempt (which they were).

Because council housing benefit records do not go back far enough, the Council asked Social Landlords and City Homes to provide lists of tenants who could be exempt. These investigations ended in May 2014[ii] – but tenants who were exempt were left off these lists. Even though the Council have known since June 2014 that exempt tenants were left off the lists, they refuse to meet with campaigners and say they will not do anything else to try and identify tenants wrongly charged.

Protesters are demanding that the Council:

– Immediately refund all tenants known to be exempt.

– Respond promptly and properly to all enquiries about exemptions.

– Write personally to all bedroom tax tenants of 2013/14 whose claims go back further than the Council records, to inform them about the exemption.

– Publicise the exemption in the local press.

– Provide information, posters and leaflets about the exemption to all advice centres, job centres and community groups etc.

– Launch an independent investigation into why tenants have been left off lists and why the Council didn’t take further action.

– Launch an independent investigation into why the Council have paid money which should have been refunded to tenants, to landlords.

Ends

Notes for Editors

[i]The CPR 2006 was identified in December 2013. It affects working age tenants in social housing who have occupied the same home continuously (or have been forced to move) and have been claiming Housing Benefit since 1996.

[ii] Letter to campaign from David Liversidge, June 2014

Bedroom Tax Protest at Nottingham Crown & County Court – Thursday 21st November 2013 – 1pm

Stop Bedroom Tax Evictions – Nottingham Court Protest

Nottingham Crown and County Court
Opposite Broadmarsh Bus Station
Thursday 21 November
1 pm – 1.45 pm

On Thursday 21 November, the court hearing will decide whether to grant a possession order* (see over) to Bedroom Tax tenants – paving the way for evicting some of the most vulnerable people in Nottingham

Our campaign has repeatedly asked Nottingham City Council to follow the example of Broxtowe Borough Council and agree not to evict tenants in arrears because of the Bedroom Tax. The city council has refused to do this and have now made a claim for possession against some tenants in Bedroom Tax arrears.

We need to show Nottingham City Council that the people of Nottingham are against Bedroom Tax evictions

Your presence is important. Come along and show your support.

Download flyer: https://nottssos.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/dctbc-11.pdf

Contacts: Find out more about the campaign
Phone: 07521569622 / 0791 347 6905
Email: defendcounciltaxbenefits [at] yahoo.co.uk
Web: http://defendcounciltaxbenefits.blogspot.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333226320103342/

Local group lobby Nottingham City Council in Clifton to refuse Bedroom Tax evictions

For Immediate Release – 30/9/2013

Contacts:
Cathy Meadows: 07913476905
Email defendcounciltaxbenefits [at] yahoo.co.uk

Local group declare evictions prevention protocol ineffective and lobby Nottingham City Council in Clifton to refuse Bedroom Tax evictions

Nottingham Defend Council Tax Benefits Campaign are lobbying Nottingham City Council to publicly announce that they will not evict people because of Bedroom Tax arrears and that a recent Nottingham Bedroom Tax Eviction Protocol[i] cannot prevent Bedroom Tax evictions.

The group have responded to the Evictions Ptrevention Protocol but they have not had a response from Nottingham City Council. Notices Seeking Possession have been sent by Nottingham City Council to residents in Clifton and St Anns.

The Lobby will be held at Clifton Cornerstone on Friday 4 October at 10.30am.

Ends
[i] The Eviction Prevention Protocol was signed by Nottingham City Council, Nottingham City Homes, Nottingham Community Housing Association and ASRA Housing Group on 14 September 2013.

Previous release on 23/9/2013: https://nottssos.org.uk/2013/09/30/nottingham-bedroom-tax-eviction-prevention-protocol-does-not-prevent-evictions-but-shifts-blame-onto-the-tenant-press-release/

Council Tax Don’t Pay campaign meeting on Wednesday, 14th August 2013 at Sumac Centre, Nottingham + reports

Here are some reports of the court appearance of Council Tax protestor Ross Longhurst:


http://www.nottinghampost.com/Pensioner-told-pay-council-tax-protest/story-19634230-detail/story.html

http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/5876

http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/other_medias/5880

Also see this report on rent arrears brought about by the Bedroom Tax:

http://www.nottinghampost.com/Bedroom-tax-blamed-council-house-arrears-hit-2m/story-19641981-detail/story.html

There is a rising tide of mass resentment against the Government’s austerity programme.

To take the Council Tax Don’t Pay campaign further, come to the meeting at 19.30 on Wednesday, 14th. August at the Sumac Centre, 245 Gladstone Street, Forest Fields, Nottingham.

CAN’T PAY, WON’T PAY! CANCEL YOUR COUNCIL TAX PAYMENTS TODAY!

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Background from the ANTI-AUSTERITY ACTION campaign:

DON’T PAY COUNCIL TAX, SUPPORT COUNCIL TAX PROTESTOR!

Thousands of people in Nottingham are not paying the Council Tax because they can’t afford it. The policies of the Coalition Government are forcing millions of people into poverty. The cuts in vital local services imposed by Labour-controlled Nottingham City Council are making worse the problems faced by people on low incomes.

CAN’T PAY, WON’T PAY!

* Falling incomes, rising prices

* Bedroom Tax, Council Tax Benefit cuts, welfare benefit cuts

* Rising Council Tax, cuts in local services

It was rich bankers who created this economic mess but ordinary people are being forced to pay.

Now is the time for us to hit back at the politicians who serve the rich.

CANCEL YOUR COUNCIL TAX PAYMENTS TODAY!

ANTI-AUSTERITY ACTION
Contact: antiausterity@talktalk.net

No Bedroom Tax evictions in Nottingham! Lobby Monday 8th July 1pm Nottingham Council House

No Bedroom Tax evictions in Nottingham!

Lobby Monday 8th July 1pm Nottingham Council House – organised by Notts Defend Council Tax Benefits Campaign.

Nine UK councils (including Broxtowe Borough) have said they will not evict people who cannot pay their rent because of the Bedroom Tax – We can get Nottingham City Council to do the same.

Under the “Under Occupancy Charge” (Bedroom Tax), the government is taking 14% or 25% off peoples’ Housing Benefit if they live in social housing (council or housing association) and have one or more “spare” bedrooms.

* The Bedroom Tax unfairly hits people with disabilities, carers, parents with part-time custody and young people who are forced to share bedrooms.

* The Bedroom Tax is a cut in Housing Benefit, which is claimed by some of the poorest in the community including part time workers, low waged and people unable to work because of their health or disability.

* It does nothing to help those who claim Housing Benefit because they are out of work, or because they are so poorly paid that they need to claim help with housing costs.

* It will not bring down the Housing Benefit bill which is big because of high rents – mainly in the private sector but now social landlords can charge 80% of the market rate.

* Even if people are able and willing to downsize, according to the Evening Post there are only 35 one bedroom properties available in Nottingham for the 6,000 people affected by the Bedroom Tax to move into. Social housing is in short supply because of a lack of investment by the government over many years.

Whilst the Bedroom Tax is a national scheme, local councils have to implement it. Nottingham City Council say they are not in favour of the scheme. We believe the only way to stop the scheme is to fight it. If all Councils against the scheme take the following action, it will force the government to re-think the Bedroom Tax:

· Refuse to evict people who can’t pay their rent because of the Bedroom Tax. The process of evicting someone from their home is long, complex, expensive (it costs £6,000 per household) and extremely stressful.

· Rather than using resources in this way, we say Nottingham City Council should use its reserves to build a campaign in Nottingham to pressurise the government to scrap the Bedroom Tax. We believe this campaign would be supported by the majority of people in Nottingham – many of whom are unaware of the changes.

· Nottingham City Council should also redesignate properties as having fewer bedrooms to limit the effects of the Bedroom Tax

· Use its influence on the boards of many housing associations to prevent them from evicting people because of the Bedroom Tax

At the Council meeting on Monday July 8, the council will be discussing how they will be implementing the Bedroom Tax.

Lobby Nottingham City Council on July 8!

For more information please contact Notts Defend Council Tax Benefits Campaign: Defendcounciltaxbenefits [at] yahoo.co.uk

Telephone 07505 135 807 / 0791 347 6905

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