tax – Page 2 – Notts Save Our Services

Bedroom Tax meeting in the Meadows (10th April) and Council Tax non-payment stall in Hyson Green (13th April)

BEDROOM TAX meeting in the Meadows – Wednesday 10th April, 7.00 pm.

Come to a public meeting in the Meadows to learn more about the Bedroom Tax and in particular how to fight back against it. Starts 7pm at Queen’s Walk Community Centre, NG2 2DF. Download flyer:
Bedroom Tax Flyer – 2 April

More info: http://nottsbedroomtax.wordpress.com/
See also comment about the Nottingham City Council policy by NCC Lols:
Bedroom Tax – When Is a Two-Bedroom Flat not a Two-Bedroom Flat?

See also – bedroom tax demo in Loughborough (photos): http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/5547 and meeting tonight (9th April), details here: http://fridayroom.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/campaign-against-the-bedroom-tax/

DON’T PAY COUNCIL TAX STALL IN HYSON GREEN – Saturday 13th April, 11.00 am.

People responded positively to the ‘Oppose Cuts, Don’t Pay Council Tax’ campaigning stall held at Bulwell on Saturday, 6th. April. Around two hundred leaflets were handed out and there was little dissent.

Many people in Bulwell on low incomes already are not paying Council Tax because they can’t afford it. Some have been summonsed to court for non-payment. (These people should be supported by pickets at the Magistrates’ Courts.)

There is widespread awareness of the incoming bedroom tax and much opposition to it. Some passers-by recalled the successful Anti-Poll Tax Campaign and as a result are seriously considering withholding Council tax payments. (Leaflets were available which spelt out the consequences of not paying.)

This was an encouraging start to the campaign and there will be a follow-up stall at Hyson Green (near the market) at 11.00 on Saturday, 13th. April. Come along and help get some effective opposition to the cuts off the ground.

Contact email: antiausterity@talktalk.net

Council Tax and Bedroom Tax demos/meetings/leafletings

Don’t Pay Council Tax!

Bulwell Market Place, Saturday April 06, 2013. 11.00am

A campaiging stall at Bulwell Market Place to urge people not to pay Council Tax as a protest against cuts in local services, bedroom tax, council tax benefit cuts, etc. Already thousands of people on low incomes in Nottingham are not paying Council Tax.

Contact email: antiausterity@talktalk.net

Bedroom Tax: Leafleting the Meadows and Meadows Meeting

On Sunday 7th April the Notts Campaign Against the Bedroom Tax will be leafleting homes in the Meadows to which the Bedroom Tax may apply. The leaflets, maps and other details are all in hand and we already have 10 volunteers. If YOU would like to join us to do something about the evil Bedroom Tax meet in the parking lot of Queens Walk Community Centre (Queens Walk, The Meadows, Nottingham, NG2 2DF) at 2pm. It will probably last a couple of hours and will go ahead whatever the weather.

Meadows Public Meeting – Wednesday 10th April.
Come to a public meeting in the Meadows to learn more about the Bedroom Tax and in particular how to fight back against it. Starts 7pm at Queen’s Walk Community Centre, NG2 2DF. Download flyer:
Bedroom Tax Flyer – 2 April

More info: http://nottsbedroomtax.wordpress.com/

Council Tax Benefits information meetings in Nottingham – Every 2 weeks starting Thursday March 21, 7pm – International Community Centre

Unable to pay your Council Tax Bill?
Worried about getting into council tax debt?
Want to build solidarity with other claimants to fight these cuts?

CTB Information Meetings
information, support, campaign
Every 2 weeks starting Thursday March 21, 7pm

Download flyer, or read on.

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefit Campaign is running regular sessions in the city centre from Thursday 21 March to monitor the impact of Council Tax Benefit cuts, provide information to people who may not be able to pay their bills and invite them to join the campaign.

The Government has scrapped the national Council Tax Benefit scheme and from 1st April this year local councils have to start their own scheme with less money. Under Nottingham City’s new Council Tax Support Scheme, council tax benefit is being cut by 8.5% for all working age claimants and from April 2014, Nottingham City Council proposes a cut of 20%.

Council tax bills are arriving on peoples’ doorsteps this month causing anger, anxiety and distress as many claimants already on the breadline are being asked to pay amounts they can’t afford. The cuts affect people on low incomes, in part time work, unemployed or unable to work because of sickness (pensioners are not affected at the present time)
This is not an individual problem for claimants, we need to build solidarity to support people who can’t pay and build a campaign to fight these cuts.

The sessions are:

7pm Thursday 21 March and every alternate Thursday
International Community Centre
Mansfield Road
Nottingham

For more information (and to check re holidays etc.) contact Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefits Campaign on 07505 135 807 or defendcounciltaxbenefits [at] yahoo.co.uk, http://defendcounciltaxbenefits.blogspot.co.uk/ , http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/450355785005204/, https://twitter.com/defendbenefits tweet us defendbenefits

Burton blockade against workfare – Saturday, 23rd March 2013, 2.00pm

Nottingham against Workfare have announced a local action during the Boycott Workfare week of action.

Saturday, March 23, 2013. 2:00pm until 5:30pm.
Burton Mens Clothing, 11-13 Beast Market Hill, Nottingham NG1 6FB

NaW say,

As part of the workfare week of action
http://www.facebook.com/events/517491058274105/ Nottingham against workfare will be taken action against Workfare scummers Burton’s. Part of the Arcadia group notoriuous for their tax doging way, Burtons have been using those forced into workfare to stack their shelves and clean their floors for quite some time without ever paying them. We plan to close down their shop amd let them know how disgusted we are with them and others like them who continue to abuse the working class.

Facebook event page for Burton blockade: http://www.facebook.com/events/341132549339550/

NaW facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/nott.workfare

Background to the week of action

Workfare Can Be Broken – Join the Week of Action on 18-24 March and help make it happen

The Government is pushing ahead with increasingly savage workfare policies despite the fierce resistance to the scheme causing many high street names and national charities to pull out.

Unemployed people can now be sentenced to six months compulsory unpaid work as part of the Community Action Programme. On December 3rd last year – International Disabled People’s Day – the DWP introduced forced work for sick and disable…d claimants.

Companies such as Superdrug, Argos and McDonalds, who have all been quick to take on unpaid workers on government schemes, have seen a year of boycotts, pickets, demonstrations and occupations due to their involvement in the scheme. Many national charities have pulled out as a result of protests, but some, such as The Conservation Volunteers (TCV), Salvation Army and Sue Ryder Foundation are unrepentent about their army of government subsidised unpaid workers. Many of the new workfare programmes depend on charities like these to provide placements.

Workfare can be broken by showing these organisations that the public have clearly rejected unpaid work. Evidence has shown that mandatory work has no impact in actually helping someone find a job, the stated aim of the scheme. Instead workfare is used to replace real jobs, with some companies even caught taking on unpaid workers to fill temporary Christmas positions.

Join Boycott Workfare on 18-24 March for a week of action against workfare exploiters everywhere. Take action in a town or city near you, join in online and show all those who profit from forced labour that we mean it when we say “if you exploit us, we will shut you down”.

Nottingham Anonymous anti-cuts action on 23/2/2013

Brief report from a participant on the Nottingham Anonymous anti-cuts action yesterday:

Up to one hundred demonstrators assembled in Old Market Square and proceeded to blockade tax-dodging firms such as Starbucks, Vodafone, banks, etc. People passing by responded very positively. Some joined in the fun. The police followed the demo around but kept a low profile. The mainly young people participating were very lively and positive. Anonymous are to be congratulated for organising this direct action.

Update: longer report and more photos: http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/5393

Another photo on Notts Indymedia, outside NatWest: http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/tumbles/5379

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefits Campaign – JOIN THE LOBBY ON MONDAY 28TH JANUARY AT 1.00PM OUTSIDE THE COUNCIL HOUSE

Heed your own warning on “chaos” of Council Tax Benefit changes: Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefit Campaign urges Nottingham City Council

The campaign group have written to the Council asking them to take seriously their own criticism of their latest proposals for a Council Tax Benefit Support Scheme for 2013/14. Instead of going ahead with an 8.5% cut to all Council Tax Benefit recipients of working age, they say the Council should delay passing on the cuts. The Council are permitted to pass a scheme with zero cuts to Council Tax Benefit for 2013/14 and still be entitled to transitional funding. If they did this, they would have a year to build a campaign with local residents and other groups across the country to demand a sustainable and fair alternative and prevent the introduction of a minimum 20% cuts in 2014/15.

JOIN THE LOBBY ON MONDAY 28TH JANUARY AT 1.00PM OUTSIDE THE COUNCIL HOUSE

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
Defend Council Tax Benefits Campaign
http://defendcounciltaxbenefits.blogspot.co.uk/

Read the letter to Nottingham City Council. Council letter Jan 13

Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefit Campaign – Press Release

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Campaign Group urges Nottingham City Council to heed its own warning on Council Tax Benefit changes

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefit Campaign [1] have written to Nottingham City Council asking them to take seriously their own criticism of their latest proposals for a Council Tax Benefit Support Scheme [2] for 2013/14 , and buy time and fight with local residents for a sustainable and fair alternative.

In their letter, the group say the new proposals are unsustainable, as they do not provide a long term solution to the funding crisis with Government free to keep cutting funds regardless of need. They quote Nottingham City Council Leader Jon Collins predicting “chaos”[3] in trying to collect the money from benefit recipients. They point out that, under transitional funding rules, Nottingham City Council had the option not to pass on the cut to Council Tax Benefit, but have chosen to ask for the maximum amount of 8.5%. They also say that removing empty property council tax discounts and exemptions to part fund the scheme would be unfair and could penalise carers and other groups.

“These new proposals represent a shift away from a Council Tax Benefit scheme based on people’s real needs. A cut of 8.5% in your Council Tax benefit may look better than a cut of 20%, but it will still cause hardship and debt for people who have no money left at the end of the month, and will do nothing to prevent much bigger cuts in future years. We call on Nottingham City Council not to pass on these cuts to the poorest and most vulnerable people in Nottingham” – Chris Jackson, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefits.

Contacts

Cathy Meadows: 07913476905

Email: defendcounciltaxbenefits[at]yahoo.co.uk

Ends

Notes: 1. Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefits Campaign is opposed to the proposed abolition of the Council Tax Benefit Scheme and its replacement by local Council Tax Schemes; campaigns for councils to refuse to pass on the cuts to its local community; supports those who are unable to pay their council tax due to the proposed changes; and calls on councils not to pursue those who are unable to pay their Council tax due to the council’s changes. Contact information below.

2. The current national Council Tax Benefit (CTB) scheme is being abolished under the Welfare Reform Act. All councils in England must bring in their own Council Tax Support scheme from April 2013, with less funding. In October, the government announced transitional funding for councils on condition that anyone previously entitled to full CTB will now receive at least 91.5%. On Dec 18, Nottingham City Council agreed to apply for Transitional Funding of £775,000, and changed its CTB Support Scheme accordingly:

· Putting a maximum limit on the amount of council tax support that could be paid to all working age people, so that working age households who got 100% help with their Council Tax bills now could receive a maximum of 91.5% help in 2013/14
· All working age households would pay at least 8.5% of their Council Tax bill in 2013/14
· No sharp reduction in support for those entering work. The following additional elements were recommended and included, following
· Consideration of the findings of our formal consultation exercise:
· Removal of Second Adult Rebate
· Retaining backdating
· Setting a minimum award level of 50p

3. http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Council-leader-warns-council-tax-court-chaos-cuts/story-17627391-detail/story.html”>http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Council-leader-warns-council-tax-court-chaos-cuts/story-17627391-detail/story.html

Defend Council Tax Benefit – Lobby and Rally in Nottingham – 18th December 2012, 12.30pm and 5.30pm

DEFEND COUNCIL TAX BENEFIT LOBBY AND RALLY, TUESDAY 18 DECEMBER 2012, Nottingham City.

FIGHT FOR A FULLY FUNDED SCHEME BASED ON NEED

Lobby: Loxley House, Station Street 12.30pm.

Rally: Nottingham Market Square 5.30pm.

Organised by Notts Defend Council Tax Benefit Campaign
defendcounciltaxbenefits@yahoo.co.uk or http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/450355785005204/
https://twitter.com/defendbenefits (tweet us @defendbenefits).

See also

* Nottingham City Council pay freeze battle: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Pay-freeze-battle-just-starting-council-warned/story-17594444-detail/story.html
* Elderly and families to feel the pinch as Nottingham City Council makes £25m savings: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Pay-freeze-battle-just-starting-council-warned/story-17594444-detail/story.html

A note about Council Tax Benefit ‘Consultations’ in Nottingham

As noted by NCC Lols Friday, 2 November 2012.

NCC’s consultation exercise on its replacement for Council Tax Benefit is now over. As such, they now deem it safe to respond to the questions I asked at the consultation event I went to in Bulwell, as I can no longer use the info to come up with clever-arsed objections to their ideas.

Full story: http://ncclols.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/better-late-than-never-not-much.html

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefit Campaign

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefit Campaign’s
have responded to Nottingham City Council’s and Bassetlaw District
Council’s local council tax scheme consultations.

They have condemned the proposals which include 20% cuts or more for
many council tax claimants, an end to backdating, and a lowering of
savings limits.

They also say the proposals are unworkable, too costly to run and
divisive because they are separating claimants, who are already
identified as in need under the current scheme, into the deserving and
non-deserving.

The campaign group, who have researched the proposed changes, explain
their objections in detail in a letter and say that if local councils
do not fight to retain the existing scheme, it is likely that the
government will cut the budget further. The group have offered to
fight alongside the Council if they are prepared to fight to retain
the existing Council Tax Benefit scheme.

To get involved or contact the campaign:

Email defendcounciltaxbenefits@yahoo.co.uk
Phone/text 07521 569 622

See consultation letters in Word and PDF:

Consultation letter Nottingham City Council [Word format]
Consultation letter Bassetlaw [Word]

Consultation letter Nottingham City Council [PDF]
Consultation letter Bassetlaw [PDF]