Office Space enquiries jump 800% after Boris Johnson’s announcement

JUSTICE for people injured by off road vehicles is to be sacrificed in the name of Brexit, lawyers have warned. Sam Elsby, President of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyer (APIL) said:- "The Government's decision not to adopt an EU rule that would ensure much needed compensation for people injured by off road vehicles is illogical and inexcusable. Brexit and the promise of insurance premium savings have been used as an excuse once again for dismissing the needs of injured people."

The EU ruling, which has been scrapped this week, requires compulsory insurance for vehicles used on private land. This would include vehicles like tractors, quad bikes, and off road motorcycles.  Mr Elsby added:- "These vehicles can cause serious injuries, or worse, and their drivers must be insured to use them. Paying insurance premiums is both an incentive to drive safely, and a way to ensure injured people can receive proper compensation to help put their lives back on track. A driver is still responsible if his vehicle causes a serious injury and paralyses someone for life whether the driver is on or off the road. If someone is paralysed and left unable to walk, go back to work, or take care of himself, who is going to take care of him if there is no insurance? His medical care for the rest of his life will have to be covered by the already hard pressed NHS. Negligent drivers, regardless of the vehicle, must be held accountable when they maim someone. Just because someone is injured by an off road vehicle does not mean they should not be entitled to the same compensation as someone injured on a public road."

A multibillion pound fund to level up opportunities is being extended so that people in every Region and nation of the UK can benefit, it was announced today. Taking this UK wide approach makes sure that the UK Government can target funding more efficiently and responsibly between different parts of the country.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Barclay, said that communities, in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will now all benefit from at least ₤800 million of investment by the UK Government for town centre and high street regeneration, local transport, cultural and heritage projects.

The Levelling Up Fund, which was announced at the Spending Review, will invest in local infrastructure that has a visible impact on people and their communities. It will run from:- 2021/22 to 2024/25, and drive regeneration in places in need, those facing particular challenges, and areas that have received less Government investment in recent years. Because such places exist across the UK; including in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; this support is being extended across the whole of the United Kingdom.

The initial ₤4 billion will now be made ₤4.8 billion as the scheme becomes UK-wide. Making the Levelling Up Fund UK-wide will enable the Government to provide the same support to communities in all parts of the UK as we build back better from Covid.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Steve Barclay, said:- "We are committed to levelling up opportunities right across the United Kingdom so that all communities can benefit from our future prosperity. Our levelling up fund will back local projects to improve everyday life for millions of people and we look forward to working with all areas to boost local economies. By extending the levelling up fund to be UK wide, we are ensuring that no community in the United Kingdom is left behind."

All parts of the UK have benefited from the UK Government's ₤280 billion economic support package which has protected millions of jobs throughout the Pandemic through the furlough scheme, self employed support and generous business loans. The response to the Pandemic has shown that the UK Government has successfully saved jobs and protected people throughout the UK.

Making the Levelling Up Fund UK wide will enable the Government to provide the same support to communities in all parts of the UK as we build back better from Covid and to take a strategic approach across the whole of the UK, allocating funding in all parts of the country irrespective of administrative borders. Along with the Government's plans for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the Levelling Up Fund will ensure a package of UK Government support which invests in skills, infrastructure and innovation at local, Regional and national levels.

Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack, said:- "The new UK Levelling Up Fund is a fantastic example of the UK Government delivering for people in Scotland. It will provide a boost to communities right across Scotland as we set out to Build Back Better from the Covid Pandemic. This fund will allow us to directly invest in capital projects in Scotland. I look forward to working on the delivery of the fund in Scotland and with local authorities, who know best what their communities really need. The new UK Levelling Up Fund is just one way the UK Government is investing in Scottish jobs and Scotland's future prosperity. We are driving a package of measures to level up opportunity across all parts of the UK, including City and Region Growth Deals, Freeports, the Union Connectivity Review, and preparing for a new UK Shared Prosperity Fund."

Northern Ireland Secretary, Brandon Lewis, said:- "We are determined to build back better from the Pandemic across the whole of the UK. The Levelling Up Fund will allow the UK Government to invest further in skills, infrastructure and innovation in Northern Ireland. This funding will ensure that local projects can be delivered for local people to boost high street regeneration, improve local transport links and support cultural and heritage projects across Northern Ireland."

Welsh Secretary, Simon Hart, said:- "This represents a significant investment in Wales and is testament to our determination to level up the whole of the UK. The UK Government has supported hundreds of thousands of people and businesses in Wales through the Pandemic. As we begin our programme to build back better we will target investment where it is needed most, directly benefitting communities across Wales."

 

MERSEYSIDE Police will recruit an extra 160 Police Officers in the year ahead, taking their contingent to more than 4,100 for the 1st time since 2011, it was confirmed at a special public budget meeting. Merseyside Police's Commissioner, Jane Kennedy, and Chief Constable, Andy Cooke QPM, approved the budget for the year ahead at the meeting at Mather Avenue Police Academy, on Tuesday, 23 February 2021. The Commissioner's proposals to balance the budget were agreed and Merseyside Police will now continue with a planned recruitment drive over the next 12 months. The plans were supported by the public following a 3 week consultation and approved by the Region's Police and Crime Panel earlier this month. After a decade of Government cuts which reduced the number of Officers in the Force by nearly a quarter, this year's recruitment drive will increase Officer numbers to 4,127; the highest number of Officers since 2011. With their budget plans for 2021/22 approved by the public and the Panel, the Commissioner and Chief Constable have set the stage for the next phase of the recruitment process.

Jane said:- "The Chief Constable and I know that the public of Merseyside want more Police Officers on their streets, so I am delighted to confirm today that Merseyside Police will be in a position to rebuild Officer numbers during the year ahead and continue the process of getting the Force back to its former strength, after a decade of austerity. This is the last time Andy and I will sit down to set the budget for Merseyside Police, as we will both be leaving our roles in the months ahead, and it gives me great satisfaction knowing that we leave the force in a much stronger position for the next Police and Crime Commissioner and the new Chief Constable. For the f1st time in a decade; before I even came into post in fact; Merseyside Police will have more than 4,000 Officers in its ranks, preventing crime, protecting the public and maintaining public safety. While it leaves the Force still short of the numbers it had back in 2010, this is still a huge achievement and it will make a big difference to the Force's ability to proactively tackle local priorities and keep communities safe. It takes 18 months for a new Officer to be fully trained, so by accelerating our recruitment drive and getting these new Officers into our training academy as quickly as possible, we can ensure they are out on the streets of Merseyside sooner. We already have 500 new Officers recruited, trained and out serving our communities and I'm thrilled that 160 more will join them over the next 12 months. My thanks once again to the public of Merseyside and to the Police and Crime Panel who supported these proposals and gave me their backing to push ahead with these plans."

The Commissioner's budget plans included a small increase to the Police precept; the amount local people pay in their Council Tax which is ring fenced for policing. The PCC made the proposal after the Government released its financial settlement in December, which included an expectation from ministers that local people would contribute more towards policing. The increase, which equates to ₤10 a year on a Band A property, the lowest Council Tax ban, but the one paid by the majority of households, on Merseyside, will come into effect from 1 April 2021.

 

2 years on from its 1st release, the nation's love for Cadbury Twirl Orange has been proven to have no limits. Fans have been hunting, hustling, hoping and hoarding to get their hands on the limited edition bar, some even queued for a digital pre-sale. Luckily for them, they'll never have to do any of that again because Twirl Orange Unlimited Edition is here and it's exclusively available EVERYWHERE.  However, whilst stock of Twirl Orange may now be unlimited, the nation's ability to take a quick trip to the local newsagents to seek out Twirl Orange loveliness is restricted.  Fortunately, Cadbury has come up with a safe solution that doesn't involve wearing a mask or dodging fellow Brits in the chocolate aisle. The 'Twirl Orange Doorstep Delivery Service' will be touring cities across the UK from Tuesday 23rd February, offering same day free delivery of chocolatey orange goodness directly to the homes of Brits and most certainly no 'like for like' replacement (because Twirl Orange is truly two of a kind!).  To get their Twirl Orange fix, chocolate lovers must simply keep an eye on the @CadburyUK Twitter page from 08:00, on Tuesday, 23 February 2021, to see when the service will be appearing in their area.  Radhika Pai, Brand Manager for Cadbury Twirl Orange at Mondelez said:- "Over the past 2 years we've seen how much the nation truly loves Twirl Orange, so we just had to make the limited edition bar unlimited to ensure no fan misses out. We have even made it available via the Twirl Orange Doorstep Delivery Service during launch week to keep fans stocked up when it's not so easy to pop to the shops."  If you don't receive a visit from the Twirl Orange Doorstep Delivery Service, Twirl Orange Unlimited Edition can be found in your local shops, newsagent and available via:- CadburyGiftsDirect.Co.UK.

 

THE historic Everton Football Club have been a major part of Liverpool, not only as a professional football club, in the Premier League, but also within the L4 community. Not only that, but the clubs top tier of English football stats also brings huge amounts of money in with the City as a whole, through tourism and other sport related activities connected to the Club. Sadly, without the ability to expand and develop, Everton, at it's current grounds have hit an impassable obstruction on its road to future developments and opportunities. That is why, for a number of years, the club has been looking to move out of their current home, that they have been in since 1892. 52 locations on, and a public inquiry, back in 2013 over the clubs last proposal for a new stadium and the associated redevelopment, in Kirkby, things have been looking up for the club. But ut is not yet a done deal. This is despite, on 23 February 2021, Liverpool City Council, Liverpool City Council giving planning permission to both:- Goodison Park Legacy Project and to Everton FC's proposed 52,888 capacity Stadium, on Bramley Moore Dock. Sadly, the latest plan for the proposed stadium, despite gaining widespread public support from the Liverpool City Region, but it has come under fire from those outside the Region. This time the objections are not from the local area, in fact it has, but as a result of objections have been raised by heritage body, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) who are acting on behalf of UNESCO, as well as the Victorian Society and Historic England. The objections are that it would degraded the areas heritage and looks, yet the Council's report concluded the plans, which integrate part of Liverpool's recovery from the Coronavirus Pandemic, would not do this. They found that it could actually deliver:- "heritage benefits" by:- "enhancing degraded on-site heritage assets, improving access to the World Heritage Site and unlocking access to the history." As a result, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick will now have the final say. If passed, Everton could potentially play there in the 2024 to 2025 season and a huge boost to Liverpool's redevelopment plans. But this delay also means the Secretary of State will also now have to have the permission for their community led legacy project, at Goodison Park, which includes:- housing, a health centre, green spaces, retail and business facilities. Currently there are no objections, Everton, so should the move happen, within 3 years of the club moving, work would be underway on that project, but also only signed off by the Secretary of State. To discover more about the ₤82m scheme, in Walton and Kirkdale, entitled:- 'Goodison Park Legacy Project' we suggest you go to:- RegeneratingLiverpool.com.