Less people hiding debt from their partners

NATIONAL debt charity Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) has seen a dramatic decline in people hiding their debt problems from their partners. The number of people contacting the charity for help with their unmanageable debt who say that their partner is unaware of their problem has dropped by over three thousand in three years. In 2008, 17,477 said that they were hiding their debt problem from their partner, going down to 16,424 in 2009, with only 14,071 people last year saying that they had not told their partner.   CCCS welcomes the findings and says hiding debt can add to the emotional strain that those struggling to repay what they owe are often under. The charity encourages people to let their partner know about their debt problem as it can help relieve this pressure and give the partner the opportunity to help deal with the situation. Another reason is that the debt problem can have consequences for the partner if the couple live with each other, jointly own property or have taken out credit together. Delroy Corinaldi, CCCS external affairs director comments:- "It is an encouraging sign that fewer people are hiding their debt problem from their partner as a problem shared is a problem halved.  I think part of the reason for this new trend is that people think about very differently about credit and debt than they did before the credit crunch and economic downturn. It may be that people are more aware of the difficulties that debt can cause and therefore more willing to talk about any problems they may have."

UNISON CANNOT SIGN UP TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME PLANS

UNISON, the public service union, insisted that it could not sign up to proposals by the Local Government Group (LGG) and the Local Government Employers (LGE) to the Government, to increase pension contributions, worsen the accrual rate and raise the retirement age in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).   National Secretary for local government, Heather Wakefield, said:- "We have told the LGG and the employers that we cannot sign up to these plans which are proposed to raise nothing more than a £900m 'tax' on LGPS members for the Government in the short term. These proposals may well be overtaken in October, when we are being asked to enter discussions on the longer-term structure of the LGPS. We have always said that the two issues should be dealt with together in the same negotiations, within a reasonable timetable. Ministers have refused both.   Additionally, savings of almost £2bn have been made since 2008 as a result of redundancies, a 2 year pay freeze, the ending of the Rule of 85 and changes to the benefit structure. These cuts are totally unnecessary.  Our members in the LGPS are facing attacks on their pay and conditions everywhere, local government pay has been frozen for two years and inflation is going through the roof. Increases in pension costs are the final straw."  UNISON has announced that it will ballot more than 1.1m of its members in local government and health over Government ministers plans to make them pay more and work longer, for less pension.

National recognition for Merseyside transport network

THE prestigious National Rail Awards 2011, which recognise excellence and achievement in the UK rail industry has given to 3 stations serving the Merseyside area Highly Commended awards.  All 3 stations were successful in the Station of the Year categories, Hooton for Small Station of the Year, Chester for Medium Station of the Year and Liverpool Lime Street for Large and Overall Station of the Year. 

The region also scooped a fourth award with the North West Area British Transport Police being Highly Commended in the Outstanding Teamwork Award.

Councillor Mark Dowd, Chairman of Merseytravel said:- "On behalf of Merseytravel and the travelling public of this region, we thank and congratulate our partners Merseyrail, Network Rail and Arriva Trains Wales for providing passengers with facilities that are continually recognised as being excellent examples of what customers need and expect."

Neil Scales, Merseytravel Chief Executive added:- "For 3 of our network stations to be recognised in this way is great news and demonstrates the effectiveness of partnership working between the various organisations that serve this region. It is also very rewarding to see British Transport Police’s Neighbourhood Policing Team acknowledged. BTP and our own Travelsafe partnership work diligently to ensure that our passengers’ journeys are safe and comfortable and it is appropriate the BTP have been nationally recognised for their commitment."

Chief Superintendent Peter Holder, North Western Area Commander, British Transport Police said:- "We are really thrilled to have been commended in these awards. The work of our Neighbourhood Policing Teams is the bedrock of our service to passengers and staff, and the commitment that the team in Liverpool has shown has been remarkable. What they do makes a real difference to people’s lives and we are very proud of them."

Also commenting on Chester station, Arriva Trains Wales Customer Sevices Director Ian Bullock added:- "We are honored to receive a highly commended award for Chester station. As an historic landmark and an important gateway to the city, the station dates back to the mid 19th Century when rail travel was fast developing across the country. It has benefited from significant refurbishment works in recent years thanks to Arriva Trains Wales investment and the National Stations Improvement Programme and now has up to date passenger facilities which remain sympathetic to the magnificent period building. We have been pleased to work in partnership with a range of stakeholders, including North West Development Agency, Merseytravel, the local authority, Railway Heritage Trust and Townscape Heritage Initiative who have each played a vital role leading to the success of Chester station and in the presentation of this award."

Job losses at BAE Systems
Photographs by Patrick Trollope.

THE news that many BAE Systems, who bill them selves as "the premier global defence, security and aerospace company" have told workers of its plans plans to axe over 1,400 staff in the North West, within its Military Air & Information (MAI) and Shared Services businesses and at its Head Office will see a potential of 3,000 job losses to "maintain competitiveness through offering affordable products and services to customers" as BAE Systems puts it.

Ian King, Chief Executive, BAE Systems told the media that:- "Our customers are facing huge pressures on their defence budgets and affordability has become an increasing priority. Our business needs to rise to this challenge to maintain its competitiveness and ensure its long term future. Some of our major programmes have seen significant changes. The 4 partner nations in the Typhoon programme have agreed to slow production rates to help ease their budget pressures. Whilst this will help extend our production schedule and ensure the production line stays open until we receive anticipated export contracts, it does reduce the workload at a number of our sites. Pressure on the US defence budget and top level programme changes mean the anticipated increase in F-35 production rates will be slower than originally planned, again impacting on our expected workload. To ensure we remain competitive, both in the UK and internationally, we need to reduce the overall costs of our businesses in-line with our reduced workload. The proposals announced today aim to put the business into the right shape to address the challenges we face now and in the future and ensure we are in the best possible position to win future business. This transformation process is not going to be easy. We understand that this is a time of uncertainty for our employees and we are committed to working with them and their representatives to explore ways of mitigating the potential job losses."

This cut will hit many workers living on Merseyside and in Lancashire and has lead to calls for action to help save them at the Labour Party's 2011 Conference in Liverpool. One Labour MP said:- "This is significant blow to the government and demonstrates just how bad the situation really is. these cuts will be devastating to all those affected." Adding to that comment Unite, who are the UK's largest union and recognised by BAE, also echoed that statement.

In London, Liberal Democrat's Business Secretary Vince Cable, said in a press statement:- "This news from BAE Systems will be a serious knock to the individuals and communities affected. My officials and the BIS local teams are already in touch with the company, local authorities and local enterprise partnerships to make sure that everything possible is done to help those affected at Brough, Warton, Samlesbury and other sites. Last year I set up the Skills and Jobs Retention Group, chaired by Allan Cook, to help skilled workers find new jobs in UK manufacturing. The Group will ensure that the shortage of engineers in UK manufacturing is not exacerbated by the loss of talented people from companies like BAE Systems. The Group has set up a new national web based system to make it easier for companies to recruit skilled workers who have been made redundant and the Job Centre Plus Rapid Response Service is also on hand to provide a range of support measures."

Also responding to the news was Keith Gallagher, who is the North West Regional Director for the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. He told the press that:- "This is the worst news possible and a significant blow to the region's economy with the cuts also bound to affect firms within the supply chain. He added that it is hard to see in the short term where the growth in skilled manufacturing jobs in the North West will come from although they have seen a growing demand in high-tech skills deployed within the regions Nuclear and wider ‘Green Technology’ sector. We certainly cannot allow such high value, well trained and educated workers go to waste and we call on the Government, who want to see a UK Plc growth-led recovery, do all it can to support the new generation of high-tech engineering companies to expand and absorb these skilled workers."

The job losses are as follows:-

► 899 at Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire
► 51 at Christchurch, Dorset
► 78 at Farnborough, Hampshire
► 74 at Filton, Bristol
► 81 at Frimley, Surrey
► 26 at Great Baddow, Essex
► 35 at Hillend, Fife
► 21 at Loughborough, Leicestershire
► 7 at Malvern, Worcestershire
► 19 at New Malden, Surrey
► 565 at Samlesbury, Lancashire
► 843 at Warton and Preston, Lancashire
► 132 at Yeovil, Somerset
► 102 at other UK locations including Royal Air Force bases
► 9 in overseas locations

Let us know if these redundancies affect you or your family and also what your feeling are about it. Please do email us via:- news24@southportreporter.com.