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Formby Photo
Group's First Meeting of 2014
ON 9 January 2014, the
Formby Photo
Group will be holding
it's first meeting of 2014. The guest speaker will be Dianne Owen,
FRPS, who is a renowned photographic artist. During her talk,
entitled Creative Consciousness, Dianne will show a mix of creative
images covering a wide range of subjects and themes, including work
for which she has received awards or which have been accepted into
BPE or FIAP exhibitions. Examples of Dianne's work can be found
online at:-
dianneowen.info. The meeting
takes place at:- Venue 93 Church Road, from 8.00pm. The group says
that visitors are welcome. Cost for attending if non member will
be:- £2.00, including refreshments.
Happy New Year
or is it?
2014 is here!
2013 has been a very lucky
year for some, but for others, a very unlucky one indeed. So what
can we expect from 2014? The XX Commonwealth Games, Glasgow will be
taking place and to add to that, both the World Cup and the Olympics
will be looming ever closer; so we should have a glut of sports to
watch on TV and to read about. The 100th anniversary of the start of
the First World War will be marked this year, so expect many large
events to be taking place. Paddington could be the hottest cinema
ticket of the year, or the stickiest... Both the Jaguar and the
Mini, get a new look for 2014, we have been told! The Southport
Weekender will celebrate its 50th event! Glastonbury Festival 2014
is set to be one of the biggest yet! On Merseyside, keep an eye open
for some amazing happenings as well, including a few new massive
events! 2014 will bring some hard choices for businesses. Last year,
2013, witnessed many major high street casualties, with Jessop's
being the first to go under, just days into 2013. This year, many
small shops and businesses will face even harder times, due to ever
increasing demands on them, so many analysts are predicting. Sadly
already we have had some more high street names going to the wall
over Christmas and we expect more to follow. But we do have to
ask are we talking ourselves into another recession? One of
the biggest topics will be how small businesses handle the move to
privatise pension schemes, as still many small businesses are
struggling to get information or support on this topic. 2014 will
see the end of the GCSE's in England, as they are due to be replaced
in 2015 by the English Baccalaureate Certificate: so education will
be a very hot topic. In politics, EU membership will become a bigger
topic than ever in the UK, especially as Scotland's referendum
progresses ever closer. The 'Doom and Gloom' financial news is that
the UK's deficit remains at an all time high, and magazines like
Money Weekly are already spelling out the many dangers. Whatever
2013 was for you, we still hope 2014 is a successful and happy one
for you all. Let us know what you think 2014 will bring us by
emailing your views to us via:-
news24@southportreporter.com.
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Discounts for
tenants to be increased again in 2014
THE Government will take
further steps to reinvigorate the Right to Buy in 2014, so more
hard-working tenants can aspire to buy their home, Communities
Secretary Eric Pickles announced on Friday, 3 January 2014.
The maximum discount for a house will increase from 60% to 70% of
its value, and the £75,000 cap will start increasing in line with
the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation.
Mr Pickles said the changes showed the government's rock solid
support for aspiration, and would ensure Right to Buy becomes a
realistic New Year's resolution for thousands of social tenants
across the country.
The Right to Buy gives something back to families who worked hard,
paid their rent and played by the rules. It allows them to do up
their home, change their front door, improve their garden - without
getting permission from the council.
It gives people a sense of pride and ownership not just in their
home, but in their street and neighbourhood, helping to build strong
families and stable mixed communities.
Since 2011 the government has helped almost 50,000 households onto
the housing ladder; over 13,400 social tenants through the Right to
Buy and over 36,000 through Help to Buy and earlier schemes.
Mr Pickles said it was clear evidence that wherever people are in
the housing market, there is help on hand for hard-working, aspiring
homeowners.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said:- "For years the Right
to Buy was slowly strangled, with a miserly cap on discounts killing
the prospect of home ownership for most social tenants. We don't
think governments should be in the business of vetoing aspiration.
That's why we reinvigorated the Right Buy. 18 months later and with
over 13,400 hard working tenants taking up the offer, it's clear the
public shares our view. But we want to go further, that's why we
will soon be increasing the maximum discount and ensuring it
continues to rise with inflation, so more social tenants can make
Right to Buy their New Year's resolution for 2014. We'll also
continue to plough the cash from additional sales back into
delivering new affordable homes for rent, which will soon help us
reach the fastest rate of affordable house building for 20 years."
This move will extend the government's commitment to help
hard-working tenants and build more homes, which the Chancellor set
out in the Autumn Statement. This included:-
► Introducing a Right to Move for social
tenants who need to relocate for a new job or training;
► Establishing new Right to Buy agents who
will guide people through the buying process, and providing
£100million to establish a fund to improve access to mortgage
finance;
► A £1billion 6 year investment programme
to unlock new large housing sites that will deliver around 250,000
homes;
► Allowing councils to bid for up to £300
million of additional borrowing against their housing revenue
accounts to provide new affordable housing for their local
community.
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