Miss Southport and Miss Liverpool City Region Finals 2018
Photographs by Patrick Trollope.

BOTH the Miss Southport and the Miss Liverpool City Region finals were held at the Olympia, on West Derby Road, Liverpool, on Friday, 18 May 2018.

As Media Partners, we attended and can confirm that all the girls taking part in this year's Miss Southport and Miss Liverpool City Region Heats did fantastically well. 

Though out the event the audience was entertained by 3 fantastic acts, the 1st being Astrid, who is now aged 8 and comes from Southport. Despite her age, she is a very talented and gifted singer, who is due to appear TV later this year. Also performing at the event were Charlotte Gallagher and LivvyK.  Charlotte Gallagher is a very well know name and comes from Liverpool. LivvyK, who is an extremely talented young lady who is currently on a break from recording her debut album in the USA... Its worth noting that LivvyK won the converted Top Model competition, before she made what she says was "a very tough decision" to pursue music. Others attending included:- Jess Page, Danielle Lloyed (Miss England 2004) Chris Bramall (Mr England 2015) and a host of others.

Sadly there can only be 1 winner of the Miss Southport title and 1 winner of the Miss Liverpool City Region title.  If you don't already know, the winners of both heats now go through to Miss England 2018 and could even represent England at Miss World 2018!  But who are the winners? 

The winners are:-

► Miss Liverpool City Region 2018 is Abigail Foster.  Abigail now goes directly to the Miss England Finals and stands a chance of going to Miss World, should she win Miss England...

► Miss Liverpool City Region 2018 - 2nd Place is Chloe Luddon.  She is already a Miss England Semi Finalist, as a result of winning another heat and is now going on to the Miss England Semi Finals.

► Miss Liverpool City Region 2018 - 3rd Place is Lucy Mills. Lucy will now progress to the Miss England Semi Final, as runner up of Liverpool City Region.

► Miss Southport 2018 is Jennifer Leigh.  Jennifer, just as with Abigail, goes directly through to the Miss England Finals.

 Full story in our next issue... Also to find out more about the event and also about how you can request the attendance at charity events, of both Miss Southport and Miss Liverpool City Region, please go to:- Miss-Liverpool-City-Region.com.

Winners of this year's Crosby Junior Photographic Competition have been announced

THE winners of this year's Crosby Junior Photographic Competition have been revealed.  Talented young local photographers attended an exhibition and ceremony in Crosby's St Luke's Church earlier this month to see who would walk away with the trophy and ₤50 first prize. The competition drew entries from pupils and students from across Crosby, Waterloo and Thornton who were then invited to see their work in print and displayed in front of an audience for the first time.

Run in conjunction with Crosby Camera Club and The Rotary Club of Crosby, the images were on the theme of:- 'Sefton in Springtime' and the judges were impressed by the colourful and imaginative work produced.  Anna Sugden from St Mary's School fought off tough competition for the prize in the 6 to 11 age group with her image:- 'Spring Heaven,' while Dylan Cureton from Holy Family School took home the trophy in the category for 12 to 18 year olds for his photo:- 'Blossom.'

Stephen Lang, President of Crosby Camera Club, said:- "This is the 2nd time we've run this competition and its popularity, along with the quality of entries, continues to grow. The judging panel found it difficult to separate their winners from the many commended photographs, but the 2 chosen were certainly stand out images. These children are the photographers of the future and that future certainly looks bright given the standard produced this year."

The winning prints are currently on display in the entrance to Crosby Library.  For further information and to see the commended photographs along with a slideshow from the awards evening, visit Crosby Camera Club's website:- CrosbyCameraClub.Net.

Will increased HMRC powers to assess Offshore Tax will penalise the innocent

LOW Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) has raised serious concerns to the Government over its plans to extend the time limits for raising a Tax assessment on offshore investments. Among those affected will be low income pensioners and migrants, not just the wealthy, LITRG says.  The proposals target those Taxpayers who have made innocent mistakes, by extending the existing time limits to 12 years, even in cases where Taxpayers have taken reasonable care with their Tax obligations.

Robin Williamson, Technical Director of LITRG, said:- "If HMRC are struggling to deal with the number of cases that involve Offshore Tax, that should be treated as a resource matter rather than an excuse to reduce Taxpayer protection. "The time limits exist in order to provide a Taxpayer with closure and certainty over their affairs. Currently, if a Taxpayer has taken reasonable care then HMRC may raise an assessment up to 4 years after the end of the Tax year. The time limit is extended to 6 years if the Taxpayer has been careless. Those who have evaded Tax deliberately face an assessment window of 20 years in any case and are unaffected by the changes. Therefore, the changes affect even those Taxpayers who have conducted their financial affairs in good faith and are unaware they may have an undisclosed liability. HMRC's stated justification for the change is that it takes them longer to:- 'establish the facts' in offshore cases. But while they are being given significantly longer to make an assessment, there is no proposed extension in the time limit for the Taxpayer to file a Self Assessment Tax Return where there is an offshore element. Nor is there any extension in the normal time limit to claim a repayment of overpaid Tax, which will remain at 4 years."

The proposals also add a further layer of complexity to the rules on time limits given their interaction with the new Requirement to Correct rules, which mean that any liability relating to an offshore matter which is assessable, at 5 April 2017 remains assessable for a further 4 years.

Robin Williamson continued:- "Threatening letters from HMRC cause a great deal of unnecessary distress to vulnerable Taxpayers, even if the amounts involved are trivial. But these proposals will make such letters more commonplace. An unrepresented Taxpayer will often struggle to defend themselves, faced with complex rules on the Taxation on offshore investments and having to obtain information which is so old. Many of them will have felt that because the income is Taxed by the overseas jurisdiction, it is not within scope of UK Tax. Unfortunately, this is not the case, even if double Taxation relief is available. This is an issue which affects pensioners and migrants in particular, who are each more likely than other low income groups to have offshore investments. In many cases these investments are inherited. But older Taxpayers are more likely than the rest of the population to be without internet skills and as such may struggle to access the information to help them understand their Tax liabilities. Equally, migrants may face language difficulties in understanding such information. HMRC should focus on providing guidance and assistance to these groups, in order to help them comply, rather than denying them the closure of the normal time limits. Unfortunately, the Government have not consulted on the principle of whether or not to extend the time limits, so it appears the changes will be implemented in any case. However, in the design of the legislation we have called for HMRC's powers to be restricted where the loss of Tax to the Exchequer is immaterial. In addition, we have recommended that the scope of the rules is not extended to other Taxes, and the Taxpayer should be explicitly allowed retrospective claims to Tax reliefs, such as Foreign Tax Credit Relief and relief under a Double Tax Treaty."

An individual who feels that they might have unreported liabilities relating to offshore investments should seek advice. Charities such as Tax Aid and Tax Help for Older People offer assistance to those on low incomes.