MP praises charity which helps boost potential of young people in Sefton

BILL Esterson MP has praised the work of a Sefton charity which aims to transform education for young people; boosting skills, attitudes and opportunities. The Windmills Foundation, led by Peter Hawkins from Formby, is a creative grass roots charity helping individuals maximise their potential. Mr Esterson, MP for Sefton Central, met with Peter to discuss policy relating to improving the lives of young people.

Mr Esterson said:- "Peter is such an inspiring speaker and role model and he works tirelessly to create opportunities for young people, especially those who are more disadvantaged than others or have special needs. I will be feeding back to my Labour colleagues about how we support young people to understand themselves and be the best they can be. Peter's vision is to radically transform the education system so young people are better equipped to take greater ownership over lives. As well as through formal education this could be through work experience, mentoring and taking part in social action. Windmills see people as having skills and values unique to them. Not everyone has a family or professional network to help them and Windmills wants to build this for all our young people."

Mr Esterson helped Windmills launch their Smile Challenge 10 years ago. The Smile Challenge involved groups of children spending £10 on making a difference in their community and making someone smile.

Mr Esterson said:- "I was proud to be part of the Smile programme from the beginning. What I want to see now is for more organisations to come forward to work with Windmills to offer work experience opportunities to young people in Sefton Central."

Mr Hawkins added:- "Our vision is to create a world where every young person realises their unique combination of skills, passions, values and motivations in life and maximises these to make a meaningful difference in their local community."

The Windmills Foundation toolkit of resources and programmes, including:- iCan, Smile and Growth, are freely available on the website.

Windmills' Peter Hawkins can be contacted on:- 01704874903 or at:- Pete@WindmillsFoundation.Org.

Statement from Damien Moore MP on UK's Chancellor economic announcement

IN a press release sent to us, Southport's MP Damien Moore said:- "The UK's Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, has announced a ground breaking set of measures to assist with the cost of living and get our economy growing. The Government has frozen household energy costs for the next 2 years, protecting residents across Southport from steep bill rises as a result of the global wholesale price increases. Businesses and other organisations such as:- charities, Schools, Hospitals, and care homes will see their costs guaranteed too. This will be done by capping the amount consumers pay per unit of energy they use; the cost of energy for the typical household was expected to rise to £3,549 (£295 per month) from October, with further increases every few months for the foreseeable future. Under these measures, bills will instead be frozen at £2,500 until October 2024. Alongside the price freezes, the previously announced support measures will go ahead as planned such as a £400 automatic discount for all households this winter, a £300 Winter Fuel Allowance top up payment for pensioners, a £150 payment for those with disabilities, and the second half of the £650 payment for those on low incomes. As we did with the Furlough and other Pandemic support schemes, this Conservative Government is taking unprecedented action to protect people and organisations right across the country. These measures are expected to reduce peak inflation by 5%, further supporting people against price increases. Also announced today was a cut in the basic rate of income tax from 20% to 19% and the scrapping of the planned National Insurance increase. As an illustration, a couple both earning the median average salary in the North West can expect to save over £600 per year from April 2023. A number of further measures to increase the UK economy's competitiveness, stimulate growth, and ensure that work pays were also announced. So whether it is cutting the basic rate of income tax, cancelling the national insurance rise, freezing household energy bills for 2 years, reducing inflation by 5%, continuing to issue direct support payments, or making our economy more competitive; this Conservative Government is on your side."
 

Will SDLT changes benefit sellers more than buyers?

THE Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has highlighted HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) research that questions whether stamp duty threshold changes announced will be effective in terms of making home buying more affordable.

The Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has confirmed that the nil rate threshold at which stamp duty land tax applies will rise from £125,000 to £250,000; and for 1st time buyers it will rise from £300,000 to £425,000. 1st time buyers' relief is currently limited to purchases up to £500,000. 1st time buyers can now claim relief on properties purchased for up to £625,000.

The increase in the thresholds at which house buyers will pay stamp duty is a permanent measure that applies only in England and Northern Ireland as Scotland and Wales operate their own land transactions taxes.

However, it is not clear to what extent buyers will benefit from the threshold increases. A 2011 HMRC study, evaluating the introduction of a temporary SDLT relief on transactions between March 2010 and 2012 initiated by the last Labour government concluded that cutting stamp duty had little effect on improving the affordability of homes and led to higher prices potentially benefiting sellers more than buyers.

Commenting, Marc Selby, Chair of the CIOT's Property Taxes Committee, said:- "The Institute recognises that the effect of a permanent increase in thresholds in the conditions could be different from that of a temporary relief several years ago. But we call on the Government to commit to an evaluation of the policy to ensure that it meets its policy intent. It may be that a permanent relief will have a different behavioural impact than a temporary reprieve, but nevertheless the tension between the evaluation of the last measure and this reduction does underline the need for cuts to be properly evaluated. The way that stamp duty rates are calculated and applied to house purchases is complicated and difficult to apply in many relatively common situations, making them a good candidate for simplification."

LITRG stresses need to consider benefits impacts of tax and NIC changes

THE Government announced, in the Growth Plan 20221, that they intend to reduce the UK basic rate of income tax to 19% (from its current 20%) from April 2023. This is in addition to yesterday's announcement that they will reduce national insurance contribution rates from 6 November.2 However, LITRG is concerned that behind the headlines, people on lower incomes may find it difficult to understand how much better off they will be as a result. The group recommends that when devising future strategy relating to tax simplification the Government ensures that tax and welfare benefits interactions are considered.

Kelly Sizer, Senior Manager for LITRG, said:- "The Chancellor's announcement that he has abolition of the Office of Tax Simplification,3 promising instead to 'set a mandate to HM Treasury and HMRC to focus on simplifying the tax code'. 1 point we wish to highlight here is that, for those on low incomes, it is impossible to consider simplification by looking at tax alone.4 It is essential to think about how the tax and welfare benefits systems interact. This means consulting with stakeholders who are expert in this field and ensuring that thinking is joined up with the Department for Work and Pensions. While yesterday's and today's headline announcements to reduce NIC and income tax burdens on individuals will be welcomed by many, those on lower incomes claiming welfare benefits may not see the full benefit of tax and NIC savings. The main in-work benefit, universal credit (UC), is calculated based upon a claimant's income net of tax and NIC. This means that if a claimant's tax or NIC liability increases, the UC award may go up; but equally a decrease in tax or NIC liability means the UC award may go down. So for example, if NIC and income tax reductions meant that someone had an extra £20 in their pay packet, if they were claiming UC, that extra amount of earnings would be factored into the calculation of their award. If tapered at 55%, it would mean that they were better off overall by only £9. Interactions such as this and the consequent complexities for individuals need to be considered when devising future tax policy."