The solution to Cornwall's Council Tax Benefit shortfall

On the 25th of September, I read on the Cornwall Council's website that they were looking for feedback on a consultation on how to breach the gap in the Government's reduction in funding for Council Tax Benefit. It would appear that they are £6,000,000 short, and are looking for ways to make up this deficit.

The Council's preferred option is a mixture of limiting Council Tax Benefit benefit to 70%, and the adoption of the following measures;

• Remove the 'second adult rebate' scheme which prevents a householder from receiving a 'single person reduction' on their council tax because they have another adult, on a low income, living in their property.
• Reduce the 'capital limit' someone is allowed to have and still be able to receive council tax benefit from £16,000 to £6,000.
• Limit entitlement to a maximum of council tax band D preventing people who live in houses in a higher council tax band from claiming a higher benefit.
• Remove the ability to 'backdate' an award of a benefit to when it is applied for.
• Remove 'underlying entitlement' to recover overpayment when someone has failed to notify the Council of something relevant to their claim.

This, in effect means that the poorest people in the county will now have to pay 30% of their Council Tax bill. I thought this short-sighted and grossly unfair. With that it mind, I sent a Freedom of Information request to Cornwall Council requesting:

What is the current amount of outstanding debt for council tax bills in Cornwall for people that do not claim any council tax benefits?

Please include figures for people receiving single occupier households, second home owner//holiday lets and properties subject to council tax but are registered as a business premises.

Their response?

The amount of council tax outstanding for 2012/2013 as at 28 September 2012 for people not claiming council tax benefit is £88,147,190.29.

It seems to me, that if Cornwall Council collected the arrears of those that - according to the law - can and should pay the full amount of Council Tax, then they would have - after paying for the £6 million Council Tax Benefit shortfall - an extra £82 million to invest.

As for the adoption of the measures in Option 3?

• I confess, I have little practical understanding of the 'Second Adult Rebate', so I shall reserve judgement on it for now.
• I am in favour of reducing the 'Capital Limit', but I think it would be fairer to align it to the amount permitted for ISA accounts (presently standing at £11,280). The amount is neither arbitrary, nor does it restrict those on benefits from utilising the full weight of the benefits of holding an ISA.
• Abolish the 10% discount given to people with second homes/holiday lets. If you can afford a second home, you can afford to pay the full amount, and if a property is being run as a holiday let then it will encourage owners to have the property occupied year round rather than sitting idle.
• Limit entitlement to a maximum of council tax band D preventing people who live in houses in a higher council tax band from claiming a higher benefit. This is actually one of the council's own proposals as set out under Option 3. I support this proposal with one proviso: that families that are unable to find suitable accommodation in sub-band E properties are exempted.
• Raise the amount on higher value properties (bands E - H). Band A properties have a nominal value under £40,000, whereas band H properties are over £320,000. This 8-fold value strategy is not reflected in the amount paid in Council Tax. In fact, Band H properties pay less than 2.5 times the amount of a band A property. I do not suggest that Band H properties should pay eight times the amount of a band A property, just that the current dynamic could be tweaked to protect those that cannot afford Council Tax Benefit by charging more for those that can.

If you support my plan, please complete Cornwall Council's Consultation Survey, linking this page. You have until the 12th November 2012.

thisiscornwall.co.uk trust religious content as news?

Is church a museum for good people? | This is Cornwall


Not for the first time, thisiscornwall.co.uk has had religious sermons posted by 'trusted sources' as news.


My objection lies not in the content of the article itself, but the fact that it is presented as news.

“This is a news site, right?

If I wanted a sermon delivered to my news reader, I would follow the Methodist UK website's news feed - and I don't.

Let's try a little experiment shall we? 

Arrow up for support of my writing a news article in rebuttal of religious content as news.
Arrow down for support of halting religious content on a news site.

I'll give you all a day or two. Your choice.

(If it's even, I'll vote up.)”

A further comment of mine suggests that thisiscornwall.co.uk might wish to integrate blogging services into their website, thus allowing citizen journalism and the freedom of expression to be properly delineated.


Your thoughts?

Councillor quits over 'invasion of my privacy' | This is Cornwall

Councillor quits over 'invasion of my privacy' | This is Cornwall

"I am appalled that such intrusive material should come to our council chamber. It may be that transparency has its place in the great halls of power, but not here."



Really?


Personally, I think it more important to have transparency at the local level. MPs have the media to expose their interests. All local councillors have to fear is divulging interests that would possibly harm them should transparency reveal such interests.


Why, exactly, should local councillors not be subject to the same scrutiny as their national peers? Surely, it wouldn't be because their small-time conflicts don't affect the small-time scope of local government?


I think cllr Angwin forgets scaling in the democratic process, and he is not above it.


It is a shame, it must be said, that a councillor who has been so clearly dedicated to public service - and for such a long time - should feel that democratic transparency shouldn't apply across the board, but if he truly has nothing to hide, then what argument is there for not divulging his lack of conflicts?


None that I can imagine.

Thunderf00t has yet more cats to throw around

Politicians are often touted as 'hawks' or 'doves'. Thunderf00t's recent arrival at FtB can be better described as a cat amongst the pigeons.


On only his second post, he threw his oar into the TAMGate farce that has been enthralling (yawn) its readers for weeks (it seems like months?), by suggesting that it isn't really a big problem.


Today, he responds to PZ Myers' attacks on him, calling him out on his straw man arguments. In his third offering, he cites no less than five examples of what he perceives to be Myers "going off half cocked on some argument that was never made"


I'll not list them all here, Thunderf00t is more than capable of expressing himself, but I would like to see his presence at FtB rattle a few cages. Those that have followed me on Google+ recently will be aware of my growing frustration at a number (but by no means all) of the more established bloggers there cowering to the almighty Myers, rather than having the spine to stand up to him and have an opinion of their own.


Some might say I am not being very fair on those that do actually support Myers' position on TAMGate, and that would be a fair appraisal. If they are genuine in their sycophancy, then I am not talking about them, then.


No. It is those that sit on the fence that I am directing this towards. The self-serving obeisance that I have witnessed recently is excruciating, and in total contradiction to the name of free-thought.


I, for one, welcome Thunderf00t to FtB. His timely presence has been a breath of fresh air at a time when the discussions there were becoming awfully stifled and - dare I say - boring.


It has crossed my mind, that Thunderf00t is trolling for effect. If he is, Ed Brayton should be loving it, and by extension, Myers also. Their revenues must be going through the roof.

Stop the extradition of Richard O'Dwyer to the USA #SaveRichard

Richard O'Dwyer is a 24 year old British student at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. He is facing extradition to the USA and up to ten years in prison, for creating a website – TVShack.net – which linked (similar to a search-engine) to places to watch TV and movies online.

O'Dwyer is not a US citizen, he's lived in the UK all his life, his site was not hosted there, and most of his users were not from the US. America is trying to prosecute a UK citizen for an alleged crime which took place on UK soil.

The internet as a whole must not tolerate censorship in response to mere allegations of copyright infringement. As citizens we must stand up for our rights online.

Mornings are usually a boring and unproductive time for me. I mean, I keep myself occupied, just with the more mundane day to day humdrum tasks that fill out my day and give me a semblance of reality away from the work you will all be more familiar with.


This morning, though, when answering on-line surveys in the effort to keep my head above water, I got a Skype message from Reap Paden (a.k.a. The Angry Atheist) who runs the GodlessRadio.net podcast.


Now, I have been aware of his show for a couple of years now, and always listen to the show for no other reason than the great people he attracts to it, as the following exchange just goes to show.


Here, follows, a transcript of the conversation:

Philosophy of religion: Counter-apologetics for beginners - Countering J. W. Wartick

J.W. Wartick is a graduate student in Christian Apologetics at Biola University. His interests include philosophy of religion; particularly the existence of God, astronomy, biology, archaeology, and sci-fi and fantasy novels.

With the exception of his taste in novels, we appear to share similar interests, but the one that I wish to discuss here today approaches his thoughts on the philosophy of religion. In particular, his post on 'The morality of God: Christ at the centre'.

As an introduction to counter-apologetics for beginners, his argument in this post serves as a shining example of the weakness of the great many Christian apologists that litter the Interwebz.

So let's take a quick look at his argument.

Secular Cornwall meet up in Penzance

• • 
    Saturday, 4 August 2012

• Discussion and activist group highlighting the importance of secular issues on local, national and international levels. Exact location and time to be decided according to numbers attending. My websites are; http://www.mygodlesslife.com/ and http://trisstockcouk.blogspot.co.uk/

Penzance, Cornwall

View map · Get directions

Sweden vs. England - EURO 2012

Time for this English guy to grab a shower, don his Swedish shirt, and go watch the match!

The 10 commandments of good thinking

The level of critical thinking in the community I reside has never failed to amaze me. In fact, as I continue to study philosophy, politics and human nature in general, the more forlorn the hope that one fine day one of my peers might actually raise a valid objection to something other than what is thrown at them by the media.

Don't get me wrong, we are all prone to sloppy reasoning, confirmation bias and other logical fallacies, the important thing is to remember that even those of us that profess clear-mindedness and reasoned thought fall foul of the very misconceptions we seek to undermine.

Critical thinking is possibly the single most important tool the thoughtful person has available to him, but we should be mindful to apply it equally to our own cogitations as much as we do in reaction to other's positions.

Philosopher and senior lecturer at Heythrop College in the University of London, Stephen Law has highlighted a post by kungfuhobbit that lays out the 10 commandments of good thinking that I would like to share with you here.