Julia Batt

I’ve been loathe to write anything about concessionary fares since the local Tories came up with their alternative budget which offered nothing genuine to the residents of Maidstone. Instead, they shocked me by coming up with a cruel political stunt, in my opinion, to do nothing more than win a view votes in May.

In the background I’ve continued to speak to Norman Bakers office about what can be done, spoken to (and kept updated) a number of those affected by the withdrawal of our voucher scheme, and finally have been investigating the possibilty of getting EU funding to continue to offer our exisiting scheme. In addition, I’ve now been a wheelchair user myself for a couple of weeks, so I now know first hand just how useless a bus pass is to some people.

Following all the terrible (and unfair) press we’ve been given locally, the decision was made to not mention the concessionary fare scheme and it’s implications on any of our Focus’s. The logic being that it would just continue to add fuel to the Tories fire. However, clearly people need to understand what’s going on, and so Fran Wilson (leader of Maidstone Borough Council) released this onto our website (www.maidstoneandthewealdlibdems.org.uk) and I think it’s worth repeating here:

Update from leader of Maidstone Council - Cllr Mrs Fran Wilson: 

The new statutory national concessionary fares scheme, which will be introduced in April, is far more generous than the current Maidstone Borough Council scheme, in that it gives concessions on local buses anywhere in England for those aged 60 years or more, and for disabled and people with mobility problems of any age.

The catch is that the local authority has to pay for all journeys starting in the Borough, not only those of our own residents but also those of anyone who is eligible who live outside the Borough. If the journey starts in Maidstone we have to pay for it.

Our estimate is that this will cost council taxpayers in the region of 2 million pounds in the first year, rising year on year, from revenue budgets. Our existing scheme has cost 1.6 million this year and the government has given us grant of £444,000. Putting those two amounts together it means we will have an estimated shortfall of £500,000 at the end of the first year of the scheme. Central government has made it quite clear that they expect us to manage the financial risks ourselves. They are not saying we cannot run any add-ons but the inference is plain, if we can afford add-ons they will consider that we have already covered the base costs of their statutory scheme before putting in additional discretions ourselves and they will not consider us for a top-up grant. If we run this risk, our calculations prove correct and we have given government any reason to refuse us additional funding it will mean another 4% on council tax 2009/10 or commensurate savings made from other front-line services.

Having said that we think that in introducing this new national concessionary fares scheme the government has not thought through the implications for the most vulnerable and needy in our society - those disabled citizens who, for what ever reason cannot access a bus. Currently of the 761 disabled people who were in receipt of MBC travel tokens, 491 have already transferred to the national concessionary fares scheme leaving 270 who have not.

Contrary to what the Conservatives are saying, this administration is, and always was, seeking ways to assist those for whom the new scheme is unsuitable and for whom there is genuine need. But first we have to establish precisely what those reasons are. In some cases a bus service might not exist, in others the bus designated to the route is not wheelchair friendly and in a few cases, that even were a bus to be available the person could not use it. Solutions can only be found based on information. We have a meeting organised in the last week of March to discuss this with all the other agencies such as the Hospital Trusts, Social Services and the voluntary sector. But we want genuine solutions not half baked, ill thought through suggestions to garner votes.

Finally, Norman Baker will be debating the entire concessionary fare scheme and it’s implications at around 10pm, this Tuesday on the floor of the House of Commons. I’m not sure if this is something that can be viewed or not, but I’ll be trying to.

As I said to a friend recently - I can’t pin-point the exact reasons why, but the way this concessionary fare scheme has come into existence, has really gotten under my skin. I continue to maintain that it’s a good idea in principle, but the costs to each area have not been worked out properly and there has  been no thought given to those that are unable to use a bus, or those that do not have a bus service in their local area.

so what do I know?

Firstly, I know I haven’t blogged in ages and I apologise; and
Secondly, I know the following blog is so irrelevant to you all but I still wanted to share it with the world!

so much so, that I’ve actually logged back onto my PC, prior to going to bed…

So what’s it about?…. Ryan (4 year old) has been making me chuckle (again)….

We (husband and I) are really really struggling to get Ryan reading - doesn’t matter what we do, it doesn’t work…. so husband came up with a new idea…. if Ryan really really want’s something, he’ll have to read what it is before he gets it…. in this case “Pepsi”….

“Mummy” says Ryan, “can I have some of that drink please” (he’s a very polite boy I’ll have you know!)
“You certainly can Son…. but first of all what’s it called?”
“Coke”
“Not quite” (for we’ve been taught saying the ‘no’ word is unacceptable and stops them learning) “what’s the first letter?”
“Pah”
“Clever boy - next letter?”
“eh”
“well done, what’s next?”
“pah again”
“well done, Ryan…. what do you think this word might be?”
“coke”
“not quite…. it’s got five letters, but coke only has four…. what else could it be?”
“diet coke?”
“try again”
“coca-cola?”
“good guessing…. but remember it starts with ‘pah’…. let’s say all the letters together”
[here I speak alone while Ryan stares at me like there’s something wrong with me] “pah-eh-pah-ssss-eeee - would do you think it might be now?”
“coke”

And so it continues…. later Ryan had finally wised up to the fact that it wasn’t coke….
“Mummy…. can I have some of that drink that isn’t coke that Rachael’s having please?”

“of course you can Son”

Sadly, it’d taken him a while to get to accepting it wasn’t coke, and so by this time Rachael was having blackcurrant squash…. he wasn’t impressed…

In April 2008 the Government will be introducing it’s new national concessionary bus fare scheme. From now on, every person over the age of 60 and all disabled people will be able to travel on any bus in the country for free.

Sounds great doesn’t it?

Yes it does - and it is a great IDEA….. however, once again, not enough thought has gone into how this will actually work in reality….

Each borough across the country will have to pay for any journey started in it’s boundaries, regardless of where the traveller actually comes from. With a great town like Maidstone, a lot of people will get the bus to us for a days shopping, which their local authority will pay for. However, every trip home (by virtue of the fact that it’s beginning in our borough) will be paid for by us.

Now the Govt. is giving us funding to pay for this - however, it’s woefully short of even the most conservative of our projections. In addition, any additional benefits we offer to our residents (such as companion bus passes for disabled people, or are alternative ‘voucher scheme) will have to stop, or we will be penalized through lack of further funding.

What can be done? Well - on this one, I’ve gone and got all political!

Over the weekend, I’ve been collecting Councillors signatures to call for an extraordinary meeting of Maidstone’s council to debate the following motion:

CONCESSIONARY FARE MOTION

The Council regrets the government’s failure to fund fully the new national concessionary fares travel scheme and in particular the limitations to the funding that will affect the lives of disabled people and carers in Maidstone.

The Council calls on the government to reconsider its decision ont he criteria for the national scheme and to include companion passes, on a national basis, for the benefit of disabled people.

The Council also calls on the government to ensre that it fully funds each individual authority in adminstering the new national scheme in order to relieve the enormous pressure on our budget which has affected our ability to fund additional discretionary services.

In addition to this, I’ve written to Norman Baker (shadow Transport) requesting he submits an Early Day Motion (EDM) on this topic.

I’ve also been investigating how other councils have been affected, and it appears pretty bleak for them too. Lots have started similar campaigns. An example being Harlow Lib Dems. 

If you have any ideas on how this can be progressed further, please let me know and I’ll give your ideas a go.

On the 21st December (my 35th birthday for those of you who’d like to send me a card in future!) those lovely people at HM Revenue & Customs sent me a bill for just over £750 for underpayment of tax in the year 2000/01 which I was to pay by tomorrow. In other words 6 business days notice.

There was no explanation as to why nearly 7 years on I was suddenly liable for this amount of money. Much as I’d like it to be otherwise, I just don’t have that sort of money to hand to pay for bills with this little notice. I immediately phoned up the helpline to discuss what the bill was for, why I was suddenly expected to pay it with next to no notice and how I could extend the deadline slightly to give me a chance to come up with the money.

I pointed out that any other business would surely give more than 6 business days notice and if it didn’t (after such a long period of time had elapsed) the Government would come down on them like a tonne of bricks. This is especially bearing in mind that the letter was overtly threatening (non-payment by 3rd Jan would result in a fine and interest would begin to be accrued immediately), had no justification for the request whatsoever and was the first I’d heard. I asked the lady on the other end of the phone, that if I sent her a bill for £750, to be paid within a few days, would she send me the money immediately?

Apparently I was being ridiculous… what would the bill be for she asked? I asked her the same of my tax bill - what’s it for? I worked in that tax year and was part of a PAYE (pay as you earn) scheme - what’s suddenly changed? I was told she couldn’t tell me what it was for, but if I wrote in and allowed one calendar month for it to be processed, they would send me further information. However, I should be aware that fines and interest would begin to accrue immediately 3rd Jan had passed.

All over christmas, this has been at the front of my mind and worrying me desperately. So much so, that my lovely sister-in-law even offered to help out and loan me the money to avoid fines. I didn’t take her up on this kind offer though, as I couldn’t believe I could possibly owe them the money.

Anyway, I got in touch with my old company and asked for them to email me a copy of my P60 for that year which they did.

Armed with this information, this morning I went down to my local tax office (thankfully it’s in Maidstone). It turns out, I’d incorrectly added statutory maternity pay (which should not be taxed) to my income and all of a sudden they’d decided I should be charged additional tax. In addition, this was the year that I was made redundant. I’d filled in the amount of my redundancy in the appropriate box on the form (self-assesment). Any amount under £30,000 is tax free - mine was substantially under this amount, but a clerical error had meant that they now deemed this to be a taxable amount hence the sudden bill.

To cut a very long story short, it turns out that HMRC owe me money (to the tune of at least £500). All I had to do was put my request in writing - they told me exactly what to write - and post to my local tax office. At the time of this, I was on the phone to a national call centre whilst sitting in my local office. I got a piece of paper off a clerk in the office, wrote the letter and handed it in.

How long would it take to process I asked? This is bearing in mind that;

1. I had handed in the letter to my local office (so there won’t be any postal delays); and
2. They’d expected me to deal with this whole issue (and pay) within 6 business days.

The answer?
I need to allow one month for all post.

But it’s not really post I said - just hand it in to the person in the office next door (away from us pesky tax payers) and they can make the two amendments and process the claim immediately.

Oh no, I was told, all letters have to go via our postal system and you need to allow one month.

No doubt my letter is now sitting in someones filing cabinet for an alloted period of time, before being sent to the office next door, via Australia, for someone to file for another pre-determined period before anything’s actually done.

If I have to wait for a month will I still be fined and interest added to this non-existant bill? was my next question.

Yes. I will be fined for non-payment and interest will begin accruing on Friday morning. However, should it be that I do not actually owe any money, they will drop the fines and interest - how very kind!

Final question - Can I fine you for not paying quickly and how do I go about charging you interest?

Apparently, HMRC do not have to pay fines for being slow or making mistakes (surprise surprise) however, interest will automatically be added to my claim, backdated to 2001.

So, although the tax office managed to ruin my birthday, christmas and new year, at least I don’t owe them any money, and even better I’m going to get a lot back!

A happy ending for me, but what about the poor people that just bury their heads in the sand, knowing they can’t possibly afford bills like this and not realising that it may well be just a mistake by the tax office?

I’ve filed this post under ‘crime’ as I think it is one!

In a completely cheesey fashion I thought I’d list my resolutions that will probably fly out the window by tomorrow lunchtime….

1. Give up smoking (again)
2. Get down to 10stone…. was over 14 stone shortly after having Travis….
3. Get up to date on all the Lib Dem policies
4. Learn exactly what the Europe Union (and joining it) means
5. Go to conference in March (v. excited about this)
6. Spend more time playing with the kids, and less time nagging them.

That’ll do!

Hope you all have a fantastic 2008 (and indeed had a great 2007).
Julia
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