Bath & North East Somerset Council is asking local residents to be aware of an email scam in operation in relation to Council Tax.

The Council has had reports of a bogus email informing Council Tax payers that they have an outstanding Council Tax debt. The email goes on to say that the Council has been unable to process their recent payment and that they should pay again by clicking on the link within the email. These emails are not from Bath & North East Somerset Council.

If you are unsure whether you need to make a payment, please contact us on 01225 47 77 77, or email counciltax@bathnes.gov.uk

If you have received a scam email:
· Do not click on any links in the email.

· Do not reply to the email or contact the senders in any way.

· If you have clicked on a link in the email, do not supply any information on the website that may open.

· Do not open any attachments that arrive with the email.

· Report it to Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 03454 04 05 06.

· If you think you may have compromised the safety of your bank details and/or have lost money due to fraudulent misuse of your cards, you should contact your bank immediately.

the same applies for banks and building societies as well. Never click on links unless you trust the sender and be wary of any email asking you for security information.

Bath’s Grade II* Listed Victoria Bridge officially reopens on Thursday 15 January following a £3.4 million refurbishment by Bath & North East Somerset Council to make the historic structure suitable for modern use for the growing population of Crest Nicholson’s Bath Riverside development and link the Upper and Lower Bristol Road for people on foot and cyclists.

Built in 1836 to a design by James Dredge – Bath resident, brewer and bridge builder – Victoria Bridge was the first of over fifty ‘taper’ suspension bridges to be built worldwide, and is one of only a handful remaining today.

The newly-refurbished bridge will be officially reopened by descendants of James Dredge – who are pleased to see his legacy live on.

The refurbishment work has been successfully completed according to plan. The presence of the temporary truss, which was installed by the Council in 2011, and the use of some innovative construction techniques by the Council’s contractor, Balfour Beatty, enabled public access across the bridge to be maintained for over 90% of the construction period, even though the bridge superstructure had to be completely dismantled and reconstructed.

Councillor Caroline Roberts (Lib-Dem, Newbridge), Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “Our completion of the work ensures the future use of the bridge as a safe and efficient route across the River for pedestrians and cyclists, including local residents and school children. This supports the growing local community and helps people move around the city more conveniently, as well as contributing to the evolving public realm of the Bath Western Riverside residential development.”

Much research work was undertaken as part of the project to understand the history and context of the bridge and the life and role of its designer, James Dredge. This gradually uncovered an enormous of amount of previously unknown information about the Bath brewer and engineer, including details of over 50 of his bridges in the UK and overseas (from South America to India), his ideas for the Clifton Suspension Bridge and his family history in Bath and Wiltshire. This incredible set of over 1,500 documents has recently been deposited in the Bath Record Office at the Guildhall and is available for the public to view.

Councillor Ben Stevens (Lib-Dem, Widcombe), Cabinet Member for Sustainable Communities, said: “The refurbishment of the Grade II* Listed Victoria Bridge illustrates Bath & North East Somerset Council’s commitment to restoring this important piece of heritage infrastructure for future generations to enjoy. This magnificent structure which plays a significant part in the story of Bath’s industrial development and the advancement of bridge engineering through the Victoria era.”

Ruth Garner, Principal Adviser for Heritage at Risk for English Heritage in the South West, said: “Bath’s Grade II* listed Victoria Bridge is an extraordinary survival of one of Dredge’s early suspension bridges which has now been saved for future generations. We were pleased to have been able to provide expert advice and support to Bath & North East Somerset Council on this successful refurbishment project and, as a result of the work, have been able to remove Victoria Bridge from our Heritage at Risk Register.”

Balfour Beatty began construction in March 2014 which involved the bridge being taken to pieces and reassembled with a series of new, steel components added to make the structure sufficiently strong enough to meet modern bridge design standards. The original Bath stone towers have also been cleaned and conserved and some new foundations built to support the Bridge’s north and south backspans.

To find out more about the Victoria Bridge refurbishment visit: www.bathnes.gov.uk/victoriabridge.

A scheme which could see up to £2million in business rates being retained to boost the local economy across Somerset has been approved by the Government.

As part of the recent Local Government Settlement, the Government has given the go ahead for the establishment of the Somerset Business Rates Pool; consisting of Somerset County Council, Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES) and North Somerset Unitary councils, Mendip, Sedgemoor and South Somerset District councils, and Taunton Deane Borough Council, forming a continuous geographic area centring on the ceremonial shire county of Somerset, with a combined population of over 900,000.

The Pool will build on the economic and community links between Bath, the Somer Valley and Mendip market towns of Midsomer Norton, Radstock, Frome, Shepton Mallet, Street, Wells and Glastonbury in the east, and the principal towns of the Somerset Levels in the west; including Bridgwater, Burnham on Sea, Weston Super Mare, Nailsea, Clevedon and Portishead. The administrative centre of the county is located in Taunton, with the M5 motorway passing Wellington and running to the south of the county and Yeovil and small market towns including Wincanton, Chard and Ilminster.

Bath & North East Somerset Council has been named as the lead authority for the Somerset Business Rates Pool. Councillor David Bellotti (Lib-Dem, Lyncombe), Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Resources, said: “Overall, we estimate the pool has the potential to ensure around a further £2million of Business Rates are retained locally to be shared between the member councils, encouraging closer working on the management of business rates between the partners.

“The region is forecast to experience above average growth over the next few years. Pooling Business Rates will help to mitigate local demographic and service pressures arising from additional growth and, by fully rewarding our communities for delivering such economic growth, will provide additional stimulus to new development. This will act as a further incentive for all the pooling authorities to proactively work together to drive economic growth within Somerset. The Pool will provide improved opportunities for co-ordination across the region, further re-investment in transport links in the area and will build on the joint-working that is already taking place, for example, between B&NES and North Somerset, including immediate opportunities to share expertise across the Pool membership.”

The rationale for the Somerset Business Rates Pool is to encourage economic growth; therefore Pool members are committed to using the additional business rates resource to promote further growth in the local economy. Subject to budgetary constraints, each Pool Member will allocate a significant proportion of their allocated Pool Dividend for activities that support:

· The creation of an environment where it is easy for businesses to start, locate and thrive
· Acceleration of the growth of the economy in Somerset through targeted support in the key strategic sectors.

The Somerset Business Rates Pool will complement B&NES and North Somerset councils’ participation in the West of England City Deal agreement and support and incentivise the growth in construction businesses and suppliers associated with the major development at Hinkley Point, the expansion of Bristol Airport as well as investment in large-scale distribution centres within the region, development at key junctions on the M5 corridor and the Firepool central commercial district in Taunton, plus commercial development arising out of the recently-announced dualling of the A303. A wider Pool for Business Rates Retention would allow the full benefits of economic growth arising from the strategic transport and infrastructure investment expected from the City Deal and these other major developments to flow back to the local bodies, and therefore their communities, hosting that development.

ENDS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a great stage day it was yesterday on Stage 6 of the Tour of Britain starting out from Royal Victoria Park. As a Council we worked hard with the tour and sponsors to ensure that not only was the race a great sporting success but that also the community side of it and the spectator opportunity was great.

We had a cycle village in the park and touring round the stalls stopped for a chat with the cycle bath campaign group, up on the stage awarded t-shirts and certificates to all the young people from schools from across B&NES who lead the race out and then enjoyed all the teams being introduced to the crowds.

It was a great honour to, with Laura, drop the flag at the start line to get the stage race of to its start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Bath and North East Somerset Council we are encouraging staff to save via payroll deduction direct into one of our 2 local credit unions. We are served by Somerset Savings and Bristo CU. On Wednesday this week I signed up to save direct from my payslip into both unions. They are the best way to get access and loans for the many people who for whatever reason do not have bank accounts and they are certainly preferable to the loan sharks and pay day lenders that are on offer.

The Bath Green Homes autumn programme of events kicks off this Sunday (14 September) with the Bath Home Improvement Fair, supported by Bath & North East Somerset Council.

Whether you are doing a DIY project, looking for professional help, or just want to get some ideas on how to make your home warm and beautiful, there is a lot to discover at the Bath Home Improvement Fair.

Cllr Paul Crossley (Lib-Dem, Southdown), Leader of Council, said: “The Fair is a great opportunity to find out what you can do in your own home. There will be plenty of local experts on hand to answer your questions, and you can even book a free consultation with an architect or a Bath & North East Somerset Council Listed Buildings Officer.”

The Fair brings together local trades, designers, installers, architects and organisations to create a vibrant market place. The “Ask the Expert” area offers free, bookable consultations with an architect or a Council Listed Buildings Officer by visiting www.asktheexpertbhif.eventbrite.com or by calling 01225 477528. There will also be an engaging programme of talks and free refreshments available throughout the day:

 

Time	Topic	Speaker
12.30pm	Working with an architect	PAAD Architects
1pm	Fundamentals of sustainability	Mori Architects
1.30pm	Love your old home	Bristol Hemp and Lime
2pm	Making your home energy efficient	B&NES Energy@Home Advice Service
2.30pm	Eco Refurbishment to Passive Standards	Hetreed Ross
3pm	Where does all the energy go?	GCP Chartered Architects
3.30pm	‘The care and repair of Bath stone’	Donald Insall Associates

 

And, if you want to see real home improvement examples around Bath, come along to the third Bath Green Homes Open Homes weekend on 27 & 28 September with loads of new homes to check out. Some of the homes require you to book a place, so visit www.bathgreenhomes.co.uk/openhomes for details.

Bath Green Homes is a community project jointly organised by Transition Bath, Bath Preservation Trust and Bath & North East Somerset Council to inspire residents to make their homes more energy efficient.

 

The joint DECC & OxFutures (Oxford City Council) conference called Powering UP held its first national conference on community energy for local authorities and community energy groups and is seen by government as a key component of DECCs’ recently published Community Energy Strategy.

Our work with Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) is cited in the Strategy as a key case study of what local authorities can do to support the development of renewable energy within their own communities and BWCE and the Council were invited to speak at the conference to jointly present the local authority and community enterprise perspectives. Of the eight case studies presented, B&NES was the only authority presenting a genuine partnership with a community organisation. B&NES, under my Liberal Democrat Cabinet leadership, was very supportive in setting up BWCE as a community energy group and we are now seen as leaders in the UK on partnership working with community energy.

In addition, the Council was singled out in the keynote speech at the beginning of the day by Rebecca Willis, former Chief Executive of the Green Alliance, now Cooperatives UK – a well-known figure in the energy and climate change field.  She mentioned us particularly in terms of not being one of the usual suspects – ie showing that you don’t have to be a big council to make a difference on this.  Then, after lunch, Liberal Democrat MP Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change, also gave us a good plug in his address! Here is the link to his speech: http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/news.nsf/articles/DNWA-9NNG3Y

B&NES will now be working with APSE Energy, Plymouth and Oxford Councils along with an expert consultancy to create an event for local authorities on short term investment opportunities and issues and then to look at longer terms issues such as future pension investment in low carbon and renewable energy (which in the long term is likely to be safer and higher performing than investment in fossil fuel energy companies), with a view to APSE producing a guidance note for local authorities.

At the awards ceremony in the evening for the UK’s first Community Energy Awards – BWCE took the award for best community energy organisation and Pete Capener (Chair of BWCE and adviser to DECC on these issues) was awarded community energy ‘leader of the year’. Well done to Peter and all at BWCE

 

Pre-Manifesto Launch

Today the Liberal Democrats will unveil our pre-manifesto. This is a significant political moment as we begin the run in to the 2015 General Election. The pre-manifesto is a comprehensive document that contains the bulk of what will become our 2015 General Election manifesto.

It sets out the Liberal Democrat vision for Britain in the next Parliament, with spreading opportunity at its heart. We are proud of our record of action in this Parliament and this document sets out our promise of more in the next.

Rescue to renewal

Since 2010, Liberal Democrats have worked in government to rescue and repair Britain’s shattered economy. Growth is up; jobs are up; government borrowing is down. The repairs to our public finances must be completed and they must be completed fairly. But we do not believe that in the next five years Britain simply wants more of the same.

We need to move from rescue to renewal. We need to move from austerity to ambition. We need to think boldly and restore a sense of national optimism. After the rescue from recession we cannot go back to the old Britain.

We no longer want an economy based on debt and speculation; out of the rubble of the 2008 crash we must build a new economy, not just reassemble the old one. We cannot accept a society of unfairness and inequality of opportunity. We cannot mortgage our children’s future by ignoring the threat of climate change; and we cannot have a state where power is hoarded at the centre rather than being returned to citizens and to our local areas.

But this manifesto is about the future and not the past. Liberal Democrats played an essential role in rescuing Britain; now we want to lead the renewal.

Spreading opportunity through education

We believe that the task of a liberal party is above all to empower every person to realise their own potential. No matter what your background, your race, your colour, your sex or your sexuality: we believe in you. Liberal Democrats don’t write anybody off. Our determination to set people free is the thread that holds this whole manifesto together. The Liberal Democrat vision for the next five years is to focus our efforts on clearing away the biggest barriers that are holding people, and holding Britain, back.

This is a manifesto for the next generation – one that prioritises the life chances of children and young people. That is why we have put spreading opportunity through education at the heart of our manifesto. Education is key to giving people the knowledge, skills and confidence to get on in life, which is why we will protect education spending, ensure children are taught by qualified teachers and invest more in children from poor backgrounds in the crucial early years.

Our objective is to create a stronger economy and a fairer society: a society of free citizens in which every person is enabled to get on in life. It is only with a stronger economy and a fairer society that we can spread opportunity, and this is something that only the Liberal Democrats can deliver. Labour cannot be relied upon to build a stronger economy and the Conservatives cannot be relied upon to build a fairer society. We want to build a liberal Britain where you and the people you care about have the freedom, the space, and the opportunity to flourish.

Record of action

• The economy rebuilt.
• Millions of people freed from paying income tax.
• More renewable energy than ever.
• The Pupil Premium to help poor children get a first-class education.
• More childcare and shared parental leave.
• Cancelling ID cards.
• Free school meals for under-7s.
• More apprentices.
• The biggest ever cash increase in the state pension.
• A Green Investment Bank.
• Equal marriage.

None of these things would have happened without the Liberal Democrats.

Promise of more Finish the job fairly:

Balance the budget

Rebalance and rewire the economy to cut out carbon, rebuild our national infrastructure, embrace new technology and make sure every region flourishes

Continue to cut taxes for working people

Spread opportunity through education – a manifesto for the next generation:

Protect education spending

A parental guarantee of a core curriculum taught by qualified teachers

Triple the Early Years Pupil Premium to £1,000 a child

Examples of policies announced over the summer:

Protecting education spending: Extend the protection to all education funding from early years through school to college

Parental Guarantee: A core curriculum taught by qualified teachers

Free school meals: Extending free school meals to all primary pupils

Curriculum for Life: Children in state-funded schools, including academies and free schools, will be guaranteed age appropriate sex and relationship education, as well as financial literacy and citizenship lessons

Early Years Pupil Premium: We will more than triple investment in the early years pupil premium from £300 to £1000 per child

‘Daddy Month’: We will expand shared parental leave with an additional four week ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ paternity leave period

Balance the budget: Aim to balance the structural current budget by 2017/18 and set a course to reduce debt as a share of national income. Make deficit reduction fair by ensuring high earners and the wealthiest pay their share. Set new fiscal rules to balance the budget while allowing borrowing for productive investment. Increase public spending again in line with growth in the economy once the budget is balanced.

Cutting taxes for working people: Raise the income tax threshold to £12,500 before beginning to raise the National Insurance threshold

Making our tax system fairer: Introducing a banded High Value Property Levy on residential properties worth over £2m; limit tax relief on pensions to a pot of £1m; maximising revenue from Capital Gains Tax by aligning rates more closely to Income Tax

Council tax discounts for green homes: Households could save at least £100 a year on their council tax bill by improving the energy efficiency of their homes

Five Green Laws: The new laws will include legal targets for clean air and water, an end to dirty coal power stations and an ambitious decarbonisation target for the electricity sector. The laws are: A Nature Bill; a Heating and Energy Efficiency Bill; a Zero Waste Britain Bill; a Zero Carbon Britain Bill; and a Green Transport Bill.

300,000 homes: Set an ambitious target of increasing the rate of house building to 300,000 a year

Ring fence NHS budget: NHS spending will rise by at least the rate of inflation over the next Parliament. We also announced they will pool health and social care budgets. This would help make care more tailored towards individual patients and reduce inefficiencies

Help for Carers: We will support carers with a package of measures designed to make their lives easier. The package includes an annual Carer’s Bonus of up to £250 and raising the amount carers can earn before losing their allowance.

Mental health: We will establish a mental health research fund worth £50m per year to help bridge the gap between physical health and mental health treatment

Drugs: We will end imprisonment for drug users whose only crime is possession for personal use. They will instead receive non-custodial sentences and appropriate medical treatment

Safe Standing: Clubs in the Premier League and Championship will be allowed to work with their supporters to introduce standing areas, which provide better atmospheres and allow clubs to offer cheaper safe standing season tickets