The BBC North East Wales news website is reporting today (Sunday) that a leading councillor has said more official sites for Gypsies and
travellers are needed in North Wales.
Bernie Attridge, deputy leader of Flintshire council, said 95% of legal sites
are in his county and Wrexham.
And he claimed a lack of facilities elsewhere was leading to problems with illegal
settlements and accused the local authorities of "burying their heads".
Conwy, Denbighshire, Gwynedd and Anglesey are said to be looking into the issue.
See the full story at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22397277
Sunday, May 5, 2013
AM raises questions on A55/A483 junction improvements
North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has questioned the Economy Minister over improvement works to the A55/A483 junction serving Wrexham.
The plans involve reducing congestion and journey times by widening the A55 eastbound exit slip road and parts of the circulatory carriageway as well as installing traffic signals to the A483 southbound approach.
The programme of works is set to cost £8,000,000 and is due to start – and finish – in 2014.
Mr Isherwood welcomes the works, but is concerned the 2006 evaluation report that recommended the improvements made no reference to floods or flooding within it.
Questioning the Economy Minister on the matter in the Assembly this week he said: “Last October, the UK Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, announced the plans for the scheme focused on the junction with the A483.
"That junction serves Wrexham, therefore, clearly, you as Minister are very entitled to have a view on this.
"However, the 2006 evaluation report that recommended those improvements to reduce congestion and journey times has no reference to floods or flooding within it.
"Therefore, I would be grateful if you could ensure that the UK Minister is made aware of that and perhaps give advice on what further information on flooding, if any, they might have received.”
The Minister agreed to take up the matter “via my officials.”
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Website urges more to tuck into school meals
A new website encouraging a greater take-up of school meals in Denbighshire has gone live.
The website: www.denbighshireschoolmeals.co.uk includes menus for individual schools, details of special promotions, details on the cashless payment systems in high schools, policy on buying ingredients, free school meals, frequently asked questions and a regular newsletter.
There is also an educational game section where children can play whilst learning about nutrition and making healthy choices.
Ian Kemp, Denbighshire's Catering Manager, said: "This is a great opportunity to raise the profile of school meals in Denbighshire and provide Pupils, parents and guardians with a one stop shop where their questions can be answered at the touch of a button.
"In Denbighshire, we provide plenty of options for healthy school meals and we know that eating a proper lunch has positive benefits for children's concentration in the classroom. We hope the website gives parents and guardians some food for thought and encourages them to look at the tasty options available on our menus."
There will also be a link on the site to the County Council's job vacancy page.
The website: www.denbighshireschoolmeals.co.uk includes menus for individual schools, details of special promotions, details on the cashless payment systems in high schools, policy on buying ingredients, free school meals, frequently asked questions and a regular newsletter.
There is also an educational game section where children can play whilst learning about nutrition and making healthy choices.
Ian Kemp, Denbighshire's Catering Manager, said: "This is a great opportunity to raise the profile of school meals in Denbighshire and provide Pupils, parents and guardians with a one stop shop where their questions can be answered at the touch of a button.
"In Denbighshire, we provide plenty of options for healthy school meals and we know that eating a proper lunch has positive benefits for children's concentration in the classroom. We hope the website gives parents and guardians some food for thought and encourages them to look at the tasty options available on our menus."
There will also be a link on the site to the County Council's job vacancy page.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Llangollen Railway steams into a busy May
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This weekend, train services will run
at hourly intervals from the station, starting at 10.15, and continue until 4pm.
Saturday will feature steam and diesel
locomotives and Sunday and Monday will see two steam locos running - the
British Railways Standard Tank 80072 and Great Western freight 3802.
Next special event on the heritage
railway is the Teddy Bears Picnic on Sunday, May 19.
Saturday, May 11 sees the latest in the
railway’s popular series of murder mysteries.
Car rally passes through town this weekend
* Cars from the 1970s and 1980s such as these will take part in the rally.
MORE than 70 drivers in a prestigious motoring event will
make a brief stop in Llangollen early on Sunday morning.
Competitors in the famous Border 100 Road Rally – some from
as far away as Jersey and the Isle of Man - will have a re-fuelling halt in the
town at around 1.30am.
The two-day event, which was voted the best road rally in
the UK in 2007, begins at Llanfyllin in Powys on Saturday and the Llangollen
fuel stop comes at roughly the half-way point of the route, which takes in
areas of Powys and Denbighshire before finishing 100 miles later at Meiford in
Powys.
The 75 entries include cars from the 1970s to the present
day such as VW Golfs, Ford Escorts, Renaults and Subarus.
Clerk of the course Iwan Jones said: “The cars won’t be in
Llangollen for very long. It will just be a fuelling halt, which is known as a
‘splash and dash’ in rallying.”
The event’s organisers have gone to great pains to assure
Llangollen residents to ensure that no unnecessary disturbance is caused as the
rally passes through.
They recently dropped off letters to a number of local homes
saying that all checkpoints will be manned by efficient marshals and placed
where possible far enough away from dwellings so as not to allow excessive
noise to be created.
The letter adds: “The competitors will be notified that any
undue nuisance created by them during the event will mean their instant
disqualification.”
Friday, May 3, 2013
Search continues for missing Acrefair man
North Wales Police say they are continuing in their efforts to trace Acrefair man David Clwyd Davies (pictured below) who has not been seen since the April 7.
Detective Inspector Arwyn Jones, who is leading the enquiry said: “It will be four weeks on Sunday May 5 since Mr Davies was last seen and our investigation into his disappearance remains a priority.
"We would again ask members of the public who may hold any information that may assist the enquiry to come forward, particularly anybody who knows Clwyd, and who may have any information about his life or movements, past or present.
“We would ask any person who regularly uses the public footpath which runs from Tower Hill, Acrefair towards Tref Y Nant Farm to come forward.
“We have received a number of requests from members of the public to assist with searching for Clwyd, and although we would like to thank those who have offered, we would discourage this at this time and would like to reassure the public that we have highly trained search advisors involved in locating Clwyd.”
Anybody with any information should contact North Wales Police on 101 or alternatively Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
County tackles rising benefit fraud
Denbighshire County Council is cracking down on benefit fraud, which has risen up by almost 100% in four years.
In 2012-13 investigations by the authority's Benefit Compliance Section resulted in a total of 160 sanctions against benefit claimants who had made false statements to claim Housing and Council Tax Benefit, or who had failed to promptly notify a change which affected their benefit.
Many of the cases were investigated in conjunction with the Department of Works and Pensions investigation service. This is an increase of almost 100% in four years.
Whilst the most serious cases were prosecuted, the section also offered a number of cautions and Administrative Penalties as an alternative to prosecution.
Where these were declined the cases were referred for prosecution.
An Administrative Penalty is a fine imposed on the total overpayment of 30%, which has recently been increased by legislation to 50%.
The council can now also impose a Civil Penalty (£50 in Benefit cases and £70 in Council Tax Reduction cases) in instances where a claimant has negligently made an incorrect statement and failed to take reasonable steps to correct the error, failed to provide information requested or failed to report a change in circumstances, without reasonable excuse.
As well as conducting investigations into benefit offences the section is also proactive in using all appropriate measures to recover Housing Benefit Overpayments.
One of the cases which the council investigated with the DWP featured recently on BBC’s Saints and Scroungers programme.
A query was received from a London Borough about a disabled parking permit in London which was registered to a property in Denbighshire.
Enquiries in Denbighshire raised suspicions and the case was referred to the DWP Organised Fraud Team.
As a result it was discovered that a person was using two identities and claiming from a number of properties in Wales, Manchester and London.
The false claims against various authorities amounted to over £150,000 in ten years. A Proceeds of Crime Order was made against him and to date Denbighshire have recovered over £5,000 of their debt.
Other significant cases included -
A claimant failed to declare capital from the sale of his father’s house and received a sentence of 30 months.
A nurse received a 12 month community order after failing to disclose that her husband was living with her.
A number of claimants were found guilty of failing to promptly report a change in their circumstances which affected their benefits.
Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Cabinet Lead Member for Finance, said: "The majority of residents comply with the law. However, there is a minority of people who defraud the system by claiming public money they are not entitled to.
"To them, our message is clear. If you willingly defraud the Council, we will take action. Residents who only claim what they are entitled to have absolutely nothing to fear."
In 2012-13 investigations by the authority's Benefit Compliance Section resulted in a total of 160 sanctions against benefit claimants who had made false statements to claim Housing and Council Tax Benefit, or who had failed to promptly notify a change which affected their benefit.
Many of the cases were investigated in conjunction with the Department of Works and Pensions investigation service. This is an increase of almost 100% in four years.
Whilst the most serious cases were prosecuted, the section also offered a number of cautions and Administrative Penalties as an alternative to prosecution.
Where these were declined the cases were referred for prosecution.
An Administrative Penalty is a fine imposed on the total overpayment of 30%, which has recently been increased by legislation to 50%.
The council can now also impose a Civil Penalty (£50 in Benefit cases and £70 in Council Tax Reduction cases) in instances where a claimant has negligently made an incorrect statement and failed to take reasonable steps to correct the error, failed to provide information requested or failed to report a change in circumstances, without reasonable excuse.
As well as conducting investigations into benefit offences the section is also proactive in using all appropriate measures to recover Housing Benefit Overpayments.
One of the cases which the council investigated with the DWP featured recently on BBC’s Saints and Scroungers programme.
A query was received from a London Borough about a disabled parking permit in London which was registered to a property in Denbighshire.
Enquiries in Denbighshire raised suspicions and the case was referred to the DWP Organised Fraud Team.
As a result it was discovered that a person was using two identities and claiming from a number of properties in Wales, Manchester and London.
The false claims against various authorities amounted to over £150,000 in ten years. A Proceeds of Crime Order was made against him and to date Denbighshire have recovered over £5,000 of their debt.
Other significant cases included -
A claimant failed to declare capital from the sale of his father’s house and received a sentence of 30 months.
A nurse received a 12 month community order after failing to disclose that her husband was living with her.
A number of claimants were found guilty of failing to promptly report a change in their circumstances which affected their benefits.
Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Cabinet Lead Member for Finance, said: "The majority of residents comply with the law. However, there is a minority of people who defraud the system by claiming public money they are not entitled to.
"To them, our message is clear. If you willingly defraud the Council, we will take action. Residents who only claim what they are entitled to have absolutely nothing to fear."
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