Budget statement here. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4353701.stm)

AND every house with a pensioner in it gets a £200 council tax rebate. Come back home, Granny!

Great news about the stamp duty- i might be able to afford something soon then!!

and good news on the fag front- they should put up prices to 7.50 a packet to pay for the cost of treating the smokers!!!

what effect has the budget had on you?
has it has a possitive or negetive effect ?

I'm sceptical about the overall effect of the stamp duty bit.
It means 1st time buyers can afford to pay a bit more which sometimes has a knock-on effect in prices going up.

It also goes weird at the threshold (as it did before). The difference of 1p in the price suddenly means a difference of thousands in tax.

:clap:

A great budget overall - Thanks Mr Brown :thumbsup:

Sam

Good news here - Child tax credits up and child benefit up :thumbsup:

Sam

As expected it wasa pre-election budget but i even after saying that i still trust Mr brown with our economy- he seems to have it sorted!!!

Good news on the higher threshold for stamp duty - will help those looking for new houses like me!

Very angry about the extra £400 million on defence. It's just not necessary IMO.

I'm missing out here, I'm going to adopt a child.

£400 Milllion on defernce?

A price worth paying to keep us 'well oiled' :suspect:

Not much of an impact. Doubt I'm likely to get a refund on my stamp duty from a couple of years ago am I? ;)
Still, 1p on a pint doesn't sound too bad, till you remember the breweries don't just increase it by 1p, but usually by 2 or 3p thinking we won't notice. I do notice and it makes me mad. :rant:
Other than that, there doesn't appear to be much that affects me.

and what's this: "New national community service for young people to be created with up to £150m to recruit one million young volunteers."
Why blow £150m of tax money on this when we've got hundreds of scallies lounging around all day in prison? Put 'em to use I say!

Originally posted by nick2
I'm missing out here, I'm going to adopt a child.

I've got four so maybe we can come to some arrangement ;)

Sam

Not seen the budget yet - any increase on fuel?

No change to fuel.

How about road tax?

he gave all the pensioners free bus travel he should have given the long term unemployed half price travel to help them find work . And this sounds like a good idea New memorial to the Queen Mother will be built in the Mall with proceeds from a new coin to celebrate the Queen's 80th birthday. And i wonder if sheffield will benifit from the £27 million extra for new national sports foundation?

Originally posted by DaBouncer
How about road tax?

Has the chancellor hit motorists?

After bumper oil revenues, the chancellor has once again given motorists a reprieve.

He has promised to hold off an increase in petrol duty until September.

The chancellor has also frozen vehicle excise duty car tax for medium-sized and smaller, more environmentally-friendly vehicles.

He has slightly raised vehicle excise duty for gas-guzzlers.

No mention of it increasing in the BBC's key points here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4354159.stm so guess road tax is staying the same.

"he gave all the pensioners free bus travel he should have given the long term unemployed half price travel to help them find work"

yeh but they are going to make the pilot 'wheels to work' scheme national and the under the New Deal people can get transport/expenses for interviews etc.

i think something like free bus passes seems a lot more worthwhile than the amount given to defence but there you go!
Stamp duty is good, because i hope to be a first time buyer in the next 5 years :)

What I want to know is; How has this escaped the MODS beedy eyes.

If this isn't a pre-election party political broadcast then I don't know what is.

POLITICS POLITICS..............lock the thread now before you are accused of being biased (which of course we know that you are not ;) )

Originally posted by Mo


If this isn't a pre-election party political broadcast then I don't know what is.


It's nothing of the sort..we're all just happy Mr Brown is doing a good job ;)

Sam

Originally posted by Mo
What I want to know is; How has this escaped the MODS beedy eyes.

If this isn't a pre-election party political broadcast then I don't know what is.

POLITICS POLITICS..............lock the thread now before you are accused of being biased (which of course we know that you are not ;) )

MOD: It's not been reported.

Do you really want me to go to the trouble of pressing the report this post button. You know full well that politics is banned until the 21March.

I think that you are being a teeny weeny bit cocky there Max old boy.

Well I will report after this post.

I've had a look at the details of the budget and while not being an obviously pre-election one it certainly does seem to benefit the majority of people.

Not too happy about the 4p on wine though.

OK.

If this thread goes off in to electioneering in an overt manner then I'll close and move it.

If it stays on news about the Budget and the personal impact thereof then I'm happy with it.

Mo, I'm VERY aware of the rules about politics on the Forum and do not need reminding of them, thank you very much.

End of discussion unless the thread goes wandering off. It's up to you folks!

Joe

Loved the 6 O'clock news report where they likened Gordon's job to that of the dinner lady - giving everyone something they like for just 37 p.

No Turkey Twizzlers in this budget :thumbsup:

I don't think it's made that much difference to me. Glad about the old people getting free bus rides though; perhaps now they'll sell their cars, and stop tootling around everywhere at 15mph! ;)

K x

Originally posted by JoePritchard

OK.

If this thread goes off in to electioneering in an overt manner then I'll close and move it.

If it stays on news about the Budget and the personal impact thereof then I'm happy with it.

Mo, I'm VERY aware of the rules about politics on the Forum and do not need reminding of them, thank you very much.

End of discussion unless the thread goes wandering off. It's up to you folks!

Joe


Joe please can you tell me why you closed my thread asking if other people were missing the politics thread as much as me?

No talk of politics was involved I was just gauging opinion but you swiftly shut it.

This is about the Chancellor of the Exchequer's speech only weeks before an election and you allow it to run.

Sorry but you can ban me if you will but this STINKS.

Originally posted by hotphil
No mention of it increasing in the BBC's key points here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4354159.stm so guess road tax is staying the same.
Very disapointed that vehicle tax excemption has not been changed,currently if you drive a car manufactured before 1st jan 1973,it is tax excempt,(it used to apply to all vehicles 25yrs or older,till they changed it) it has been at the 1973 limit for about 4yrs now,meaning i have to pay full road tax on my 1976 spitfire which i drive less than a 1000 miles a year in,the same amount of tax i pay on my "daily" car and the same amount as somebody who drives 100,000 miles a year.
:mad:

Originally posted by JoePritchard
Mo, I'm VERY aware of the rules about politics on the Forum and do not need reminding of them, thank you very much.

Seems a bit harsh that.

MOD: Please try and keep this thread on topic.

Originally posted by Mo
Joe please can you tell me why you closed my thread asking if other people were missing the politics thread as much as me?

No talk of politics was involved I was just gauging opinion but you swiftly shut it.

This is about the Chancellor of the Exchequer's speech only weeks before an election and you allow it to run.

Sorry but you can ban me if you will but this STINKS.

Mo,

I have no intention of banning you.

I answered the question posed in the thread that you launched, and said that if you had an issue with how the Forum was being run you could contact us dircetly and raise it there.

I stated that the Pre-election politics thread would return later this month and it will do.

I've also stated that if this thread goes off in to electioneering, I'll lock this thread.

I'm sorry you think that my behaviour stinks; that's your privelege to do so.

Joe

I don't think i've ever been on a forum so heavily moderated in my life! :o

I can't believe it, is it owned by the Council or a government body or something? (maybe the grumpy dinnerlady Club?)

As i've browsed around, i've noticed warnings about talking about illegal software and such being BANNED (oh god no!! not someone mentioning pirated software...I might go blind!! Take me to the convent quick... :loopy: )

Any now grown adults can't talk about politics?

Then people wonder why things never get changed by the common man, if we aren't even allowed to discuss it how are we expected to change anything!

Sorry if i've upset any Mod's here, I realise (actually I don't know your motives for these restraints on free speech?) you have a job to do (under someones orders?)

I'm off to find a thread about nail varnish, or something obviously less threatening to the powers that be


(if you don't see any posts from me for a while, I will have been hunted down and gaffa taped to a tree in order to teach me a lesson ;) )

Here you are Gran, - here's two 'undred quid and a free bus pass...we would like you to vote for us :thumbsup:

Hearing comments about the budget today really annoyed me. An example is children. Someone commented whilst they gave extra money for one thing they weren't paying for other things (and only 2.5 hrs a day nursery care:suspect: )

Why the hell should I have to pay for someone else to bring their children up? Don't get me wrong I'm not against some money to help parents out but people thing they have the RIGHT to get this.

My parents waited 10 years before having me so they had their own house and enough money to bring me up.

Why do people thing that they have the divine right to get everything paid for them?

Same with debts and mortgages. If you buy something you should be able to afford it. If you can't then don't buy it.

People seem to expect the world and for someone else to pay for them to do things.

What happened to people saving up for things? Why cannot people stop blaming everyone else and deal with things themselves?

And don't even mention raising taxes to pay for these things.....

Threads merged.

I agree with Mo - very strange that this thread remains open when politics discussions are supposed to be banned until March 21st. Just to remind Joe:

"Please note that any political related threads started between now and the 21st March will immediately be moved in to the politics forum, so that they can be continued when it re-opens."

I don't think you can get anything more political than the budget, especially in an election year?!

Inconsistent moderating aside, I don't think the budget really makes much of a difference. It was a very 'safe' budget. The rise in the stamp duty threshold was long over due - I'm not sure when it was set at £60k, but I'm sure that £60k then would've bought more house than £120k does now! Therefore, although a headline winner, in real terms it means very little.

There are a few areas I am very pleased about in the budget, other which i was intially pleased about but under scrutiny they just don't add up.

I'm very happy about he fact that ALL primary schools will get a rebuild or renovation. I am also ecstatic about the fact nursery education is being lowered to a mininmum age of 3.

Keeping learners involved in some form of education or training unitl 18 and making it compulsory should help to rectify the number of NEET students and also that vast majority of kids who leave school at 16 to go and work at KFC, Ms Donalds etc and get no training, forced to be slaves to mininmum wage unless they choose to return to education, which may have failed them in the first place.

What I am far more worried about is the 1.5 billion being put into new/existing build projects in the FE sector.

Most of this money will go on school sixth forms, meaning that colleges (who actually teache over 2/3rds of ALL FE students) will get the tiny bits of cash again.

This combined with an LSC that requires collegesvto stump up 65% of the money for their new/existing builds compare to 05 for schools means once again, college have been shafted.

This is not even touching on the funding gap between schools and colleges (which stands at between 12-15%). Let me explain this to parents and students more clearly.

Because you or your child has chosen (or been forced) to study at a college as opposed to a school sixth form, they are funded 12-15% less for exactly the same course! The government admits this is an injustice yet none of the political parties are addressing the issue.

If anything the fundign gap will widen. An example of this is funding for GNVQs in schools and colleges, the funding for such courses is being cut, but only in colleges. Yes, thats right, a college will get paid even less for providing a GNVQ service than a school.

My final worry based off this budget is that is does not even account for the problems facing Adult learning provision over the next 3 years. While all level 2 courses (GCSE equivalent) for adults will remain free (as long as an adult has no other level 2 qualification) The fees required to teach an adult learned are going to increse by 15% each year for the next 3 years, this 45% extra money has to coem from somehwere and who will end up paying it?

either the adult themselves or if they are being match funded by their employer the company they work for will ahve to pay this extra money.

Does everyone see this is completely incompatible with a nation that is required to 'upskill?' By increasing fee you will either inhibit adults bettering themselves to higher qualifications, or criplle the economy and have a much more direct detrimental effect on smaller local businesses who cannot afford to train their staff!

It is all well and good pensioners getting a free bus pass sot hey can travel to colleges to elarn new things, but they can't afford to pay the fees when they get there!

The FE sector is often called the 'cinderella' sector of educationa nd rightly so, for too long it has been ignored espite doing possibly the ahrdest job in the whole of education.

Fe colleges teach 16-19 year olds, 14-16 year olds who the schools refuse to teach, learners with massive additonal support needs, adult learners, non academic learners, part time elarners who have jobs, adults who wish to go to university as mature students, the franchise their buildings and staff to teach university courses etc etc. Simply put, Fe does more than any other aspect of education and never gets the recogniton it deserves. The staff which do many of the same jobs as school staff are paid 8% less, the funding for the smae provison is 12-15% less and yet Fe accomplishes so much.

Isn't it about time a budget recognises this and allocates funds to this sector fairly?

Wilf

the best thing for me, apart from the increase in child benefit and child tax credits is the Return to Work bonus for single parents. I am a single dad with four children and I am hoping to get back to work within the next few months as my youngest will be starting comp this year.
A £2000 payment will be a tremendous help for the tranisition from benefits to wages :clap:

Thanks again Mr Brown. :hihi:

Originally posted by craigmason
he gave all the pensioners free bus travel he should have given the long term unemployed half price travel to help them
Unemployed people in South Yorkshire already get half-price travel if they buy a travel-pass from the Transport Executive office and show their UB40.
£200 council tax rebate
I'm still digging through to find out whether this is actually a discount (if you tell the council you're over 65, your liability is reduced, like the single-person discount), or a refund (if you tell the council you're over 65, they'll credit your council tax account, like Council Tax Benefit).

Originally posted by jgharston

I'm still digging through to find out whether this is actually a discount (if you tell the council you're over 65, your liability is reduced, like the single-person discount), or a refund (if you tell the council you're over 65, they'll credit your council tax account, like Council Tax Benefit).

As far as I can tell, it's a cash payment of £200 directly to the pensioners just like the winter fuel payment.

Sam

Originally posted by Scutts
As far as I can tell, it's a cash payment of £200 directly to the pensioners just like the winter fuel payment.

No. Not all pensioners pay Council Tax.
(as jgharston suggested) A discount (£200) will be available (and will probably have to be claimed) on all residential properties with at least one resident of pensionable age.
For example, if my Granny lives with me, a discount is applicable to my bill.

From the BBC website: "Pensioners will cheer a £200 council tax rebate, which will be paid in the autumn." (here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4351777.stm))
So I still read it that they will get a £200 cash rebate :confused:

Sam

Originally posted by cgksheff
No. Not all pensioners pay Council Tax.
(as jgharston suggested) A discount (£200) will be available (and will probably have to be claimed) on all residential properties with at least one resident of pensionable age.
For example, if my Granny lives with me, a discount is applicable to my bill.

Quoting from the Budget Papers:
"a payment to all council tax paying households with somebody over 65 ... of £200 ... These payments will be made at the same time as the 2005 Winter Fuel Allowance".

To me that says that either:

the Pensions Department, if they know you live in a household that pays council tax, will send you £200 with your winter fuel payment (or £100 each for a couple), or:

The Council Tax Department, if they know you are 65 or over, will send the named Council Tax Payer £200 (or enter it as a credit on their bill).

--
JGH

4p on wine- NOT HAPPY!!!! :(

Originally posted by scottf
Great news about the stamp duty- i might be able to afford something soon then!!

and good news on the fag front- they should put up prices to 7.50 a packet to pay for the cost of treating the smokers!!!
isnt this why we pay NI....?
and what about the alcoholics amongst us, should beer be £4 a pint to treat them too....?

Originally posted by jonluvsnique
isnt this why we pay NI....?
and what about the alcoholics amongst us, should beer be £4 a pint to treat them too....?


Alcoholics don't waste the resorces of the NHS anything like smokers do, the NI is to run the hospitals- not to pay for smokers, they should up the tax on fags so the smokers themselves pay for there care later in life- its not my fault if you choose to kill yourself- so why should i pay?

saved me over £1000 next month

Originally posted by scottf
Alcoholics don't waste the resorces of the NHS anything like smokers do, the NI is to run the hospitals- not to pay for smokers, they should up the tax on fags so the smokers themselves pay for there care later in life- its not my fault if you choose to kill yourself- so why should i pay?

what realy gets me is the boot leggers etc who sell in this country and dont pay any tax at all!!! ...

anyway note to self.. STAY ON TOPIC!!!:rolleyes:

Don't moan at the bootleggers before thinking why there are there in the first place i mean if you think about it the cigarettes are made in britain and shipped out yet are cheaper to buy abroad after the cost of shipping etc. I do agree its wrong but its the same as most things like booze, clothes etc we end up paying over the odds. i think if the goverment want to stop it they should look at making the products available here at a price closer to what the bootleggers charge then there would be no real demand (and i am talking about real items here not fakes)