Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Consultation ends soon on Carmarthenshire’s budget plans for the next three years. People are being urged to have their say in decisions which affect their future, with a number of proposals for changes being put forward for discussion. They include suggestions from a range of areas including day care services, leisure, street cleaning, special educational needs, music service, school meals and educational psychology. The council needs to save £8.8million for the next financial year – 2017-18 – and a total of £24.6million over the next three years. All views gathered from the consultation will be included in the budget report which will go before county councillors for decision in February. In the meantime, extensive consultation has taken place with seminars for county councillors, town and community councils, a public forum, scrutiny committees, schools budget forum, school sixth forms and trade unions meetings. The survey is available online at i-Local , and hard copies are availa...

Consultation is continuing on Carmarthenshire’s budget for the next three years. People are being urged to have their say in decisions which affect their future, with a number of proposals for changes being put forward for discussion. They include suggestions from a range of areas including day care services, leisure, street cleaning, special educational needs, music service, school meals and educational psychology. The council needs to save £8.8million for the next financial year – 2017-18 – and a total of £24.6million over the next three years. All views gathered from the consultation will be included in the budget report which will go before county councillors for decision in February. In the meantime, extensive consultation has taken place with seminars for county councillors, town and community councils, a public forum, scrutiny committees, schools budget forum, school sixth forms and trade unions meetings. The survey is available online at i-Local , and hard copies are availabl...

The latest Clay Shaw Butler Money Matters column from the Carmarthenshire Herald. By Mark Jones, director of Carmarthen-based Clay Shaw Butler chartered accountants and business consultants. Well, that was interesting. Last week, the Chancellor Philip Hammond presented his first, and last, Autumn Statement along with the Spending Review. His speech and the supporting documentation set out both tax and economic measures. Our summary concentrates on the tax measures which include: the government reaffirming the objectives to raise the personal allowance to £12,500 and the higher rate threshold to £50,000 by the end of this Parliament  reduction of the Money Purchase Annual Allowance  review of ways to build on research and development tax relief  tax and National Insurance advantages of salary sacrifice schemes to be removed  anti-avoidance measures for the VAT Flat Rate Scheme  autumn Budgets commencing in autumn 2017.  In addition the Chancellor...

On Wednesday 23rd November the Chancellor Philip Hammond presented his first, and last, Autumn Statement along with the Spending Review. His speech and the supporting documentation set out both tax and economic measures. The Clay Shaw Butler summary concentrates on the tax measures which include: the government reaffirming the objectives to raise the personal allowance to £12,500 and the higher rate threshold to £50,000 by the end of this Parliament reduction of the Money Purchase Annual Allowance review of ways to build on research and development tax relief tax and National Insurance advantages of salary sacrifice schemes to be removed anti-avoidance measures for the VAT Flat Rate Scheme autumn Budgets commencing in autumn 2017. In addition the Chancellor announced the following pay and welfare measures: National Living Wage to rise from £7.20 an hour to £7.50 from April 2017 Universal Credit taper rate to be cut from 65% to 63% from April 2017. In the March Bu...

Swansea Bay City Region leaders have welcomed news that the UK Government has recommitted its support for a Swansea Bay City Deal. Chancellor Philip Hammond made the announcement during his Autumn Statement to parliament earlier this afternoon (Wednesday November 23). The region’s City Deal bid, if approved, could be worth billions of pounds to Swansea Bay over the next 20 years. Focussing on the region becoming a digital superhub through major investment in digital infrastructure, the 'Internet Coast' City Deal proposals would have major benefits for Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. It’s estimated the approval of the City Deal would be worth £3.3bn to the south west Wales economy, helping deliver thousands of job opportunities for Swansea residents and others. Sir Terry Matthews, Chair of the Swansea Bay City Region, said: “The Chancellor’s recommitment to the Swansea Bay City Deal in today’s Autumn Statement is great news. “We are pleased to ha...

People in Carmarthenshire are being urged to have their say in decisions which affect their future. Consultation on the county council’s budget is starting with a number of proposals for changes being put forward for discussion. They include suggestions from a range of areas including day care services, leisure, street cleaning, special educational needs, music service, school meals and educational psychology. The council needs to save £8.8million for the next financial year – 2017-18 – and a total of £24.6million over the next three years. All views gathered from the consultation will be included in the budget report which will go before County Councillors for decision in February. In the meantime, extensive consultation is taking place with seminars for county councillors, town and community councils, a public forum, scrutiny committees, schools budget forum and trade unions meetings. An Insight day is being held in December to consult with young people, including Carmarthenshire Y...

By Mark Jones, director of Clay Shaw Butler chartered accountants and business consultants, Lammas Street, Carmarthen The Budget has included important tax simplification measures, a commitment to raise the investment allowance and a vital review of business rates. The Chancellor’s commitment to raise the Annual Investment Allowance to an appropriate level will provide the certainty needed for businesses to plan and invest - something badly needed if the UK is to raise its productivity. The abolition of Class 2 National Insurance contributions for the self employed is also a welcome step. By early 2016, the Chancellor estimates all five million small businesses and the first 10 million individuals will have access to digital tax accounts. Wisely, many will still want their accountant to advise – on what they can claim, how best to minimise payments, and how to take the business forward. Tax-payers will now have a running picture of where they stand. Most businesses simply want a fair...

People can have their say on council budget proposals at events taking place across Carmarthenshire. Roadshows will be held in Newcastle Emlyn, Llanelli, Ammanford and St Clears as part of the consultation process. People can go along and speak to officers and councillors about the proposals being put forward as the council tries to balance its books, whilst facing cuts of around £44million over the next three years. With such a significant reduction in its budget the council is having to look at all options for reducing spend and it is likely that this will affect dozens of services and jobs. Senior officers have already identified millions of pounds in operational savings, now councillors have to make decisions that could affect the delivery of front line services to find the rest of the money needed. The process started with a members’ seminar, and all of the Council’s scrutiny committees will discuss the budget at their meetings over the coming months. Full consultation with th...

Social entrepreneur and millionaire Kevin Green has given his reaction to Chancellor George Osborne's Budget -  I am very glad and that I invested my monthly pension contribution into a house rather than a pension. I am not paying intermediaries massive fees - and cutting out the middle-man means that my family are much more financially secure. The other question I would ask regarding the pension changes is: why would you pull money out of a pension and then get slapped with income tax? I also wonder why people bother locking money up in ISAs, when they may be better off shopping around for a high interest account which can achieve the same thing, if not better. I sometimes wonder with ‘vehicles’ such as the ISA, who really benefits? The customer or the introducer? I think I know the answer to that one! There’s a good plus point in the Budget with the Home Equity scheme being extended. It shows evidence that the Government wants to kick-start the economy. The extension of t...

Councillors in Carmarthenshire have set the budget for next year along with its financial plan for the next three years. Recommendations by the executive board were carried by a large majority at the County Hall meeting. They included changes to the original proposals made following extensive consultation and feedback where over 1,000 members of the public gave their views. The council has to save £12million in the next financial year, and around £31million over the next three years. Some 52 proposals were originally put forward for consideration, then following consultation and feedback from the public a number of these were taken out by the executive board. Those changed include children’s respite; flood defence; street cleaning; work place parking; school crossing patrols, free transport to denominational schools; free post-16 transport; and youth services and libraries. Councillors also voted to give all staff a one per cent pay rise to be consolidated but not in addition to any ...

Reaction to this afternoon's Budget from West Wales businesses - Social entrepreneur Kevin Green, one of the UK’s biggest private sector landlords, said: You obviously have to welcome the help schemes targeted at getting the housing market moving. The shared equity scheme and guarantees on new lending are very good news. The man in the street will be pleased at the £10,000 threshold and there’s good news for businesses on corporation tax. But my biggest worry is the way the Chancellor was talking about changes to welfare and benefit payments in June. He didn’t really elaborate and that must be a headache to landlords like myself. In short, many landlords will be thinking whether they should take on benefit claimants as tenants. The lack of clarity in the Chancellor’s statement will leave landlords worried. We need more detail and we need it now, not in June, as the uncertainty will not be good for the rental housing sector. Kevin is a self-made multi-millionaire and s...

Hywel Dda Health Board | Securing the finances to deliver highest quality healthcare Hywel Dda Health Board has succeeded in reaching a break-even position at the end of the financial year. At the same time, clinical care has been of the highest quality, with the Board reaching or exceeding the vast majority of clinical performance targets, bosses say. HDHB Chairman Chris Martin, and Chief Executive Trevor Purt announced the news and thanked staff for their continued hard work and dedication towards patient care at the latest Health Board meeting.

Urgent calls made to freeze duty on beer - Wales News - News - WalesOnline Urgent calls have been made to freeze beer duty in next month’s budget after figures showed Wales’ pub and brewing industry shrunk by 10% in the past year.

David Butler, director of Clay Shaw Butler, chartered accountants and business consultants, gives his views on what he’d like to see Chancellor George Osborne do in the Budget next week. 1. In view of the over £200 billion quantitative easing then the Chancellor should make the banks accountable to repay a percentage of this as quickly as possible. This money can then be put to immediate use to increase public spending and to generate the extremely important Construction sector. 2. We should continue to move forward to a simpler tax system thus attracting businesses outside the UK and thus of course retaining successful and incubator companies within the UK. The concept of reducing corporation tax for smaller businesses is therefore paramount. 3. Increase anti-avoidance measures and penalise those evading tax with financial measures well before criminal measures. The lower income band are most vulnerable and therefore the system of Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits should be merely a...

More than £3million has been added to Carmarthenshire County Council’s social care budget for the next financial year. The extra money will help ease the pressure on services and will help meet increasing demand for services including home care and supporting people with a learning disability. The department is currently projecting a £1.4million overspend at the end of the financial year, the majority of which - £746,000 – has been spent on delivering extra home care packages. The figures were discussed as part of a revenue budget monitoring report at a meeting of the council’s Executive Board. Cllr Pat Jones, executive board member for health and social care, said the overspend was a clear indication of the increasing demand on services, and added that the extra money for social care in the next financial year would be well spent. “We are providing more care packages now and the demand is not going to go down in the near future,” she said. “We do not make an overspend lightly, but we ...

Massive cider duty hike shelved - General news - Politics - Morning Advertiser Good news for cider drinkers, but the apples aren't out of the woods yet!

Carmarthen accountants Clay Shaw Butler have released their round-up of this week's Budget - Alistair Darling presented his third Budget on Wednesday 24 March 2010. Having acknowledged that the country is emerging from deep global recession and needing to provide a route to long term prosperity he announced a number of new measures. Some will take effect immediately, whilst others will be enacted by a Finance Bill 'as soon as possible' in the next Parliament, so the timing of the changes needs to be carefully watched. Our summary focuses on the issues likely to affect you, your family and your business. To help you decipher what was said we have included our own comments. Main Budget proposals • The Entrepreneurs' Relief limit will be doubled to £2 million for disposals on or after 6 April 2010. Gains qualifying for the relief are charged at an effective capital gains tax rate of 10%. • Most businesses are able to claim an Annual Investment Allowance on the first £50,00...

:: John Major's one and only Budget in 1990 was the first to be televised live. :: Sir Geoffrey Howe, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1979-1983, named his dog Budget. :: In his 1953 Budget Chancellor RA Butler announced that the sugar ration would be increased from 10oz to 12oz a week to help the nation make celebratory cakes for the Queen's Coronation that year. :: What some of them drank while delivering Budgets: Winston Churchill was a brandy man, while Hugh Dalton relied on milk and rum. Selwyn Lloyd supped whisky and water, while Hugh Gaitskell relied on orange juice with a dash of rum. :: But Rab Butler, Harold Macmillan and Peter Thorneycroft, all Tories, made do with water from the tap. :: A Chancellor delivering his Budget is the only MP allowed to take alcohol in the chamber. :: Longest-serving chancellor was Gladstone - for more than 12 years in various terms of office between 1852 and 1882. :: Harold Macmillan once described Budget Day as "rather like a school...