Forty New Jobs In Nettleham

Mr. Ridge (centre) with members of his team.
© Picture: 2012 John Jenkins, Lincolnshire Echo

As many as forty new jobs will be created following the opening of a new call centre in Nettleham.

Complaint Handling Services has opened an office on the Deepdale Enterprise Park recently, and initially has employed 20 people the Lincolnshire Echo reports. However, following the initial success of the company, they are looking to employ a further batch of telephone operators.

Mr. Rob Ridge, Director, said:

"We deal with payment protection insurance claims initially but we also have a company called Pension Handling Services helping customers with their pensions. 

"Everything has gone really smoothly since the initial 20 people started work here in June.
"Hopefully the business will grow and we are looking to expand to around 60 employees at this site. 

"We are part of a bigger company with offices in Leicester and Manchester but Lincolnshire was very attractive to us. 

"For a start, it is cheaper to set up here than in the bigger cities and the recruitment costs are lower here. 

"Having said that, we are struggling to recruit quickly enough at the moment, but I suppose that is a good thing."

The new call centre has provided residents with an opportunity to get into work, for which they are grateful.

Mr. Mohammed Sait, from Lincoln, moved to the city from London to live with his partner. He said:

"It was about six weeks from leaving London and moving up here that I was out of work. 

"Everyone who works here comes from a different background and age group and they make an excellent team. 

"When I was working in London there was no time to think but here everybody takes their time to make sure that they get things right."

Complaint Handling Services has also provided young people their first taste of full time work. Master James Robertson, from Welton, said:

 "I finished college and wanted to find a job. I heard about this and decided to give it a go. It wasn't really what I wanted to do but I have really enjoyed it so far and I will be looking to stay in this area of work for a while."

Mr. Simon Beardsley, Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, was delighted with the news of more jobs.

"It is good to see a company have the confidence to invest in the county especially while the general economic circumstances seem challenging." 

"It is good to see employment being created at such a significant level by a local firm."

Complaint Handling Services are currently employing please contact them on 01522 596400 for more information.

Conservative-Led West Lindsey District Council Scoops Top National Award

West Lindsey District Council which helped 130 young people to find jobs is celebrating after becoming the only local authority to win a prestigious UK Social Enterprise Award.

The national competition, organised by the Social Enterprise Coalition, recognises the work and achievements of the UK's most inspiring and successful social enterprises.

West Lindsey District Council was crowned Social Enterprise Partner of the Year at the UK final of the Social Enterprise Awards which took place at The O2 in London hosted by actor and comedian Alexander Armstrong. The Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband, was also at the event to present one of the seven awards.

The Council was nominated by a social enterprise in its district called Hill Holt Wood in recognition of its support for local social enterprises.

Together the partners worked with the Future Jobs Fund to help youngsters - some at risk and some excluded from school - into jobs including forestry assistants, gardeners, joiners, sawmill operatives and furniture makers.

West Lindsey's Chief Executive Manjeet Gill said: "We are an entrepreneurial council and that philosophy means we have a strong commercial and social conscience and it is very encouraging that many people have told us that they hope more local authorities will embrace the way we are working.

"Lots of people do similar things to what we have done, but I believe we have won this award because we have involved so many other people in our vision, plans and future challenges."

Karen Lowthrop of Hill Holt Wood said:

"I had no hesitation in nominating West Lindsey for this award because as an organisation they delivered far more than we could have expected. From the Chief Executive down they understand social enterprise and can see the opportunities of partnership. I am looking forward to working with the Council on many more projects."

Peter Holbrook, CEO of the Social Enterprise Coalition said:

"Congratulations to West Lindsey District Council on their win. The Social Enterprise Coalition received a record number of responses to this year's awards so to have come out on top is a truly remarkable achievement. We hope the partnership between West Lindsey District Council and Hill Holt Wood will serve as an example to other local authorities of the benefits of working closely with social enterprise."

Chancellor Announces Bold Changes to Child Benefit

© The Conservative Party

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP, has unveiled a bold plan to get Britain's ballooning benefits bill back under control, while introducing fair play into the financing of the welfare state.
Today in his keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, the Chancellor announced that the Coalition Government will introduce a new £500 a week cap on welfare benefits, designed to ensure that workless households no longer receive thousands of pounds in benefits more than the average working family receives in pay.

At the same time, child benefit will be withdrawn from households paying tax at the higher rate, to ensure that people on low incomes are no longer taxed to provide child benefit for those with bigger salaries.

The changes mean that household benefit payments will be capped near the median earned income after tax and National Insurance for working families - around £500 per week by the time of implementation in 2013.

The cap will apply to combined income derived from benefits including Jobseekers Allowance, Income Support, Employment Support Allowance, housing and council tax benefits, Child Benefit, and Carers Allowance. Benefits like Social Fund loans and free school meals are not affected, and people with Disability Living Allowance and war widows will also be excluded.

The withdrawal of Child Benefit from higher rate taxpayers - saving an estimated £1 billion a year -will also apply from 2013, administered through the tax system. There are currently 1.2 million households where higher rate tax is applied which qualify for child benefit. The 6.6 million families with no higher rate taxpayers who receive the benefit will remain unaffected by the change. The Chancellor said:

"If the welfare state is going to gain the trust of the British people, it needs to reflect the British sense of fair play. So for the first time, we will introduce a limit on the total amounts of benefit any one family can receive; and the limit will be set according to this very simple principle: unless they have disabilities to cope with, no family should get more from living on benefits than the average family gets from going out to work."

As for child benefits, which cost taxpayers about £12 billion a year, the Chancellor declared:

"I understand that most higher rate taxpayers are not the super-rich. But a system that taxe working people at higher rates only to give it back in child benefit is very difficult to justify at a time like this.

"And it's very difficult to justify taxing people on low incomes to pay for the child benefit of those earning so much more than them.

"We have got to be tough but fair, and that's why we will withdraw child benefit from households with a higher rate taxpayer. When the debts left by Labour threaten our economy, when our welfare costs are out of control, this measure makes sense."

Unemployment Up 13,000 in East Midlands

Unemployment in the East Midlands has surged from 167,000 to 180,000.

The data for joblessness reveals the number of people registered unemployed in the East Midlands has surged from 167,000 to 180,000. The statistics also show the number of people working in the region has fallen.

The new data shows the number of people classed as being 'economically active' has dropped by 14,000 in the past three months.

Commenting on the latest unemployment figures, Mr. Tony Maione, Lincolnshire Institute of Directors branch chairman, commenting to the Lincolnshre Echo, said public sector spending was to blame.

"These latest figures reveal more worrying evidence that the Government is not taking appropriate steps to bring public spending under control.

"There remains a yawning gap between the performance of the public and private sectors."

Unemployment has increased nationally by 43,000, the new data shows.

Tax cuts needed to keep Lincolnshire working says Giles McNeill

Action required to boost the economy and reduce unemployment

Ahead of the publication of the Government’s draft Budget - the so-called Pre-Budget Report on 24 November, Giles McNeill, Prospective Conservative Candidate for Lincolnshire County Council in the Nettleham & Saxilby Division, has called for tax cuts to help Lincolnshire’s economy and reduce unemployment. The latest official Government figures show the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in the Gainsborough constituency is now 1,200 a rise of 202 from this time last year.

Conservatives are calling on the Government to introduce tax cuts to create new jobs, under an innovative scheme which will help firms take on extra employees, boost the economy and reduce the damaging social costs associated with unemployment.

Private sector firms who hire someone who has been claiming unemployment benefits for more than three months and who has not previously worked for that company in the previous year, would receive a credit against employers’ National Insurance bills.

This would be funded by using money that would otherwise be spent on welfare payments to give tax cuts worth £2,500 per head over a year. It is estimated that the plan could create around 350,000 new jobs across the country over the next year. Simple safeguards would prevent abuse by ensuring that only genuinely new jobs would be eligible.

On top of this, Conservatives have already proposed:
• A two-year council tax freeze, paid for by cutting back on government advertising and consultancy fees.
• Taking family homes out of inheritance tax and nine out of ten first-time buyers out of stamp duty, funded by introducing a levy on non-domiciles.
• Allowing small businesses to delay their VAT payments by six months.
• Cutting payroll taxes for the smallest companies.

Giles said:

“I am very concerned about the state of the economy. Jobs, businesses and livelihoods across the Nettleham & Saxilby Division are at risk, and it is clear that we cannot rely on Gordon Brown to produce the positive policies that will help us cope with recession. Change is desperately needed.

“Cutting taxes for local firms who create new jobs is one of the ways that we can support our local economy, in a fiscally responsible way.”

Welfare reform needed to tackle family breakdown and long-term poverty

Giles McNeill backs plans to help people get back to work in West Lindsey and achieve success

Giles McNeill, Nettleham Parish Councillor, today added his support to calls to reduce long-term welfare dependency, tackle long-term poverty and re-create stable families.

The policy ideas entitled “Work for Welfare” were launched by Conservative leader, David Cameron. They aim to help people find fulfilling jobs, while continuing to support those who genuinely cannot work. Currently across Gainsborough Constituency, there are 3,450 people on Incapacity Benefit and 1,110 on Jobseeker’s Allowance. Under the new Conservative proposals:

Respect for those who cannot work:
Recipients of Incapacity Benefit who really cannot work will receive continued support and will remain outside the return-to-work process.

Employment for those who can:
Every out-of-work benefit claimant will be expected to work or prepare for work. There will be a comprehensive programme of support for job seekers including training, development and work experience. Welfare-to-work services will be provided by the private and voluntary sectors on a payment by results basis.

Assessments for those claiming benefits:
There will be rapid assessments of all new and existing claimants for out-of-work benefits.

Limits to claiming out of work benefits:
People who refuse to join a return-to-work programme will lose the right to claim out-of-work benefits until they do. People who refuse to accept reasonable job offers could lose the right to claim out-of-work benefits.

Community work:
Those who claim for more than two years out of three will be required to help out on community work programmes.

End Tax Credit discrimination:
The savings from these reforms will be used to end the discrimination against couples in the Tax Credits system.

Giles McNeill said:

"Real welfare reform will help reverse the disastrous rise in family breakdown under Labour and tackle the persistent and often hidden poverty that shames our nation."

"Labour’s old politics on welfare reform simply are not working. Higher numbers of Incapacity Benefit claimants and high youth unemployment show that the policies of the last ten years have failed. It’s time for change."

"Rather than Whitehall taking responsibility away from people and making them dependent, we need to help people across West Lindsey to take responsibility for themselves and achieve success and independence."

The full ‘Green Paper’ entitled ‘Work for Welfare’was launched on 8th January 2008and can be downloaded here.