LONG OVERDUE TAX RELIEF FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE
As of the new tax year in April 2015 search and rescue organizations and charities, including Mountain Rescue, will be able to claim back the VAT they pay on equipment and other spending. This has long been sought and is long overdue. The change was announced by the Chancellor George Osborne in his autumn statement and is widely welcomed. The change will make a significant difference to rescue organizations budgets. Tim Farron, MP for the South Lakes has been one of the many campaigners for this change and his reactions was:-
'This is fantastic news and will make a massive difference to our vital search and rescue teams.' 'It has always struck me as deeply unfair that an emergency service which saves people’s lives everyday, has to pay tax on the vital equipment that they use – especially when virtually all of their funding comes from charitable donations. That’s why I have been campaigning for so long to stop these teams having to pay VAT. Our Mountain Rescue teams do amazing work for people in desperate need. I cannot praise them highly enough – their determination and bravery are truly inspiring.'
'Today’s announcement would not have been possible without the work of the late Stewart Hulse from Windermere. As a member of Mountain Rescue England and Wales, Stewart helped me gather the evidence to present to Minister to firstly secure the grant funding, and now this refund. I want to pay tribute to him as we celebrate this important victory.'
It is a shame that such an obviously sensible and worthwhile move, simply doing the right thing, has to wait for a pre-election campaign before a government thinks it is worthwhile. They could have done this four and a half years ago. Now, at least, this significant financial hurdle is overcome.
'This is fantastic news and will make a massive difference to our vital search and rescue teams.' 'It has always struck me as deeply unfair that an emergency service which saves people’s lives everyday, has to pay tax on the vital equipment that they use – especially when virtually all of their funding comes from charitable donations. That’s why I have been campaigning for so long to stop these teams having to pay VAT. Our Mountain Rescue teams do amazing work for people in desperate need. I cannot praise them highly enough – their determination and bravery are truly inspiring.'
'Today’s announcement would not have been possible without the work of the late Stewart Hulse from Windermere. As a member of Mountain Rescue England and Wales, Stewart helped me gather the evidence to present to Minister to firstly secure the grant funding, and now this refund. I want to pay tribute to him as we celebrate this important victory.'
It is a shame that such an obviously sensible and worthwhile move, simply doing the right thing, has to wait for a pre-election campaign before a government thinks it is worthwhile. They could have done this four and a half years ago. Now, at least, this significant financial hurdle is overcome.
SCOTTISH LAND REFORM
The Scottish parliament has fired its latest salvo at the vested interests of wealthy minorities with plans to give Scottish Natural Heritage the power to make landowners implement proper and effective deer management. Conservation champions the John Muir Trust commented:-
“We warmly welcome this proposal from the Scottish Government to take action to protect what remains of our native woodland. For the benefit of a tiny minority, much of our upland environment is bare, degraded and impoverished as a result of overgrazing by deer. Many sporting estates have not just allowed, but encouraged deer numbers to escalate to unsustainable levels, which are harmful both to our ecosystem and to the wellbeing of the deer themselves. This is a chance to halt and reverse two centuries of destruction.”
Campaigner Andy Wightman has elaborated on the many land reform measures proposed in recent weeks, and his comments can be read in full at http://www.andywightman.com. In brief though the deer management plan is but one of a number of measures proposed which could well have a profound effect on the land ownership and management in Scotland, a country with among the most inequitable land ownership in Europe.
Proposals include measures to encourage the sustainable development of land and communities and to prevent landowners from blocking such development in order to maintain their own limited interests. In reality this should make it harder for some landowners to block community, business and land-usage developments that might benefit the communities simply to preserve their own restrictive stalking, shooting and fishing interests and to prevent them pickling the land as some sort of pseudo-Edwardian private kingdom.
Another aims to prevent private landowners from establishing ‘charitable trusts’ and them limiting the membership and control of these ‘charities’ to their immediate circle. Instead local communities will be able to have some influence in the running of charitable bodies that affect them.
A most welcome proposal is the removal of business rate exemptions for shooting and deer-stalking businesses. They are indeed businesses, as the landowners involved like to tell us, creating income for those running them. Why then are they exempt from business rates ? Under the new proposals they no longer will be, bringing these businesses into line with others.
There is also a proposal to reform inheritance laws whereby all offspring will have equal claim to inheritance. Scotland’s Tory was aghast at this stating that it could lead to the break-up of estates. Given the size of many of these estates and given the vast acreage of Scotland that lies in the hands of so few people this can hardly be viewed as a bad thing. If the great land holdings are broken up and if more people own more land and if people can have an equal right to inheritance regardless of order of birth or sex than this can only be fair.
There will be much debate over these issues of course but given the large majority of socially minded politicians north of the border many, if not all, of these proposals stand a chance of enactment. Once again Scotland, despite it’s archaic pattern of land-ownership, is leading the way into the a 21st century world where all individuals are of equal worth and the needs and rights of all are considered.
“We warmly welcome this proposal from the Scottish Government to take action to protect what remains of our native woodland. For the benefit of a tiny minority, much of our upland environment is bare, degraded and impoverished as a result of overgrazing by deer. Many sporting estates have not just allowed, but encouraged deer numbers to escalate to unsustainable levels, which are harmful both to our ecosystem and to the wellbeing of the deer themselves. This is a chance to halt and reverse two centuries of destruction.”
Campaigner Andy Wightman has elaborated on the many land reform measures proposed in recent weeks, and his comments can be read in full at http://www.andywightman.com. In brief though the deer management plan is but one of a number of measures proposed which could well have a profound effect on the land ownership and management in Scotland, a country with among the most inequitable land ownership in Europe.
Proposals include measures to encourage the sustainable development of land and communities and to prevent landowners from blocking such development in order to maintain their own limited interests. In reality this should make it harder for some landowners to block community, business and land-usage developments that might benefit the communities simply to preserve their own restrictive stalking, shooting and fishing interests and to prevent them pickling the land as some sort of pseudo-Edwardian private kingdom.
Another aims to prevent private landowners from establishing ‘charitable trusts’ and them limiting the membership and control of these ‘charities’ to their immediate circle. Instead local communities will be able to have some influence in the running of charitable bodies that affect them.
A most welcome proposal is the removal of business rate exemptions for shooting and deer-stalking businesses. They are indeed businesses, as the landowners involved like to tell us, creating income for those running them. Why then are they exempt from business rates ? Under the new proposals they no longer will be, bringing these businesses into line with others.
There is also a proposal to reform inheritance laws whereby all offspring will have equal claim to inheritance. Scotland’s Tory was aghast at this stating that it could lead to the break-up of estates. Given the size of many of these estates and given the vast acreage of Scotland that lies in the hands of so few people this can hardly be viewed as a bad thing. If the great land holdings are broken up and if more people own more land and if people can have an equal right to inheritance regardless of order of birth or sex than this can only be fair.
There will be much debate over these issues of course but given the large majority of socially minded politicians north of the border many, if not all, of these proposals stand a chance of enactment. Once again Scotland, despite it’s archaic pattern of land-ownership, is leading the way into the a 21st century world where all individuals are of equal worth and the needs and rights of all are considered.
ENGLAND'S COASTAL PATH A STEP CLOSER
Nick Clegg has announced plans to speed up the creation of the long-touted England Coastal Path with more than £5 million to be spent on it with a completion in 2020. This plan for a coastal path around the whole of England and linking to that of Wales was put into motion by the previous government and it is welcome news that not only will it be honoured but in fact speeded up in spite of the reservations of some along Mr Clegg said:
“Britain has a beautiful coastline that deserves to be explored and enjoyed by everyone, whether you’re a resident or a tourist. But opening these coastal paths was taking far too long. Under the current timescale we would have built UK’s first space port before you could walk the length and breadth of our coast. This extra funding will mean these stunning paths will be open in just over five years, to be enjoyed by this generation and all those to follow.”
There should be substantial revenue generated along the route too as the draw of the coastal path, offering access at any point to what is genuinely one of the UK’s world-standard features, will have a wider appeal than that of the clearly popular upland routes such as the Pennine Way, West Highland Way and the Coast to Coast route, all of which benefit the areas they pass through.
The Ramblers noted that:-
“Investing in the coast path is not just good news for walkers, but will help to breathe new life into our coastal towns and villages, boosting tourism and the local economy and reconnecting people with their stretch of coast, helping to promote health and wellbeing.”
“Britain has a beautiful coastline that deserves to be explored and enjoyed by everyone, whether you’re a resident or a tourist. But opening these coastal paths was taking far too long. Under the current timescale we would have built UK’s first space port before you could walk the length and breadth of our coast. This extra funding will mean these stunning paths will be open in just over five years, to be enjoyed by this generation and all those to follow.”
There should be substantial revenue generated along the route too as the draw of the coastal path, offering access at any point to what is genuinely one of the UK’s world-standard features, will have a wider appeal than that of the clearly popular upland routes such as the Pennine Way, West Highland Way and the Coast to Coast route, all of which benefit the areas they pass through.
The Ramblers noted that:-
“Investing in the coast path is not just good news for walkers, but will help to breathe new life into our coastal towns and villages, boosting tourism and the local economy and reconnecting people with their stretch of coast, helping to promote health and wellbeing.”