The focus of Carers Rights Day 2011 is making sure that carers have clear information and advice about the support which is available to them. There are around 6.4 million unpaid carers in the UK who provide care support to family, friends and neighbours, saving the country an estimated £119 billion each year. Carers Rights Day, run each year by Carers UK, seeks to increase the take-up of carer’s benefits and raise awareness of carers’ rights and the support which is available.

On average just under 10,000 carers in each parliamentary constituency. Carers UK’s research has found that nearly three quarters are financially worse-off as a result of caring, with many living in financial hardship. Many carers simply do not realise that they are entitled to financial help, or struggle to understand the information they are given. They may also be missing out on key financial support, including Carer’s Allowance or help with Council Tax.

While visiting the Vassall Centre in her constituency, Kerry McCarthy said: "Carers are fulfilling a vital role in our society, but too often they go without the support they need. We all need to play a role in helping to identify people who are looking after ill, frail or disabled loved ones and make sure they are accessing all the financial and practical support they can.”

Carers UK has urged carers to get in touch with its helpline CarersLine (0808 808 7777 or www.carersuk.org).

Emily Holzhausen, Director of Policy at Carers UK said: “Nearly three quarters of carers are financially worse-off as a result of caring, with many falling into financial hardship and debt. Yet around £840 million per year in carers benefits go unclaimed. In this tough economic climate, it is crucial that carers receive clear information on what they are entitled to, and how to claim it.”

Carers can order a free booklet called Looking after someone: a guide to carers’ rights and benefits  from Carers UK by visiting www.carersuk.org or calling the freephone hotline on 0808 808 7777.

A major development is underway in Bristol to realise the potential of local young people by unlocking their creativity.

On completion in Autumn 2012, the Creative Youth Network’s (formerly the Kingswood Foundation) latest development, its remarkable £5.75million world-class youth hub, will provide an all-inclusive support network for young people in the Bristol community.

This venue, the Station, will boast state of the art facilities, including radio and music studios, a range of workshops and a large performance space.

Special Conference

In a special conference, held at the Watershed on the Bristol Harbourside, local organisations came together to discuss how best the community can use the Station to inspire its young people.

Sandy Hore-Ruthven, Chief Executive of the Creative Youth Network (CYN), opened the conference. He said: “In the current difficult economic environment, the pressures on young people are enormous and they need all the support that we can give them.

“The future of Bristol’s young people is at the forefront of the Station. We want to give every young person the opportunity to fulfil his or her potential, irrespective of challenging or underprivileged backgrounds.”

A Q&A session followed, during which groups were encouraged to perform their questions in tableaux.

Between them the 70 attendees came up with over 20 new ideas for innovative youth projects, which were added to a map of the Station drawn on the floor.

One of the most exciting proposals was to hold a special arts festival to celebrate the launch of this creative hub.

Rachel O’Connor, Programme Director, said: “We wanted to make it clear to the Bristol community that we’re only caretakers of the Station – its facilities, its counselling and advice services, are open to any young person in need of them.

“That was the key message of our conference – this facility is Bristol’s and every young person has a stake in it.”

Over 500 staff took part in the action in Bristol and Darwen which brought TV Licensing call centres to a standstill throughout the day. Staff are seeking an improved pay offer after no pay increase for nearly two years.

CWU assistant secretary Andy Furey said: “Our members at Capita TV Licensing are facing a pay cut in real terms from a company which makes millions in profit every year. We’re asking for a simple improvement in their pay offer which at 2.6 per cent is almost half the rate of inflation.

“The last thing our members want is strikes, but the employer has left people with no choice. They are facing increased food, energy and transport bills and work for a company which can afford to reward its staff with fair wages.

“Even at this late stage, I call on Capita to drop its intransigence, come back to negotiations and resolve this dispute.

“But make no mistake, our members are determined to win a fair deal and if we strike – we strike solid and we strike to win.”

Staff have become increasingly frustrated after the company refused to raise pay last year. The current offer of £550 and £600 for 2010 and 2011 respectively – worth 2.6 to 2.7 per cent for higher grades – falls far short of retail price index levels, which have averaged 5 per cent since April 2010.

Workers across the UK, working on the BBC TV licensing contract, including two main sites at Darwen (Lancashire) and Bristol, are planning strike action which will see TV licensing brought to a nationwide halt.

Over the past four years, there has been a 20% increase in the pupil population, with a thousand more children starting school this September. This year, Bristol City Council has spent £5.3 million on temporary solutions such as Portakabins to guarantee enough places this September. But this is can’t continue. The Council has used all the quick fixes it can and our schools have run out of space for yet more Portakabins next year.

With the infant population set to rise steeply over the next couple of years, there is projected to be a minimum shortfall of 3000 places by 2015. By next September, Bristol will need at least 14 extra reception classes. This means the City Council needs to urgently find permanent solutions and build more classrooms for our schools. However, the Council does not have the necessary funding.

Last July, Michael Gove announced an additional £500 million to help Local Councils build new school places. But this money has not been allocated. When it finally is apportioned, it is very unlikely that Bristol will receive the share it needs, because the Department of Education is calculating need using this summer’s total surplus places return. Bristol currently has a surplus in Years 5 and 6, but these are of no use whatsoever to four year olds excited about starting school next September. The Government is failing to adopt a common sense approach that considers what our City actually needs. The purpose of Kerry’s special debate is to press Education Ministers into working with the Bristol City Council to provide an immediate and lasting solution to Bristol’s primary school crisis.

Kerry said: “The unprecedented population growth in our city means Bristol must be a special case. Last July, Michael Gove proudly announced an additional £500 million to help Local Councils, like Bristol, to build new school places. But this money has not been spent and nothing has been done. This money is desperately needed in Bristol, where re-builds must start in the next few months if our schools are to be ready by next September.

The purpose of my debate is to urge Education Ministers to work with the Bristol City Council to provide a solution that will end Bristol’s primary school crisis. We can no longer afford to ignore this problem. Creating more primary school places in Bristol is unavoidable and it must be our top priority.

Today, all over Bristol, children are unable to attend a school in their community and have to travel considerable distances to get an education. In my constituency, parents have been forced to leave their jobs because there is no place for their child at their local school. This is not acceptable and it cannot continue. Parents and children in Bristol deserve better. The City Council and the Government must now work together to resolve this crisis before it is too late.”

Kerry and John Denham met with independent business owners who expressed their concern that small businesses were not receiving enough from the local council and that large chains and supermarkets were squeezing them out of the market. Moreover, local business owners have stated that the banks aren’t lending, which is affecting their ability to grow their businesses and employ more people.

Following the meeting, Kerry said: “The stark message coming from local traders is that the banks aren’t lending, independent firms are struggling to compete against larger chains and supermarkets, and that the Local Council isn’t doing enough to help smaller businesses grow. All of this has to change. As ordinary people struggle to make ends meet, small businesses are finding it particularly tough to survive on many of our high streets. A reduction in rate of VAT could help ease the pressure people are feeling, and would benefit many small businesses as we approach the commercially important Christmas period.”

Recently, Labour has unveiled a four point plan to regenerate Britain’s high streets:

1. Temporary cut VAT from 20% to 17.5, giving struggling retailers a boost and putting £450 back into each family’s pocket.

2. Introduce a retail diversity planning clause in planning law, putting communities in charge of the future of their local high streets. Local people and local retailers would have a say on any retail plans for their area.

3. Create a ‘competition test’ in the planning system, leading to greater choice and lower prices for shoppers. The test would ensure a level playing field between small and large shops.

4. Reintroduce Labour’s empty shops initiative, enabling councils to pursue innovative uses for empty shops and reinvigorate high-streets, such as using vacant units for cultural, community or learning services, rather than leaving tem empty.

Kerry is backing a local campaign to support and promote Bristol’s independent traders, and will continue to urge the Government to more to protect the diversity of Britain’s high streets.

Attending the launch of the Save Our Buses campaign, Kerry met with local sixth form students to learn how expensive and reduced bus services are affecting their everyday lives, making it harder for them to get to and from college. Across the country socially necessary buses are being axed by local authorities. Kerry is backing the Save Our Buses campaign to raise awareness and stand up for Bristol’s local bus routes that have been put at risk by the Government’s damaging funding cuts.

Council bus cuts are being made at a time when commercial bus services are also being hit hard by the cuts. A 20% cut to the fuel tax rebate for buses, called BSOG, will come into force in 2012. This will combine with changes to the formula used by councils to calculate the way companies are reimbursed for carrying bus pass holders. Together, these changes will mean another £100 million in funding being lost from the bus network. All in all, buses could be tipped into a spiral of decline from which they will struggle to recover.

Stephen Joseph, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, said, “Buses are very important as a means of transport and we set up the save our buses campaign to show how cuts in government funding are resulting in cuts in services and fares increases. We need support from MPs of all parties to counter this and I am grateful to Kerry McCarthy for coming to our bus at the party conference in Liverpool and meeting college students and other bus users to hear about the problems caused by these cuts”

Kerry said: “The Government is cutting funding for public transport by 28%, meaning bus routes that depend on public funding are disappearing, leaving people of all ages and backgrounds stranded. The is a false economy. We know for every £1 of investment spent on public transport provides between £3 and £5 of wider benefits.

In Bristol, we have already seen bus routes that run through my constituency being cut. This cut has hit people’s everyday lives, as it becomes harder to get about our city. We need our buses, without them, ordinary people will continue to struggle to get to work or college and go about their daily lives. Further more the Government cuts will lead to high bus fares, making it particularly hard for young people who have already had their EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance) cut. This is not acceptable. We must keep our buses on our roads to get the economy moving again.

Twenty chefs have already been found, but a number are still required specialising in a range of cuisines spanning from American and Mexican to Italian, Turkish and Lebanese.

In addition, the new venue is providing a series of apprenticeship opportunities for six young people looking to launch careers in the hospitality industry. The restaurant is working with City of Bristol College to find apprentices with an NVQ Level 2 qualification. Over 19s with NVQ Level 3 qualifications will also benefit from work experience placements.

Za Za Bazaar, executive chef, Nitin Bhatnagar, says: “I am delighted with the calibre of chef’s that we have already attracted to our new operation. “From Ireland to Scotland and across England and Wales we are building an extraordinary team of specialist chefs. They will be inspiring mentors for the young apprentices that we are recruiting here in Bristol. I am determined that Za Za Bazaar earns a national reputation for identifying and nurturing the best young talent.”

Bristol will be the first Za Za Bazaar operation. There are plans to create over seven more across the UK. Adventure and live cooking are at the heart of the restaurant concept, which will set cuisine from India, China, Japan, the Far East, South America and Europe against vivid backdrops, reflecting the cultures from which it originates.

The new restaurant is designed to offer ‘something for everyone’ with dishes that will appeal to the whole family. There will always be a guest cuisine and something from every corner of the world for diners to sample and enjoy.  Za Za Bazaar is expected to appeal to the widest cross section of local people.

A full list of job opportunities is posted on the Za Za Bazaar website – www.zazabazaar.co.uk.

Mandela Staples from Herne Hill, London, was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment at Bristol Crown Court.

Staples will serve 12 months for fraudulent evasion, four months for dangerous driving (to run consecutively) and six months (also to run consecutively) for breach of a suspended sentence in relation to a robbery.

During the investigation officers seized 3 kgs of compressed cannabis and other drug related paraphernalia.

Detective Constable Neil Wood said: "Offenders bringing drugs into our towns and cities will be dealt with robustly. Drugs cause harm not only to their users but to our local communities.

"We will continue to bring drug dealers and those who take part in associated criminality to justice."

A 22-year-old Bristol woman has been left counting the cost of her involvement with illegal drugs activity.

Maria Stavrou has been ordered to pay £935 at a confiscation hearing held at Bristol Crown Court today (Monday August 15).

On December 5 last year, police executed a Misuse of Drugs Act at a property in Armada Place, Kingsdown, where Maria Stavrou was living. A quantity of controlled drugs and cash were recovered and she was arrested and subsequently convicted on March 2 this year of two counts of possession with intent to supply a class A controlled drug (MDMA) and possession with intent to supply a class B controlled drug (mephedrone).

At Bristol Crown Court on April 28 she was jailed for 21 months.

Today at a confiscation hearing, she was found to have made £1995.04 from crime and ordered to pay all of her assets, the £935 recovered, when she was arrested.

She is required to pay this within one month or face a default sentence of a further 28 days imprisonment and will still be required to pay the outstanding sum at the end of that term.

Dr Kirstie Cogram, manager of Avon and Somerset Police’s Financial Investigation Unit, said: "This confiscation order shows that we will always seize assets from all levels of drug dealers.

"One-in-seven people knows someone living off the proceeds of crime – for more information on making criminals pay visit www.takingthecashoutofcrime.com."

Anyone with any information about drug dealing in their area is asked to contact police on 0845 456 7000 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Estimates suggest Elected Police and Crime Commissioners will cost £100 million – equivalent to 600 full time police officers – at a time when the Government is imposing a 20% on Avon and Somerset Police. Nationally over 12,000 police and 16,000 support staff are going to be lost because of the Government’s cuts. This includes around 2,000 of the most experienced officers who will be forced to retire.

In light of increasing public disorder and forthcoming Olympics, which will require additional police resources, Kerry has called upon the Government to abandon its expensive plans to introduce Police Commissioners and to reconsider its deep budget cuts that will result in a reduction in Police officers. 

Kerry said: ‘We have all been appalled by the recent riots. The Police are facing significant challenges and it is vital that they have the resources they need to keep our communities safe. The Government’s plan to introduce expensive Police Commissioners, when it is imposing 20% cuts on Police forces, like Avon and Somerset, is totally unacceptable.

Rightly, the Chair of Avon and Somerset Police Authority has publicly said that the introduction of commissioners could cause instability and disruption to policing. I share his reservations and I am utterly opposed to the introduction of Police Commissioners, which estimates suggest will cost the equivalent of 600 full time Police officers. This is an irresponsible policy that disregards the expertise that experienced and senior Police Officers have in policing our communities. As we overcome the recent disorder, it is clear that the Government should abandon the introduction of Police Commissioners and reconsider the deep cuts it is imposing on police forces throughout the country.

Our communities want more Police Officers on our streets, and not another expensive gimmick, that could have serious consequences upon the effectiveness of policing in our communities.” 

Donors can check the name or number of the charity against the register to see if an organisation is registered and check its number and details before giving. The Commission’s safer giving advice for donors covers a variety of fundraising methods including giving online, giving in response to TV appeals, donations of goods, particularly clothing and giving cash to public collections.

Kerry said: “Throughout Ramadan, the Muslim community gives generously to local community projects and charities, which are trying to make a difference in society and the wider world. At this time when East Africa desperately needs humanitarian aid, it is vital that such generosity and good will goes to genuine charities. I would therefore encourage all donors to check whether the charity they are giving to is registered with the charity commission and I wish Bristol’s Muslim community Ramadan Mubaarak”

Maulana Shahid Raza OBE, Chairman of the Mosques & Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB) said:
“Many Muslims will be giving very generously during the holy month of Ramadan. There are many charities that will be fundraising at the moment, particularly for the people affected by the East Africa crisis. By donating to charities registered with the Charity Commission, donors can have additional confidence that their donation will be used properly. Registered charities also benefit from the guidance and advice provided by the Commission. I would like to wish everyone Ramadan Mubaarak.”

Sam Younger, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission said:
 ”We know that charitable giving is a very important part of Ramadan, and that thousands of people give generously to good causes to help those who are less fortunate, whether in the UK or overseas. Our online register of charities makes it easy for people to check whether an organisation is a registered charity before giving. I wish everyone Ramadan Mubaarak.”

The Charity Commission is also urging any organisations which are charitable and are required to register to do so online on the Charity Commission’s website. The Commission has produced some short adverts in English, Urdu and Bengali publicising the benefits of registering as a charity. The adverts can be found via the YouTube links below.

The Commission’s safer giving advice covers the following:

To donate online to a particular charity, visit the charity’s website – check that you have the right web address. You can find the charity’s website address on their entry on the Charity Commission’s register of charities.

Be very careful when responding to emails or clicking links within them to ensure that they are genuine. Look out for spelling mistakes or other signs that the email is not genuine. If you have any concerns about the legitimacy of a request for donations that appears to come from a charity, don’t hesitate to contact that charity directly. 

Look out for registered charity numbers in adverts – it is a legal requirement for registered charities with an income above £10,000 a year to state it is a registered charity when fundraising on a range of documents, including websites, advertisements and other documents such as receipts.

If you are in any doubt about a charity collector, collection bag or fundraising materials, check the charity’s name and registration number on the public register of charities on the Commission’s website.

Some charities, particularly during Ramadan, fundraise through television and radio appeals. Ofcom rules say charity appeals are allowed in programming only if they are broadcast free of charge, although charities can pay for fundraising adverts. You can find out more about Ofcom’s rules for charity appeals here: http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/2011/08/charity-appeal-rules

If you receive collection bags or fundraising materials from non-charitable organisations claiming to be charitable, and/or using a false registration number, you should contact the police, your local trading standards office, the Advertising Standards Agency and your local council.

Always check whether a collector is wearing a proper ID badge.

Check whether a collector has authority to collect. A permit or license is usually required if raising money in a public place. Collections in private places like train stations and supermarkets need the owner’s or manager’s permission. Collections in pubs need either a license or an exemption.

Check that the collecting tin has a seal and that it is not damaged.

Ask the collector how much of your donation goes directly to the charity. There’s no fixed rule about what percentage should be given to charity, but we encourage people to ask what proportion of gross profit goes to the charity. This allows you to make an informed choice before you give.

Ask the collector for more information about what donations will be used for – a genuine charity will understand that you may wish to know more and should be happy to answer questions.

If you receive a phone call purporting to be from or on behalf of a charity asking for money, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Charities or those fundraising on their behalf should be able to provide a name and contact number for the charity itself so you can check it is a genuine call.

If in any doubt, send your donation directly to the charity.

It is also good practice for charities to tell you how your money has been used after you have given through feedback via emails, newsletters or other communications.

If you are concerned that you may have been targeted by a fundraising scam, you should contact the police. You should also contact the Charity Commission via its website.