Residents and campaigners list demands ahead of landmark Government funding announcement

A YORK mum who says tax credit cuts will leave her nearly £40 a week worse off has pleaded with a city MP to fight the chancellor's cuts.

Amy Oxberry presented a 300 name petition to York Outer MP Julian Sturdy last week (pictured below), urging him to vote against the policy.

The Government was defeated in the House of Lords in its plans to cut tax credits last month, and the Chancellor is expected to unveil revised plans in today's Autumn Statement and Spending Review today.

Thirty-two year old mum-of-one Amy said: "I don't get much in tax credits every week, but what I do get really helps."

Amy works five days a week at Millthorpe School and has taken on a Saturday job as a receptionist at a garage to supplement her income.

"I work six days a week and the proposed changes would make me exempt from tax credits - it doesn't make any sense to me."

Under the Chancellor's proposals she would lose £38 a week - which she said covers her food shopping.

On Friday, Amy and three other campaigners took a petition organised by campaign group 38 Degrees to Julian Sturdy's office on Poppleton Road.

She said: "I'm not really active in local politics normally, but I thought this is actually something that I need to do something about.

"There are a lot of people who will be more affected than I am."

The MP said that while he still thinks the tax credit system needs to be reformed, he understands the concerns many people have.

He added: "I remain firmly of the opinion that the existing tax credit system is unsustainable and is in need of significant reform. We should always aim towards a system whereby people are taxed less in the first instance, rather than the present system which in itself is needlessly bureaucratic. We should never have allowed ourselves to be in situation where the state is subsidising, and therefore encouraging, low pay and that is why it is so important the Government continues works towards a lower tax, lower welfare and higher wage society.

"However, while I support the reforms in principle, I do understand the concerns of some constituents, including those who came to see on Friday, about the way in which they were to be implemented. As such I welcome the Treasury’s recent review of the reforms and I will be paying very close attention to any announcements of a fresh approach during the Spending Review."

North Yorkshire Police could face £18million in cuts

A SENIOR figure on the North Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel has urged people to sign a petition against cuts to police funding.

Chancellor George Osborne will today outline his Comprehensive Spending Review for the country, which is expected to include cuts of between 25 and 40 per cent to policing budgets.

If the cuts are 25 per cent, North Yorkshire Police would face cutbacks of £18 million over the next four years, and Liberal Democrats in York have joined a national campaign to protest the cuts.

Currently, the force receives about £72m from central government, along with £7.9m through council tax under the police precept. The precept is not at risk from the Chancellor's cuts, but if the funding is reduced by 25 per cent, the force will only receive £54m from central government.

Councillor Ashley Mason organised the local petition, and is vice-chair of the police and crime panel, and said he believed the cuts were likely to "hit neighbourhood policing teams hardest", and could put 196 PCSOs at risk across the county.

He said: "I know how hard our local policemen and women work to keep us all safe, day in and day out in York and across North Yorkshire. It is shocking to see that the Conservative Government are failing to do right by them. I am calling on the Government to rethink these damaging cuts and back our bobbies."

To sign the petition, go to yorklibdems.org.uk/saynotopolicecuts

Politicians appeal for redevelopment support

POLITICIANS from across the parties in York are urging the Chancellor to give the city's biggest brownfield site a boost in today's budget announcements.

Both the city's Labour and Conservative MPs, plus Liberal Democrat and Labour leaders on the city council have spoken up for an Enterprise Zone bid for York Central - also called the "teardrop" site (pictured below).

Enterprise Zone status lets councils keep the business rates for a specific area, and that money can be used to help fund crucial infrastructure. An announcement on whether the York site will get that help is expected in George Osborne's spending review and autumn statement today.

The city centre's Labour MP Rachael Maskell has also said the land could provide much-needed family housing for York, and together with York Labour leader Janet Looker she has asked for clarifications over what will happen to the two-thirds of the York Central land owned by Network Rail, since a review of that body was announced in the summer.

The housing call has been echoed by the city council's Lib Dem deputy leader Keith Aspden who said recent reports showed the site could provide 1000 to 2500 new homes and more than 6,000 new jobs - if its "long overdue" redevelopment is supported.

York Outer Conservative MP Julian Sturdy has compared the largely derelict site to London's King's Cross redevelopment, which has "completely revitalised" its area. He added: "In York we have a very similar site that has the potential to transform the city centre, and the dynamic design at King’s Cross is clearly one of the reasons why the development has been so successful."

It has enormous potential for the city economic future by providing A-grade city centre office space, he added, and could become a transport hub for both north and south and east and west routes. 

Calls for improved broadband in rural York and North Yorkshire

YORK MP Julian Sturdy has joined more than 100 other Parliamentarians calling for fresh investment in broadband, and has spoken up for villages so far left out of online improvements.

The York Outer representative (pictured below) has added his name to an open letter to the Chancellor, urging investment in fixed and mobile broadband as part of today's Spending Review and into the future. 

The letter says broadband investment is needed to make sure the "digital divide" does not deepen or widen between areas that are well served and those that are left behind.

Mr Sturdy and several colleagues handed the letter over at 11 Downing Street.