October 14, 2016 11.17 am
This story is over 68 months old
Over 100 Lincoln households affected by new benefits caps
Help is being offered to people in Lincoln affected by reductions in annual government benefit caps. Following a review by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), from November 7 the existing benefit cap – which was introduced as part of a wider set of welfare reform measures in 2013 – will be reduced from…
Help is being offered to people in Lincoln affected by reductions in annual government benefit caps.
Following a review by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), from November 7 the existing benefit cap – which was introduced as part of a wider set of welfare reform measures in 2013 – will be reduced from £26,000 to £20,000 for lone parents, couples and families.
The annual cap for single claimants will also be reduced, from £18,200 to £13,400.
Although there are some exemptions, the cap is designed to ensure that no working age household on benefits receives more income than a family earning the average wage.
More than 100 people in Lincoln will be affected.
The City of Lincoln Council is contacting residents to assess how they will be impacted and what help might be available.
Rob Kay, Welfare Reform Lead at the city council, said: “We understand the DWP has already contacted those likely to be affected to let them know about the changes, and we are contacting residents to make sure they are prepared and to offer advice where we can.
“In Lincoln, only nine people are currently affected by the existing cap, but this change means more than 100 households will soon see a reduction in the benefits they receive.
“Previous exemptions to the cap will continue to apply with the new rates, meaning the most vulnerable disabled people, including households with a disabled child, will not be affected.”
People who find a job and qualify for Working Tax Credits will also be exempt from the benefit cap.
A full breakdown of benefits included in the cap, as well as those that that are not, can be found online here.
For financial or general advice people can also call the city council on 01522 873355.
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A 38-year-old man from a North Lincolnshire village charged with murder will face an eight-day trial later this year.
Emergency services were called at 4.23am on Saturday, July 2 to reports that a man was seriously injured on South Parade in central Doncaster.
The 28-year-old victim was taken to hospital but was sadly pronounced dead a short time later.
A post-mortem examination found that he died of injuries to his head, chest and abdomen.
Formal identification of the victim is yet to take place, South Yorkshire Police said earlier this week.
Steven Ling, 38, of Park Drain, Westwoodside in North Lincolnshire, has been charged with murder and was remanded in custody to appear at Doncaster Magistrates Court on Monday, July 4.
Ling later appeared at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday, July 5 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
No pleas were entered during the hearing, but an eight-day trial was set for November 28, 2022. Ling has now been remanded into custody until the next hearing.
The Lincolnite went on a ride-along with a Lincolnshire Police officer from the force’s Roads Policing Unit (RPU), which aims to disrupt criminals’ use of the roads and reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents.
The team will support the county response including local policing, neighbourhood policing and criminal investigation too.
Operations first began in Grantham in January this year and started in Louth earlier this week with a sergeant and nine PCs based in both locations.
The Lincolnite went out on a ride-along with PC Rich Precious from Lincolnshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
PC Rich Precious has been a police officer for 22 years after joining the force in 2000 and he recently rejoined the Roads Policing Unit, working out of Louth.
PC Precious, who also previously worked as a family liaison officer for road deaths for 16 years, took The Lincolnite out in his police car to the A1 up to Colsteworth and then back to Grantham. He described that particular area as “one of the main arterial routes that goes through Lincolnshire”.
PC Rich Precious driving down the A1 up to Colsterworth. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Speaking about the new Roads Policing Unit, he said: “It’s intelligence led policing, it’s targeted policing in areas that have been underrepresented in terms of police presence, on the roads certainly, over a number of years.
“We’re hoping that the development of this unit will help address that balance, and look towards using the ANPR system to prevent criminals’ use of the road, and to identify key areas or routes where there’s a high percentage of people killed or seriously injured on the road, what we commonly refer to as KSI.
PC Precious is helping to keep the roads safer in Lincolnshire. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
When asked if he thinks the new team will help reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents in the county, he added: “That’s what the the unit designed for. Sadly, in Lincolnshire our road network does seem to incur a number of those KSI accidents year on year, and we need to reduce that.
“I’ve worked additionally in my roles as a family liaison officer on road death for 16 years, so I’ve seen first hand the impact that road death has on families and victims families.
“I know it’s important that we try and reduce those because, it’s very sad to see how a fatal road traffic collision can affect a family and the victims of that family.”
Marc Gee, Inspector for Lincolnshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Marc Gee, Inspector for the Roads Policing Unit, told The Lincolnite: “Every day there will be officers on duty from both teams and they’ll cover the whole county or the county’s roads.
“Eventually, we’ll have nine police cars and we’ve got six motorbikes. We’ll be utilising them with as many officers as we can every day basically to make our roads safer and enforce against the criminals who feel like it’s okay to come into the county and use our road for criminal purposes.”
Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones at the launch of the force’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
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