How to get the £500 self-isolation grant

North East Lincolnshire’s proposed budget which will see council tax rise has come a step closer after being passed by cabinet.

The draft contains a 1.98% rise in council tax and 1% rise in adult social care precept.

The budget would see £131.6million spent across public services in the next financial year.

Cabinet passed the budget on Wednesday, and the public still have chance to have their say on it before it goes to the full council in February.

Councillors said they would have liked to avoid a tax increase, but pressures from the pandemic and social care and child services meant that it was unavoidable.

Councillor Stan Shreeve, Deputy Leader and portfolio holder for finance and resources, said: “When we started this process, we did a lot of work to try to avoid any increase to council tax. We know that many in our area have had a difficult few years due to the pandemic, and we don’t want to add to that burden.

“This budget will ensure that the services that we all use will be properly funded, whilst support remains for those that are struggling and there is investment to encourage more people to move to the area and for businesses to thrive.

“Our biggest challenges without a doubt are the funding of adult social care and children’s services. These are our biggest priorities.

“People can still have their say on the budget. The public consultation is open until January 27, 2022. We really do welcome feedback and input from residents – this has to be a budget that works for them and provides them with the services that they need.”

The draft budget will next go to formal scrutiny panel.

Residents can have their say on the proposals on the council website, or can get a paper copy of the consultation by calling 01472 324380 or emailing [email protected].

Dozens of women have suffered at the hands of abusers for more than a decade.

A report into domestic violence found that some were at the mercy of partners or other people they lived with for years.

Figures from North East Lincolnshire’s Women’s Aid says 93 victims reported that the abuse had been going on for 11 to 20 years.

Twelve victims said it had lasted more than 20 years.

The report to North East Lincolnshire’s Communities Scrutiny Panel committee highlights the challenge in encouraging people to come forward sooner.

According to national research, it takes on average between two and three years before a victim seeks support.

There were 5355 incidents of domestic abuse reported to Humberside Police in 2020/21.

The number of cases has risen for the past few years as victims have increasingly felt confident to go to the police.

However, they plateaued during last year’s coronavirus lockdowns, despite experts believing the amount of violence actually went up.

Due to victims’ circumstances, not all reports of domestic violence are logged as crimes.

Humberside Police are now recording a greater proportion of incidents as crimes than ever, with 64% in 2020/21 compared to just 29% six years previously.

However, hundreds of children are still living in households where domestic abuse takes place.

The latest data states there are 877 children living with abuse victims in North East Lincolnshire.

The report sets out how the council will continue to tackle domestic abuse in the borough.

It claims there has been “significant progress” made to support victims of domestic abuse and their families, with extra government funding made available, but says it remains a challenge for North East Lincolnshire.

It will be discussed at the Communities Scrutiny Panel on January 31.

An antisemitism campaign group has said it is pleased the Court of Appeal decided to reverse the “alarming joke of a sentence” given to Lincoln man Ben John, convicted of far right terror offences.

Ben John, 22, of Addison Drive in Lincoln, was found guilty of one count of having in his possession a record of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism in August last year at Leicester Crown Court.

He was initially handed a two-year suspended sentence by the judge, and ordered to read classic English literature such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens novels instead.

John was convicted after the court heard how he became a part of the Extreme Right Wing online, a group with views encompassing racism, extreme fascism and Neo Nazism.

Forensic investigators also found he had downloaded a radical publication called the Anarchist Cookbook 2000, which contains instructions on how to make an explosive device.

More than 67,000 documents containing a wealth of white supremacist and anti-semitic content were also found when police searched his home, with a hard drive stuffed inside a sock in Ben John’s bedroom.

The sentencing was criticised widely across the nation, and activist group Hope Not Hate issued an open letter to the Attorney General to call for a review.

The letter seemingly worked, as the Court of Appeal was referred to look into the case under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme.

At a review hearing following this referral, the judge quizzed Ben John on his reading of literature, and said he was “encouraged” by his progress, but that didn’t stop the Court of Appeal ultimately reversing his decision.

John was ordered to serve two years in prison by the Court of Appeal, with a further year on extended license; a far cry from the original suspended sentence he was given.

Responding to the sentence, activist group Campaign Against Antisemitism said the original sentence was an “alarming joke” and the British public can “sleep safer” knowing he is behind bars.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We know from hard experience that sometimes it takes time to get justice, but Ben John has today finally received an appropriate custodial sentence.

“The Attorney General was absolutely right to ask the Court of Appeal to review the pathetic original sentence. It was inexplicable that a man who collected nearly 70,000 neo-Nazi and terror-related documents could entirely avoid prison for crimes that carry a maximum jail term of fifteen years.

“Instead, Ben John left court with a mere suspended sentence and some English homework.

“The British public can sleep safer tonight knowing that the Court of Appeal has shown sense, rectified the alarming joke of a sentence originally handed down to Mr John, and jailed a dangerous individual.”