PENSIONERS

REFUNDING VAT to old age pensioners is fraught with misuse, but is the fuel allowance only providing heat for those over retirement age?

Is the free television licence provided for only those on the old age pension with no one under retirement age being allowed to look at the set?

All these handouts by the Government are merely sops to prove they are helping the aged.

In actual fact all they do is to let the Government avoid paying a living standard pension.

Many pensioners are aghast to find that some so-called asylum seekers receive more than they do even though they have paid and the seekers have not paid a penny. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

ROAD SAFETY

I AM writing to congratulate either Teesdale District Council or Durham County Council for the illuminated 30mph sign that has been erected in Staindrop.

This sign shows the speed that you are doing over 30mph and, in my opinion, is very effective.

After monitoring the sign I noticed it slows vehicles down quite considerably and I think every town should have one. - A Clarke, Bishop Auckland.

COUNCIL TAX

WHO should we blame for an 11.5 per cent increase in North Yorkshire County's council tax? If our answer is those at county hall then we are really just shooting a messenger bearing bad news from Downing Street.

The fact is that nearly half this increase stems from decisions taken in London, not Northallerton. In the face of a very difficult Government settlement, our councillors had little room for manoeuvre, demonstrated by the fact that not one of them voted against the increase.

Across England county councils have lost around £300m to Labour's heartland towns and cities.

Our county council's share of this has been about £10m. There are various back door taxes through which the Government is filling its coffers. These include a £2m hike in National Insurance contributions. It does not stop there, with a near eight per cent increase in a tax on disposing of our household waste.

The short story is that our money is going in through councils' gates only to find Gordon Brown waiting at the back door with his Treasury tax van. More than ever our money is being carted away to be spent outside North Yorkshire.

We cannot avoid the fact that good services have to be paid for.

Our education service is among England's top ten best performers. Do we really think this has been achieved by cutting back on the number of teachers? Or do we really think we should cut the number of carers looking after our vulnerable elderly residents?

We have to think about what would have been sacrificed for the sake of an extra £1.62 per week on the council tax. We should be angry about this rise in council tax, but we must also blame the proper culprits. All the evidence is that the finger points towards the usual Labour suspects. - Ron Kirk, Great Ayton.

Sedgefield Borough Council has increased its 2003-4 Band D council tax by three per cent to £161.43. In 1995-6 it was £74.25, a staggering 117 per cent increase over eight years.

I proposed a Liberal Democrat amendment at the full council which would have increased the Sedgefield Borough Council tax by 1.86 per cent. We would have enforced two per cent efficiency savings and scrapped Inform, thus saving £49,000, town twinning £8,000 and the community force £235,560 (anti-social behaviour incidents have increased from 1,360 to 2,669 per year so why should we spend money on personnel who only have the same powers as the ordinary citizen?).

I support measures to provide an extra 100 bobbies on the beat in County Durham backed up with Special Constables.

We would spend a further £100,000 on horticulture, £40,000 on litter enforcement and £47,000 to clear snow and ice from footpaths.

We would reinstate the council house environmental improvements and add private houses into the scheme. We would reduce the council tax spending by £46,790. - Ben Ord, Liberal Democrat, Spennymoor.

WELL, have you received your 2003-4 council tax bill? Another massive overall increase of nine per cent, well above inflation? However, did you notice the charge made by the police authority, 23.5 per cent. Where do the powers that be pluck this figure from?

This was why the Durham Taxpayers' Alliance was formed, a party not linked to any major party. We are a party of the people of Durham for the people of Durham. - Bob West, Leader, Durham Taxpayers' Alliance.

WE have just received our council tax renewal. My husband and I are pensioners. The council tax rise is disgusting, way above inflation.

Last year's tax for the year was £784.54 which made the monthly payment £78. This year the monthly payment is £91, an extra £13 a month.

Many other pensioners in Richmond, like ourselves, are going to find it hard to find the extra payment.

Some I know who live in the old people's flats in Richmond pay £62 for rent then they have to find payments for all other bills.

I have recently seen work being done by the council in Richmond: ie cobbles and paving being replaced in the Market Place. These jobs have already been done a couple of years ago. Dog wardens are a waste of council tax money.

These jobs come out of our council tax.

How long can we expect to go on paying the council tax at the rate it keeps rising?

We know some rises have to meet the costs of our services; we would not have minded if it had been £3 to £5.

Hopefully, I have got my point over and also I know I am writing on behalf of many other people living in the Richmond area. - Mrs I Bradshaw, Richmond.