Tag Archives: national insurance

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Wirral Council: Proposal not to pay £250 to employees earning less than £21000


Wirral Council previously agreed back in March of this year (2012) (when it decided the Budget for 2012/2013) to pay all its employees earning less than £21,000 (which comes to over 2,000 employees) an extra £250 (net of National Insurance, Income Tax, pension contribution etc) in December 2012.

It was put thus in the budget and £600,000 was put aside for it. I quote from this document (which is the agreed Budget for 2012/2013, as agreed by Conservative and Lib Dem councillors (36)), but not the 29 Labour councillors.

“Our staff are those who are best placed to point out where we are failing and to tell us how we can improve the services that we will deliver. We are therefore investing to ensure we listen and properly engage with them in the future:”

…..

“We recognise the importance of leading by example as an employer and we will again make provision for a payment of £250 for our lower paid workers – those earning under a full time equivalent of £21, 000.

£600,000″

Now go forward to now and there’s a proposal to the December Council meeting not to pay this £250 to 2,470 employees earning less than £21,000. The linked document goes into the detail and shows it affects a higher proportion of their female employees (calling this an “unintentional disadvantage”), a higher percentage of black and ethnic minority employees, a higher percentage of non-Christian employees, a higher percentage of transgender employees and a higher percentage of its young (under 30) employees.

So what have they done to mitigate the impact of this? They state they’ve written to the 2,470 employees that would be affected by this and they’ve discussed it in meetings with the trade unions.

As to the reasons why it’s being done, as the music hall song chorus goes:-

“It’s the same the whole world over,
It’s the poor what gets the blame,
It’s the rich what gets the pleasure,
Isn’t it a blooming shame?”

However if last March is a guide, then the Labour councillors will vote for this proposal and the Conservative/Lib Dem councillors will vote against. Labour have seven more councillors (plus Cllr McLaughlin can now vote as she’s no longer the Mayor). Conservative and Lib Dems have seven less. So whatever Labour decide will happen… and they tend to go by what the senior officers of the Council tell them to do.

This proposal (if it goes through which seems likely) just makes a small dent in the currently projected £13.2 million overspend. Quite what awaits the staff in the New Year is probably a much reduced workforce…. as to who is for the chop we’ll just have to wait and see.

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Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs – Tax, NI, overpayment and underpayments


Every year I deal with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs I realise that half the frustration is caused by internal problems within HMR&C. The excuse given usually is that different departments can’t talk or share information with each other.

Getting money out of HMR&C is like getting blood out of the proverbial stone and can take years. Currently they state regarding the money they owe me “Your repayment request will be processed as soon as possible. ” . Sadly that’s been the way it’s been for the last few tax years.

In 2004 I was owed over £1000! It took a few years before they paid it back (along with a number of denials in the meantime that I should have it). It’s probably far quicker to take them to court!

I really don’t understand why they seem to take bureaucracy to the nth degree and not be able to show some common sense. I do remember Wirral Council owing me some small amount of Council Tax one year, about £5. They refused to pay it back; their excuse was I couldn’t have it back now they’d ended their financial year. I don’t mind too much with such amounts. I did however question the sense in Wirral Council one year sending me about a dozen different council tax demands; it must’ve cost them a bit in postage and printing! I suppose however I shouldn’t moan and most people who are self-employed have gripes with HMR&C. No system is perfect.

For people who are employed (or even self-employed and employed) it can be even worse. For 2009-2010 £1.8 billion was overpaid by 4.3 million people (an average of £418/year each). For small amounts most people can’t be bothered dealing with forms, bureaucracy and government systems seemingly designed to frustrate, confuse and bamboozle in equal measures.

My grandmother used to pay an accountant each year about £80-£100 to claim back about £400-£500 worth of tax overpaid. People on low incomes and minimum wage jobs can’t afford the fees that professionals charge and ultimately end up being hit in the pocket because of a system that is complex, hard to understand and confusing.

It is the system of underpayment of tax and overpayment of tax credits that is more worrying. Both seem designed to deter low-paid people from working. I hope with the new government’s plans for Universal Credit that:-

a) money will be saved by making the system clearer, simpler and easier to understand
b) people will finally get the message that working pays rather than being stuck in the benefits trap created by Labour.