5th August 2010
The Court of protection
In response to enquiries by a number of members about the role and operation of the Court of Protection, our sponsors, Barwells Solicitors have produced a very informative leaflet which should amswer all your questions.
28th June 2010
What Does the Emergency Budget Mean for You?
George Osborne, the coalition Government's Chancellor, has given his first Budget, with the focus on reducing the deficit through savings. Age UK asked Paul Lewis of Radio 4’s Moneybox fame to look at what was announced and how the tax and benefit measures will affect you.
19th June 2010
Old-style £20 Note (Sir Edward Elgar) to be withdrawn from circulation on 30th June 2010
The £20 note featuring composer Sir Edward Elgar is to be withdrawn from circulation by the Bank of England from the end of June.
Most banks, building societies and Post Offices will accept the Elgar notes for deposits and other transactions for "several months" beyond June. But it will be at their discretion whether they exchange the notes.
The Elgar £20 banknote, first issued in June 1999, has gradually been replaced by the Adam Smith £20 note since 2007.
The Bank of England's chief cashier, Andrew Bailey, said: "We said at the time that the two designs would circulate in tandem, with the Elgar notes gradually being withdrawn over the next few years"
"It is time now to withdraw the Elgar £20 notes completely, with the Adam Smith £20 banknotes to be the only £20 note design continuing in circulation."
There are approximately 1.5 billion £20 notes in circulation, of which an estimated 150 million are Elgar notes.
The Bank of England said it would always exchange its old notes.
28th August 2009
Living Longer and Lasting Powers of Attorney
Newspapers and television reports are constantly telling us that people in the UK are living longer than ever before. Whether our quality of life improves or merely its longevity is open to debate. Nevertheless, some facts cannot be ignored and one of the consequences of living longer is that more people require assistance in the latter years of their life. As you never know what’s around the corner, it is as well to be prepared for possible difficulties. Common concerns that people have when thinking about if they were to lose mental capacity in the future are; ‘who will look after my financial affairs?’, ‘what will happen to my property if I need to move into residential care?’ and ‘who will decide where I live and what level of care I require?’
The ability to cope with such an eventuality has been increased by the introduction of Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs), in the Mental Capacity Act 2005, whereby LPA’s replaced Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA) with effect from 1st October 2007.
ESF website sponsors, Barwells Solicitors have supplied a very useful document that answers the most frequently asked questions.
Click here to read the full explanation > >
Inflation Rate for Pensioners is ‘Highest for 20 Years’, says Help the Aged
Reacting to Retail Price Index (RPI) figures, for the third quarter of 2008 released today, which show the rate of inflation for single pensioners is at its highest ever since 1988, Mervyn Kohler, Special Adviser for Help the Aged, says:
“Today’s figures show inflation for single pensioners is at its highest for 20 years. Single older people are facing an inflation rate nearly four percentage points higher than the average rate of inflation and 1991 was the last time a two person pensioner household saw a similar rise.
“This massive hike in inflation means that more and more, older people are being forced to cut back on essential items, like food and fuel. There has been a lot of talk recently about the credit crunch, but older people in particular are getting squeezed. It is virtually impossible for older people on low, fixed incomes to cope with the unrelenting rise in the cost of living.
“Older people are facing a unique financial crisis and the Government should be doing everything in its power to ensure pensioners can make it through the coming winter. At the very least the Government must ensure older people get the benefits that are rightfully theirs – more than £5 billion went unclaimed last year, sitting in the Treasury instead of helping the millions of older people who actually need it to survive.”