News

WASPI unaffected by appeal’s failure

Published

4 years ago

September 18, 2020

A CAMPAIGN group for women born in the 1950s, whose state pension age has increased from 60-65, lost an appeal against a decision to deny them compensation for lost pension income.
Backto60 brought two test cases to the High Court last year when those cases were lost the group appealed. The Court of Appeal released its judgement rejecting the appeal on Monday, September 14.
The group’s campaign calls for a reinstatement of the age of 60 for women’s state pensions and compensation of the pension women have missed out on.
The Court found making the state pension age the same for men and women did not constitute unlawful discrimination.

WASPI CAMPAIGN UNCHANGED

The case’s failure will not affect the far better known and more widely-supported Women Against State Pensions Injustice (WASPI) campaign.
WASPI has long campaigned on the issues regarding the increase in the state pension age for women. They argue that setting aside any claim of discrimination, the UK Government failed in its duty to inform affected women adequately of the changes to the state pension age and the effect those changes would have on their pensions.
A statement issued by WASPI after the Backto60 legal challenge failed said: “Many women will be disappointed today at the judgement from the High Court.
“Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) will continue to campaign for what we believe is achievable and affordable. Compensation for women who have been unfairly disadvantaged with a rapid increase to their State Pension age (SPa).
“WASPI is not opposed to the equalisation of the SPa with men but it was done without adequate notice, leaving no time to make alternative arrangements. Women were informed directly some 14 years after the SPa was first changed, many only given 18 months’ notice, of up to a six-year increase, many others were not informed at all. This left their retirement plans shattered.
“The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is currently considering six sample cases of maladministration out of the thousands of complaints made to the DWP by WASPI women.”
Former Conservative Pensions Minister, Baroness Roz Altmann, said: “When Pensions Minister, I saw copies of letters written by the Government to millions of these women in 2003 and 2004 about their State Pension, which failed to highlight that their pension would not be paid at age 60. These official letters failed to highlight that these women’s pension would not start being paid at age 60. It merely informed them what State Pension they might receive when they reached State Pension Age, but they did not tell them what that age would be!
“Receiving a letter from the Pensions Department about their State Pension, which did not urge them to check what their State Pension Age would be, may have lulled them into a false sense of security that they would receive it from age 60.
“This looks like maladministration.”
During the election campaign last year, Boris Johnson pledged to place ‘fresh eyes’ on the issue and said he felt sympathetic to the WASPI campaigners. Asked on Tuesday about the progress of those promised considerations, he failed to answer.

THE APPEAL ISSUE

The main issue in the appeal was whether the changes to the state pension age brought in by Parliament from 1995 onwards, unlawfully discriminated against women. Backto60 argued, amongst other things, women born in the 1950s were less likely to have contributed to the state pension scheme or were disproportionately in lower-paid jobs than men.
The Pensions Act 1995 provided that a woman born before 6 April 1950 would still receive her state pension at age 60 but a woman born after that date would receive her pension on a specified date when she was aged between 60 and 65, depending on her date of birth. The Pensions Acts 2007, 2011 and 2014 then accelerated the move to age 65 as the state pension age for women and raised the state pension age for some men and women to 66, 67 or 68 depending on their date of birth.
Successive UK Governments made changes to address the massively-rising cost of state pensions.
When the state pension age was originally set, both pension ages were fixed at 65. When revised in 1940, women’s pension age was dropped to 60. At the time those ages were fixed, life expectancy meant the state pension was likely to be paid out for only a few years after retirement age. The lower age was fixed at 60 for women to reflect their then-dependence on a single male breadwinner in the family and the prevailing age difference between married couples.
In the post-war period, life expectancy increased, first gradually and then with increasing speed.
The boom in average life expectancy means the state pension is the largest single drain on the welfare budget – taking £111bn of it in the year 2018-19 (DWP figures). In comparison, payments for unemployment benefits totalled £2bn.
The UK Defence budget is around £28bn
In normal circumstances, the claims brought to the Court would have been barred due to the delay in bringing them. Time was extended to bring the claims. The question of the delay was, however, relevant only to the discretion whether to grant relief if unlawful discrimination was proved.
The long delay in bringing the claims made it impossible to fashion any practical remedy. The Court noted unchallenged expert evidence that the cost of reinstating pensions would exceed £200bn – more than seven times the total defence budget and around the same as the whole of the health and education budgets combined (Figures Office of Budget Responsibility).

Community

Public reminded to stay away from Ward’s Yard and Criterion Quay

Published

17 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE PORT of Milford Haven is reminding members of the public to stay away from Ward’s Yard in Milford Haven and Criterion Quay (sometimes known as the offshore jetty) in Pembroke Dock due to concerns over public safety. 

Despite significant security measures, people continue to access the sites illegally, ignoring and sometimes damaging the onsite signage and fences.

Niall Yeomans, Head of Health, Safety and Security at the Port of Milford Haven said: “Safety is our key priority. Members of the public are continuously putting themselves and members of our team at risk of serious harm by trespassing in these areas.”

“Both Ward’s Yard and Criterion Quay are unsafe for public access. They are isolated areas next to deep water and are susceptible to slips, trips and falls.”

Both sites are owned by the Port of Milford Haven and are private property. Anyone found onsite without consent is trespassing, and any criminal damage could result in prosecution.  

Anyone who sees any suspicious activity at Ward’s Yard or Criterion Quay is asked to contact Dyfed Powys Police on 101 urgently.

Crime

‘Sophisticated’ organised crime gang trafficked cocaine and cannabis to Aberystwyth

Published

19 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Tom Sinclair

FIVE people have been found guilty or admitted to conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis as Dyfed-Powys Police continues its efforts to dismantle organised crime gangs.

Officers seized cocaine with a street value of more than £400,000 from gang members, who continually changed tactics to avoid arrest.

Six defendants have appeared in court in the latest phase of Dyfed-Powys Police’s Operation Burleigh, which sought to disrupt the trafficking and onward supply of class A and B drugs into Aberystwyth, with all but one admitting their charges or being found guilty by a jury.

This brings the total number of people awaiting sentence under the operation to 15.

The court heard that officers from Dyfed-Powys Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Team and Ceredigion Priority Policing Team led the investigation into the OCG, which was described as ‘sophisticated, well-organised and evolving’.

Detective Sergeant Steven Jones said: “This conspiracy operated on a County Lines model, where controlled drugs are trafficked into a smaller rural town from a larger city, and the operation is controlled by one or more ‘drugs lines’.

“In this case there were a total of four lines controlling the supply of cocaine and cannabis within Aberystwyth.

“The conspirators frequently evolved their actions to frustrate the authorities and evade capture.”

The OCG embedded members were mainly asylum seekers brought to Aberystwyth by Toana Ahmad and another man who remains outstanding, with the sole purpose of dealing drugs. The drug lines were initially based in Swansea, and later in areas of Birmingham.

Three properties – on Terrace Road, Alexander Road and Parc Graig Glas – were identified early in the investigation as being used to house the OCG members embedded in Aberystwyth. Substantial amounts of cash, controlled drugs and weapons were recovered from these properties, and from the people found inside.

When arrests were made, the gang changed its tactics. Drugs began to be supplied from vehicles, and OCG members stayed in guest houses to avoid detection.

DS Jones added: “Trusted couriers were employed to transport drugs to Aberystwyth and cash back to Birmingham or Swansea. A number of vehicles, including taxis, were used as the gang attempted to avoid detection along the route, while trains were also taken when courier cars were stopped by officers.”

In June 2023, two vehicles travelling from the West Midlands towards Aberystwyth were stopped by police on consecutive days. A black sock was uncovered in the engine of the first car, which was found to contain 82g of high purity cocaine divided into 169 grip seal plastic bags.

Davinder Singh, who previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A and class B drugs, was the driver of the second vehicle, which was a taxi. A blue plastic bag was seen falling out of his shorts, which contained over 81g of high purity cocaine divided into 167 grip seal bags.

DS Jones said: “On the basis that the amounts of cocaine transported over the 37 couriers over the course of the conspiracy period were similar, over 3kg of cocaine would have been conveyed to Aberystwyth from Birmingham.

“This equates to class A drugs with a potential street value of over £308,950. In addition to this, class A drugs were seized from individuals and addresses with a potential street value of £103,445, along with cash totalling £11,687.

“A number of teams and departments across Dyfed-Powys Police, from analysts, CCTV operators and priority policing teams, to CAB, the Technical Support Unit, Economic Crime Team and Force Intelligence Bureau all assisted in dismantling the OCG from top to bottom.

“Their dedication and relentless efforts have assisted in making Aberystwyth a safer place to live without the threat and harm of drugs being made easily available on the street.”

After a seven-week trial at Swansea Crown Court earlier this year, the following three defendants were found guilty for their parts in the conspiracy:

Toana Ahmad, aged 33, of Lee Gardens in Smethwich, West Midlands
Barzan Sarhan, aged 31, of no fixed address
Ahmed Piro, aged 26, of no fixed address

The jury failed to reach a verdict on two defendants during the earlier trial. They have been subject to a retrial starting on July 1, with the following outcomes:

Hawre Ahmed, aged 35, of Pinderfields Road, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, was found guilty by the jury of conspiracy to supply Class A and B controlled drugs.
Diar Yousef Zeabari, aged 35, of Flat 5, 41 Bryn Road, Swansea, was found not guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A and B controlled drugs.

Karwan Karim, aged 39 of 125 Griffith John Street, Swansea, also stood trial, and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A and B controlled drugs on day three.

In addition to the OCG members found guilty during the most recent trials, the following have previously pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to supply class A and class B drugs under Operation Burleigh:

Davinder Singh, aged 36, of Huntingdon Road, West Bromwich
Daban Khalil, aged 23, of Streetly Road, Birmingham
Kastro Omar, aged 30, of Junction Road, Northampton
Karwan Jabari, aged 26, of Weedon Close, Northampton
Walid Younis Abdal, aged 34, of St Anne’s Road, Doncaster
Saman Aziz, aged 41, of Kirk Road, Merseyside
Adel Mustafa, aged 39, of Hubert Road, Newport
Charlotte Roberts, aged 21, of Sutton Hill, Telford

The following have previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs:

Akasha Smith, aged 24, of Third Avenue, Aberystwyth
Luqman Jarjis, aged 21, of Wake Green Road, Birmingham

News

Community asked for views on allocation of new St Davids homes

Published

19 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE FIRST phase of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Glasfryn housing development in St Davids is progressing well with the second phase also underway.

The development being built by GRD Homes Ltd, began in November 2023, with a first phase completion date of Winter 2024 looking hopeful, ahead of the scheduled plans.

The first phase consists of seven properties, including a mixture of one and two bedroom bungalows

As completion draws closer the properties will be advertised via Pembrokeshire Choice Homes.

Ahead of this, the Council’s housing team will be holding community engagement on the 13th August 2024 at the Ty’r Pererin Centres, Quickwell Hill, St Davids, SA62 6PD, 5pm-7pm.

This will be a chance for officers to liaise with the local community about the allocation process for these properties.

Glasfryn’s second phase is well underway, with the initial groundwork already completed. This phase includes a further 11 two bedroom bungalows, with a completion date in late 2025.

These bungalows will meet the latest Welsh Government’s Development Quality Requirement, and will be energy efficient, built to EPC A specification and include solar panels to help tenants with running costs.

The Glasfryn development is funded in partnership with Welsh Government.

Cabinet Member for Housing Cllr Michelle Bateman said: “We are really keen to work with the community on a local lettings policy for these new properties, as we have done for our developments in other parts of the County.”

If you have any queries please email the Customer Liaison Team on [email protected], phone them on 01437 764551, or visit Housing’s Facebook page.