Reporting local life since 1854 40pFriday, July 27, 2012

SEN

-eO1

-S2

[P]

[P]

Ticketsto seeDrSeuss’TheLorax:SeePage 26

WIN

CAPTAINS FANTASTIC

BAC KPAG E

Shotton’s caseis due in courtTHE case of Stoke City starRyan Shotton, who has beencharged with assault bybeating, was today due to beheard by magistrates.

But the Fenton-born playerwas not expected to attend thehearing as he is currently ona pre-season tour of America.

The 23-year-old has beenaccused of assaulting a manclose to the Pink Lounge Barand Club, in Hanley, in anearly morning altercation lastmonth.

Bug patient ison critical listA PATIENT being treated forLe gionnaires’ Disease waslast night in a criticalcondition in hospital.

The patient is among 11people struck down by the bugin Stoke-on-Trent.See Page 2

£5 MILLIONCUT FROMBENEFITS

Fears changes will lead to ‘ghettos’ O LY M P I CR I N GSSEE PAGE 20

Picture:SteveBould

BY ALEX [email protected]

TENS of thousands of re s i d e n t sface a huge reduction in theirbenefit payments as they fallvictim to Government cuts.

The Sentinel has learnedStoke-on-Trent City Councilfaces a gap of at least £5 millionbetween the total amount cur-rently paid to the city’s 34,000council tax benefit claimantsand the Government funding itwill receive next April.

It means working-age resid-ents could face a real termsreduction in the benefit of atleast 20 per cent because pen-sioners and other groups, whichhave not yet been identified, areexcluded from the cut.

Now council leaders mustdecide whether to cut servicesand increase council tax foreveryone, or force cash-strapped tenants to paymore towards theircouncil tax to meetthe shortfall.

The Labour-runauthority has issueda warning that thereforms will lead to‘ghettos, poverty and areturn to Victoriansqualor’.

S t o ke - o n -

Trent will be hardest hit by thechanges because of its largeproportion of benefit claimants.

But councils across theregion also face 10 per centreductions in the amount avail-able for council tax benefits.

Council tax benefits paid dir-ectly by central Governmentwill be abolished next year andcouncils will instead be fundedto offer discounts on tax billsthemselves. It means:■ Cheshire East Council,which will take on respons-ibility for about 8,500claimants in the former Creweand Nantwich and Congletonboroughs, faces a fundingshortfall of up to £2.5 million;■ Newcastle Borough Council,covering about 8,200 claimants,will lose £810,000;■ Staffordshire MoorlandsDistrict Council faces a short-fall of at least £540,000 from the£5.4 million currently paid toabout 5,200 claimants.

City council deputy leaderPaul Shotton, pictured, said:“The Government is passingthe buck and shirking itsresponsibility to the mostvulnerable people in society.

“We ’ve got to find thefunds to cover the

shortfall oncouncil tax. Do

we cut services to cover the £5million or take it away from thepeople who receive it?

“It’s an appalling abdicationof responsibility.”

Simon Harris, chief execut-ive of Stoke-on-Trent CitizensAdvice Bureau, said: “Unlessthere is an alternative like jobsfor people to go into, we aregoing to see some of the poorestpeople in the city becomingeven poorer.

“We ’ll also see the levels ofdebt rise with more peopleturning to expensive paydayloans to make ends meet.”

It is understood that the Gov-ernment currently pays outaround £50 million in counciltax benefit to city residents.

Nationally, the average ten-ant receives £15.78 week incouncil tax benefit.

Residents in Band A prop-erties currently pay the coun-cil £952.47 a year in tax.

A spokesman for the Depart-ment for Communities andLocal Government said:“Spending on council tax bene-fit has more than doubled since1997.”

What do you think? Email usat [email protected]

Council ‘nightmare’: See Page 6

Raid uncoverscannabis haulHUNDREDS of cannabisplants have been uncovered atan empty industrial unit.

A tip-off about suspiciousactivity at Fenton IndustrialEstate led officers to the drugsf actory.See Page 10

ACCUSED:Stoke Citystar RyanShotton.

NowiN,Nofee • youkeep100% • itwoN’tcostyouapeNNy

Have you sustained personal injuriesas a result of an accident atwork?

Ifyou’vebeeninvolved inanaccidentatwork in the lastthreeyearsyoumaybeentitledtocompensation. - of -

Hanley, Tunstall, Wolstanton andAlsager

Kings of the Legal JungleSpeaktoyour friendly localPersonal InjurySpecialists todayon01782607779