Retirement (or Last of the Summer Wine)

Historically, Coventry has cried out for recruits in many industries and professions. In the pre-war years Dunlop built their new factory in Holbrooks and travelled to south Wales to recruit because they could not recruit enough people locally. Holbrooks soon developed a Welsh community which still exists, even if these modern Welshmen were born in Coventry. In the war years thousands of people were brought in to work in the war industries and many of them chose to remain. In the immediate post war years the city's working population was swelled with displaced persons from eastern Europe, plus folk from Ireland to rebuild the city and others from Scotland and all over the UK to work in industry. The government of the day also encouraged large numbers of immigrants to come to the UK from the British Commonwealth, and as Mick pointed out, they generally took on the lower paid tasks rejected by the local population. In more recent years we have seen a new influx of incomers from all over the world, and many of them are now the mainstay of virtually all of our service industries. Previously there were more jobs than people so we had a labour shortage. Now it seems that there are more jobs than people who are willing to work, so again we have a labour shortage. The big difference is that we now appear to have a third group, those who choose not to work. I expect that in the future the city will go on, as it always has, bringing in people to do the jobs.

Not Local, for a moment there I thought you were talking about Australia.

Hello, I'm hoping to bring a bit of cheer to those of us affected by the news headlines of restricting the seniors winter fuel allowance, to those who are in receipt of state pension credit. The triple lock calculation percentage increase in the basic state pension is heading for around 5% increase. The news media is stating values, but depending on whether you receive the basic state pension or the enhanced new state pension, or have added voluntary contributions, makes all the difference in the world. The average value increase will be around £400 to £600 per year, making it considerably more than the winter fuel allowance. Energy bills are expected to rise, so maybe not too much port! Can someone pass the port please.

Hello, When politicians make reference to the"Better off Pensioners", who do they mean? Is it the amount of their income? Is it their assets? Assets for many of us is the home we live in. The bigger the home, the more mowing it needs. There's on going discussion in parliament regards the single status rate rebate, currently a quarter off the standard rate, which I no longer receive, because of my son & daughter in law living with me. My only benefit perk is my bus pass. For me, the advantage of the bus pass isn't just the free travel, it's that it is universal over all bus companies. There is no alternative once we move out of the West Midlands. Folk in Warwickshire would have to buy off each bus company, sometimes just for the same route, where more than one bus company cover that route on different days in the week. Many of the volunteers in current service are fearful that if the bus pass was stopped, that would be the end of their volunteering. The bus pass subsidy isn't a dead end subsidy. Over ten years ago, a valuation study was commissioned that stated that for every £1 subsidy for the bus pass, £2 was generated into the economy. Particularly in our towns & city centres that our news headlines are constantly telling us are in trouble for lack of footfall. What do we think?

I thought of you Philip when I heard that the free bus pass was under threat. Apart from the money involved, the bus pass serves as a very valuable tool for not only those who can't drive but as a persuasion to those who shouldn't drive. My Dad couldn't understand why he wasn't allowed to drive anymore but he at least accepted it when he got his bus pass. Even if they have to charge some for a pass, there should still be one, no matter how much money someone has. It's the difference between moving freely and worrying about every fare and dissuading people from getting out at all. Unfortunately the asset rich, money poor will get no sympathy from the system. There is a drive to get people out of houses that are 'too big for them'. As if homes don't represent a lot more than just a roof over our heads. Both rebanding and getting rid of the single person discount is something I expect to have to endure. Taxing cars by the mile might benefit or impact me, depending upon how it's done. Energy is at risk of being even more expensive but no longer guaranteed 24/7. There's talk of libraries under threat and museums would follow.

Hello Helen, Before the free bus pass for pensioners ever existed, there was what was called a "Busmaster" ticket. It was an annual subscription, covering all bus operators throughout the UK. It was available for any adult to buy.

Hello, A go anywhere ticket inside the West Midlands, for a year, will cost around £1300. That includes train & tram. That's as a price comparison to the long extinct Busmaster ticket.

Hello, If only everyone spoke the truth, including the media. So much of the UK infrastructure is in need of overhauling, the water companies in the news today. Billions gone into bonus & shareholder payments. I have to come clean. Until 2016, I had loads of shares. So do our private & company pension funds, don't forget that. I loved at the time getting my share bonus payments twice a year, plus the capital gains. I did have some that didn't do quite as well as others, but I never lost out. I was convicted in my mind about the utilities privatisation, for the reasons that we are seeing now. I've never wanted to be greedy. The politics behind utility privatisation, was a fix, to bring investors into & so update the infrastructure. It saved government borrowing, but we all pay the price later. Our Walsgrave hospital is an example of that. Where do you imagine the huge car park fees go. To the Landlord!

If only everyone spoke the truth . . . When the main political parties both promised to continue the triple lock formula for the annual increase in state pension and also commit to not raising income tax, they lied, it isn't possible to do both. In fact it already happened before the election. Many people, me included, discovered that the revised tax code for the year that started in April began with a letter K. This is an indication that their state pension had now increased to exceed their tax-free allowance and thus additional tax was due. The only way this can be collected is by increasing the rate of tax above the standard 20% for any other income besides the state pension. In my case there was over £800 of taxable income on top of my private pension of £10,000 per annum which in consequence is now taxed at 21.5%. This issue has seemingly been relatively hidden and not discussed openly whereas the winter fuel allowance matter has received a storm of complaints. The problem will only get worse next year even if the current government fails to increase taxes further as now looks unlikely. The original source of the issue is the freezing of the personal allowance in 2021 which is scheduled to continue until 2026, thus ensuring that state pension would inevitably be taxed during this period. I've not been able to discover how many pensioners have now been given a K tax code.

Hello & thank you so much for your detailed response. The K code is made easier if the recipient has a private or company pension, where the total due tax is collected by that company. Thank you indeed.