HENLEY NEWS

Community Governance Review by SDC

Overwhelming support for return to historical boundaries & fair representation

Henley News has received over 100 responses about the Community Governance Review by Stratford District Council. 85% support the Civil Parish Boundaries reverting to the original mediaeval ecclesiastical boundaries, with Beaudesert on the east bank of the river and Henley on the west bank as shown on the large map below.

Jonathan Dovey, the highly respected local historian, wrote in our previous issue,

Neither place is specifically mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086; Henley was part of the Manor of Wootton Wawen, while Beaudesert was probably attached to Whitley. This also meant that both places were in separate Hundreds with Henley being in Pathlow Hundred while Beaudesert was in Ferncombe (later Barlichway). Even when Pathlow was incorporated into Barlichway Hundred it still retained its own independence as the Liberty of Pathlow. This distinction is important as it affected how the town developed.

The traditional British Sense of Fair Play was evident with 90% of responders voting for the number of council seats to be proportional to the number of voters. At present, Beaudesert has 5 seats and Henley 7 and if the current boundaries were to be maintained, then Beaudesert should lose one seat on the JPC and Henley should gain one.

The most logical revised Civil Parish boundaries supported by 9 out of 10 in the survey.

There seems to be strong support for the area around the "vestal virgins" on the Birmingham Road being transferred from Ullenhall to Henley. A parish councillor from Ullenhall, speaking in a personal capacity, told Henley NEWS that it would be logical and he would raise it at the next Ullenhall Parish Council meeting.

At the Joint Parish Council meeting on Monday 22nd August, councillors considered their response to the Community Governance Review. The Chairman, Cllr Les Goodman supported by Cllrs Carsina Goodman, Gordon Trinder, John Love and Nicholas Haycock proposed that all the Henley land to the east of the river should become part of the Beaudesert CP but Beaudesert Park on the west of the river should remain part of Beaudesert CP - see the map below right. In reality the JPC's variation whilst not conforming to the original mediaeval ecclesiastical boundaries should make no difference to the revised number of JPC seats. Henley should still gain an additional seat.

Summary of recommended changes

The survey also showed that Town Status was very popular and supported by 85%. If there is sufficient interest in Town Status, there will probably have to be a town referendum.

The deadline for RESIDENTS' responses to the Community Governance Review is Wednesday 12 September 2012. The District Council will consider all the representations and then publish draft proposals and the reasons behind them.

Have you sent your response to Stratford District Council?

Click here to download a response form to send to Stratford District Council

Please send your views in writing to Darren Whitney, Democratic Services Manager, Stratford-on-Avon District Council, Elizabeth House, Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 6HX or by email to: darren.whitney@stratford-dc.gov.uk

There will then be a further consultation before the final proposals are agreed by Stratford District Council.

JPC imposes another illegal ban on Councillor

Having been unsuccessful with numerous complaints to Stratford District Council Standards & Ethics Committee last year, parish councillors, in a secret session on Monday 20th August, voted to continue their illegally imposed ban on Cllr Bill Leech "from entering the parish office or communicating with the parish clerk".

No evidence was produced against Cllr Leech, who has been a longtime campaigner for the reform of the JPC and substantial cost savings. The JPC is the higest spending parish council of its size in the Stratford District area, spending nearly twice as much as Tanworth in Arden which has a larger population.

Cllr Les Goodman, Chairman of the JPC, confirmed the ban by letter (below) and indicated that it could be extended and Cllr Leech would not be allowed any professional legal representation.

Reducing the Accident Risk in the Town Centre

The parking survey carried out by Henley NEWS in May 2012 asked 2 questions about the parking in the centre of the Town.

Is there a Parking Problem outside Co-op & One Stop?
88% of responders said YES.

Is there likely to be a serious accident?
66% of responders said YES.

A new traffic management scheme will be discussed at the next Parish Council meeting on Monday 3rd September at 7.15 pm in Baptist Church Hall. Unfortunately, the proposal report was not included with the agenda papers.

The present ban on parking outside the Co-op and One-Stop has failed and it also takes no account of the needs of the shops or the disabled. Consequently,each day more than 3 giant articulated vehicles have to park to make deliveries. In addition, the disabled have a right to park at the curbside. Furthermore, most motorists park their vehicles in a no parking area when visiting these shops.

The solution is to accept that there is a need for curbside parking and design a safer layout. One, which could be very simply implemented at no great cost, would be to reprogramme the present pedestrian crossing traffic lights so as to implement shuttle working for the traffic on the A3400. There would then be sufficient width to allow parking outside the shops. The speed limit in this central zone should also be reduced to 20 mph. There should be restrictions on Station Road and Brook End Drive to stop them becoming a "rat run".

Not only would this solution improve safety but the present narrow pavement outside Cafe 34 could be considerably widened to overcome yet another problem that the pavement is too narrow for users of disabled buggies.

Shuttle working, permanent alternate one way working, is a recognised solution where the width of a section of road is physically constrained preventing two-directional flow (see Traffic Control System Design (Compendium of Examples) - Chapter 15). The A46 at Painswick in Gloucestershire has such a shuttle working scheme controlled by traffic lights.

Councillors will be asked to debate this proposal and if supported to forward it to Warwickshire Highways.

Recalling Old Heroes to Help Young Heroes

September 8th at 7.30 pm in the Memorial Hall

Tales of the First World War heroes of Henley will help raise money to help servicemen and women disabled in current conflicts.

The Henley-in-Arden Guild Hall Trust Appeal is organising a military evening on Saturday 8th September at the Memorial Hall to raise funds for their appeal and 'Help for Heroes'.

To start the evening the Band of 1289 (Stratford-upon-Avon) Squadron ATC will parade and march to the Memorial Hall.

Following the band display Dr Douglas Bridgewater, an acknowledged expert of World War 1, will talk about the men from Henley who fought and died in the Great War. The Memorial Hall was used during this period as a hospital.

During an interval the bar will be open and the 1289 Sqn band will play on the stage.

Following the interval Alec Murray from 'Help For Heroes' will give a talk and show a video on the work of this important charity which helps today's heroes from Afghanistan and Iraq.

To conclude the evening, there will be a raffle and a presentation on stage to 'Help for Heroes'.

It is hoped that all our readers and Henley's Veterans and their families will support this event for two worthy causes. Click the link below to book online.

Tickets ONLY £12.50 ea

This event is sponsored by Lodders Solicitors, Henley Hotel, F Goldsmith & The Henley Society

BOOKING FORM for the HEROES OF HENLEY evening

Check out ID of charity collectors

A number of charities in Henley are concerned that not all collectors may be genuine.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH has warned that couples/groups of two have been circulating in Henley and vicinity posing as collectors for the Red Cross. One couple was mixed-race---an Asian and a Black person. If anyone seeking donations for the Red Cross comes to your door and flashes an identification which they don't allow you to examine, lock them out and notify the police and your NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH.

The Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Henley & District Volunteers are also investigating a door to door collection on the High Street earlier this month. All WNAA volunteers have photo ID which should always be carefully checked. If in doubt call Bill Leech on 07899 792792.

Last of the Summer Wine

Dr Douglas Bridgewater hosted a lunch in the new Jubilee Garden with the theme “Last of the Summer Wine”. The event celebrated the new garden developed by the Guild Hall Garden Committee which had raised over £60,000 for the project.

Despite an inclement weather forecast, the lunch took place in marvellous sunshine. The excellent meal was provide by Sue Dalby and her team. Marijana Bainbridge organised the raffle.

Click here to view slideshow

Visit to Montfort-sur-Risle

Castle ruins complete with resident goats.

It was during early August while holidaying in Normandy, that Henley residents Brian and Maggie Twigg, together with their French speaking Canadian grand-daughter, were able to visit Montfort-sur-Risle our informal twinning town in Brittany. We were welcomed and entertained by members of the Association Montfort Culture et Patrimonie - Jean-Christope Bisson, Alain and Claudine Lebescond and a younger member of the association, Kevin Fontaine.

We were shown round the town (which we thought was not quite as pretty as Henley) and entertained to lunch at a typical French Bistro. After a very enjoyable “plat du jour” we were taken for a guided tour of the castle. On our arrival we were greeted by a representative of the local press and following an extensive interview, an article “Les Anglais en Montfort-sur-Risle” is due to appear in the local area newspaper.

Henley-in-Arden has several similarities to Montfort-sur-Risle, in having a mount overlooking the town, and the town itself being built along a main highway situated adjacent to a river; and significantly they both have remains of a mediaeval castle situated on the mount above the town. Beaudesert was established by inhabitants of Montfort in the 11th century with the castle being built by Thurstan de Montfort.

The castle in Montfort was built in the 11th/12th century, but unlike Beaudesert the Montfort castle ruins are still visible and can be readily visited. We were informed that the castle ruins had been almost completely covered by undergrowth and the forest was encroaching upon the area. However in July 2003 an enthusiastic band of volunteers started to clear the ground and for the past 9 years the association has been working to preserve and restore the ruined castle, mainly working to stabilise the existing fabric.

The original moat round the castle is still clearly defined: remains of the North tower, the main entrance and gateway house which also housed the castle’s chapel (which coincidently was dedicated to St Nicholas) can also be identified. In the rectangular keep archaeological digs have been taking place this summer by local students. Several goats live on the walls of the castle which help to keep down the encroaching vegetation. While we were there members of a local scout group were camping in the lower courtyard and it was explained to us that only scouts have the right to camp on the slopes outside the castle; it is hoped that a group of scouts from the Henley area could hold a camp there sometime in the future.

The latest project has been to restore an old path up to the castle. 231 steps have been built by volunteers leading up from behind the church to the castle which provide pedestrian access from the town. We took an easier route by car via a windy lane up the hill to a small car park !!

Informal twinning between Henley/Beaudesert and Montfort has already been established with a link between the local schools, and further links are in the pipeline. Having a keen interest in local history we were particularly pleased to meet Jean Christophe who appears in the guise of local historian, and we hope to establish a cultural and historical link between the two localities. We were also able to discuss various opportunities for possible further links. The local press reported the visit.

It is hoped that a trip to Montford-sur-Risle can be arranged in September 2013 for their annual Heritage Weekend when mediaeval festivities are held in the lower courtyard of the castle, with guided tours of the castle site.

Margaret Twigg reporting

New Youth Club Leader for The Hub@Henley

Debbie Binns, youth leader, speaks to Sally Sparrow

After a lengthy selection process, the management committee for The Hub@ Henley was delighted to invite Mrs Debbie Binns to take up the role of Youth Club leader. Following her post I joined her at the Hub one Wednesday evening to see how she was getting on. Not having been to the Hub during Youth Club opening times I was pleasantly surprised to see a large attendance and 3 youth workers on-hand and interacting with the Young People present.

Once the doors were closed for the night I asked Debbie what attracted her to youth work and her plans for TheHub@Henley?

“I started off working within the police force, but I found it increasingly difficult to arrest young people, especially repeat offenders. I felt these young adults needed support rather than discipline. From there I went on to youth work and have been managing youth projects for seven years, working with children and young people from 3-25 years. During this time I have set up various programmes to help empower the young people I have been engaging with, such as: homework club, drop-in service, mock interviews, CV writing, sexual health workshops, drug & drink awareness, dance groups, to name a few. I also believe in giving young people a voice in the community."

Debbie told me she organised a Partnership group within Birmingham City Centre, a number of young people would attend community meetings with Debbie to give across their opinions to the Police, Local Council, Youth Services, local churches and retailers. This group was so successful it received a Working in Partnership Award from West Midlands Police.

Debbie continued, “It is great to be in Henley, I’ve had fantastic support and the facilities are top-class. The community in Henley has worked hard to secure the youth services, now run by the Henley War Memorial Trust, and that support is essential for this service to continue - young people need to find their individuality; this service enables them to grow into adults and to express their own opinions in an area allocated for that. It’s not only the young who benefit; parents can also be assured that their children are in a safe and monitored environment. Take some time to relax – as a parent myself I appreciate some time out now and again!

“We have put in a bid for funding for sessions to run one evening a week through the six weeks holiday which would include activities such as those above but we have also asked for funding for a off-site visit to Drayton Manor and a sports day including instruction in football, tennis and climbing by professionals. (All this is yet to be confirmed)

“We are also in the process of interviewing for 6 part time members of staff, by September we hope to be open 3 evenings a week. We are all excited about the grand opening in September, being able to show all the community what we have and will be able to offer to young people and their parents. It is important to have contact with all parents of young people in the area and I welcome all to come and see me at the Hub@Henley. We are also looking at getting workshops and a summer scheme over the 6 weeks holidays, including trips out and much more.”

For more information see: www.thehubathenley.co.uk or call Debbie on 07908 858734.

The Hub Grand Opening!

@the hub – Warwick Road, Henley-in-Arden

15th September 2012 – 10:30 am – 2.30 pm

Come along to the open day to discover all the activities and facilities that The Hub has to offer. There will be sports and fun activities taking place for all ages along with refreshments including a BBQ, Henley Ice Cream, Cakes, Table Top Stalls, Community Information Services, Raffle and Tombola to name but a few of the activities planned to ensure a fun filled Family Day.

You can also meet The Hub team members including the new Youth Club Leader, Debbie Binns, and her team of Youth Workers and Volunteers.

The perfect chance to come along and find out about ‘The Hub’ for yourself!

Support Susie's Macmillan Coffee Morning

Please support Susie's Macmillan Coffee Morning on Friday 28th September in memory of my late mother Rene & father Joe & friends. Home made cakes, Raffle and bingo and plenty of time to have a good chat. Please give me your support. Come along to Millfield Court under the arches at 11 am on Friday 28th September. All proceeds to Macmillan Cancer Support. Thanks Sue.

Lodders – serving Henley in Arden for 225 years!

Did you know that Lodders can trace its roots back to 1786? It was in that year that the firm (then known as Lea and Couchman) opened its doors in Beaudesert, and we have been serving the community ever since.

In 1834, we received a letter of thanks from none other than the Duke of Wellington. The Duke, as well as being one of Britain’s most famous war heroes, was also a leading politician. At the time of writing to us, he was serving as Foreign Secretary having just stepped down from his second term of office as Prime Minister!

Mind you, there have been 10 Monarchs and as many as 61 Prime Ministers during our time in Henley.

The firm took the Lodders name more than a century ago and current senior partner David Lodder (right) continues to push the firm forwards with the energy and verve that will be characteristic to all who know him.

Lodders Solicitors is celebrating 225 years in Henley-in-Arden with a move to more accessible premises in the town, which also benefit from excellent car parking facilities.

Lodders partner Alastair Frew said: “Henley-in-Arden is one of our key centres of operation – it is very important to us. This move will improve facilities for staff and clients alike, with a friendly and more efficient offer.”

The Henley office is headed up by Gill Coombs, an Associate who specialises in Wills and the administration of estates, and offers the full range of legal services available in the firm’s other offices in Stratford-upon-Avon and Cirencester.

The office has a particular focus on community care and the Court of Protection, especially for the elderly, through solicitor Emma Vaqueiro who is based there. Emma is joint regional coordinator for the Warwickshire and Worcestershire branches of Solicitors for the Elderly, and with colleague Sofia Tayton who is based in Stratford, is one of Office of the Public Guardian’s new Panel of Deputies. She and Sofia are two of only 60 experts across the UK that the Court of Protection can call on when vulnerable people have nowhere else to turn.

Mrs Vaqueiro said: “We hope that clients will find our new offices more user friendly, especially our older clients who are increasingly turning to us for advice on care home funding, inheritance tax and other issues that need to be addressed.”

Residential conveyancing is handled by Dorothy O’Brien, who can call on nearly 30 years of experience within the world of conveyancing. Dorothy moved to Henley 24 years ago, so she can almost call herself a local!

In these troubled and changing times, it is nice to be able to rely on a brand that has served the community for so long.

Volunteers wanted by War Memorial Trust

Henley War Memorial Trust

The Trust's activities and financial turnover have doubled in the last twelve months, therefore they urgently require the following volunteers:

1. An assistant secretary to manage a total of four meetings a year of the Sports Grounds and Pavilion Management Committees and assist the secretary if necessary.
   
   
2. An assistant treasurer, who will be a member of the finance sub-committee with a duty to monitor and review the expenditure and record-keeping of the four constituent activity groups of the Trust. He or she will also deputise for the treasurer if required. A knowledge of the Quickbooks accounting system would be helpful, but not a requirement.

For further information please contact Peter Crathorne on (01564) 795470, or e-mail: peter.crathorne@gmail.com

Make Henley Greener
Our Award Winning Column
Save Money - Help Save the Planet

Investing in Renewable Energy

If you have a few hundred or even a few thousand pounds to invest, putting the money into a renewable energy project might be a good idea especially if you are a taxpayer. The reason these investments are a good idea is that they offer better rates of interest than currently available from building societies and you will not be surprised to hear that I think they are a good idea, because renewable energy projects reduce Carbon Pollution. They also provide employment. So it’s a win, win, win.

There are currently a couple of share offers closing soon that offer projected rates of interest of just over 6% to a non taxpayer. Taxpayers should be able to claim back 30% of their original investment money under the Enterprise Investment Scheme. (EIS). This has the effect of raising the rate of interest to 8.7%. However, the financial structure of these projects means that you cannot take out your investment at will, as you can with many building society accounts. They are long-term investments. The two projects currently on offer are very different in character.

Woolhope Woodheat is almost local being based near Hereford. The plan is to bring back into use some woodland in which harvesting of timber ceased in the 1940s. As woodland matures, its rate of growth (and carbon capture) slows. Controlled harvesting of timber opens up the woodland and leads to higher growth rates, creating more renewable woodfuel (and more carbon capture). The timber will be used to fuel a woodchip boiler installed to heat a group of apartments. The Share offer is needed to fund the installation of the boiler. Heat produced by the boiler will be sold to the residents at a pre agreed price related to the price of oil; ie as the oil price varies, so does the price of the renewable heat. The income stream from heat sales is supplemented by payments under the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (RHI). The latter works in a similar way to the Feed In Tariff for solar panels and is guaranteed for 20 years. After deduction of operating costs, the profit is used to pay out to the shareholders.

The high up front costs mean that returns are low in the first 5 years but soon achieve a respectable level and are projected to average 6.1% p/a over the project life. Within the first year or two taxpayers can claim back 30% of their original investment under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). The cost of investing is thereby eventually reduced, but the project continues to pay interest on the original investment. This has the effect of increasing the projected average effective rate of interest to about 8.7%.

To secure the EIS tax relief, a minimum investment of £500 is required, but this becomes in effect £350 due to the EIS tax relief. I really like this project, because it is a way of investing money to reduce Carbon Pollution whilst creating a few local jobs and giving a reasonable return at low to medium risk. The minimum investment that the project will accept is £250, but this is not sufficient to get the EIS tax relief. For more information, go to http://woolhopewoodheat.org.uk.

Do take a look at the excellent video, which explains the project more fully and download the share offer document to read and get a copy of the application form (The video and share offer links are both just to the right of the picture of the man in woodland). The share offer closes on 28th Sept so now is the time to act. Hopefully, you too can become a shareowner in this very ethical project.

Drumlin Wind Energy Cooperative is a project to finance five medium sized wind turbines in various places in Northern Ireland. Think of it as the Irish wind turbine project – there must be a joke here. The share offer is to raise capital to fund the purchase and installation of the turbines. According to the share offer document the average return over the project life is 7.2% pa, which becomes 10.3% pa after tax relief under EIS. However, because payback of capital in instalments commences in 2016, the method of averaging the annual percentages should involve some weighting and this has not been done in arriving at the 7.2 & 10.3%. My re-analysis of the figures from the prospectus gives figures of 6.4 and 8.8%; only marginally better than Woolhope Woodheat. However, projected returns start at 3.5% compared to 0.1% for the first year of Woolhope Woodheat. Also this project includes progressive partial return of capital from year 4 whereas Woolhope Woodheat does not. In my opinion, the higher initial return and earlier return of capital make the Irish wind turbines the financially better deal. For further information go to http://www.drumlin.coop/home.asp where you will find various useful links and the share offer document which contains an application form. Note that most of the uncertainties mentioned in the offer document (eg type of turbine, ground conditions at some sites etc have now been resolved favourably). The offer is scheduled to close on 21st Sept.

These investments are not the same as investing in building societies and have different types of risks that are clearly spelled out in the share prospectuses. You should form your own view about the risks or take independent financial advice before investing. If you decide to invest, it is hard to say which of the two proposals is to be preferred. Both create renewable energy and reduce Carbon Pollution and both offer reasonable financial returns over time. Woolhope Woodheat probably saves more Carbon Pollution per £ invested. Drumlin Wind is probably better financially, but I really like the concept of Woolhope Woodheat, so I’ll be investing in both.

Finally, if you have a south-facing roof, investing in your own solar PV panels is still a good deal, offering returns of over 10% pa. However, with this type of investment, the capital is not retrievable and you need a decent sized system to make 10%. This sets the minimum investment at perhaps £5000 compared to £250 or £500 for the share offers. Any one considering solar PV who would like impartial advice or review of quotes by me can give me a call on 01564 792251.

John Stott

John Garner's Business Column

The self-employment dream

What’s it like being self-employed? Many of us dream about working for ourselves, reporting to no one, deciding our own working hours, driving a nice car, playing lots of golf and taking lots of holidays.

Of course it isn’t like that at all and now a new survey (yes, another) has confirmed it. According to the Office for National Statistics (or Notional Statistics if you prefer), the number of self-employed workers in the UK and Ireland has recently soared to a 20-year high of 4.1milllion (12% of the working population).

Although many of us have realised the dream of working for ourselves, the reality is not always so rosy: for example, according to the survey 24% of self-employed workers take no holiday at all each year compared with 5% of permanent workers.

This can be particularly galling when your staff are entitled to 5 weeks holiday per year and you’re lucky if you get one. Not only do the self-employed enjoy less holiday time but research suggests that when on holiday they aren’t able to switch work mode off. In fact, 45% of self-employed admitted to working whilst on holiday, compared with only 23% of those in permanent employment. At one time that was rarely a problem: if you were on holiday abroad for instance then contacting the office was difficult, you just had to accept it; nowadays it’s only too easy – and tempting to do so just to make sure you’re not missing anything.

Almost one in four self-employed (24%) also revealed that they can’t enjoy holidays because of the cost and loss of earnings associated with the break. I remember that situation only too well. It wasn’t only the cost of the holiday that had to be reckoned with, it was the lost opportunity cost of not being able to earn any money whilst you were away and the overheads were still piling up, so holidays effectively cost double.

It’s not just about holidays of course, you’ll find also that sickness rates are far lower for the self-employed; that's simply because they can’t afford to be ill.

There is a considerable satisfaction to be had if you are successful: being in control of your own affairs is usually less stressful than working for someone else and if you manage to make any money you get to keep some of it. You can have a very good lifestyle, the trick is to ensure you have enough leisure time to enjoy spending it.

So why am I going on about this? It’s because of the general lack of understanding of what it all means by those who’ve never been self-employed and this is becoming dangerous. This government (like its predecessors) tries to encourage the unemployed to set up their own businesses, even those fresh out of school are encouraged to do so even though they have no skills at all. They make it sound like a panacea in that “if you can’t get a job you can always work for yourself”.

Those doing the encouraging have little or no experience of working for themselves and so have no appreciation of the dangers of getting it wrong. They’ve always enjoyed a regular salary and don’t know what it feels like to discover you can’t afford to pay the wages at the end of the month, or in extreme cases how it feels when you can’t see where next week’s meals are coming from. Perhaps it should be a requirement that all government ministers spend a year working for themselves or at least working in a small business; some of them have never worked anywhere at all except in a government role.

There are a number of government sponsored schemes around to help people set themselves up as self-employed but, good as these are, they are often run by people who’ve never tried it. So my advice to anyone thinking of working for themselves is go and talk to people who have done it, as many as you can find. Talk to people who have failed if you can find them, you’ll learn more from a few of them than all the successful ones put together.

John Garner - Business Correspondent

Warnings from Trading Standards

‘Charity’ Collectors Whitnash

Warwickshire Trading Standards has received reports about dubious charity collectors operating in the Whitnash area. Consumers wishing to ensure that their donations go to genuine charities should check the charity out first on the Charity Commission website: www.charity-commission.gov.uk/ Not everyone who collects from your door is a bona fide charity. Some collectors are profit making businesses, (although they may claim their profits benefit good causes).
For more information visit: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/scams

Bogus Bank Refund

Beware of unexpected phone calls from people who appear to know your bank details, warn Warwickshire Trading Standards. One consumer received a phone call from someone who claimed to be calling from his bank. The caller knew the first four numbers of the consumer’s debit card and asked him to read out the rest in order to ‘confirm’ the consumer identity! Needless to say the consumer did not. Fraudsters are sometimes able to obtain partial information about a consumer, including partial card details. The fraudsters hope that by impersonating the consumer’s bank they can trick them in to revealing the rest! The fraudsters can then use the information they have to steal money and make fraudulent purchases.

Scams Using Ukcash Vouchers

Warwickshire Trading Standards has been alerted to two scams in which the victims were asked to send money to the fraudsters using Ukash vouchers. In the first instance a consumer purchased an item from an online classified advertisement. The consumer sent Ukcash vouchers to pay for the item but it never arrived. The consumer only had an email address to contact the seller. In the second case a consumer who had purchase an item some months ago received a phone call to tell him the item was fake and that he was owed compensation of £1240. The caller asked the consumer to send him £160 in Ukcash vouchers to receive his ‘compensation’. Never send money in order to receive a compensation pay-out!

Ukcash is a voucher system which allows funds to be transferred. Ukash also provide crime prevention advice on their website: www.ukash.com

Driving Test Booking Warning

Warwickshire Trading Standards have received a number of complaints from consumers who booked their driving practical and theory tests on-line using websites that try to give the impression they are official DVLA representatives. These websites typically charge a booking fee that can increase the cost to the learner driver. One consumer paid £92 to book her practical driving test when the cost via DirectGov is £62 for a weekday test in a car. The Driving Standards Agency advise you book through www.direct.gov.uk (search on ‘driving test’)

More information is available on our website: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/

Simon Cripwell, Senior Information Officer, Trading Standards Service
Warwickshire County Council
email. simoncripwell@warwickshire.gov.uk