logo
Hull4Heroes shelves veterans village due to 'spiralling' costs

Hull4Heroes shelves veterans village due to 'spiralling' costs

BBC Newsa day ago
Plans for a veterans' village near Hull have been shelved due to "spiralling" development costs and changes in "operational priorities", a charity has said.The development in Cottingham, led by Hull4Heroes, aimed to help ex-service personnel transition to civilian life.In a statement, chief executive Paul Matson, a veteran himself, said: "It is with deep regret that we feel we can no longer take the veterans' village forward."The decision has not been taken lightly."
The idea of creating a community for veterans, which included 48 transitional homes for those leaving the armed forces, along with training and support facilities, was granted planning permission in 2020, with an estimated development cost of £8m.However, a review by charity trustees in June found the project now had an estimated cost of between £17m and £20m.The review also cited changes in "operational priorities" as demand increased for all the services provided by the charity.It said the extensive costs of the early phases of the project would not deliver the value and benefits that could be provided through the core services the charity currently offers to the veterans' communities and their families.
Mr Matson said: "Although it was an extremely difficult decision to have to make, it was, sadly, unavoidable."There has been a huge amount of work that has gone into this project by a lot of very dedicated people, so it is a terrible shame not to be able to take it through to completion."The trustees and Mr Matson also "extended their heartfelt thanks" to everyone who had supported the project.Mr Matson said anyone who had donated funds could have their money returned, donated to another cause, or directed to fund other services at Hull4Heroes.
Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Raise taxes or this government will fail, Rachel Reeves' former top adviser warns
Raise taxes or this government will fail, Rachel Reeves' former top adviser warns

The Independent

timean hour ago

  • The Independent

Raise taxes or this government will fail, Rachel Reeves' former top adviser warns

Rachel Reeves must U-turn on her manifesto pledge not to raise taxes for working people or Sir Keir Starmer 's government will be forced to abandon other key priorities, one of the chancellor's former top advisers has warned. Jim O'Neill, a former Goldman Sachs chief turned Treasury minister who quit the Conservatives and later advised Ms Reeves, said she faces no choice but to abandon key parts of her economic policy – including her commitment not to raise income tax, National Insurance contributions for employees or VAT. Questioning whether that promise was now sustainable, he told The Independent: "Without changing some of the big taxes, welfare and pensions, they (Labour) can't commit to things like Northern Powerhouse Rail, small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), and various other things that will make an investment and growth difference." His comments come in the wake of a disastrous week for Sir Keir's government as ministers were forced to abandon key parts of the welfare reforms to stop a rebellion by Labour MPs, leaving a £5bn black hole in its spending plans. In a week defined by Ms Reeves openly shedding tears in PMQs with questions over her future, the pressure on the government to balance the books and dramatically change strategy has increased, with the chancellor admitting that the U-turn came at a 'cost'. But with Labour dropping spectacularly in the polls – and the prime minister facing growing disquiet from the backbenches – mention of the government's missions has all but disappeared, while the economy continues to stagnate. Lord O'Neill claimed that part of the problem was that the government was caught in short-termist thinking about Nigel Farage and Reform who have taken a large poll lead. 'They need to stop worrying about Farage, they have four years before that should matter,' he said. Reflecting on the problems with the welfare reform bill, he went on: 'The past few days should force government to truly prioritise, link specific priorities to their growth mission, get out of the 24/7 social media, and, crucially, recognise it can't deliver on all three of its fiscal rules, growth mission and manifesto tax commitments. Something has to give. 'I'd personally abandon triple lock on pensions, and the current welfare bill, and say they are going to pursue more serious welfare reform.' Top pollster Luke Tryl, UK director at More in Common, told The Independent the government would be better off pushing through big tax hikes now in order to fix public services before the next election. He said: 'At this stage, the government would be better to do a broad-based tax rise and ensure they can deliver on making Britain feel like it's working better, than risk a continuation of the public feeling Britain is totally broken. 'Having boxed themselves in breaking the promise won't be without pain, but the alternative – four years of the public not seeing change – is far worse politically and for the mood of the country.' On Friday, Ms Reeves refused to rule out tax rises in the wake of what she admitted was the 'damaging' climbdown on welfare cuts. The chancellor is said to have warned that any tax hikes this autumn are likely to be more painful than those she pursued last October, with all low-hanging fruit options having been taken. Asked whether she could rule out tax hikes, she told The Guardian: 'I'm not going to, because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that.' The government is, however, believed to be opposing growing calls from Labour MPs for a wealth tax to fill the hole in the public finances. The UK's leading economic thinktanks have, meanwhile, warned that tax rises are inevitable with speculation that there could be a raid on pension funds and new rules to prevent people offsetting tax by putting their money into pensions. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), said: 'If we are looking at £30bn – which is quite plausible – you can't see a way in which you raise that kind of money without hitting people on middle incomes. 'If you are looking for big money then it has to be something in income tax national insurance or VAT.' Ben Caswell, senior economist at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said: 'It seems like, given the spending review and the allocation of funds given (and poor GDP growth and public finances), raising taxes in the Autumn seems almost inevitable at this point.' Tax expert Arj Kumar, founder of tax advisers Taxd, warned: 'The next budget will likely see Rachel Reeves dig deeper, raising taxes further to cover government spending on defence and a boost to infrastructure. If these hikes continue to cripple businesses, it's working families who will pay the ultimate price.' The warnings come as the prime minister strongly hinted that the government is going to bring in tax rises at the next Budget. In an interview with the BBC's Nick Robinson, the presenter claimed that Sir Keir had said: ''I'm not going to put your taxes up,'' adding: 'Then taxes went up.' The prime minister hit back: 'Nick, be fair, we had a manifesto commitment that we wouldn't increase income tax, National Insurance and VAT for working people. That was a manifesto commitment. That is what I said to you last time, and that is what we've kept to. 'So the one thing we didn't do in the last budget was we didn't breach that manifesto commitment. We're not going to breach that manifesto commitment.' Critics have noted that his response only closed the door to tax rises on the big three – income tax, VAT and national insurance. Already, a leaked memo from deputy prime minister Angela Rayner to Ms Reeves, has revealed that the left of the party is pushing for so-called wealth taxes on the super rich and big corporations. Ms Rayner outlined eight possible new wealth taxes instead of cutting public services further.

David Lammy deploys army of top diplomats to kickstart economic growth and combat impact of Trump tariffs
David Lammy deploys army of top diplomats to kickstart economic growth and combat impact of Trump tariffs

The Independent

timean hour ago

  • The Independent

David Lammy deploys army of top diplomats to kickstart economic growth and combat impact of Trump tariffs

David Lammy has brought a team of Britain's elite diplomats home in a bid to finally kickstart economic growth and combat the global impact of Donald Trump's tariffs. Senior ambassadors and high commissioners have come back to the UK to take part in a roadshow around the country to encourage businesses to export more and link up with the countries they are posted in. It comes as the E-Commerce Trade Commission recently reported that 70,000 businesses in Britain which are ready to export still are not exporting. The commission estimated that £7bn of growth could be unlocked in the economy if UK businesses fulfil their potential linking up with foreign markets. With economic growth in the UK at a mere 0.7 per cent for the first quarter and concerns that a failure to hit potential has left an unwelcome £18bn hole in chancellor Rachel Reeves' budget the government is desperate to use all its resources to turn things around. There was speculation that the mounting pressure on the chancellor combined with needing to find another £5bn after welfare cuts were abandoned was the reason she was in tears during PMQs on Wednesday. There have been concerns as well that while the UK mitigated the effect of Trump's tariffs in its trading relationship with a deal struck by Keir Starmer, the wider impact on business confidence and global supply chains continues to be a problem. The decision to deploy senior diplomats follows an instruction by the prime minister that all departments need to take part in delivering economic growth. In a speech at the British Chambers of Commerce in March, the foreign secretary laid out a 'new partnership between government and business' to drive economic growth in the UK and ensure this Government is delivering for the British public. Speaking to The Independent about the diplomats roadshow, he said: 'Our ambassadors and high commissioners are the salesforce for the UK economy. 'Through this roadshow, my top diplomats are meeting mayors and regional businesses to discuss trade and investment opportunities and strike new partnerships, ultimately so they can champion the UK's interests overseas and deliver growth. 'In this government's 'Plan for Change', the economic interests of British businesses sits at the heart of our foreign policy.' The roadshow follows the launch of the government's landmark modern Industrial Strategy, with each roadshow stop designed to target one of the eight growth sectors, including defence, clean energy, life sciences, digital tech, advanced manufacturing, and services. On Thursday last week Britain's Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom visited Portsmouth with more than 10 visits taking place last week and more planned throughout the summer and into the Autumn. Ms Longbottom visited British hovercraft manufacturers Griffon Marine, which has a multi-million-pound deal with the authorities in Japan's Oita Prefecture to provide vital passenger services connecting Oita Airport in Kunisaki with Oita City. She said: 'I was particularly excited by Portsmouth's strong defence industrial base, cutting-edge technology, and advanced manufacturing sector, all fantastic opportunities for partnership with Japan.' On Monday, ambassador to Belgium Anne Sherriff visited South Wales for a meeting with the Welsh Government's Director for International Relations. She also visited CSA Catapult, a not-for-profit research and technology organisation based in Newport which supports start-ups, SMEs, large organisations, and academia to commercialise compound semiconductor technologies. The first roadshow kicked off last week with ambassador to South Korea, Colin Crooks, headed to the North East of England. The ambassador visited firms linked to clean energy with a tour of the Tees Works freeport and met with the UK chief executive of SeAH Wind, a South Korean company constructing a wind turbine manufacturing facility in Teesside. Meanwhile Joelle Jenny, the ambassador to Denmark, visited Lincolnshire, while Ed Llewellyn, the ambassador to Italy, went to South Yorkshire. The roadshow will build on the £86 billion boost to the science and tech sectors announced in the Spending Review, which backed UK regions to take cutting-edge research into their own hands. The research and development package means local leaders have government backing to develop 'innovation clusters' across the country, to unlock the talent and opportunity in every region and nation.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store