Local Elections 1 May 25: Penzance Council Nominations Shortfall.

     There have been insufficient nominations to stand for election for Penzance Council .  As a result there will be an election for Penzance Council in just one of the four Penzance Council wards.  Following the election Penzance Council will be obliged to co-opt 4 members to make up the full complement of 20.

Cornwall Council's list of town and parish council nominations can be found here.  

Nominations for the four Penzance wards (for Penzance Council) are summarized below. 

Heamoor & Gulval Ward

3 councillor positions on Penzance Council.

2 nominations:

• Stephen Reynolds, Ind, current Town Mayor..
• Bonnie Jackson, Ind, currently servings as a cllr.

Vacancies after 1 May 25 election:  1 cllr

Consequences:

• No election for Penzance Council within the ward on 1 May 25.
• The two nominees will be declared ‘duly elected’ by Cornwall Council.   
• Penzance Council is expected to co-opt a 3^rd councillor to fill the vacant position after     1 May 2025.

Newlyn & Mousehole Ward

5 councillor positions on Penzance Council. 

3 nominations:

• Thalia Marrington, Lib Dem, currently serving on Pz Council and Cornwall Council.
• Penny Osbourne, Ind, currently serving on Pz Council.
• Paul Trevail,  Ind.  new candidate.

Vacancies after 1 May 25:  2 cllrs.

Consequences:

• No election for Penzance Council in Newlyn & Mousehole ward.
• The 3 nominees will be declared ‘duly elected’ by Cornwall Council.
• Penzance Council will seek to co-opt 2 cllrs to fill the vacant positions after 1 May 25 election.

Promenade Ward

6 councillor positions on Penzance Council.

5 nominations:

• Nicola Broadhurst. Lab. Currently serving on Pz Council.
• Peter Lapin, Ind, new candidate.
• Nina Martin. Lib Dem. New candidate standing for both Penzance and Cornwall Council.
• Jim McKenna, Ind. Currently serving on Penzance and Cornwall Council.
• Penny Young. Lib Dem. Currently serving on Penzance Council.

Vacancies after 1 May 25 – 1 cllr.

Consequences:

• No election required for Penzance Council in Promenade Ward.
• The 5 nominees will be declared ‘duly elected’ by Cornwall Council.
• Pz Council will seek to co-opt 1 cllr to fill the vacant position after 1 May 25 election

Penzance East

6 councillor positions on Penzance Council.

9 nominations:

• Joan Beveridge. Lab. Currently serving on Pz Council.
• Jonathan How. Green Party. Currently serving as a Pz Council.
• Andy Law. Lib Dem. Currently serving on Pz Council.
• Duncan Paul. Mebyon Kernow. New candidate.
• Jan Power. Green Party. Currently serving on Pz Council
• Jane Pugh. Ind. New candidate
• Simon Reed. Lib Dem. Currently serving on Pz Council.
• Nadine Tonner. Ind. Currently serving on Pz Council.
• Mark Wilson. Ind. New candidate.

No vacancies after the elections (6 out of the 9 will be elected).

Consequences:

• There will be an election on 1 May 25 for Penzance Council in this ward.
• The 6 candidates with the highest share of the vote will be declared  ‘duly elected’ by Cornwall Council.

Comment.

     It is disappointing that there is no election for Penzance Council in 3 out of 4 Penzance Council wards (too few nominees). This problem of insufficient nominees is commonplace amongst smaller parish councils but has not be an issue for Penzance since 2013.  Penzance Council will be obliged to make up the complement of 20 councillors by co-option of 4 councillors after 1 May 25.   

 

 

'Buying' State Pension qualifying years - April 2025 deadline.

    It is easy to end up not entitled to a full state pension if you have chopped and changed jobs or had periods in/out of self-employment.  Such changes can result in missing or incomplete NIC years.  You can routinely ‘buy’ missing years with lump sums going back 6 years.  Since the introduction of the New State Pension in 2016 there has been a special scheme allowing the buying of missing years going back to 2006 - this scheme stops in April 2025.  

   People need 35 qualifying years of NICs to receive a full state pension (£230.25 per week, or £11,975.60 per year from Apr 25).  If you have not got 35 years of contributions at the state retirement age then you lose £328/yr. per missing/incomplete NIC year. 

   You can buy missing years before retirement age by paying HMRC a lump sum (about £907.40 for each year).  You might (see link) by able to buy after retirement in special cases.

   There are fewer better retirement investments than to buy up missing NIC years if you are at risk of reaching state retirement age with less than 35 eligible years.  The exceptions are if you are in very poor health and unlikely to live 3 years after retirement or likely to be eligible for Pension Credit due to lack of any other pensions or income and no significant savings/investments (see link).  The breakeven point is ~2.75 years after state pension age, thereafter the extra pension bought with the lump sum is profit (I have ignored tax).  On average retirees live into the mid/late 80s so filling up missing NIC years can offer an excellent return on investment (on average) depending on your circumstances.   

If uncertain about your future state pension entitlement the key steps are:

• Get a pension prediction from the Pension Service (see link below).
• Identify whether, by state retirement age, you will have 35 years of contributions.
• Prioritize buying incomplete years (best value for money) and earlier years that will become unavailable after April 2025 (as necessary)

WARNING.  Not every missing or  incomplete NIC year may be an eligible year for improving your state pension entitlement so it is best to speak to Pension Service helpline (see Money Saving Expert website link for number). The author of this post received critically important advice about which missing/incomplete years to buy (HMRC are happy to allow you to buy any missing year whether or not it improves your state pension.

   The above is just skim over the issue to explain why it is important and why some individuals will need to act before Apr 25 to avoid missing an important opportunity.  The Money Saving Expert item at the link is much more detailed and is recommended reading (it has all of the relevant links and telephone help line numbers).

Money Saving Expert (Updated 22 Oct 24) "Aged 40 to 73? Urgently consider buying National Insurance years" - click Here