North Herts Conservative Councillors have blocked a Liberal Democrat proposal to make value for money one of the council’s top priorities. The proposal would have replaced the council’s existing priorities, making delivering better value an additional priority.

Liberal Democrat opposition leader Steve Jarvis said, “Coming the week after the council discovered that this year’s council tax rise was double what it needed to be and an Audit Commission report that highlighted the council’s poor performance on value for money, the decision by the Conservatives that this should not be one of the council’s top priorities is stunning. People in North Herts are paying far more than those in surrounding areas, yet the Conservatives don’t seem to care.”

“When we challenge them on this they say that they are being careful with the council’s money. The problem is that they are using our money to do it. Other councils can do better than this. Why can’t North Herts?”

Papers for this week’s North Herts Council cabinet meeting reveal that, after pushing through a 3.9% increase in Council Tax in February, the council has now discovered that the increase could have been much lower. The council spent nearly £200,000 less than expected last year – enough to reduce the council tax rise by 2%. 

Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition on the council, Steve Jarvis said, “North Herts has one of the highest levels of council tax in the area and a track record of big increases.  Now it is clear that this year’s rise could actually been much lower, with no impact on local services. The Conservatives who run the council say that they are being prudent, but it’s easy to be prudent when somebody else picks up the bill. It’s time they recognised that they are giving local people a bad deal and brought their performance into line with other councils.” 

Liberal Democrats proposed further savings in spending on new computers and software at the time of the budget. Coupled with the savings that have now been discovered these could have resulted in a tax rise of less than 1.5%. Neighbouring St.Albans council, which is run by the Liberal Democrats, did not increase its council tax at all this year.

Liberal Democrats have launched radical new policies to tackle climate change.

The goal is to reach a zero carbon Britain by 2050. The plans will make Britain an world leader in tackling climate change.

With these policies we have become the first major British party to map out the route to a carbon neutral Britain.The party is the first to plan the way towards a cleaner global environment.”For more information about Liberal Democrat green plans, please visit the party’s web site.                                   

                                                  www.libdems.org.uk

At a meeting of the council on Thursday the Conservatives running North Herts Council dismissed a bad report from the Audit Commission claiming that the Audit Commission got it wrong. They rejected a Liberal Democrat proposal to recognise that the Council was falling behind other districts and needed to do better.

Steve Jarvis, Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition on the council, said, “The Audit Commission report clearly identified that North Herts council’s performance and value for money is worse than most other district councils. They reached this conclusion after studying the council’s performance and comparing it will other councils where they have conducted similar exercises . The Audit Commission is an independent body that has no reason to conclude that North Herts Council is worse than other councils unless that’s what the evidence shows. Rather than accept that there is a need to do things differently and that the Audit Commission is providing helpful information the leader of the council told us that the Audit Commission is wrong and that everything is fine.

“Many people will think that this sort of complacency is one of the reasons why North Herts Council performs more poorly than it could.”

Comments made by the Audit Commission in their annual audit letter to the council include

• Performance has largely stood still whilst other councils have improved
• Value for money is improving but sill falls short of levels achieved at most other authorities
• Over the last three years the council has also achieved a below average rate of improvement. This indicates that the council’s performance has not advanced at the rate of most district councils.

The Budget will do nothing for ordinary residents of Royston , who have been
clobbered by rising food, fuel and transport prices, The Budget was criticised for
failing to give much needed help to those struggling in recession by refusing to
back Liberal Democrat calls to cut income tax by £700 for the vast majority of people.
As the cost of food, heating, water and transport continue to rise for families in
Royston . Gordon Brown should be putting money back into their pockets
by cutting income tax for the vast majority of taxpayers by £700.
Britain’s taxes are too heavy on those who can least afford it and too easy to avoid
for those who know how.
Labour is out of ideas and out of steam. This Government has condemned us to
years of unemployment and a decade of debt. The country deserves something
different.

Lib Dems are calling for action to stop thousands of people from losing their homes.
Latest figures show that repossessions are rising as people struggle to pay sky high mortgages.
The Lib Dems have announced a three point plan to stop bank rushing to repossess homes.
Homeowners should be given the chance to renegotiate the terms of their mortgage.
Banks should allow people to extend their mortgages and offer shared equity schemes.
“We need to make repossession the absolute last resort.”

Chris Huhne with a police officer

crime is on the rise again, but the Labour Government is cutting police numbers even further.

Welcome to Brown’s Britain.

In Brown’s Britain, the Government spends billions of pounds forcing law abiding people to carry ID cards while criminals go free.

It’s no joke.

Labour talk tough on crime, but fail to act. The last Conservative Government talked tough, but cut police numbers too.

We need real action - not more pointless posturing.

That’s why the Liberal Democrats will abolish Labour’s expensive and pointless ID card scheme. We want to spend the money on things that will actually help ordinary law abiding people across the country. Read the rest of this entry.

A hard core of care homes across England have repeatedly failed to meet basic standards in hygiene and infection control, and a handful of homes have failed inspections four or more times in three years, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.

Nick Clegg is leading a campaign to knock on one million doors across the UK.

More people than ever feel alienated by the political process in Britain today. To many it doesn’t seem to matter who runs the country - nothing ever changes. Gordon Brown has been a disaster. There is little enthusiasm for a return to Conservative rule.

The best way to engage with people is to go and talk to them. That’s why Nick Clegg is setting his party the challenge of knocking on a million people between October and June.

Nick Clegg says, “I’m passionate about connecting with people. Talking with them, listening to them, and learning from them. That is why since I became Leader I’ve been holding Town Hall meetings in constituencies across the country. And that is why at our conference in Bournemouth I will be challenging our party to knock on at least a million doors between the end of conference and Polling Day for the Local and European elections. It is a tough challenge, but one which I am confident that we are more than capable of meeting.

“For Liberal Democrats calling on people to talk to them isn’t just about elections and votes. It is about understanding what matters to residents in our communities. Our opponents often deride us for listening to the very real concerns of voters about local issues. But it is something to be proud of that we take seriously such concerns and, more importantly, work to act on them. This is what community politics is all about; and this is what makes us different from the other parties. Community politics rightly lies at the heart of our party and the way in which we do politics.

“But we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about national and international issues either. I want Liberal Democrats across the country to be talking about how we are going to cut taxes for ordinary families and how we are offering real solutions to every day problems like fuel poverty. We are the only party with a viable economic recovery plan, and the only party that understands the pressures being put on people up and down the country by the current economic situation.

The Liberal Democrats have published their Freedom Bill, detailing how the party plans to roll back the authoritarian laws passed by both Labour and Conservative governments which have undermined civil liberties.

Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords protest the restrictions on demonstrating outside Parliament during the passage of the Serious and Organised Crime Act. Read the rest of this entry.