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Lib Dems in local government - what a mess!
Three Rivers District Council, Hertfordshire
The Council’s Chief Executive is to retain his £116,000 salary despite cutting down to a four-day week so he can indulge his passion for music. The Lib Dem council has justified granting a reduced working week to Mr Stephen Halls with no cut in his salary on the grounds that it would cost less than hiring a replacement. Cllr Ann Shaw the Lib Dem leader of the council defended the decision saying “it’s about work-life balance”. (The Telegraph, 16 October).
Cardiff Council
The Lib Dem much vaunted food waste recycling scheme has belly-flopped spectacularly. Launched on October 12th at a cost of £1 million, it has causedto the regular timetable for waste collections with bags left uncollected for up to a week. It has now been revealed that all the waste for composting from banana skins to grass cuttings is being transported to Derbyshire some 150 miles away because the Council's own composting facility wont be ready for another year. Cardiff remains doggedly 3rd worst in Wales for recycling with a mere 27% of waste recycled. (News from Jenny Rathbone, Labour Candidate in Cardiff Central).
Newcastle City Council
Lib Dem run Newcastle City Council got it spectacularly wrong when they marked out parking pays for a new residents parking scheme. The parking bays are on both sides of the road and leave a gap between them of only 1.69 metres, not wide enough for a 2.5m wide fire engine or even an average sized family car. (Evening Chronicle, 1 November)
The Liberal Democrats in Newcastle have also spent £45,000 on consultants to help dream up a new name for Cruddas Park, a high rise council estate in the city. It is hoped that the rebranding exercise will stop the area being unfairly stigmatised. (Evening Chronicle, 17 October).
Sheffield City Council
Over 60s and under 16s across South Yorkshire are set to have access to free swimming from April next year, except in Lib Dem run Sheffield. The Government announced in June that £140 million was being made available to fund free swimming. 300 out of 354 local authorities will be offering free swimming to over 60’s from April 2009 and 296 councils will be claiming their share of the money for under 16’s. But, Sheffield’s new Lib Dem Council has decided not to take part in the scheme and will not be providing free swimming. (News from Sheffield Labour, 21 October). Is your local Liberal council taking advantage of this scheme? If not, why not organise a petition calling on them to take the government cash and provide free swimming for kids and pensioners in your town.
St Albans Council, Hertfordshire
The Lib Dem council has been defeated in the courts after they supported a complaint from a woman that she could hear drinkers chatting in a pub garden. The court heard that the woman, Jane Lockley, had known about the pub before she moved in. The landlord had also taken steps to minimise the disturbance after she complained. The Judge said that incomers who know about potential disturbance before they moved in had few grounds for challenging the nuisance. (The Telegraph, 24 October).
Aberdeen City Council
The SNP and Lib Dem run council in Aberdeen has been accused of targeting motorists with parking fines in an attempt to plug their £60 million budget deficit. They have drafted in contract workers from Manchester to go on a ticketing bonanza, they raised more than £10,000 in fines after working just four nights targeting drivers parked on double yellow lines. Aberdeen Labour Group Secretary Willie Young said, “We’ve got a budget deficit and what’s an easy target? Cars.” (The Times, 6 November).
Rochdale Lib Dems vote to evict tenants for falling behind with water bills
Rochdale’s Labour Group Leader, Cllr Colin Lambert has condemned a change in the council’s policy which will see council tenants being evicted for falling behind on their water bills. Cllr Lambert said that “it is not the business of Rochdale Council to put families on the street for non payment of a third party debt. Local MP Jim Dobbin added “I cannot believe that at a time of major credit problems and fuel debt that this council is proposing to evict families for a utility company debt. Where will it end?” In an ironic twist the Lib Dem cabinet voted for the callous measures which will increase homelessness on the same night that they agreed extra funding for a local homeless hostel.
Derby City Council Lib Dems decide that 65 is too old
Housing administrator Margaret Forster has been forced to give up the job she loves with the council after her request to remain at work past the age of 65 was turned down because of departmental policy. Mrs Foster fought hard to keep her job but failed to change the council’s mind, she said “I know that in another department, somebody aged 70 years old is still working. So it’s not even coherent inside the organisation”.
Sheffield Lib Dems are soft on crime
Sheffield’s Lib Dem council have called a halt to effective police operations in Gleadless Valley, operations that were a result of powers granted by the then Labour council and which have successfully reduced crime and anti-social behaviour in the past year. Police were using dispersal orders to move gangs and individuals out of the area and they wanted to continue this good work. Sheffield’s Lib Dems have refused to back the police and have blocked this valuable way of tackling crime.
Southwark Council spend £3,900 a week on private shuttle buses for staff
Council workers in Lib Dem Southwark, including those charged with encouraging residents to walk, cycle and use public transport, are getting free rides on a private, taxpayer-funded bus service because it is considered too dangerous for them to make the 15 minute walk to the nearest station or get aboard the public 343 bus which covers the route. The first private hire bus pulls up at 4pm and the half-hourly service costs council tax payers £130 per trip or £3,900 a week. Meanwhile, the council urges residents to use public transport in their publication ‘Southwark Life’ in an article titled “All Aboard the 343” a local resident says “it’s a great way to get across the borough”.
Devon County Council bans jacket potatoes from kid’s dinners
Lib Dem run Devon County Council has backed a school who have interpreted new nutritional rules for school dinners to mean that children can no longer choose a filled baked potato as an alternative to the full cooked meal offered. Instead the children will have to take the main meal whether they like it or not.