Vince Cable visits

Dr Vince Cable MP, Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor and professional economist, was at the BRSLI yesterday to talk on financial policy and his time as acting Liberal Democrat leader.

Treating his audience as educated adults, Vince’s speech was occasionally technical, but well delivered and thoroughly explained the reasons for the current ‘credit crisis’ and the dangers of personal debt in Britain, which he first raised in parliament five years ago. His expertise was well received and he answered a number of questions about the global and British economy, plus the handling of the 10% tax rate rise and Northern Rock (on which his recommendations were eventually followed, six months later).

It was very good to meet other members of the public audience in the reception afterwards, including senior finance managers and economists from BathNES council and Bath university. Bath Liberal Democrats intend to hold more public lectures at the BRSLI in the future.

Tory cabinet told to think again

The second call in against Conservative cabinet decisions in recent weeks has been upheld. Cllr Pritchard (Con, Chew Valley S) had sought to increase care charges for elderly and vulnerable people by 74%.

However, Cllr Pritchard has already said that he will ignore the panel’s recommendations, just as he ignored the concerns raised previously by the Overview and Scrutiny panel and the Full Council. Unfortunately the nature of our governmental system means that the minority Conservative cabinet is able to act exeactly as it wants without listening to the justified concerns of residents and opposition councillors. The upheld call in requires Cllr Pritchard to reconsider and justify his position, though it does not lead to a different decision.

I signed this ‘call in’ petition as I believe that it is unfair to raise so much revenue from the most vulnerable people. While the state pension has risen by 50p per day this year, meals on wheels in BathNES are now set to rise by over £1/day. However, I was disgusted to read Pritchards statement in the Chronicle, that he intended to ignore the call in process. The Conservative cabinet have lately taken to complaining about the cost of the ‘call in’ system. However, I argue that it is not used frivolously, this is the last chance that councillors have to oppose decisions which they feel will harm the community. Further, councillors are irresponsible if they DO NOT fight bad decisions at every chance. Pritchard states that he has already heard the opposition from two Overview & Scrutiny reports and Full Council, so the call in was unnecessary. The call in would have been unnecessary if he hadn’t simply ignored the previous recommendations. Faced with an arrogant and uncaring executive though, councillors must do all that they can to protect the people they represent.

Residents’ Parking & Care Charges – Call Ins

Since the first Conservative budget last month, there have been a flurry of cabinet decisions implementing the increased charges for Residents’ Parking and Home Care. Opposed to these increases, the Liberal Democrats have lead ‘Call-ins’ against these, asking the cabinet member to reconsider. First was the proposal to raise Residents’ Parkign charges by 60%:

The panel voted, by four votes to three, to dismiss the call-in, with Conservative Councillors from outside of Bath backing the original decision taken by their Conservative Cabinet colleague. The Cabinet member will now be free to go ahead and implement the decision to apply increases of up to 60% to residents’ permit costs across the city, as well as a number of other changes to parking costs and arrangements.

The call-in panel raised a number of issues around poor consultation and excessive increases to permit costs. Although all Councillors agreed that consultation on this decision had been inadequate, Conservative Councillors appeared more concerned with the state of the Council’s finances than the issue of engaging with those who will be affected.

Councillor Ian Gilchrist (Widcombe), who led the call-in signatories commented: “I am disappointed that the Conservative and Independent members of the panel did not recognise the merits of the case made to uphold the call-in.

“I thought that the arguments outlining the damaging effects of extending charged times in the city centre to 8pm were pretty compelling, and if they don’t listen to Nod Knowles (Director of Bath Festivals) who will they listen to?

“I am slightly mollified by the apparent concession that Cllr Gerrish has made in the direction of Sunday evening parking, but this still has to be confirmed. If we have achieved even this small bit of good then that is a good thing. Residents will not be pleased at a 60% increase in their annual charges, but I do draw comfort from the thought that we at least did our best to oppose this.”

Meanwhile I have signed the Call In against the increased charges for personal care and the meals on wheels service, which will hurt the most vulnerable. This has lead to some comment on the Chron website… http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=180730&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232315&home=yes&more_nodeId1=163047&contentPK=20354849

Committees and meetings

As an opposition councillor I tend to spend most of my ‘working’ time in/on Bathwick, chasing potholes and zebra crossings. Today though a diary fluke gave me two council meetings in one day. The first, Regulatory (Access) Committee is a rather specialist quasi-judicial panal focussing on Public Rights of Way. The Charter Trustees’ Meeting merits further explanation however.

The City of Bath retains its Mayor and civic functions under an odd arrangement following the creation of BathNES unitary authority. While BathNES council meetings have a designated Chair, who also undertakes official duties, Bath itself has a largely symbolic Mayor. She or he is elected by and from the Trustees of the city’s Charter, BathNES councillors representing city of Bath wards.

I am, therefore, a Charter Trustee of the city of Bath and an elector of the Mayor. We will next elect a Mayor on 17th May to serve for a year term. Councillors and dignitaries shall process from the Guildhall to the Abbey for the ceremony in our robes and hats of office. This evening’s meeting only related to internal business, but was still carried out with gold maces and the Mayor’s red robes.

In many ways the Mayor exists similarly to the monarchy in Britain, with no logical justification and yet a great public warmth and popularity. There is, of course, one crucial difference; anyone can aspire to become Mayor of Bath – another reason to become active in politics!

Dissatisfied Bathwick?

Bathwick is the most dissatisfied ward in the whole of Bath & North East Somerset according to council internal research.
While average satisfaction with council services is now above 50%, only 46% of Bathwick residents were content. Does this mean that our area is subject to substandard service, or do we just hold the council to higher standards? There is also a strong likelihood that it is statistically meaningless to analyse the figures to this depth given the level of participation. The happiest BathNES residents were in North Keynsham and Saltford, whereas Bathavon West and Peasedown shared our concerns.
Let me know what you think, as ever please get in touch if there is a specific problem which we can tackle.

Secondary schools

Bath and North East Somerset Council met last night to discuss issues relating to the forthcoming review of secondary school provision. The Cabinet will have to make a decision on schools in May, and last night’s meeting was a chance for issues to be aired and discussed in public by parents/school governors and Councillors. However, as was made clear at the start of the meeting, no decision was taken at this Council meeting.

The motion which was voted upon was not the one published in the Council papers on 17 March, and the unanimous adoption of the motion did not represent a specific endorsement of any particular strategy or plan for secondary school provision in Bath and North East Somerset. The vote served to officially thank the O&S panel for the preparatory work which had already been done and to formally request that Cabinet take account of the points of view raised at Council when making its decision.

A number of Liberal Democrat Councillors spoke to raise issues which should be considered by the Cabinet. Several spoke of the importance of ensuring the consultation on changes was honest, open and thorough.

Councillor Marian McNeir called for the consultations to be done “in a sensitive way”. Councillor Nigel Roberts called on the Cabinet to make an effort to contact groups “we don’t traditionally get in touch with” and to consider co-location of community facilities, such as libraries, in new schools.

Councillor David Dixon has been involved in a campaign run by parents for better travel to school provision in the area. He spoke of the need to consider transport and that schools provision should be “underpinned by a sound, effective school transport system”.

Councillor Andy Furse focussed on the issue of co-educational schools in Bath, and welcomed an expression of willingness on the part of Oldfield school to go co-ed given that co-ed schools are preferred by 60% of families. He called on the Cabinet to “reconsider its view on Oldfield school in light of the commitment on co-ed given tonight [by the Chair of Governors]”.

Councillor Caroline Roberts also spoke about Oldfield school and the dozens of communications she, and Councillor Loraine Brinkhurst, had received from parents who were worried and confused about the decision making process. She said “many parents feel the decision has already been made and they have missed their chance to speak out”; she also called on the Cabinet to reach out to parents during the consultations and “don’t just expect them to come to you”.

Co-ed is also an important issue for Culverhay school and this was brought to the Cabinet’s attention by Councillor Gerry Curran, who spoke of the length of time for which this had been an aspiration for the school. He asked the Cabinet to “bring forward a package of support for the school to enable a smooth transition to co-ed status”.

Speaking after the Council meeting, Councillor Paul Crossley said: “I was very pleased that the Cabinet member for children gave a commitment to go over the recording of the meeting and ensure that all the points which had been raised will be dealt with. We will be looking closely at the forthcoming consultation and decision process to ensure this is the case”.

MP & councillors’ surgery – Sat 29th

Don Foster, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, will join his colleagues Bathwick councillors Armand Edwards and Nicholas Coombes for a public surgery in the ward.

Bathwick St Mary’s Church are again kindly providing their church hall for 10am – 12noon on Saturady 29th March. Bathwick residents are welcome to dicuss issues with either or all politicians without an appointment.

Nicholas and Armand have been holding bi-monthly public surgeries in Bathwick since their election last year, usually on the first Saturday of the month. However, this one has been moved forward by one week to accomodate Don Foster’s busy parliamentary schedule. In February they held a similar joint surgery on the university campus aimed at students and staff of the institution.

Liberal Democrat politicians commonly hold surgeries to make themselves better available to the public and closer to their communities. Says Cllr Coombes: “I’m glad to welcome Don Foster back to Bathwick. Our surgeries are generally popular but we’ve never yet turned someone away.”

Zebra crossing petition launched

Bathwick councillors Nicholas Coombes and Armand Edwards have launched a petition for the speedy installation of a zebra crossing on Bathwick Hill.

Planners recently backed local residents and councillors to prevent Tesco from opening before minimal work has been undertaken to make the surrounding roads safer. However, this will not include a zebra crossing which is what most locals want.

Tesco were ordered to pay BathNES council £20,000 towards the work, but this will only cover the first phase which is due to start within weeks. Throughout the design process Cllr Coombes has been working with the Highways department to ensure that a zebra crossing can be installed later.

This next phase must be funded by the council, but already the Conservatives have scrapped or delayed road projects across the city. The Liberal Democrat petition will show the strong level of demand locally, increasing the chances of a swift resolution.

Already one pedestrian has been killed at this location and Armand and Nicholas know that it is the main concern of most nearby residents. However, in a time of budget cuts they need this petition to put a strong argument when they lobby for funding.

For a zebra crossing on Bathwick Hill please visit www.ourcampaign.org.uk/bathwickcrossing to register your support.

Success for Sham Castle Volunteers

Thank you to the volunteers who helped clear the scrub in front of Sham Castle. With local councillors Nicholas and Armand, they did an excellent
job cutting back the brambles and creating new wildlife habitats.

Young trees and scrub have grown up over the last few years blocking the view of the city from the folly. The Bathwick Lib Dems found funding for professional tree clearance and organised a community action day
to clear up the site.

The grant was from the Cotswold Conservation Board Sustainable Development Fund, the action day was managed by BTCV and the project was facilitated by the One World Society of Bath University Students’ Union. Thanks also to generous lunch donor and the BathNES Council Community Landscapes Officer who has been hugely helpful throughout.

“This was a brilliant day,” said Cllr Nicholas Coombes, “as a community we were able to do this for ourselves without simply relying on the council to fix it. The Liberal Democrats believe in empowering people to help themselves; our action day was a good example of this.”

The entire site was cleared of scrub, opening up the intended views to and from the city. A dead hedge was also laid as a habitat and wildlife corridor safe from the local buzzards.

Liberal Democrat Conference

I am recenly back from a weekend at Liberal Democrat Federal conference in Liverpool.

The Lib Dems are unique among the major parties to decide policy democratically at conference twice a year. This Spring revised Health and Education policies were passed. Outside of the conference hall the exhibition and fringe meetings with training sessions are available to all party members.

I travelled up by train with three other party members from the University Liberal Democrat Society for my first visit to Liverpool. I am very impressed with the obvious regeneration work which the Lib Dem council have been able to achieve since winning power ten years ago. The city is alive with confidence, cranes and a brand new conference centre. It well deserves it title as European Capital of Culture 2008.

In the fringe sessions I learnt a little about the new government acronyms, LAAs and MAAs, set to transform partnership working in local government, whether the partners want to or not. The Liberal Democrat view is that these unelected boards control vast amounts of power and money, so regardless of their acountability issues we should work with and exploit these bodies as best we are able to get the right outcome for the communities we represent as councillors. I also attended a session on the leadership which Liberal Democrat councils are taking on reducing climate change in local government. It is vital that every level of governance, including the EU, take this issue seriously and all have a responsibility to act within their sphere. A session hosted by the LD peers on the House of Lords was a little lighter but just as worthwhile. Although our upper chamber is a half reformed anachronism, our peers do a very good job at holding the government to account, especially in defence of civil liberties.

Finally, the speeches; Dr Vince Cable, now back to Treasury spokesman from his successful stint as acting leader, drew a large crowd for his half hour on economic policy. It is truly shameful that the richest in British society pay proportionally far less tax than the poorest, a division which has got wider under Labour. Gordon Brown’s most unforgivable decision was to raise taxes at the lower end of the scale in order to reduce inheritance tax, which only affects the 6% richest in the country. It is shocking the lengths which Labour and the Conservatives are prepared to go to to relieve the tax burden of dead millionaires at the expense of the most deprived.

Nicvk Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, has confirmed all of the reasons why I voted for him as Leader. His is articulate, intellectual, radical and Liberal. He spoke for almost an hour without a lecturn about social mobility, equality if opportunity and reform to our democratic system. I have full confidence in his abilities as an inspirational leader to draw new people into politics.

Bathwick Liberal Democrats

Cllr David Martin, Claire Jackson & Cllr Nicholas Coombes