Commenting on George Osborne’s address to Tory party conference, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: 

“This set of deficit reduction proposals is Lib Dem Lite. The sum total amounts to nothing more than a drop in the ocean and will not deal with the structural deficit.

 “What is more, Osborne has in effect guaranteed that these policies will merely pave the way for a return to traditional Tory politics – hitting the public sector now to pay for tax cuts for millionaires later.

“Only the Liberal Democrats have made a commitment to bringing public spending under control whilst making taxes fairer across the board.”

At yesterday’s full council Meeting, me and my fellow Liberal Democrats challenged the Tory administration to abandon its dogged pursuit of Zero Council Tax increases and consider all options. a copy of my quote to the press is below:

“It seems to me narrow minded and plain silly to just keep banging on about a Council Tax policy that relies totally upon a future Conservative Government being able to find the cash to give us the money we need to protect services. With public sector debt so high and the economy still struggling such promises are likely to be unrealistic (this is something I have discussed with Vince Cable).

Unlike the Conservatives we have not made our minds up on the budget – we are open minded but principled. Many Conservatives on the other hand seem to be relishing another round of cutting public services provided by local government and centralising power.  We are concerned that every budget cut and each member of staff made redundant, will affect essential services to the people of Leicestershire, especially the elderly and vulnerable. The Liberal Democrat Group will not stand by and allow vital services to be sacrificed on the alter of zero council tax.  

The Conservatives attempt to portray the Liberal Democrats as wanting to increase taxes is a diversion tactic because once again they want to suppress debate. Before any decisions are made about where the axe is going to fall, we want all options to be given to the people of Leicestershire and a proper debate to take place about how to meet the £70m shortfall in the Council’s budget over the next few years.     

Times are hard, but the continual empty rhetoric of the Conservatives is putting Council services at risk simply to keep a promise that they may not be able to fulfil.”

I am pleased to announce that the Liberal Democrat County manifesto for the June 2009 has been released. Thanks for everyone who has contacted us with ideas and contributions.

Below is our ‘Pledges for Leicestershire’ and the full manifesto is availble from the links on the left side of the page.

Simon

Our Pledges for Leicestershire 

• We will devolve many decisions (as appropriate) to Local Forums and allow the local Councillors to engage with their communities to make the decisions that will affect them

• We will continue to campaign against centrally imposed housing targets – with a clear emphasis on protecting

  Greenfield land & regenerating Brownfield sites

• We will start a committed recruitment drive to bring in Youth & Community workers to provide support and guidance to young people.

• We will halt the above inflation increase in charges for Home Care introduced by the Conservative administration over the last few years. (The Home Care hourly charge rose from £6 to £8.40 (40%) from 2005/06 to 2008/09).

• We will work with local businesses to preserve jobs and maintain workforce skills.

• We will re-establish the ‘Community Plus’ budget to support Community Associations in a fair and transparent way

• We will set ambitious recycling targets for household waste of at least 65%. And pursue alternative technologies for waste disposal rather than rely on mass scale incineration.

• We will get tough on anti-social behaviour across Leicestershire.  We will expand the work of the IMPACT teams to combat anti-social behaviour

• We will always focus on getting good quality services – not wasting tax payer’s money on gimmicks and pet projects.

Responding to Alistair Darling’s Budget, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:  
 
“Today we got a pick and mix Budget of recycled announcements from a government skilled in raising people’s hopes but incompetent at actually delivering help. 

“This Budget is a political supermarket sweep of random promises, without even a hint of a plan or any likelihood the promises will be put into practice. 

“The biggest disappointment in this Budget is its failure to sort out

The Liberal Democrats will fight the next general election with a pledge to cut income tax bills by £700 for people on low and middle incomes, Nick Clegg revealed today. The party will promise to raise the income tax personal allowance to £10,000 by closing tax loopholes exploited by big businesses and the wealthy.  

Speaking today, Nick Clegg said: “These plans will give money back to the people who really need it at the time when they need it most. “It is time to end the unfairness that sees big businesses and the wealthy treating taxes as something to be easily avoided, leaving everybody else to pay out. 

“For too long governments have been letting companies stash their money in offshore tax havens while taxpayers are left to foot the bill. “Over time a tax system has developed that creates loopholes for the wealthy and does nothing for those who really need help. 

“People who say there isn’t enough money to make our tax system fair are wrong. Our plans wouldn’t add a penny to the overall tax burden, but they would spread that burden far more fairly.  “Far from making this reform difficult, tight Government finances and a harsh recession make it absolutely vital. It will help millions of low and middle income taxpayers who are most likely to spend money so helping the wider economy. “The Liberal Democrats will create a fundamentally rebalanced system that is fair for all, putting hundreds of pounds back into the pockets of millions of British people, and taking four million out of paying tax altogether.” 

Notes for information Raising the personal allowance to £10,000 for all people will mean that those on the standard personal allowance will see an increase in their allowance of £3,525 in 2009/10; this will give an effective tax cut of £705 to anyone earning over £10,000 . 

Raising the personal allowance will take approximately four million people out income tax altogether: <http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_tax/menu.htm> 

Measures which will be used to pay for this proposed increase in the personal allowance include:·

• Restricting tax relief on pension contributions to the basic rate ·
• Taxing Capital Gains at marginal income tax rates, allowing for indexation and retirement relief
• Tackling Stamp
  Duty,
  Land Tax avoidance and Corporation Tax avoidance·
• Subjecting benefits in kind to National Insurance Contributions as well as income tax and applying National Insurance to multiple jobs·
• Switching aviation taxes from per person to per plane and increasing taxation on non lifeline domestic flights. Full details of the costing of this tax package will be released in advance of the General Election based on latest HMRC estimates.

Now the budget is “done and dusted” (with Lib Dems being the only councillors to vote against it), it seems that now is the time to explain our position, bearing in mind the difficulties we face with a Tory majority in the Council Chamber 

Why did we vote against the Budget? Well for one thing we don’t believe that enough provision has been made to prepare for the recession. The council tax rate has been paid for using a low inflation model – costing £1.5 million but very susceptible to increases in inflation next year. But the other reason was the blatant politics by the Conservatives over home care charges. 

Liberal Democrats have consistently campaigned over the last four years against the huge above inflation rises for care charges. But only this year have Conservative “back bench” councillors spoken out for a “lower” increase. The original cabinet proposal was for a rise in home care charges this year of 4.76%. But this was reduced to inflation levels (2.4%) after all councillors (including Conservatives) on a scrutiny committee sent it back to cabinet for reconsideration. Let’s look at the record of increases in home care charges under this Conservative administration over the last four years: 

• 2006/07:       20% Increase
• 2007/08:       5.6% Increase
• 2008/09:       10.5% Increase
• 2009/10:       2.4% Increase

These rises amount to a 40% increase even before this year’s inflation rise. 

As we can see, the Conservative back benchers have never cared before, so why have these Tory councillors complained this year and not in the three previous years when the rises were much higher?  In the 2007/08 budget the Conservatives voted down an amendment that would have scrapped the increase for that year. Such an inconsistent stance on this issue does not fill us with confidence that this has anything to do with helping people and not just to help with their elections later this year. 

Even if they are genuine what the Conservatives have yet to do is explain to the people of Leicestershire, why the sudden change of heart? Is it just an election gimmick?  

The Lib Dems welcome this year’s u-turn by the Tories but the crucial question now is what the Tories are going to do in future years bearing in mind their record of voting for massive increases in charges in previous years.  

Perhaps Mr Sprason would like to tell the public whether this is a one off or can we look forward to Conservative support in keeping future increases to inflation.

Liberal Democrats in Leicestershire have welcomed plans to boost affordable housing and avoid home repossession.

The plans, launched by the Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable MP and Shadow Housing Minister Sarah Teather MP, include:

• providing refurbishment loans for owners of empty homes if the homes are leased to housing associations,
• boosting the amount of private housing for rent including using empty commercial property temporarily as housing,
• bringing in a new type of secure mortgage to help boost lending to house buyers,
• letting councils and housing associations buy up unsold private houses and allowing them access to funds to bring them homes up to social housing standards,
• making sure the courts allow repossession only as a last resort.

Simon Galton said, “Many people in Leicestershire are struggling to get their own home or are facing repossession because of the recession. We must do all we can to help residents through these bad times.

“Giving housing associations and councils the opportunity to buy up empty homes that builders cannot sell will mean hundreds of local families will be able to rent a place of their own. In Leicestershire alone there are at least 4, 590 empty properties, in Leicester City there are 5,580; if all of these homes where brought back into use it would drastically cut the number of people waiting on the housing lists.”

Following the cabinet meeting today, I have welcomed the changes of stance over Home Care charges but cast some of my doubts over the council tax reduction. See below  

 “We have been hoping for this. The reduction of the proposed increase in home care charges is welcomed but I would stress that the Lib Dems have been calling for this for several years and have long highlighted the effects that above inflation charges have upon service users. This reduction breifly delays continuation of the year on year increases which elderly and vulnerable people have been required to pay under successive Conservative budgets. 

However, I am afraid that the reduction in the council tax increase is still viewed by us as merely a symbolic gesture. The Conservative administration believes that by doing this, the residents of Leicestershire will be grateful for their benevolence. 

Unfortunately I don’t see how such a small change in council tax does anything else other than take money out of the budget which will be under increasing pressure in future years. Lib Dems recognize the hardships that families are facing, and know only too well the burden of council tax. But as always with Conservative proposals, the devil is in the detail. A reduction from 3.5% to 2.9% in Council Tax is equivalent to giving a Typical Band D property receiving £6 for the whole year. For a family of four, a pensioner or someone struggling with massive personal debt that equals 12 pence a week. That’s not benevolent its shameful positioning ahead of the elections this summer.   This money could be much better used to actually help during the worst recession in living memory, Lib Dems don’t want higher taxes, we want Local government to be sensible and effective – this Council tax stunt does neither.”

A shocking dossier from the Liberal Democrats has revealed just some of the ways our taxes are being wasted on extravagant and incompetent projects.

Despite the hardship many local families and residents face, Labour found £130 million to refurbish the Ministry of Justice’s office, £29 million to build accommodation for asylum seekers which was never built, £7 million for chauffeur-driven cars for ministers in just one year - and £50,000 for a party to which only 20 guests were invited!

A massive £13 billion has also been spent on an NHS records system which doesn’t work.

How our money is wasted

* £13 billion on an NHS record system that is a complete failure
* £130 million on refurbishing Ministry of Justice offices
* £81 million on a Department of Transport economy drive that was supposed to save £57 million
* £29 million on accommodation for asylum seekers that was never built
* £265.8 million the amount the government spent on advertising, marketing and public relations in 2007/8, an increase of £197.2 million since 1997-98
* £200 million wasted over the past five years on IT projects that were never completed
* £7 million on chauffeur driven cars for ministers in one year
* £28.78 million in rent for unoccupied houses for soldiers and their families
* £330 million overspent by government departments on their premises
* £4.2 million by the Government’s Qualifications & Curriculum Authority on hotel rooms in an 18 month period
* £50,000 on a party to which only 20 guests were invited
* £2,000 each on image and public speaking training for Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Culture Secretary Andy Burnham

 I have just put the following press statement out on the Conservatives proposed Council Tax reduction - i think it is just plain wrong to try and suggest that saving £6.12 for each household PER YEAR  would make any difference to the thousands who are struggling in Leicesteshire:

 ”Following the announcement that the Conservative Administration is considering a reduction in Council Tax rises from 3.5% to 2.9% - Liberal Democrat Group Leader Simon Galton has attacked the proposals as cynical and Short-term’  He said: “I cannot quite believe that Mr. Parsons and the Conservatives could be quite so sure that people will believe that they are serious about helping people through the recession when they offer a household a saving of £6.12 on their annual council tax bill.  

Do the Conservatives really believe that £6.12 will stimulate the local economy, save jobs and pay down the national debt? This is a cynical short term, publicity stunt to try and convince the people of Leicestershire that the Conservatives actually care about them in the recession.   The simple reality is that £6.12 per Household will not save jobs and it won’t protect frontline services – it will simply take money out of the budget. The Liberal Democrats believe that any responsible authority would look at the complete disarray of the Labour Government and seek too take a long term view that protects the interests of the tax-payers and the services to those in desperate need; long after the budget and the County Council elections in June. The people of Leicestershire need to keep services that will protect pensioners, educate our children and develop our local economy – we don’t need a cynical ‘bribe’ that will barely feed a family of four for one meal.”

At first glance, the Liberal Democrat view is that this budget has been designed with County Council elections in June in mind. Government efficiency targets require the County Council to make significant savings over the next four years and this budget appears to be putting off difficult decisions by not clearly identifying where these reductions will be made. The budget should be characterised as the ‘Smoke and mirrors’ budget. 

The Liberal Democrat group has specific concerns with regard to certain proposed budget savings; including possible service reductions in public transport, and once again a proposal to massively increase charges for the elderly with an 40p an hour extra this year and next, resulting in an increased charge of £8.80 in 2010/11 and £9.20 in 2011/12. This will eat into the 5% pensioners will receive in April on their State Pension and will make Mr Parson’s council tax rises seem a lot more painful.  

However we do accept that there are some positive items for example, we welcome the provision of an extra £300,000 for the Youth Impact project – but would wish to ensure this results in sufficient permanent teams across the County to provide enough youth workers to combat anti-social behaviour issues e.g. Birstall.

We also welcome the fact that the Conservatives are proposing to build on our successful campaign to allocate £500,000 for flooding works last year, by including an additional £150,000 for climate change/flooding. Finally the group welcomes the official endorsement of the Grass Cutting panel’s recommendations by including an extra £300,000 for grass cutting, demonstrating that the Liberal Democrats where right to press this issue last summer.

Liberal Democrats in Leicestershire have given their backing to plans for investment in green schemes that will make homes warmer, cut energy bills and improve public transport. The plans, called Green Road out of Recession, were announced on 18^th December by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg MP.  The plans will cost £12.5bn, which would be paid for by scrapping the proposed VAT cut. The vast majority of that money will be spent immediately, making a real impact on the economy and people’s lives right away. 

• A five-year programme to insulate every school and hospital, with 20% completed in the first year
• Funding insulation and energy efficiency for a million homes, with a £1,000 subsidy for a million more
• Building 40,000 extra zero-carbon social houses
• Buying 700 new train carriages
• Installing energy and money saving smart meters in every home within five years

“The plans proposed by Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats will give an immediate boost to the economy here in Leicestershire,” said Bill Boulter County Councillor. “And by insulating people’s homes, it will help thousands of residents whose heating bills have gone through the roof in the past year. 

“Whilst Labour and the Conservatives are quietly dropping serious interest in tackling climate change and damage to the environment, Liberal Democrats believe that moving forward with green action on homes and transport will create jobs, cut energy bills, put money back into people’s pockets and protect the environment.” 

Having seen the Prebudget report i thought i would post some helpful analysis of the situation. This is just an initial reaction - but basically it looks like Labour is going back to the 80’s with another suicide note - using limited unfunded solutions to long lasting problems. 

• Government borrowing and the fiscal rules – The entire basis of this Pre-Budget Report is that the Government can offer a fiscal stimulus funded by massive borrowing in this year and the next and that they will be able to start repaying this by 2010.  However, the Chancellor’s (and the Tories’) blithe assumption that, after a nasty recession next year, the economy will bounce back in 2010 is very worrying.  The Government’s assumptions on balancing the budget and returning to the fiscal rules are based on this flawed assumption.  Unlike previous recessions we have a profound banking crisis on top of a collapsing housing market, falling output and unemployment.  There is a serious risk of a prolonged slump in which the Government’s unfunded tax cuts, plus drastically reduced existing tax revenues, could leave us with a massive fiscal black hole further down the line. 
• National Insurance – The Government has announced that it will increase National Insurance for both employers and employees by 0.5% from 2011. This will raise an additional £5bn and mean that somebody earning £25,000 will be £30 worse off a year. Despite the Chancellor’s rhetoric that additional taxes should be raised from “those who have done best out of the growth of the last decade”. The majority of tax which will be raised will come from National Insurance which will affect the vast majority of people and all employers. 
• New top rate of tax -   The new top rate of tax of 45p on incomes over £150,000 is nothing more than a fig leaf to cover the regressive rise in NICs. It raises a mere £670m compared to the £5bn raised in National Insurance. If the Government actually wanted to make the tax system fairer they would have cut income taxes for those on low and middle incomes paid for by closing the tax loopholes which benefit the wealthy. The Liberal Democrats would, for example, tax capital gains as income and restrict tax relief on pensions to the basic rate. 
• VAT rate cut – Cutting VAT by 2.5% will cost the exchequer £12.4bn.  As VAT is not payable on essentials such as food and children’s clothes this measure is unlikely to benefit those struggling to keep their heads above water.  Instead this tax cut will help big spenders.  With a 2.5% cut in VAT amounting to £5 off a £200 TV or 60p off a £25 restaurant bill it is highly unlikely that this cut will offer the economy the stimulus it needs.  To make matters worse the Government admits that the re-pricing cost of the VAT reduction which will fall on already struggling businesses will be £50m.  The Government should be using borrowing to invest in capital projects such as building social housing, increasing building energy efficiency and improving public transport which will not only benefit our economy today but in the future as well. 
• Pensions - The Chancellor’s pledge to increase the Pension Credit to £130 is not a new measure as it was first announced in March 2007.  Equally the Government’s announcement that it would increase the Basic State Pension by inflation merely honours the commitment it made in 2004. 
• Small businesses - Instead of simply deferring increases in the small firms’ rate of Corporation Tax, the Chancellor should decrease Corporation Tax for the thousands of struggling small businesses. To make matters worse, from 2011 with the Government’s NICs increase businesses of all sizes will face a massive hike in their wage bills, at a time when they are struggling to meet their current pay-rolls.  
•  Housing – The Government’s measures to reduce repossessions are welcome as they where our ideas in the first place; however it has still failed to ensure that homes are only ever taken as a last resort. The three month deferral will do nothing to reduce repossessions of those who borrowed from smaller lenders, while the code of practice for lenders that came into force last week leaves the courts powerless to enforce it.  The Government must also ensure that any additional investment in social housing is available to local authorities as well as housing associations. With private building at a standstill, new social housing will stall unless the gap left by private funding is filled. Unless local authorities are freed from the constraints on housing finance, the Government will fail to rebuild the social housing safety net. 

Questions? Comments? Get in touch!

Reacting to announcements about the Prebudget Report, Simon Galton, Leader of the Lib Dem Group at County Hall has highlighted the situation local people in Leicestershire have endured this year with rocketting fuel, transport and food prices and many were still out of pocket following the government’s decision to double the starting rate of income tax. 

“Today, the Chancellor presents his Prebudget Report to Parliament,” said Simon Galton. “Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons will be pressing for permanent tax cuts for people on low and middle incomes. We will be looking for radical changes in the tax system which lock in lower rates of income tax for good. 

To make these tax cuts lasting, they have to be funded. That means shifting the tax burden onto pollution and ending the tax perks and loopholes enjoyed by the highest earners. We are worried that the Government will simply introduce temporary tax cuts, paid for by borrowing, that will disappear once we start to come out of recession. Now is the time for a genuine and radical change to the tax system. Liberal Democrats will be pressing for that and, having spoken to many residents, I know it is what people here want. 

I believe, however, that an area where borrowing should be allowed is investment in new buildings and facilities that are needed locally. I am very keen to see people’s homes properly insulated and more affordable homes built for people who need them. And the government should ensure that some of this money is given to local councils to help local people directly now.”

Just thought i would post a few facts about the Lib Dems work trying to salvage our economy after successive Conservative and Labour governments.  Let me know what you think.

Simon

The Liberal Democrats have consistently been ahead of the game on economic issues. Here is a list of ten things we called for first, and which have now either been implemented or taken on board by at least one of the other two main parties. 

Northern Rock nationalisation - it was clear to us that this was unavoidable in November last year. It took the Government until February to act. 

Independence of the Bank of England - longstanding Lib Dem policy. First Labour implemented it, over Tory opposition. Now even the Tories support it. 

Recapitalisation of the banks - Vince Cable was the first politician to call for this. Three days later the Chancellor announced that this would be going ahead. 

Tackling the bonus culture - in May we were the first party to put forward proposals for tackling the harmful bonus culture in the financial sector. By the autumn, ministers and the Tory leadership had realised the situation was indefensible and changed their tune.. 

Regulation of ’sale and rent back’ agreements - this was part of our ‘7 point plan’ for dealing with personal debt, launched in September 2003. The Government announced on 22nd October this year that they were finally looking into this. 

New court guidance to make repossession a ‘last resort’, obliging lenders to exhaust all alternatives first - another measure in the Government’s 22^ndOctober announcement that the Lib Dems had been calling for for more than six months. 

Changes to capital adequacy laws to require banks to hold more capital in periods of boom and less in recession - we called for this back in January 2003. Now the Conservatives back it too. 

Ban on short selling of financial stocks - Vince Cable urged this on September 16th (having also raised the issue in July). The Government did not act until three days later, once the Americans had announced restrictions. 

National network of financial advice centres - since 2003 we have been calling for a network of local and generic financial advice, particularly for those on lower incomes, funded by a levy on the financial services industry. Earlier this year the Tories announced their support for this too, using almost exactly the same language. 

Curbs on irresponsible lending - a commonplace sentiment now, but we called for “the publication by the Government of strict measures for responsible lending, which lenders must be required to observe” back in September 2003.