Following on from recent events in Melton, the County Lib Dems have produced an amendment for next Wednesday Full Council. My colleague Cllr Don Wright is leading on this and the press release shows what we are trying to acheive: 

“Cllr Don Wright, Lib Dem Spokesman on CYPS, said: “our amendment proposes a way forward. It highlights key, factual and relevant points that need to be addressed in response to the problems of pupil numbers in Melton’s schools. We believe that people in other areas due for reorganisation such as Loughborough need to be reassured that this doesn’t happen again. But we disagree with Labour on the need for an independent enquiry, which would be costly, drawn out and undermines the efforts of the Director of CYPS” 

Cllr Simon Galton, Leader of the Opposition said “Our amendment allows for a proper mechanism by involving the Council’s Scrutiny Committee so that the necessary lessons can be learnt from the Melton review. I am sorry to say that the Labour proposal is not realistic whilst our amendment will enable the issues to be examined in an open and democratic forum. After all that is what Overview and Scrutiny is for and I’m disappointed that Labour doesn’t seem to have confidence in the system.”  

“There are also more issues to consider than simply launching an enquiry. I recently attended a conference where I heard the Conservative Shadow minister for Local Government, Caroline Spelman talk about the pressures faced by local government. After hearing what she said, I have serious concerns that the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ fund could be abandoned after the general election.  This funding is what the Council is relying on to modernise and improve secondary schools across Leicestershire. Many education authorities have already benefited from millions of pounds of funding but Leicestershire was placed towards the end of the programme and it would be grossly unfair if Leicestershire’s young people lost out because of planned cuts in public spending by who ever wins the election.” 

“At the end of the day, education isn’t about numbers of pupils on an attendance sheet – it’s about individual young people who deserve the best possible education. We must not forget this and simply get stuck in petty political squabbles.” 

Following an intense debate on the issues of housing in the last County Council meeting before the elections in June, a Liberal Democrat amendment was agreed with all parties and moved with unanimous approval. Simon Galton Leader of the Lib Dem Group said: “I am delighted – after a very passionate debate on housing numbers and provision through the regional plan, it became clear that our amendment offered the most common ground for agreement. With some slight alterations, the amendment was passed and a forceful stance on housing issues has been achieved.” 

A copy of the passed amendment is below: 

County Council Meeting – 25^th March 2009   An amendment will be moved by Mr S. Galton    and seconded by  Mr Parsons    All of the words after first bullet point in paragraph a) of the motion be deleted and the following inserted In their place: 

•  The Prime Minister stated his intention that 3 Million homes are provided across England up to 2020 is no longer achievable.

•  The underline principles of the plan led system which involves local communities and is meant to give certainty about the amount of development which will take place is right but the top down process whereby Central Government imposes housing numbers is denying local people proper involvement and results in excessive amounts of Greenfield land being allocated for development.

•  That a further partial review of housing numbers and the legislation currently before Parliament will give Council Leaders on the proposed Leaders Board a key role in determining future housing numbers.

 All of the words after ‘b) That, accordingly, this Council’ be deleted and the following inserted:  

• Urges the Government to abandon nationally imposed housing targets based on population assumptions, abolish the NHPAU and introduce a system which allows Councils to plan for the needs of their communities in genuine consultation with local people and by working in partnership with other authorities

• Urges all members to attend the “Meeting the Local Housing Challenge” conference to be held 27^th March 2009 to allow members to explore possible solutions to the housing crisis and requests the 3 Leaders to meet as soon as possible after the conference to give consideration to any proposals which come forward with a view to the County Council exercising its community leadership role to address the housing situation through cross party co-operation;

• Urges District Councils in preparing their LDF’s to protect existing green wedges and open space and consider extensions 

• Believes that the polices in the adopted RSS of urban concentration and regeneration remain the right priorities and urges district councils and Leicester City Council  to encourage the redevelopment of Brownfield sites to minimise the use of Greenfield land

At the full council yesterday a Liberal Democrat motion on the sustainable communities act was successfully agreed with all party support.

Dr Sarah Hill, who proposed the motion, stated: ‘I am pleased that this motion was successful and i am grateful to all parties for the support and positive comments made. This motion shows our commitment to giving power back to people in a genuine way utilising government acts like this to make the maximum progress.’  

Dr Hill also explained the act: ‘The provisions of the Act allow local people, community groups and councils to work together to develop local solutions to local problems. For the first time, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) will be duty bound by law,  to take account of local views: be they organised pressure groups, local political parties, business or individuals. The DCLG must also take account the viewpoint of the national body which represents councils across the country, the Local Government Association (LGA).  This is a major departure from the current system which merely places a duty on ‘consultation’ rather than proper recognition of what ordinary people want.’

The motion  asked the council to firstly ’opt in’ to act and secondly requested establishment of a five member Scrutiny Panel to investigate the provisions of the SCA and the implications that it will have for LCC, including better ways of working with the District Councils, voluntary groups and with individual members of the local community.

A report is due before Leicestershire County Council’s Environment Scrutiny Committee on Thursday that will update on the progress of flood prevention work across the county. A large part of the  work that has been conducted is due to the specific allocation of £500,000 for road drainage work. This allocation was created and fought for by the Liberal Democrat group and was presented as an amendment in the February Full Council.

Bill Boulter, Liberal Democrat Spokesman for the Environment states: “This report goes to show that targeted resources can achieve real outcomes that improve the local people lives. The fact that our amendment has achieved this gives me and my fellow councillors a great deal of pride and i thank the other members of the county council for the cross party support the amendment received. I would like to say, however, that i am disappointed by the complete lack of recognition given to us by the Conservative cabinet member Nick Rushton.”

The distribution of the funds in the report for:

• £100,000 (over two years) for improved access to the Soar Valley during flood periods
• £75,000 for improved highway drainage in Butt lane Blackfordby (2008/09)
• £25,000 for Highway drainage on A47 Leicester Forest East (2008/09)
• £50,000 Improved highway drainage for A511 Flying horse roundabout (2008/09)
• £50,000 for Highway drainage on Coventry Road, Market Harborough (2008/09)
• £75,000 for Highway drainage on Fosse Way/High Street Syston (2009/10)
• £30,000 for drainage on South Churchill Road Cranoe (2009/10)
• £35,000 for highway drainage in Burton Overy (2009/10)
• £30,000 for Drainage on Mill Lane Smeaton Westerby (2009/10)
• £30,000 for drainage on Barton road, Congerstone (2009/10)