Alan Bailey

Leics Allowances-Another senior Tory accused
By Simon Galton Lib Dem Leader – Leics County Council

Information seen by the Liberal Democrats has uncovered further scandal within Leicestershire Tories. Following investigations into Mr Sprason’s scurrilous attack on Liberal Democrats at the 18^th April special Council Meeting, show that Mr Sprason has misled Council.

In a detailed letter received from the County Council after a request for information, it is clear that Mr Sprason joined discredited Leader Mr Parsons in his luxury chauffeur driven car to attend a Cecil Club Dinner widely believed to have been a Conservative Party fundraising event.

The letter reveals that on the day of the Cecil Club dinner (21^st January 2009) when Mr Sprason claimed he was ‘fighting for Social Care’ at the LGA he was in fact not in London and didn’t leave Leicestershire until 15:30 in the Chauffeur Driven car with Mr Parsons to attend the meal.

Group Leader Simon Galton said: “Mr Sprason accused me of ‘seedy scheming’ at the special council for questioning his presence at the Cecil Club dinner. This information I have requested has shown that Mr Sprason has misled the County Council and I will be expecting a full personal apology from him and believe that a more thorough look at Mr Sprason’s expenses is necessary.”

Notes:

• It has been revealed that the night of the Cecil Club Dinner only one Hotel room was booked for Mr Parsons, Mr Sprason’s arrangements were unknown
• Lib Dems have now requested details of Mr Sprason’s expenses covering the same period as Mr Parsons.

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It is shameful that, despite all the promise on a four or five year old’s first day at school, or the passion of their teachers, you can all too often plot that child’s path just by asking how much their parents earn.

The £2.5billion Pupil Premium was one of the four pledges on the front page of our manifesto.  And now, with Liberal Democrats in government, schools are using the money for things like breakfast clubs; homework clubs; or to provide one-to-one-tuition. These are the sort of experiences many middle class children take for granted but a poorer child might rarely enjoy.

Yesterday I visited a fantastic primary school to see how they are spending their Pupil Premium, highlight our new Summer Schools to ease the transition from primary to secondary, and to set out our plans to reward teachers and hold schools to account.

The Pupil Premium shows that, in tough times, we are implementing Liberal Democrat values and prioritising help for those pupils who need it most.

Best wishes,

Nick Clegg MP

Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister

PS Click here to find out how much money your local school will receive from the Liberal Democrats’ Pupil Premium.

This week, Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat minister at the Department of Health) has launched a national £4 million lung cancer awareness campaign. The campaign, the first of its kind, will use TV, radio and press adverts, and advertising on pharmacist bags and inside GP surgeries, to raise awareness of the disease.

One of its aims is to persuade anyone who has had a cough for more than three weeks to see their doctor.

You can find more information about coughing and lung cancer at the Department of Health website, here: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/05/coughing-could-be-a-sign-of-lung-cancer-2/

With 33,000 new cases diagnosed each year, lung cancer is a blight on the lives of far too many of our families and an early diagnosis can make all the difference. Please take the opportunity of the Be Clear on Cancer campaign to find out more about prevention and diagnosis, and to visit your local doctor if you’ve had a persistent cough – it is always better to be safe than sorry!

http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/tag/be-clear-on-cancer/

Lib Dems have persuaded the Tory controlled County Council to undertake a massive u-turn and defer a flagship budget cut to Home to School Transport. Under the proposals students faced massive changes to transport entitlements and some faced fees of over £400 per year. If entitlement changes were agreed this would have restricted transport to nearest available school even if that school was over the County boundary.

Leader of the Opposition, Simon Galton said: “I am delighted that the Tories listened to us. What they had proposed had no public support and it was clear that this was a cut too far.

We have spent a lot of time raising this issue, we told residents they needed to respond or risk losing the services and we then pointed out the level of public opposition. Lesley Pendleton attacked us on this and I am hopeful she will acknowledge we were right all along.

I think that the intention to charge the full commercial cost when 80% of respondents have said they are opposed to this increase was a key issue that the Liberal Democrats raised. As we said last week Families are struggling at the moment and the proposed increase to £430 per student is massive.

Lesley Pendleton needs to accept that a lot of people in Leicestershire agree with Liberal Democrats that these proposals are unacceptable.”

HOME TO SCHOOL TRANSPORT

This is what we have submitted to the Cabinet for today’s (8th May) meeting on the issue of Chnages to Home to School Transport.

The Liberal Democrat group requests Cabinet not to proceed with the proposals to change home to school transport entitlement and increase charges for Post 16 students.

The group believes that the report doesn’t provide quantifiable analysis to enable Cabinet and Scrutiny members to gain any realistic appraisal of the number of schools and individual students who will be affected by the proposals. This situation is particularly acute with the issue of high schools where entitlement could be lost twice during a pupil’s secondary education. Although the proposals are to come in to effect from 2014, the impact for parents will be felt immediately. Parents choosing schools will now have to consider location and transport needs alongside its ethos, culture and academic achievement.

The proposal to change the eligibility criteria to ‘nearest school’ will have far reaching consequences especially for Leicestershire communities close to city boundary or another county. For example where the nearest school is outside of the County boundary but is closer than a County school, under the proposed policy a child will only be supported to attend the school outside of the county boundary. In addition, if that school is also under the 3 mile ‘walking policy’ no transport will be provided at all.

We feel that residents in the County will see this as undermining their parental choice, especially if that means sending a child to a school in a different authority with an unknown reputation or previous association to them. This could also be detrimental to previously established affiliations between primary feeder schools and secondary schools and will undermine the County Council’s efforts to improve transition between school phases.

Many will see this policy as an attempt to force academies to take on the burden of school transport and limit the ability of academies to develop their own catchment areas. It is also likely to undermine and limit parental choice particularly in more rural areas that depend on school transport.

At the recent Scrutiny Commission, officers accepted that they needed to do further work to quantify the number of schools affected and the potential impact on pupil numbers. We believe that the Cabinet should not take a decision until the full impacts of the proposals are known.

Whilst these proposals will affect all schools regardless of status, it may well have unforeseen impacts on schools in the process of converting to an academy and basing their plans to do so on their current understanding of pupil numbers and transport provision.

In terms of Post 16 education the proposal to increase fees to £430 represents a massive leap in expenditure for most households that use the service. The Liberal Democrats believe that such an increase is unfair within the current economic climate. We feel that at the very least resources within contingency should be made available to cap the charge.

Simon Galton CC

May 2012

CIRCUS – RESIDENTS’ LETTER

A letter is being distributed to residents close to the circus encampment on Cork Lane. It reads:-

“Circus advised not to open at Cork Lane site

We are aware of local people’s concerns regarding the circus that has recently relocated from Leicester Road to Cork Lane in Glen Parva.

Blaby District Council has informed circus owners not to open in their current location as the Cork Lane site is not considered a suitable venue and is not licensed to host such an event.

If the event goes ahead this will be treated as an offence under the Licensing Act 2003.

Local agencies including the police, district and parish councils are working together to find a solution to the issue.”

Circus arrives on a field off Cork Lane, Glen Parva

The circus has arrived on a field off Cork Lane, Glen Parva. It is a totally unsuitable venue and the District Council has NOT issued a licence to them.

Yesterday I attended a joint meeting of interested parties, including Blaby District Council, the Police, Parish Council and a joint statement has been issued. See below.

“Circus advised not to hold an event

A circus which had to relocate to a new site in Glen Parva after its original location flooded has been advised not to operate by the local council.

The Great British Circus relocated from Leicester Road to Cork Lane in Glen Parva on Monday.  Although both sites have the same landowner the circus would need a temporary events licence before it could operate at the new site.

Local agencies including the District Council, Police and the Parish Council met to discuss a course of action after they received a large number of calls about the suitability of the site from concerned local residents.

Jon Wells, Group Manager for Regulatory Services at Blaby District Council said:

“We are committed to continue to work with all parties to try and identify a suitable alternative location for the circus.

We have written to the owner of the circus to advise him that the Cork Lane location is not considered suitable for a circus event.   If the event goes ahead this will be treated as an offence under the Licensing Act 2003 on the basis they knowingly allowed an unlicensed activity to take place”.

PUBLIC MEETING OVER PLANNING APPLICATIONS

In April a public meeting was held to discuss Blaby residents’ concerns about the growing number of planning applications being submitted for land in Blaby village. Residents’ concerns included:- loss of green space and amenities, increase in road traffic and drainage problems.

It was agreed that a ‘Planning Development Working Party” be set up to coordinate responses to future applications. The new working party includes residents and a representative of Land4Life. The meeting was held at Blaby Scout HQ and was organised by Blaby Parish Council.

WASTE OF PUBLIC MONEY

Residents across Leicestershire have been left shocked and angered after it was revealed that Conservative councillors at County Hall have spent over £1 million on running their Leader’s Office. This includes a staggering £210,000 on providing a chauffeur-driven car taking him to places such as theatre trips, cocktail parties and the Silverstone Grand Prix. Earlier this year the County Conservatives announced they were cutting £74 million on vital local services and slashing jobs.
Lib Dem County Councillors have dubbed this as “disgraceful.”
Local Conservative County Councillors have sat back and allowed their Leader to get away with wasting all this public money.

Official reports have confirmed that no Liberal Democrat-run council in England has increased council tax for their residents. This is unlike both other major parties, many of which are increasing council tax by up to 3.5% this year.

Commenting on Labour and Conservative councils’ record on Council Tax, Liberal Democrat Party President, Tim Farron said:

“While Labour and the Tories fight over how many of their councils raised Council Tax, it’s clear that with the Liberal Democrats your money is safest: no Liberal Democrat-run council in England has raised Council Tax.

“Ordinary working families are struggling already with paying bills, without their councils increasing the burden.

“The choice in next month’s elections is clear: vote Liberal Democrat for financially responsible councils that create jobs. Vote Labour and the Tories for waste, mismanagement and tax rises.”

As well as freezing council tax across the country, Liberal Democrat councils are protecting front-line services, fighting to keep libraries and Sure Start centres open. This is in addition to the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in government, which after the Budget include a £130 income tax cut for all working families, the largest-ever rise in the basic state pension, an increase in child tax credits for the poorest families, and an increase in the Lib Dem Pupil Premium to £600 for every pupil receiving Free School Meals.

At every level of government, the Liberal Democrats are cutting taxes for low- and middle-earners and better targeting help to those that need it the most. It is a record of financial responsibility of which we can be proud.