Latest news with #Liberal Democrats
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Time for politicians to confront the moral failures of Britain's welfare system
SIR – Singing the praises of rural life, Alastair Redman (Letters, July 13) expresses the hope that everyone, whether living in village, town or city, can agree that strong rural areas 'help to build a stronger nation'. I don't know how things are up in Scotland, from where Mr Redman writes, but in England Labour politicians have demonstrated complete ignorance of, and disregard for, rural life. The problem starts at the top, and was perfectly illustrated last year when Steve Reed, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary (a career politician from south London), had to be gifted a pair of shiny new wellies before visiting a farm. I would be extremely surprised if any rural area is still represented by a Labour MP after the next general election. Roger White Sherborne, Dorset SIR – I have recently been notified by Liberal Democrat-led Oxfordshire County Council that it will install a new footpath on my farm, going across four fields half a mile, because there might have been a footpath on this route 300 years ago. It will join two villages, Broadwell and Clanfield, even though there are already two good paths that achieve this, and cross four organic grass fields, presenting dangers for walkers among cows and calves, and disturbing to wildlife. Fencing will become practically impossible. We have just spent a lot of money clearing an overgrown bridle path, also on our farm, as the council said it has no funds to carry out its responsibility to maintain it. Why is it installing new footpaths at great cost, when old ones are not maintained and our village road is nearly impassable because of potholes? Ralph Mawle
BBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Reform seeks to spend up to £570k on three assistants at council
The interim leader of Warwickshire County Council has put forward plans to hire political assistants at a cost of up to £570,000 a assistant would serve each of the three largest parties on the council - Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. Their salary would be up to £190,000 Finch, leader of Reform, which is running the authority as a minority administration, said it was necessary because council staff have been "unable to help come up with the imaginative ideas" to resolve key Lib Dems, Labour and Green Party oppose the idea. Lib Dem leader Jerry Roodhouse said money should be "spent on frontline services and not on political assistants". National legislation allows councils to employ up to three people for this role, one for each of the authority's three largest groups, providing they have at least 10% of the seats assistant's role is to "undertake research and provide administrative support to members of political groups in the discharge of any of their [council] functions".While they would be restricted in what they could say, they are allowed to "speak to the public with the intention of affecting support for a political party" and publish material intended to gain support for a political salary range for these jobs is between £151,000 and £190, 19, will present his proposals at a full council meeting on Tuesday, when a vote will also be held to decide if he should become leader of the Finch was confirmed in the role, he would be among the youngest in that position in the country and, in Warwickshire, oversee a budget of half a billion pounds along with council assets worth £ weeks ago, the Reform UK cabinet unanimously accepted principles set out in the council's medium-term financial plan, which included the assertion that it would "be necessary to set a very high bar for new permanent budget allocations". Disagreement over plans In a statement, Finch said: "For years, the council administration has relied on the corporate policy team to come up with the innovative ideas required to shepherd Warwickshire through the crises we face. "We've found this team to be unable to bring about the change we were elected for."He said the council needed a "fresh, bold approach to policy creation".But Roodhouse said: "I would rather spend £150,000 on family support workers or something that is useful in the community."Green Party group leader Jonathan Chilvers said he was "very surprised" by the proposal and added: "Their claim to voters was that they would cut 'wasteful' council spending, and yet their very first proposal does the exact opposite."Labour group leader Sarah Feeney said: "Given that we are at a time when there are massive cuts to services to balance the books, this seems like an unnecessary expense."The Conservative group said it had not yet made up its mind on the proposals. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Council raises tax, then slashes bin collections
A local authority that raised council tax by the maximum amount this year has cut bin collections to once every three weeks. Liberal Democrat-controlled West Berkshire Council announced on Monday that from September, black bins would be collected on a three-week basis, rather than fortnightly. Under the new regime, food waste will be collected weekly, recycling fortnightly, but black bins will be emptied just once every three weeks. It comes after the council, which raised tax by almost 5pc in April, admitted it was facing a £37m shortfall in its provision of special educational needs and disabilities, which could push its overall deficit higher. The authority faced a starting £12.1m shortfall for the current 2025-2026 tax year, on top of other overspending. West Berkshire Council has increased tax bills by the maximum 4.99pc – including a 2pc charge for adult social care – every year since 2023. The tax bill for a Band D property is more than £2,300 a year. Stuart Gourley, the council's executive member for environment and highways, acknowledged the changes could feel 'disruptive' to residents. He said: 'We understand that changes to waste collection can be challenging and feel disruptive, but we want to reassure residents that this decision has been made with significant thought, care, and a long-term vision for our community.. 'This change is necessary to ensure a more sustainable future for West Berkshire. By recycling more and reducing black bin waste, we can protect services, help the environment, and move towards our goal of recycling 60pc of household waste by 2030.' Those with large families or medical needs can apply for their bins to be collected more frequently, officials said. 'Challenging conditions' It comes after a council in Surrey cancelled bin collections during a recent heatwave, claiming the weather had led to 'unprecedented absences' amongst staff. In an email to households, Reigate and Banstead council said it was dealing with 'very challenging working conditions' as a result of the hot weather, meaning that some residents may have missed out on a garden waste collection recently. Colchester council in Essex, also suspended collections of paper, plastic, cans and glass earlier this month to spare workers from lifting heavy loads in scorching temperatures.
