Gareth Wilson

        Haddenham councillor Gareth Wilson has been elected leader
of the nine-strong Liberal Democrat group on East Cambridgeshire District
Council.

        The election was held at the group’s annual general meeting
on 12 May.  Littleport West councillor Neil Morrison was elected Deputy
Leader, and will also retain the position of group chairman.

        Cllr Wilson has represented Haddenham ward on the District
Council for the past nine years and also sits on Haddenham Parish Council.
Cllr Morrison has been a Littleport councillor for over 15 years.
       
        Cllr Wilson said: “I am grateful to my colleagues for
honouring me with this responsibility, and will do all I can to fulfil their
expectations.  The Liberal Democrats in East Cambridgeshire have a long
history of campaigning for services that provide benefits to all sections of
the community, and we look forward to continuing with those aims.”

        The Liberal Democrats are the official opposition to the
Conservative administration on East Cambridgeshire District Council.  The
Conservatives have 25 councillors to the Liberal Democrats’ nine.

(Click picture to play video)

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/

Following a debate on the Liberal Democrat amendment to reject the Conservative tax rise of 2.95%, instead accepting the 2.5% grant from central government, which would have meant that local taxpayers paid nothing extra, a vote was held. The record of that vote was that all the Conservatives voted to raise the tax and all the Liberal Democrats voted to take the 2.5% grant. Better than that , the Independent Group members all voted with the Liberal Democrats. There had been no pre meeting discussion of voting intentions, this was entirely on the merits of the case.  The chief financial officer had given an appraisal of the robustness of the reserves and when questioned confirmed that they were more than adequate, there simply was no need for a rise that would take money out of the local economy this year.

Liberal Democrats are concerned that when business rates are devolved to local authorities, as they will be soon, then Councils that have not cooperated with central government may well get worse treatment because of their perceived greed this year. This is against a background of £177,000 being placed in an unallocated reserve fund and severe cuts to voluntary sector grants.

A second amendment , put by Councillor Pauline Wilson, to give a grant of £10,000 to Ely ,Soham dial a ride was rejected out of hand by the Tories. The effect would have been to reduce the unallocated reserve to a mere £167,000. The dial a ride services at Ely and Newmarket provide valuable transport for the most vulnerable in society and feature prominently in Council community strategy, yet have had all funding removed from the district council. The dial a rides now get more money from Parish councils, many of which give small grants of a few hundred pounds, than they do from the District Council which cut their support to nil. If the ‘ Big Society’ is to mean anything then it must mean working openly in partnership with local people, we are not seeing much of this from the controlling group here.

The Parish Council and your District Councillors have been trying to get improvements to Station Road traffic and speeding over the last 10 years.  Some improvements have been achieved but there is still much to be done   Most of our Road safety achievements were initiated by our Parish Council Road Safety Working Party and a bid was put to a jointly funded minor Highways Programme.  These items won over other bids from other Parish Councils and were funded jointly by the Parish Council, the District Council and by the County Council.  Only one bid per Parish was allowed by the JFMH bid system so only one of these was done in any one year.  These bids all had a maximum spend limit. 

  We have recently located a 40mph buffer zone further out along the   A1421  in an attempt to get vehicle speeds down to a more appropriate level before the terminal 30mph signs are passed.   This was a compromise as the Parish Council wanted to get the 30mph moved round the bend in Station Road, but we were only able to persuade the County Council to put a in 40mph stretch.  However this was much better than nothing. 

We have also successfully bid a few years ago to get the flashing 30mph signs, which were also jointly funded.  However this was provided on the basis that the County Council would maintain them.  It has been very difficult to get proper maintenance and you will be well aware of the problem of the continuing flashing of the sign in Station Road, which makes it much less effective.  The Parish Council regularly writes to the County Council to get these fixed.

 The work done at the crossroads was a bid to assist pedestrians at this dangerous and busy junction.  Better lighting and changes to the footpaths and road marking certainly helped.

 Kevin Hall from the County Council Highways Department reports that “Hopefully soon we will be able to make some amendments to the speed limit positions on the A1123 towards Earith and Wilburton”.  If we get this, it will be the result of our Road Safety Working Party suggesting a bid and completing the forms that I presented to the County Committee, with the offer of 50% funding from the Parish Council.

 Major changes to traffic calming on Station Road have proved impossible, as the County Highways Traffic Department would not put any of the Counties Major Highways budget into these suggestions.  In fact they have vigorously resisted such measures, because Station Road is an “A” road (A1421).  We even tried to get the road downgraded to a “B” road so that Sat Navs did not pick it up so readily.  We have asked for traffic lights or crossings but these were too expensive for the Minor Highways bids and were not supported by the County Council, although they did spend several hundreds of thousands of pounds on strengthening the Station Road bridge, when a cheaper option of imposing a weight limit, would have dramatically reduced the amount of traffic and provided the funds for other road safety measures.  Nine years ago we asked for a roundabout at Witcham Toll junction, but were told we would have to wait.  We still are.  Six years ago, after a lady was killed on the Grunty Fen road, Pauline put up a slow down dangerous bend sign because we could not get any action from the County highways authority.  They were very quick to pull up our home made signs but less quick to paint a short white line on the road, slightly better than nothing.

 The Parish Council has attempted other measures.  One of the major problems is the fact that many lorries use Station Road as a rat run.  We have tried to prevent this by contacting local major hauliers and requesting them to use the A10 and A142 as an alternative.  We have had meetings with the managers of the straw burning plant and continue with regular communications.  We have tried to insert into major planning permissions a routing agreement preventing the use of village roads with a degree of success.  I have been attending, for the last eight years, a regular coordinating meeting of parishes including Cottenham, Earith, Sutton, and Mepal to reduce the problem of HCVs in Haddenham.  We have persuaded the County to start a measuring system taking into account volume of traffic, width of footpaths and other factors to see if restrictions could be proved necessary.

 The Parish Council has organised the regular measurement of NO2 (Nitrogen Dioxide) the pollution gas of traffic, particularly lorries.  We have recently taken part (at considerable expense) in pollution measurements on our roads including noise, vibration, particulates and polluting gasses.  These figures will enable us to prove with reliable statistics that we need to prevent some of this traffic that drives through Haddenham. 

Your Parish Councillors and District Councillors have attended many meetings organised by the District or County Council to press for improvements.

 Three members of the Parish Council have participated in Speedwatch.  However, we need more volunteers from the village to measure traffic speeds in the village.  Many people are quick to complain, but less ready to join in and help, by giving some of their time to assist with Speedwatch.  Speeding drivers recorded by Speedwatch will be contacted by the police and receive a letter of warning.  If certain roads, such as Station Road can be proved, in this way, to be suffering from too much speeding, the police will put in their own speed camera team and speeders will be prosecuted.  When I, with the Chairman of the Parish Council, Julie Parr, measured traffic speeds in Station road using Speedwatch last year there were a large number of speeding vehicles, including some large commercial vehicles.  If Speedwatch did regular checks many drivers would slow down as a precaution, but this would require more volunteers.

The Parish Council is trying very hard to get road safety improvements.  But this is against the budget restrictions of the County Council, as they are responsible for our roads and traffic management and the fact that two “A” roads go through the centre of our village.

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.

A first look at part of this week’s Liberal Democrat Local Election Broadcast. This clip looks at our key pledge to cut taxes for working families, and celebrates the fact that Liberal Democrats in government have achieved:

• The biggest-ever single uplift in the tax-free personal allowance
• A £3.5 billion tax cut for working men and women
• 840,000 of the lowest earners in the country lifted completely out of paying Income Tax

Next year, the allowance increases again (to £9,205) – within touching distance of our manifesto promise to increase the Income Tax threshold to £10,000.

These are all significant achievements that are already making a difference for millions of hard-working men and women across Britain. Real change for real families in tough times – promised and delivered by the Liberal Democrats.

We can be proud that the biggest tax cuts in today’s Budget go to millions of working families.

As a result of this Budget, someone working a full week on minimum wage will see their income tax bill cut by over 50% compared to under Labour.

Increasing the personal allowance to £9,205 takes us within touching distance of our number one manifesto pledge – ensuring no one pays any tax on the first £10,000 they earn.

Thanks to our changes, a basic rate taxpayer will be paying £45 a month less in tax than they would have been under Labour.

We can be proud that we’ve ensured the richest in our society will be paying more, much more.

The Tycoon Tax, an increase in stamp duty for high value properties and other new taxes on wealth will raise five times as much as the 50p tax rate. Those with annual incomes of more than £150,000 a year will be paying on average an additional £1,300 a year in tax, as a result of this Budget.

Of course, this is a Coalition Budget and we did not get our own way on everything. Conservative priorities are not ours. But as on so many other issues, we have made sure that there is a real Liberal Democrat stamp on this Budget.

Lower taxes for more than 20 million working people; effective new taxes on the rich.

This is a Budget we can be proud of – a Budget for the many, not the few.

Best wishes,

2012 is going to show the best of Britain. With the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee, we’ll be celebrating our past but with our face to the future and the change it will bring. In Government, the Liberal Democrats are at the heart of that change.

Of course, times are tough. Families are under pressure, worried about paying their bills. That’s why we’re cutting tax for working people while calling time on the tycoon tax dodgers.

From next month, 25 million working people will have more money in their pocket, because of us. You can help spread the word about our £60 tax cut by clicking here.

Going green is not a luxury for the good times – Liberals have always fought to protect the environment, and that’s why we’re part of the greenest government this country has ever had. Not only are we making the right choices for the environment, we’re putting green policies at the heart of our economic recovery.

This is a liberal nation with liberal values; hard work, fair play and a sense of freedom. I’m proud that the Liberal Democrats in Government are repairing Labour’s industrial-scale destruction of that liberty.

Just think for a moment what we’ll have achieved by 2015. The first gay marriage, and end to child detention and the first elections to the House of Lords, to name just three.

These are just some clips from the speech Nick Clegg MP,  Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister made to the Gateshead Lib Dem conference, for the text of his full speech click here.