Essex Liberal Democrats

The Opposition Liberal Democrats on Essex County Council are calling for a halt to placing children in care with the Green Corns Group after the shocking revelations following the recent Rochdale sex grooming case.  The abject failure to protect a vulnerable Essex child in their care beggars belief.  The County Council, as Corporate Parents, also bears enormous responsibility for what went wrong, as it now emerges that Ofsted warned of failings during the child’s time at the ‘solo home’ in Rochdale.

Opposition spokesman Cllr Theresa Higgins said:

Clearly there are a whole range of questions the Conservative-led County Council needs to answer.

• What checks were made by the County Council into the child’s welfare while at the home?
• Are any other Essex children resident in Green Corns homes?
• Will the County Council reclaim the £250,000 a year charges?
• Will the practice of sending vulnerable children to such areas be stopped?

Liberal Democrats at County Hall are very disappointed that their request for a rethink of this year’s school budget formula was rejected by the Conservatives who lead Essex County Council .

At the ‘call-in’ meeting three representatives from small schools who will have their budgets cut made impassioned pleas for a rethink.

Cllr Theresa Higgins, Opposition spokesman for Schools, Children and Families, who called in the decision, said:

This will mean that some small schools will have to lose teaching staff because of this cut, which will disadvantage all children, especially those with special needs.”

(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/

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.

Lib Dem Councillor Jude Deakin was presented with a petition signed by more than 1100 signatures by Colin Inwood last Saturday (14.4.12), outside County Hall.  The petition calls upon Essex County Council to provide a safe crossing at the junction of Linnet Drive and Plane Tree Close.

Cllr Deakin said:  “The level of support for a safe crossing is absolutely marvellous. This petition shows that there are very many more people in favour of a crossing than any of us could have imagined.

Unfortunately, Cllr Tracey Chapman, the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation, decided earlier this year not to proceed with the recommendations for a pedestrian crossing made by officers in her own department, apparently after Simon Burns MP sent an open letter to the press.

“I will be presenting the petition to ECC Full Council on May 8th.  The proposed scheme will then be presented by me to the Highways Locality Panel, which is yet to be set up.”

On 6 April 2012 the Personal Allowance was raised for the second year in a row, meaning 536,800 people in Essex will get a £130 Income Tax cut and the number of the lowest paid people who have been lifted out of paying any Income Tax will reach 22,200.  Commenting, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Cllr Mike Mackrory, said:

“The tax system had become increasingly unfair under successive governments over the last few decades, sucking more and more people into paying Income Tax.

“When Liberal Democrats came into office, millions of low-paid workers were paying a higher proportion of their income in tax than the richest were.

I’m proud that Liberal Democrats did the right thing and made rebalancing the tax system a priority, putting it on the front page of our manifesto.  More than a million people will have been lifted out of paying Income Tax altogether and over 20m basic-rate taxpayers have received a £330 tax cut since the Coalition Government came into power.

“At the same time, Liberal Democrats are making sure the rich pay their fair share, by closing loopholes, introducing a tycoon tax and cracking down on tax avoidance. As we clean up the economic mess Labour left behind, it is right that the broadest shoulders bear the heaviest burdens.”

The recent announcement of changes to the Conservative Cabinet on Essex County Council has been slammed by the Liberal Democrat Opposition Group.  The number of women members has been reduced from 3 out of 10 to 1 out of 10.

County Councillor Theresa Higgins, Equalities and Diversity spokesman, said:

This is a shocking waste of female talent, especially as Essex County Council is aiming to get the excellent standard of the Equality and Diversity Framework.”

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,