FLOOD RISK INFO ESSENTIAL FOR PUBLIC AWARENESS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Commenting on the launch of an online map to tell homeowners about flooding risks in England and Wales, Norman Baker MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, said:
Commenting on the launch of an online map to tell homeowners about flooding risks in England and Wales, Norman Baker MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, said:
Liberal Democrat Leader Charles Kennedy today launched the Liberal Democrat Pre-manifesto - the first important stage in the manifesto process, which will take the Party into the General Election.
Under new Liberal Democrat proposals police chiefs would sign contracts with local communities setting out how many officers they would deploy. The "minimum policing guarantees" would set funding levels for local police for a rolling three-year period. The guarantees are part of the party's new plans to tackle crime. The plans include using money earmarked for the government's ID card plan to hire an extra 10,000 front line police and 20,000 community support officers.
Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council have called on the Council to respond much more quickly to enquiries and complaints, following a report highlighting failures in responding to residents in a satisfactory time scale.
The financial out-turn for 2006/7 was revealed at the Transport Select Committee recently. All County Councillors know that the poor state of Surrey's roads is the number one bone of contention for local residents. So the members of the committee were stunned to be told that last year was the third year in succession when the budget was under-spent by the Tory executive, this time by £5.2 million!
The Family First service, which helps prevent young people having to go into care, is under threat as Surrey County Council pulls its funding from this project. The service, which is a partnership between the County Council and the children's charity NCH, helps young people who have been excluded from school or who have problems at home.
John Doran, Lib Dem spokesman on Transport, last week proposed a motion calling for more urgency in the development of the Transport Co-ordination Centre (TCC). In October 2004 the Executive of the Council had endorsed the proposal to set up a TCC, which was backed by all parties because it was claimed that there could be a 10% saving on a budget of £45 million.
The Conservatives running Surrey County Council have thrown out Liberal Democrat proposals to increase public involvement in its affairs by agreeing in principle to the webcasting of meetings. They also vetoed proposals to permit members of the public to address meetings of the full Council.
At the recent County Council meeting the majority Conservative group used a report on procedure to remove the right of Opposition groups to introduce motions for debate, without getting their permission first. Until now minority groups have had the right to introduce motions on any issues of concern and have them debated at the time. Now all decisions on whether to debate any motion have been put in the hands of the Tory majority.