Cut Fire Service Senior Management Costs To Protect Front-Line

Cllr Nigel Bell
(LD, Ely North And East)

Savings should be made from the fire service’s senior management costs so that the county’s front-line can be protected, claim Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats.

They will remind Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority tomorrow (Thursday, May 24) that the safety of the public and staff is their primary responsibility as they meet to discuss cuts of over £5 million.

"Support services and fire-fighters have faced the brunt of the cuts agreed so far but senior management have so far seemed immune from this austerity,” said Nigel Bell, Lib Dem leader on the fire authority.

“Fire-fighters have reluctantly agreed shift changes and staff reductions that create £900k of annual savings and it's time that the senior management team costs were included in the savings review.

“We cannot support cuts to the front-line, they are unacceptable and could cost lives, and we must pursue all other options.”

The Lib Dem Members proposed council tax rises of 3.5 per cent for four years, instead of the proposed 2.5 per cent for three years, to fill the estimated funding gap, an increase of 1p a week or 58p a year for Band D properties. This would have meant frontline cuts on the current predictions for government grant settlement levels could have been avoided.

They will tell the authority tomorrow to:

• Reject many of the Phase One cuts (numbered four to 12 in the table in the fire authority papers attached) and the Phase Two cuts;
• Review all the fire service’s senior management costs, including the 'Silver Fleet' vehicles, with a view to achieving savings:
• Examine all opportunities for closer working with other Fire Services to achieve potential savings;
• Consider the prudent use of reserves to offset short-term shortfalls in funding levels;
• Continue to press the case with MPs and the Fire Minister for a fair grant settlement for the county’s fire service.
• Review the level of Council Tax rise for future years.

The fire authority papers can be found here:

http://www.cambsfire.gov.uk/fireauthority/9127.php

Lib Dems Urge Get Tough On Enterprise Zone To Protect Communities

Cllr Kevin Wilkins
(LD, West Chesterton)

Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have called for tough guidance on letting space at Alconbury’s new Enterprise Zone to prevent companies “boundary hopping” for tax advantages.

They want to give priority to new and existing businesses that will bring new investment and jobs to the area.

And they want manufacturing and production businesses to be encouraged to complement the Cambridgeshire research companies.

Under the Tory Thatcher and Major governments, the creation of enterprise zones often led to “boundary hopping” – the relocation of businesses to take advantage of the benefit of reduced business rates – claim the Lib Dems.

This harmed the economy of existing towns and communities while at the same time bringing no real benefits, they say.

The Lib Dems acknowledge that property group, Urban and Civic will have the final say in letting the site to companies, but they want the Greater Cambridge and Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership to guide the lettings process to protect the economies of Huntingdonshire and Peterborough.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Member for Planning, Enterprise and Environment Kevin Wilkins will raise the issue in a motion to Cambridgeshire County Council on May 15.

Cllr Wilkins said: “It's important not to repeat the government's mistakes of the 1980s and 1990s.

"The enterprise zone at Alconbury Airfield needs to improve the local economy by getting local businesses to expand what they do – not simply steal business from elsewhere in the county.

"The zone mustn't be allowed to become a route for the Conservatives to give some business people a way to avoid paying their fair share of tax."

Huntingdonshire District Councillor, Mike Shellens said, “Local Lib Dems welcome the arrival of the local Enterprise Zone. The concerns identified here will go far towards ensuring that the benefits will not be restricted to the balance sheet of a boundary-hopper company, but will flow to the economy as a whole including wider Huntingdonshire.”

Tax Cut For Over 275,000 People In Cambridgeshire

On 6 April 2012 the Personal Allowance will be raised for the second year in a row, meaning that 276,900 people in Cambridgeshire will get a £130 Income Tax cut and the number people in the area who have been lifted out of paying any Income Tax will reach 8,200.

Julian Huppert, Member of Parliament for Cambridge, said “when the Liberal Democrats first came into office, millions of low-paid workers were paying a higher proportion of their income in tax than the richest were. This was clearly unfair.

“We have made reducing the tax burden on the very poorest a priority, a promise that was on the front page of our manifesto.   Over 20m basic-rate taxpayers have received a £330 tax cut since the Coalition Government came into power. We will continue to increase the Personal Allowance, the threshold at which people start paying Income Tax, until it reaches £10,000. This means that someone working full-time on the minimum wage will have had their Income Tax bill halved.

“At the same time, the Liberal Democrats are making sure the rich pay their fair share, by closing loopholes, introducing a tycoon tax and cracking down on tax avoidance. All of this will mean that the richest pay five times more than they did under the 50p tax rate. As we clean up the economic mess Labour left behind, it is right that the broadest shoulders bear the heaviest burdens.”

The Personal Allowance, also known as the Income Tax threshold, will rise to £8,105 on 6 April 2012, up from £6,475 under Labour.

In the early 1970s, the Personal Allowance was worth around 28% of average earnings. By 2010 that had dropped to around 20% as wages had outpaced the increase in the Allowance.

Lib Dems Condemn Emergency Fire Cover Cuts Fearing Safety Risk

Cllr Nigel Bell
(LD, Ely North and East)

Plans which could see cuts to emergency fire cover, if more than the already planned £4.2 million savings are required over the next four years, have been condemned by Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats.

They fear lives could be at risk after Tories on Cambridgeshire Fire Authority endorsed potential plans for sweeping cuts to front line services across the county.

And they claim the Tories have made these cuts inevitable by setting council tax rises at 2.5 per cent, well below current inflation levels.

“We condemn these cuts completely as they would lead to the downgrading or closure of fire stations, a reduction in fire fighters and fire appliances and an increase in emergency response times,” said Nigel Bell, Lib Dem Leader on the Fire Authority. “We have a moral duty to protect the public and these cuts are unacceptable and could cost lives.

“The Tory members have made these cuts inevitable by their insistence on setting council tax rises at well below inflation. We proposed an extra one per cent, or one pence a week, council tax rise which could have been sufficient to make these cuts unnecessary; but the Tories members rejected this at the fire authority meeting last week.”

If the cuts go-ahead they will include:

• downgrading Huntingdon Fire Station to day crew only; 
• removing second fire engines from Ramsey and St Ives; 
• closing Manea fire station and removing the fire engine;
• removing the second fire engines from Soham and Ely, removing either Burwell or Swaffham’s fire engine and removing the retained service fire engines from Thorney or Gamlingay.

 "People's lives will be put at risk by these cuts and the blame must largely fall on Tory Fire Authority Members for keeping council tax rises well below inflation,” said Cllr Bell. "We can only hope that the Government's grant to Cambridgeshire's Fire Service is fairer for the next two years and that the very worst of these cuts can then be avoided."

Lib Dem Budget Tackles Inequality And Eliminates Waste

Cllr Kilian Bourke
(LD, Romsey)

Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have revealed their alternative budget investing £10 million in transport over the next five years, supporting schools and young people and embarking on a radical programme of energy efficiency.

The budget identifies around £67 million worth of savings in the years to 2017 while reversing the Tories’ withdrawal of financial support for bus services.

Transport investment includes:

• reinstating Cambridge’s city shuttle as the county’s first electric bus; 
• an extra £300,000 next year for community transport and further cash injections over the following two years making a total of £1 million. A Quality Bus Contract scheme would be used to deliver an improved countywide bus service;
• transport interchanges would be built to make sure people in rural areas have better access to services;
• the Chisholm Trail, a strategic cycle route linking up Addenbrooke’s Hospital, the CB1 development and the Science Park, would be built;
• the Wisbech to March railway line would be reopened giving an hourly passenger service to Cambridge and allowing people to travel by train to Peterborough and London.

Young people feature high in the Lib Dems’ alternative budget with the promise of a top up to the government’s Pupil Premium for disadvantaged young people by a further £250 per pupil per year.

And there would be free public transport for every young person seeking education or employment. Youth clubs would also be kept open.

Over the next five years £10 million would be spent on maintenance and energy efficiency in schools and a further £1 million on solar panelling.

The voluntary sector would receive £1 million worth of investment over the next two years and Citizens Advice Bureau would receive financial help to assist people facing hardship due to the tough economic climate.  Concessionary fares for pensioners have also been protected.
Among savings identified in the budget is £25 million on Northstowe and a further £12 million by replacing the controversial Ely southern bypass project with an underpass under the railway line.

Liberal Democrat Leader, Kilian Bourke said: “This budget shows how a Liberal Democrat council would do things differently and better. We would tackle entrenched inequality, instead of just talking about it.

“Well targeted investment in bus, rail and cycling infrastructure would allow people to access the wider community and its opportunities, regardless of age and geography.
“We would target support at young people who need it and make smart enhancements to our library service and better maintain our schools.

“We would eliminate Conservative waste and bad contract management and run the council as an efficient, modern organisation, embarking on a radical program of energy efficiency that would generate big savings.

“We would implement a plan to responsibly manage Adult Care, instead of helter skelter budgeting that has demoralised staff and service-users alike and resulted in a 25 per cent cut in care levels mid-year.

“While we cannot find a way to protect core services without increasing council tax, we recognise that working families are hard pressed at this time and would restore public trust by not using this increase to give ourselves a pay rise.”

NOTE: The liberal democrat budget amendment and associated financial information is available (via Google Docs) here.

Lib Dems Launch Petition To Reverse Tory Bus Cuts

Stagecoach Bus on Guided Busway

Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have launched a petition to reverse the Tories’ 100 per cent cuts to rural bus services.

The petition, called "Stopping the cuts to bus services in Cambridgeshire" reads:

"We the people of Cambridgeshire are opposed to the Conservative County Council's decision to scrap 100% of funding for subsidised buses, which led to an application for Judicial Review.

"Socially necessary bus services are vital to the whole of Cambridgeshire, especially for young people who need to access to centres of employment, those with mobility issues who wish to access the wider community and its resources, and for tackling the root problem of "rural isolation".

"We also believe that the "Cambridgeshire Future Transport" project, to which half of bus funding has been transferred, is fundamentally flawed and not capable of delivering an adequate replacement for the existing public transport network, never mind the improved system that has been promised.

"We call on the Conservative administration to reinstate 100% of the cuts to bus funding and to conduct a systematic view of Cambridgeshire residents' transport needs before making any changes to it."

The petition can be found here: http://epetition.cambridgeshire.public-i.tv/epetition_core/view/Buses