I attended a meeting at County Hall recently which confirmed that we will be receiving an update from the consultants, Mouchels, on the search for a replacement location for the King Street Lorry Park at the Area Board meeting on 24th March at Bowerhill Village Hall.

I can’t give details at this stage as things are still being worked out, but it does seem that we will have some good news for local residents.

I have written to the Cabinet Member responsible inviting him to attend, or send a representative, to tell local residents how the council will be responding to the consultants recommendations.  Currently the top Tory from Trowbridge is saying NO but I hope we will be able to change his mind before the day.

Commenting on the Government’s ‘chain schools’ announcement Wiltshire Councillor Jon Hubbard, who is vice-chairman of the Children’s Services Select Committe and Lib Dem spokesperson for schools on the council, said: “As if we haven’t had enough proposals and meddling in our childrens’ education over the past 13 years the Government has come up with another gimmick on the eve of a General election.

This latest gimmick is just more top-down meddling from a tired Government desperate to divert attention from its failure to raise standards in our schools.

“New providers could possibly help to turn around long-term failing schools, but do we really want Ed Balls to be handpicking all 500 of them?

“But then again properly funded Local Education Authorities can also provide answers along with improved training for teaching staff and better school management.

“I would rather see our Government concentrating on getting the basics right, freeing up teachers from beurocracy and rectifying imbalances in education funding that sees Wiltshire Council receive far to little funding to properly run our schools.

“Only the Liberal Democrats are committed to giving all schools the extra money they need to cut class sizes and provide children who are struggling with individual support.

“We will make sure all schools have the freedom to provide an excellent standard of education, without the constant interference of Whitehall politicians.�

Tories announce plans to allow Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Inspectors to read all your personal bank account statements.

George Osborne’s latest ill thought out wheeze is to do away with PAYE and tax all money as it goes into your bank.

They claim this will remove the burden of calculating the Tax and National Insurance deductions and, therefore, red tape, from business.

In reality it will put a bigger burden upon the State as more inspectors are employed to comb through everyone’s bank accounts and then ask where every penny comes from.

Naturally the black economy where everything is paid in cash will boom.

At least it will help the Banks meet their target of phasing out cheques as no one will accept one, even for a loan repayment, in case it gets taxed.

Centralising Conservatives will now create a snooper’s charter that allows the State to know even more about how you live your life.

Read the full story in the Telegraph

In a speech to the King’s Fund, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has today set out the party’s respite care guarantee, providing a week’s break from caring every year to the 1m unpaid carers who provide more than 50 hours care each week.

The Policy in Brief

There are close to five million unpaid carers in England, with a million providing more than 50hrs care each week. Liberal Democrats believe that people who selflessly provide care to their loved ones deserve a break.  In most jobs you get paid holidays but for a huge number of carers that simply isn’t an option. We believe that respite care is a lifeline - not just for carers but for whole families.  That’s why we will provide a weeks break from caring every year to the million unpaid carers who provide more than 50 hours care each week.

Why is it Necessary?

Caring matters deeply to families and individuals but when you are taking care of somebody you also need to think about caring for yourself.  The millions of unpaid carers in this country deserve as much support as possible and that is why we will provide a week of guaranteed respite care each year for a million carers who work the longest hours. This also makes financial sense because carers who don’t get a break can often end up suffering health problems themselves. Sustaining the ability of carers to provide the care and support they give to others is of critical importance. Read the rest of this entry.

NHS Wiltshire have issued a press release saying there are to be some changes to the Out of Hours services. Typically they have given scant few details and, quite unbelievably, have said that they are not prepared to give any more details at this time!

The full text of their press release is shown below:

“From 1 April 2010 the Out of Hours service will be provided by Wiltshire Medical Services, which is run by local GPs. The service will be run from all existing sites, plus a number of additional sites, to improve access for patients.

A communications campaign for patients is currently being developed, which will be launched in the weeks leading up to 1 April. NHS Wiltshire has no further comment to make but is keen to stop any further speculation about cuts in services.”

Figures released today by the Liberal Democrats have revealed that the NHS is facing a £63bn bill for PFI hospitals which are only worth £11bn.

The figures also reveal that:

• The first payments for hospitals PFIs began in 1999 and the NHS still owes £58bn on 106 PFI contracts over the next three decades.
• The NHS will have to pay back £7.3bn in PFI payments over the next Parliament alone (2010 - 2015)
• The most expensive PFI contract was for Wythenshawe Hospital where the NHS will pay back 16 times the original capital value. Read the rest of this entry.

Last Week, the Government published new figures showing that the annual cost of running quangos has risen to £46.5bn - a rise of nearly £10bn since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister.

Commenting, Jenny Willott, Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, said: “Gordon Brown has taken Labour’s obsession with unelected and unaccountable quangos to a new extreme.

“This is the largest sum of money ever spent on running quangos. It is obscene sum of money to spend on bodies that lack transparency and effective democratic control.

“The Liberal Democrats are the only party truly committed to bringing in better politics for less.

“As a start, we would scrap 90 quangos and cap the salaries of senior management. This alone would help save nearly £1.2bn a year in taxpayers’ money at a stroke.�

Nick Clegg will today [Monday] challenge the other two party leaders to agree an emergency programme of political reform.

Speaking at an election summit of parliamentarians and parliamentary candidates on Monday, the Liberal Democrat Leader will challenge Gordon Brown and David Cameron to sign up to the programme of political reform as a first step to restore public faith in politics.

Nick Clegg will say:

“In the light of the charges brought by the DPP against a number of MPs and peers, Gordon Brown and David Cameron are suddenly falling over themselves to talk about political reform. Nobody should be fooled. Read the rest of this entry.

I’m pleased to report that a fix has been undertaken and the flood waters at Clackers Brook are now receeding.

It appears there was some faulty equipment and the drainage ditch was clogged up. This has now been cleared by the Council and steps are being taken to investigate what other corrective action is required.

The area should be dried out within the next couple of weeks and I am in discussions with the Police and Wiltshire Council about arranging for the Community Payback Scheme to undertake a more thorough clean up exercise. More on this when I hear back from them.

The Pupil Premium policy is one of the most innovative parts of our Lib Dem education policy. I am proud to have voted for it at our Spring Conference in Harrogate last year. As a teacher myself, and as the Lib Dems spokesperson on schools on Wiltshire Council, I cannot overemphasise the importance of smaller class sizes in helping to boost individual pupil performance.

Our party plans to spend an extra £2.5 billion on schools to achieve our goal of smaller class sizes. The money will be targetted at schools taking on children who need more help, but will benefit every child in every school. The cash can be used to cut class sizes and provide one-to-one tuition or catch-up classes, ensuring every child gets the individual attention they need. An average primary school could cut class sizes to 20. An average secondary school could see classes of just 16. Read the rest of this entry.