The Highways Agency are still showing little or no regard for local residents affected by the on-going works connected with the M6 Active Management Project reports Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shires.

The Highways Agency’s contractor Carillion has once again removed a whole swathe of environmental fencing between j10 and J9 Southbound ahead of planned works to construct an Emergency Rescue Area (ERA) and repairs to motorway drainage which directly affects residents in the Hough Road area of Pleck.

“I can understand the need to remove fencing ahead of ERA construction work” said Ian, “but experience in the Wood Lane area of Short Heath, Willenhall to the North of J10 has shown that residents could have been spared inconvenience from motorway noise by delaying the removal of fencing for drainage works.

“The removal of all the fencing is purely down to cost and convenience on the part of the contractor and flies in the face promises made to limit inconvenience to residents” said Ian.

Liberal Democrat activist Mohammed Yaqub alerted colleagues on the council to this latest outrage following enquiries from residents in the Hough Road area of Pleck 

A group of campaigners accused Walsall Council of dragging its feet over enforcement action which could save an historic pub in Willenhall reports Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shires.

The pub in question is “The Bell” and the group in question met last night at The School of Hope and included members of CAMRA, Willenhall History Society, townspeople and Willenhall councillors including Liberal Democrats.

The group want to raise the profile of the plight of the historic pub which is said to go back as far as the days of Henry VIII.

The pub has stood empty for a number of years and the council has been asked on a number of occasions to take enforcement action against the owners.

The meeting was told that there were a number of parties interested in taking the pub on. If that is the case then it should be possible to for the council to use its compulsory purchase powers to bring about a change of ownership.

A petition has been raised calling for Walsall Council to take urgent action to get the pub fully restored and reopened.

Photo courtesy of Express & Star  

Willenhall Liberal Democrats have accused Walsall’s Tory administration of closure by stealth in a reference to the future of Willenhall’s Leisure Centre reports Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shires.

Last week, Walsall’s Tories reluctantly agreed to a 3 month stay of execution for the leisure centre in the face of mounting pressure from user groups and campaigners including the Liberal Democrats.

Since then, it has come to light, that moves are afoot to redeploy staff, which would, in effect, leave around 3 people to run the facility.

Users have also told Dan Barker who heads up the Willenhall South Lib Dem Focus Team, that they have noticed a distinct cooling of the waters in the swimming baths which has driven a number of users to facilities elsewhere.

“This amounts to closure by stealth” said Dan. “If we are to stand any chance of saving the town’s leisure centre, the least the Tories could do is give us a level playing-field.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shires said “On Wednesday there is a meeting of all nine Willenhall councillors along with Leisure Services officers. We shall be demanding answers as to why it would appear that Walsall’s Leisure Services are already in wind down mode as far as Willenhall’s Leisure Centre is concerned.

“We are also asking for a meeting with the new cabinet member for Leisure, Tory councillor Anthony Harris, to make him aware of our concerns at what appears to be unfair tactics. This is not a game. The people of Willenhall are angry about the way in which the Tories are treating our town. We demand a fair chance to make our leisure centre viable.”

Commenting ahead of Jack Straw’s appearance today at the Iraq Inquiry, Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Edward Davey has set out three key questions that must be answered.

Commenting, Edward Davey said:

“Jack Straw has systematically hidden the truth about the advice he received from Foreign Officer Legal Advisers and the Attorney General over the legality of the Iraq war. He’s tried to hoodwink the Cabinet, Parliament and then the British people in his cover up.
 
“How can any judge or lawyer, let alone the British people, have confidence in the Minister in charge of our legal system when he has apparently shown such reckless disregard for the legal advice he’s given, the Ministerial Code he’s supposed to keep to and the demands of the Freedom of Information Act he piloted through Parliament.
 
“Unless he can provide the Chilcot Inquiry with some plausible explanation for these actions, he can surely no longer remain as the Secretary of State for Justice.
 
“Sir John Chilcot and his colleagues therefore must be fair today to the Secretary of State for Justice – they must allow Jack Straw this final chance to clear his name.”

“It’s now clear that the Tories would simply swap one form of central diktat with another,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary.

Commenting on today’s proposals to transfer school planning powers from local authorities to central Government, David Laws said:

“This shows that the Conservative commitment to ‘localism’ is only skin deep. 

“David Cameron keeps on pledging an end to the era of Whitehall Knows Best Government, but it’s now clear that the Tories would simply swap one form of central diktat with another.”

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 hospital 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

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb, said:
 
“These figures reveal the disastrous reality of Labour’s stewardship of the NHS.
 
“We’re entering into one of the most difficult financial periods in the NHS’s history and this Government’s legacy will be a mountain of debt.
 
“Despite the enormous amounts of money we owe for these hospitals, many of them will never end up in public ownership. Hospitals all over the country are mortgaged to the hilt and there are serious concerns that these repayments will lead to cuts in vital services.
 
“We need a new approach to public services in this country. By setting up an infrastructure bank the Liberal Democrats will ensure that key projects get access to the funding they need to revitalise our economy.
 
“The Liberal Democrats will change the way the NHS works so that money goes further and patients come first.”

“We need to restore immediate control of our borders,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary.

 Commenting on today’s announcement by Alan Johnson on the student visa system, Chris Huhne said:

“The biggest hole in the student visa system is caused by the Tory and Labour abolition of exit checks, which means we do not know if someone has left once their visa runs out.

“We need to restore immediate control of our borders.”

“Voters deserve a real choice – between the discredited status quo and a system where every vote matters and there are no safe seats,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Justice Secretary.

The Liberal Democrats have tabled amendments to the Government’s proposals for a referendum on electoral reform that would:

• Offer voters a real choice between first-past-the-post and a truly proportional system (Single Transferable Vote), rather than AV
• Bring forward the date of the referendum to next May
• Close a loophole allowing the next Government to kill the proposals without an Act of Parliament

Commenting, David Howarth said:

“Voters deserve a real choice – between the discredited status quo and a system where every vote matters and there are no safe seats.
 
“The Alternative Vote system is a very small step in the right direction, but it is not proportional and it does not give voters enough power over the party and the person elected as MP.
 
“It is also unacceptable that Labour’s amendments would make it childishly easy for the next Government to kill a referendum without further legislation.

“By acting purely out of naked self-interest, the Conservative Party has long been a roadblock to electoral reform.
 
“It would be far too easy for them to abandon a referendum if they win an election, which is why the Liberal Democrats have taken steps to Tory-proof the Bill.”

“With only months until an election must be called this reeks of yet another desperate pre-election bribe by Labour,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary.

Commenting on Gordon Brown’s announcement that 1.6 million people who have or have had cancer are to be offered free one-to-one care in their homes, Norman Lamb said:

“No one denies that cancer suffers deserve the best possible care and that this is an attractive proposition, but the obvious question is has it been properly thought through and how exactly will it be funded?

“With only months until an election must be called this reeks of yet another desperate pre-election bribe by Labour.”

“This survey shows that teachers need a lot more advice and clearer guidance in dealing with violence in the classroom,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

Commenting on a survey by The Association of Teachers and Lecturers showing that nearly half of new teachers asked felt they have not had enough training to deal with violence in the classroom and that almost two-thirds felt they had received no clear guidance on restraining violent students, David Laws said:

“This survey shows that teachers need a lot more advice and clearer guidance in dealing with violence in the classroom. This is particularly important because this government is bringing in a raft of new laws which will make it even more bureaucratic for teachers to break up fights and will require parents to be notified whenever force is used.

“There is a risk that if teachers are both untrained and concerned about the consequences of taking action to prevent violence, then they will be tempted to stand back rather than intervene to maintain a safe and well ordered environment.”