2009 must be a year of real change and of hope says Nick Clegg in his new year message.

Transcript:

Britain is facing a difficult year. Every day, 200 families are now at risk of losing their homes, and three million people could be out of a job. The government got us into this mess and haven’t got the right ideas to get us out of it. The Conservatives want to do nothing - they wouldn’t lift a finger to help.

As the New Year starts, it’s time to do things differently. There is a path to recovery. Liberal Democrats will do things differently. We’ll get practical help to families who are struggling - more money in their pockets with big, permanent and fair tax cuts. That way people will be able to afford the bills and get spending again.

And Liberal Democrats will put the economy back on track with a big, green investment programme. Instead of wasting billions on a pointless VAT cut that makes little difference we would invest that money to cut your fuel bills, create thousands of jobs and deliver what our country needs for the future: 

Warm homes, schools and hospitals, clean energy, public transport we can all be proud of. I know we can fix the economic mess Britain’s in. If only we do things differently for once. Instead of making the same old mistakes the same old parties have made for generations.

Both Labour and the Conservatives keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect something different to happen. They are parties of the past, prisoners of their own special interests.

Perhaps the greatest danger of today’s recession is that it will mortgage the future of our children. We must prevent that from happening. That’s why in the first three months of this year, Liberal Democrats will be focusing on the help we can give to children and young families.

Good quality childcare for every family, so children can flourish and mothers and fathers can get out to work - or look for work - without worrying about the nursery or childminder fees.

Extra funding for children from deprived backgrounds, to help raise standards in schools for everyone. And we’ll be unveiling a pledge to reduce infant class sizes to 15 - so every child gets the individual attention they need to get the best start in life.

This is a time of crisis. But crisis can bring renewal. It can bring change. Imagine a better Britain - where no-one is held back by their upbringing, everyone has the power to change things for the better, and anyone who struggles gets a helping hand.

A Britain with fair taxes and safe, properly run banks - so that everyone who works hard can make it. A Britain that switches to green energy so the planet is protected and new jobs are created. A Britain where every child is given the chance to succeed.

2009 must be a year of doing things differently. A year of real change. A year of hope. And that’s what the Liberal Democrats offer.

Happy New Year.                      http://www.libdems. org.uk/home/its-time-to-do-things-differently-109627648;show  

New timetables brought in by London Midland following the completion of the upgrade of the West Coast Mainline leaves Walsall back where it was in the days of Dr Beeching, stuck up a siding cut off from everywhere other than Birmingham.

“What sort of a message does that send out to would be developers at a time when you need all the help you can get to fight the effects of the credit crunch.” said Lib Dem councillor Ian Shires.

The new timetable sees Walsall’s link with Wolverhampton severed which puts at risk another longstanding goal, that of re-opening a train station at Willenhall as part of a major regeneration project to combat the effects of the last recession back in the early 1990’s.

The journey time from Walsall to Wolverhampton by train was 15 minutes. The same journey by bus takes anything up to 40 minutes and if you go by train via Birmingham it will take you an hour. Now that’s progress I don’t think!

But it doesn’t stop there if you’ll excuse the pun. They’ve also cut the Walsall-Stafford service. Trains go only as far as Rugeley Trent Valley now. Here passengers will have to wait anything from 8 minutes to 1 hour for a connection to Stafford.

To top it all this new timetable has an introduction from none other than Stephen Banaghan the MD of London Midland. It starts: ” There’s good news for the Chase Line…..” well if cutting the direct link to Stafford is good news I’d hate to think what his bad news looks like!

The MD’s introduction concludes with this final comment…”We’d love to know what you think.” So please don’t disappoint him, do get in touch. There’s even an address included for your comments which is comments@londonmidland.com so go on let him know exactly how you feel about this retrograde step for Walsall. Times are hard enough without this sort of negativity!!

The closure threat hanging over Sneyd Community School receded after the Children and Young Peoples Scrutiny Panel rejected any proposal to close the school. 

It was pointed out at the meeting that scrutiny panels can only make recommendations and that the final decision on the future of the school lay with the cabinet.

Further meetings are to be announced early in January for the scrutiny panel to consider four options for keeping the school open.

More detail on last nights meeting will be published on this site soon, but we felt it important to inform parents and students of the outcome of last night’s meeting as soon as possible.

Half of children living in poverty are not entitled to free school meals, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. Parliamentary answers have shown that free meals are available to children whose parents are on a variety of benefits, but not to those who claim working tax credits.

The information shows that:

• Families are paying over £300 on average per child, per year, for school meals
• 1.2m children living in poverty are not entitled to free meals
• The criteria for eligibility was changed by the Conservatives in the 1980s to exclude working families

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said:

“It is outrageous that half of our poorest children are missing out on free school meals.

“For the most disadvantaged children, a school dinner can be the only hot meal they get.

“As times get tough, paying for school lunches is going to be a real struggle for more and more families.

“The Tories caused this problem in the 1980s when they changed the rules to deny free school meals to half a million children living in families who were working but on low incomes.

“The Government must now look at restoring the entitlement to free school meals to this group - including to families on working tax credits.

Walsall’s Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Ian Shires expressed his concern at the revelation. “We are receiving some disturbing facts about just how many children in Walsall schools come from low income families.”

“Qualifying for free school meals can help school budgets which in turn helps to improve the quality of education for the most disadvantaged children. Depriving those on working tax credits with children of free school meals is a double whammy” concluded Ian. 

A glossy leaflet being hand delivered to every door in the Borough by Walsall Council giving advanced notice of changes to the recycling and rubbish collection service isn’t worth the paper it’s written on reports Lib Dem councillor Ian Shires.

The leaflet says it has “important information” telling residents what can be recycled and in which bin following the introduction of the new “half size” rubbish bins in the new year.

What the leaflet doesn’t say is that the list only gives the “headline” information. The full list of recyclables will go out with a further information pack and will also be shown on the council’s website.

The “advanced notice” leaflet is already causing some confusion. The Lib Dem Focus Teams across Willenhall have already received numerous phone calls and enquiries about just what can and can’t be recycled when the new system comes into force.

“What a waste of time and money” said Lib Dem cllr Ian Shires. “One information pack giving full details was all that was needed. No wonder the service has such a poor reputation.” he added. 

Options for the future of Sneyd Community School will be put to Walsall Council’s Children’s and Young Peoples Scrutiny Panel on Thursday 18th December 2008. The panel will meet at 6pm in a conference room within the Council House and will be held in public.

Four options will be put to members of the scrutiny panel. They include options to downsize as well as to transform the school  into a trust or an academy.

Welcoming the report Lib Dem cllr Ian Shires said, “It’s important that this meeting throws out any suggestion to close Sneyd and then gets down to the business of identifying the option which gives local students the best possible chances for the future. Removing the threat of closure as quickly as possible would enable that journey to begin” he said.

Closure is hanging over the heads of of the students, parents and staff and should never have been considered in the first place. You have to ask yourself why the Tory cabinet allowed Serco, who run Walsall’s eduction service on behalf of the council, to only consider closure proposals at a time when parents were considering options for their children entering secondary eduction in September 2009?

Any chance of Willenhall getting a new train station linking the town with the West Coast Main Line at Wolverhampton could have been buried in the depths of a 200 page report on the future of the West Midlands had it not been for the eagle eyes of Lib Dem councillor Ian Shires.

Ian spotted the lack of a passenger rail link between Walsall and Wolverhampton on a map within the report showing strategic rail links across the West Midlands and beyond.

Had this omission gone undetected the West Midlands Regional Assembly would have probably endorsed the report and Willenhall would have lost its chance of a new train station.

As it is both Walsall Council and Walsall’s Regeneration Company Board have reiterated the need for a passenger rail link between Walsall and Wolverhampton with a much needed train station at Willenhall.

“The need for a train station in Willenhall is vital for the economic future of the town and its people.” said Lib Dem councillor Ian Shires.