Dear friends,

Election night in Bury was a bad night for the Liberal Democrats. We lost three seats in Prestwich as Labour increased their majority at the Town Hall.

Our unsuccessful Councillors – Vic D’Albert, Mary D’Albert and Ann Garner – have between them dedicated over 30 years to serving the local community and our party. I would like to personally thank them for their hard work over the years, and commiserate them on these results. My thanks also to our candidates in other wards, and for the many people who dedicated hours of their free time to the campaign over the last months. Thousands of people took the chance to vote Lib Dem in Bury as a result of your efforts. Thank you.

Vic  D’Albert represented Holyrood ward for over 20 years. He was the first Lib Dem ever elected to Bury Council, and an inspiration to dozens of activists who worked with him over the years, including me. Many of us can say that we wouldn’t have become involved in local politics if it weren’t for Vic. He led every important political campaign in our community for over two decades, and his loss to the Council is one of the saddest aspects of an election where national issues trumped local ones.

Ann was a tireless local activist who fought for Sedgley, Prestwich and Bury for a decade and whose passion for local people and their concerns was unrivalled by any Councillor from any party I have worked with. Her service to the party locally, regionally and nationally is enormously valued, and will continue despite this defeat. Many people in Prestwich will be very sad that there is no longer a Garner on Bury Council.

Mary was my own ward colleague for four years, a hard-working and dedicated champion for the people of St Mary’s, and instrumental in many local improvements that I know the community are thankful for. Her service on the Council was only matched by her many years of behind-the-scenes dedication to the local party. I am very sad that she has lost the opportunity to continue on the Council.

These are tough times for our party, as they are for the country. I take heart from the fact that even though we’ve lost some support and some seats, we’re doing what we’re doing, locally and nationally, for the right reasons. When the country gets through the tough times, so will we. Some parties might be celebrating this morning, but theirs is a hollow victory. We are taking the tough choices and dealing with the tough consequences. There is honour in that, and I am proud to be a part of an honourable party.

The Lib Dems in Bury are here to stay. Even though we lost last night, our share of the vote in our target wards went up compared to last year, and it’s clear that people are slowly beginning to understand our role in making the country better again.

We have fewer Councillors now than before, but we still have activists and supporters young and old, across Bury, to spread the message of the Lib Dems and to build up our support again. It will come back.

Richard Baum
Chair

Besses:  Julie Baum
Church: Andrew Garner
East: Maureen Davison
Elton: Zadok Day
Holyrood: Wilf Davison
Moorside: Tim Boaden
North Manor: Ewan Arthur
Pilkington Park: Wayne Burrows
Radcliffe East: Michael Bell
Radcliffe North: Fiona Davison
Radcliffe West: Kamran Islam
Ramsbottom: Helen Herd
Redvales: Emma Davison
Sedgley: Steve Wright
St Mary’s: Richard Baum
Tottington: David Foss
Unsworth: Joanne O’Hanlon

Bury’s share of the country’s debt now stands at a dangerous £6.38billion and something needs to be done.

Over the last seven days in Bury, thanks to Liberal Democrats:
68000 people are getting a £200 income tax cut – benefiting 23 million people across the country
2100 people have been lifted out of paying income tax altogether, with more to come
£625million extra has gone to our schools, aimed at the most disadvantaged pupils – rising to £2.5billion a year by 2015
35800 pensioners have been given an extra £4.50 a week – and those retiring from today will be on average £15,000 better off over their retirement.

Local Councillors were out in force spreading Christmas cheer at the Longfield Centre on Saturday 18th December, as the regular Liberal Democrat Saturday Surgery took on a decidedly Christmassy flavour.

Councillors from all three Prestwich wards were on hand as usual on Saturday morning, but donned Santa hats and handed out free mince pies to shoppers and local people who came down to take part. Richard Baum, Liberal Democrat Councillor for St Mary’s ward, said “We have a surgery at the Longfield Centre every Saturday morning from 10.45 – 11.45 come rain or shine. The snow didn’t deter us on Saturday and we were in the festive spirit with our hats and pies. There was even some mulled wine to keep us warm.”

Richard continued “There’s a serious purpose to these Saturday Surgeries. We are here to listen to local people and try to help with any problems they’ve got. We’ve also got the “Scrap Prestwich Parking Charges” petition for people to sign, and over 2,000 people have done so far. We’re also asking people their priorities for Prestwich so that we can make sure we let the Council know what needs protecting when they make cuts to deal with the deficit and debt. But we’re also here to wish everyone in Prestwich a merry Christmas, and I was pleased that so many people went away smiling with a mince pie and our Christmas best wishes.”

The Saturday Surgery series will commence again in early January after a fortnight off for Christmas and New Year. In the meantime, Councillors are available by phone or email over the holidays.

The budget, set as part of the nationwide local government settlement, will see Bury Council lose around a quarter of its budget over the next four years. Liberal Democrats are concerned that without proper consultation, many valuable services could be threatened.

Cllr Richard Baum, Resource spokesman for the Bury Liberal Democrats, said “We all know that cuts need to happen to deal with mess inherited by the government. Some of those cuts are happening here in Bury so it’s vital that local people get the chance to tell us what they want prioritised.”

“Lib Dems have been asking local people for a long time now, so that we can fight to protect the services local people need. The only way we can get the debt and deficit down is by taking local people with us, so I call on the people in charge of the Council to get out into our local communities across Bury now and start an open, honest conversation about the challenges we face.”

“Lib Dems in Bury will continue to fight to give Bury the best services we all want and need.”

The extra cash will be given according to the number of pupils on free school meals and whose families earn less than £16,000 per year. It means that Bury gains an estimated £1.825m.

It was one of Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats main pledges before the election. The Pupil Premium prioritises spending on boosting the chances of younger kids starting out at school, rather than those already at university.

Lib Dem leader in Bury Coun Tim Pickstone said,

“There are over 4,200 pupils in Bury eligible for free school meals, so this will mean a really boost for our schools and make a huge difference to the outcomes and chances for our young people. Children need the best possible start in life, and this much needed extra cash will make a real difference in schools to getting our children a better start in life”.

A planning application was heard earlier this year by Manchester City Council who own Heaton Park. All Labour Councillors voted in favour of the plans to concrete over a corner of the park and open a pay-to-play five-a-side soccer centre. All Lib Dems voted against, citing community concerns over noise, traffic, and the destruction of green space. The application was successful, and on December 7th Manchester City Council agreed to lease the land to Goals Soccer Centre to commence construction.

Now though, the continuing community protests, including a 10,000 signature petition, have led to Lib Dems “calling in” that decision for further scrutiny.

The call-in means at least a temporary delay to the project, forcing the Council to look again at community objections.

Bury Lib Dem Leader Cllr Tim Pickstone said today “I am pleased that our Lib Dem colleagues in Manchester have ‘called in’ this decision. Local Councillors in Holyrood and Sedgley, such as Steve Wright and Ann Garner have been at the forefront of efforts to look again at this decision.”

“Given that thousands of residents objected to these plans originally, a complaint has been made to the Local Government Ombudsman that the Council have not followed due process. Six issues have arisen through this consultation process that have not previously been addressed, so we felt that further scrutiny was necessary.”

Cllr Pickstone continued
“I am pleased that Manchester City Council will be forced to look again at these proposals which local people have objected to since the start. We continue to fight to save Heaton Park.”

Today the coalition government published its white paper on schools – “The Importance of Teaching”. It sets out our ambitious reform programme to raise standards for all children while narrowing the gap between rich and poor.

It shows how the Government is delivering the fair start for every child that we promised in the Liberal Democrat manifesto.

The White Paper announced four key reforms -

- Delivering a Pupil Premium, on top of the budgets that schools already have, to go to every deprived child wherever they live, to allow schools to put extra resources into narrowing the gap in attainment between the richest and the poorest.

- Giving all schools more freedom to make the right choices for their pupils – slimming down the national curriculum, removing bureaucracy and red tape and reducing testing and league tables.

- Recognising that it is the quality of teaching that really makes a difference in the classroom – expanding graduate teacher programmes like Teach First, developing networks of “teaching schools” and supporting continuing professional development.

And, something important to Liberal Democrats, matching school freedoms with a strong strategic role for local authorities in ensuring fairness – in admissions policies, for children with special educational needs, and in championing educational excellence in all schools, including
Free Schools and Academies.

You can read more about the white paper – and you can watch the video below about the pupil premium.

As part of the consultation process, you can send your views on the white paper to: schoolswhitepaper.team@education.gov.uk. If you have friends or family working in education, please foward this email so they can get involved.

The Liberal Democrats are delivering in Government the fair start for children we promised.

Sarah Teather MP
Minister of State – Department for Education

Labour failed miserably on welfare. During their 13 years in office the welfare bill rose by 40% to £87bn. Under their system people moving into work can still lose more than 90% of every pound they earn: a punitive tax on the shoulders of the poor.

The welfare system should not be judged on how much money is spent on it, but on how much of a difference it makes to people’s lives. We will return the welfare system to its historic mission, as articulated by the great Liberal William Beveridge, to offer security but not ‘stifle incentive, opportunity and responsibility’.

Poverty plus a pound is simply not an ambitious enough goal.

That is why the plans we are announcing today will remove artificial disincentives to work. It must always be worth working, even for a few hours. Taken together our welfare reforms should reduce the number of workless households by 300,000 within three years of implementation. And of course any fair system must include power to use sanctions, so we are giving JobCentre advisers the powers to ensure that there are appropriate and measured steps that can be taken against the small minority who persistently refuse genuine opportunities to work or to train to get the skills to work.

Making welfare work and making it fair is a key test for any government. We are determined to ensure that a government of which the Liberal Democrats are a part passes that test.

Nick Clegg MP
Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Steve Webb MP
Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions