Greater Manchester Councils have confirmed that the next set of proposals for the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) will be published in early January 2019 for an eight-week public consultation. The bad news is that the Government seem to be expecting Councils to go for a higher number of homes than had recently expected which […]

At the most recent full meeting of Bury Council, the Liberal Democrat group of councillors were successful in getting the whole Council to sign up to a principle of building future homes which are ‘fit for the future’. Recently the Government has announced a relaxation of the restrictions on Councils which will hopefully mean that […]

Responding to an official report published today revealing one in eight children and young people aged between 5 and 19 surveyed in England in 2017 had a mental disorder, former Liberal Democrat Health Minister Norman Lamb said: “These troubling figures reveal the true extent of mental health problems among children. The Conservative Government has a […]

Last week was the meeting of Bury Council’s Cabinet, and earlier this week the meeting of the Council’s Audit Committee. Both meetings considered the mid-year financial report for the Council which raise some very concerning issues. Councillor Tim Pickstone was at the Cabinet, Councillor Steve Wright was at the Audit Committee: Both meetings heard that […]

Liberal Democrats in Parliament are backing a cross-party amendment to the Finance Bill to ensure the maximum stake for fixed-odds betting terminals are introduced as planned within six months. Currently the maximum stake for Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals is £100, but the Government’s own review has concluded that this should be reduced to just £2. However […]

Last week was the regular meeting of the Greater Manchester Corporate Issues and Reform Scrutiny Committee. Prestwich Councillor Tim Pickstone represents Bury on the Committee: This months meeting focussed on three issues: Kerslake Report Implementation Following the Manchester Arena attack, an Independent Review of the events and aftermath of the attack was conducted by five […]

Much of the media attention on this week’s budget from the Chancellor was on some of the tax cuts that have been made (or brought forwards one year). These mean that those people who pay income tax will be slightly better off from next April. Whilst this is welcome, the Chancellor failed to grasp some […]

Just to report back on some of the questions that the Liberal Democrat team of Councillors on Bury Council asked at the last Full meeting. Please let us know if you have any comments or ideas for questions in the future. Greater Manchester Spatial Framework There had been significant concern in local councils across Greater […]

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Leader Jo Swinson MP and Vince Cable MP have written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer calling on him to throw his weight behind a new Europe-wide tax initiative on tech giants. This urges Philip Hammond to use the Budget to set out how he will incorporate what is currently […]

Last week was the regular meeting between the Mayor of Greater Manchester (Andy Burnham) and representatives of Liberal Democrat Council Groups across Greater Manchester. Our group leader in Bury, Councillor Tim Pickstone, was at the meeting. Greater Manchester Spatial Framework Residents may have read in the local press that the major ‘Greater Manchester Spatial Framework’ […]