Government must get its hands dirty and intervene in our broken housing market

The latest figures show that Britain just isn’t building enough houses to tackle the housing crisis – and it’s time for the Government to get their hands dirty and fix the crisis.

Quarterly housebuilding statistics released today by the Department of Communities and Local Government show that just 40,310 were built in the last quarter

They should not be rejoicing when there are still only roughly half the number of homes needed each year actually being built.

There are still millions of people stuck on housing waiting lists or desperately trying to get on the housing ladder, who feel utterly ignored.

The housing crisis will simply not be solved at this rate of building, the Government must get its hands dirty and intervene in our broken housing market.

Britain is suffering at the hands of our broken housing market. There are not enough homes, properties sitting empty, exorbitant prices. The housing market is a closed and exclusive game for monopoly investors.

We would take real action to tackle this crisis – building more than 300,000 homes a year – and if developers won’t build enough, then we think Government should step in and do it for them.

That’s real action to tackle the housing crisis.

Liberal Tour of Manchester

Have you always wanted to know more about Manchester’s Liberal Past?

On October 21st, ALDC is hosting a Liberal Tour of Manchester meeting at 3pm in central Manchester.

Our professional guide will show us around the city centre, giving you a taste of the history, architecture, and culture and showing you the major Liberal sights.

Places are limited so please book at https://www.aldc.org/news/liberal_tour/

Bury Lib Dems at Manchester Pride

Every year, volunteers from the Bury Lib Dems take part in Manchester Pride. The Lib Dems have the longest and proudest record of support for LGBT+ people, and so we have something to celebrate! You can join in – it’s an amazing experience, and you don’t need to be an expert on LGBT+ issues or politics, or LGBT+ yourself.

All you have to do is turn up by 11:30am on Saturday at Castlefield Roman Fort, off Liverpool Road, near Deansgate Station. We’ll have a group photo then, so please be on time, and we’ll set off at noon. We’re already expecting a big turnout, but the more people we have, the more banners we can hold, and the more stickers we can give out to the crowd. The energy from the crowd is fantastic, and it’s a great thing to take part in.

WHEN
August 29, 2015 at 11:30am – 2:30pm

WHERE
Castlefield Roman Fort
Liverpool Road
Manchester M3 4NQ
United Kingdom
Google map and directions

Greater Manchester Spatial Framework – Dates for Next Proposals

Greater Manchester ‘Combined Authority’ has announced the ‘next steps’ in the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework announced. This has been agreed by the Mayor of Greater Manchester, and the ten council leaders, including Bury’s.

Residents will recall that the first proposals set out plans build significant numbers of houses across Greater Manchester – this was for 227,000 new homes in Greater Manchester over the next 20 years. It also included a significant amount of building on protected ‘Green Belt’ land – Bury fared worst, set to lost 20% of its Green Belt, and in Prestwich, Whitefield and Unsworth the loss was nearly 50% of green belt.

According to the announcement from GMCA: “The second draft will take into account concerns raised by some members of the public during the first consultation period, and will aim to make the most of Greater Manchester’s brownfield sites and reduce the impact on greenbelt”. Importantly this doesn’t say ‘no greenbelt’ ….  Residents may remember that before his election, Andy Burnham made clear promises on the GMSF, and said “I would go further and propose that we consider the aim of no net loss of green belt.”

This process will continue in September with the publication of the responses to the initial consultation. This will be followed later in the year by the publication of data and associated sources of information such as population estimates which will help GMCA calculate the requirements for housing and employment.

The second draft of the plan will be developed in the new year, with a view to publish it in June 2018. Following publication of the draft plan, there will be a 12-week consultation with the public. Conveniently this publication date is just AFTER the next set of elections in Greater Manchester, which take place in May 2018…..

Green belt land proposed to be lost across Greater Manchester in the first proposals.

 

 

3.6% rail fare rise is a bitter blow to passengers

Rail commuters in England and Wales will see their fares increase by 3.6% from next year, the biggest annual price hike in 5 years. This is a price rise too far for passengers.

This steep hike to rail fares will be a bitter blow for passengers struggling with overcrowded and unreliable trains including residents in Prestwich and Bury.

This is the biggest annual price hike in 5 years.

The fact that fare rises are soaring above wage increases is another sign that people are losing out from higher inflation since the referendum.

The rises will affect “anytime” and some off-peak fares as well as season tickets in England and Wales.

Rail travel does not represent good enough value for money or provide reliability for customers.

We need to see evidence that this money will be invested in improving infrastructure rather than just lining the pockets of train companies.

Answers to Questions: Reducing Smoking

At Bury’s last Full Council meeting, Lib Dem councillors asked questions on how Bury was performing on reducing the rate of smoking in the borough. Local Councils have responsibility for public health, of which reducing smoking rates is an important part.

We asked following the Public Health England report on smoking rates for 2016, which showed the biggest drop in a decade with the rate falling to 15.5% of the population, a 1.4 percentage point drop from 16.9% the previous year.

For the first time, the figures show that the biggest drop is among younger adults, aged 18-29 years, with smoking rates having fallen by an impressive quarter since 2010. This reverses a long trend, which has seen rates among this younger group stubbornly fall at a lower rate than the overall population.

We wanted to ask how Bury was doing compared to this national picture:

Question: Nationally smoking amongst young people has fallen faster than other groups in the last five years. Could the Leader inform members how Bury compare to the national statistics, and what is the authority doing to achieve an above average smoking reduction in Bury.

Answer: The latest research conducted by Trading Standards North West (2017) indicates that there is a downward shift in levels and perceptions of smoking among young people, reporting that fewer than 5% of children aged eight to 15 in England have smoked – representing the lowest level on record.
According to the report, between 2009 and 2017, the smoking rate in the North West among14-17 year olds has fallen from 22% to 9%. Whilst at present, the Bury cut of data has not been made available, it is interesting to note that Bury had the largest volume of responders to the survey within the NW, so the data is likely to be representative of the trend locally (although this cannot be guaranteed).
The biggest impact on reducing the uptake of smoking by young people has come from measures taken at a national level including:
– Increasing the price of tobacco products
– Plain packaging legislation
– Banning the sale of packs of 10’s cigarettes
– Raising the legal age of tobacco sales from 16 to 18yrs
– The ban on smoking tobacco in cars when accompanied by children The ban on tobacco advertising

There are a number of measures being undertaken locally here in Bury to support the further reduction of smoking rates among young people including:
– E-cigarette guidance and support to refresh smoking policies in schools Pilot program to de-normalise smoking around children in sporting spaces
– Development of an information pack for Primary schools’ use to raise awareness of how children and young people may be targeted with illegal and illicit tobacco.

We asked a follow on question about funding for Smoking Reduction Services, and whether Bury had reduced their spending on this. This followed a report by the charity Action on Smoking and Health that 40% of Councils had reduced their spend.

Answer: Since the council took responsibility for commissioning of Smoking Cessation there has been no overall reduction in funding. We are however working to modernise the service and create an integrated healthy lifestyle service to support people with various aspects of healthy living. So whilst we continue to invest in smoking cessation support there is no longer a separate service identity. In addition to the Healthy Lifestyle service, some pharmacies offer smoking cessation support and our school health service is working with Early Break to deliver smoking education to children and young people.

Part of our locality plan transformation proposals include a proposition to significantly increase the capacity of the Healthy Lifestyle Service and there are GM proposals to invest in a GM wide digital self help offer.

More information on the Public Health England Report here.

Council Starts Consultation on ‘Local Plan’

Consultation on Bury Council’s own ‘Local Plan’ started on 7 August. The Plan will set out housing and employment requirements of the borough for years to come and the need for new infrastructure.

The above is strategic issues outlined in the GMSF. 

The Issues Paper forms part of the Local Plan, which is being drawn up within the context of both national planning policies and policies developed at the Greater Manchester level, including a rewritten Greater Manchester Spatial Framework. Together they will form the key planning documents that will shape sustainable growth and control development for the next decade and beyond.

The plan will only deal with local issues relating to Bury. This is different from the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, which deals with more strategic issues across the conurbation. The hope is that the documents – the strategic framework across Greater Manchester AND the local plan for Bury will happen at the same time. There is no news yet on when the Mayor of Greater Manchester will push forwards on the GMSF, and what changes there will or will not be. 

At the moment the housing numbers for the plan remain the same as the GMSF (12,500 extra houses over the next 20 years), so do doubt dome of the same controversial issues will come up again. There is also a further ‘call for sites’ where people can suggest ideas for housing or industrial development.

The deadline for comments is 2 October, but residents will have further opportunities to have their say on the details of the new Local Plan as it progresses next year.

If you are worried about any issues around the future of our communities – housing, land, green spaces, tranport and local services it is important to have your say.

Details of the Local Plan Issues Paper, including how you can make comments, can be found at http://www.bury.gov.uk/localplan

Mental health discharge waits a “humanitarian disgrace”

One elderly patient had to wait more than three years to be let out of a mental health unit after being declared ready to leave. These figures are a humanitarian disgrace.

Figures on mental health delayed discharges released today are a “humanitarian disgrace”.

The shocking new figures revealed that people have had to wait over a thousand days to be let out of a mental health unit after being declared ready to leave.

Figures by the BBC revealed that patients in Sussex have had to wait more than three years to be moved out of a mental health unit after being declared ready to leave.

This is a humanitarian disgrace which violates the human rights of patients.

Mental health units by necessity are secure so these people have been deprived of their liberty.

There is a failure of the system because people need a home and care within the community, not an institution.

But there is a lack of link up in our public services and this is the result of not spending on patient care while simultaneously wasting money on keeping people in highly expensive institutions where they should no longer be.

Only the Liberal Democrats have set out a comprehensive and positive plan that will deliver a step change in mental health.

This includes ending the under-funding of mental health, new units for children and more professionals at more locations capable of delivering therapies.

 

265% increase in Bury’s Classes with over 30 pupils

Investigations by Liberal Democrat councillors have revealed a shocking 265% increase in the number of class sizes over 30 in Bury’s secondary schools in just one year.

Liberal Democrat councillor Tim Pickstone asked: “Could the Leader update members on the number of secondary school children in Bury who are taught in classes of more than 30 children, and how this compares to previous years?

The answer was: “There are a total of 63 classes of thirty or more pupils spread across all but two of the boroughs secondary schools. There is no statutory limit on KS3/4 class sizes and it is, therefore, a matter for each school to determine. This is a significant increase on last year’s figures of 23 classes in excess of 30 from the same number of secondary schools.”

Councillor Pickstone said: “There might not be a statutory limit to class sizes in secondary schools, but it is not difficult to work out that a larger class size gives children less teacher attention for each child.

Schools across Bury have been forced to reduce staffing – teachers and teaching assistants – largely because costs have increased while funding has not kept up.

Education is a vital part of giving all children the best possible start in life. Lack of money is having an impact on children’s education”.

Kevin Courtney, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers said: “The increase in class sizes over 30 is one of the many consequences of cutting school funding. More and more schools are only able to balance their budgets by cutting staff and forming larger classes. Both primary and secondary schools will be put under increasing budgetary pressures to look at ways to ‘make do’ and the Department for Education recommends increasing class size as a way for schools to save money. The DfE describes this as an ‘efficiency saving’”.

Mental Health plan doesn’t go far enough

Health organisations and the Liberal Democrats have criticised the Government’s announcement on mental health NHS staffing shortages as inadequate.

The Government announced plans yesterday to recruit an extra 5,000 staff into mental health services by 2020-21, but many have critised the existing crisis in filling jobs, and the lack of any new funding to pay for these posts.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb said: “This is a government that is all bark and no bite. We need to be serious about mental health but all this government has done is pluck a number out of thin air. This government has built a reputation for big announcements which then fail to materialise, this has all the markings of another one. Time and again we see bold announcements while services continue to struggle to cope.

Jeremy Hunt called for thousands of extra GPs to be in place by 2020, yet so far he has overseen a shrinking of the workforce. They then quietly dropped the commitment in their manifesto. And now he has already been forced to admit that he hasn’t got the money for his latest plans.”

 


Prof Wendy Burn, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said 570 extra consultants had been promised in the plans.
“You would expect to see a consultant if you had cancer and the same applies for mental health. The biggest challenge to creating robust mental health services is the workforce. I am very supportive of this strategy which starts to tackle that problem.

Janet Davies, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “There is already a dangerous lack of workforce planning and accountability and this report is unable to provide detail on how the ambitions will be met. It is clear the government will need to work hard just to get back to the number of specialist staff working in mental health services in 2010. Under this government, there are 5,000 fewer mental health nurses and that goes some way to explaining why patients are being failed.”