Mental Health Funding A Disgrace – Tim Farron

Some of the most heartbreaking cases we’re supporting are children and their families facing terrible mental health provision.

Now, investigation by the Liberal Democrats finds young people facing mental health conditions are waiting months and as long as three years to receive treatment because of a disgraceful lack of funding from government.

In the North East 6-16 year olds are the hardest hit waiting on average 32 weeks for care, while in parts of London on average 21 weeks. Across Britain nearly 70% of councils have been pressured to cut funding.

LONDON - MARCH 05: Liberal Democrat MP for West Morland and Lonsdale, Tim Farron looks on whilst posing for media on March 5, 2008 in London, England. A number of Liberal Democrat Leaders are preparing to defy the order to abstain in the vote on whether there should be a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

Battling depression, eating disorders, and other serious mental health conditions is incredibly hard and without support can ruin young people’s prospects for their future. Families can be devastated, and they need our support.

Share this, and demand our government step up and finally invest money in proper mental health care:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/children-mental-health-problems-forced-8535976

Massive Reduction in Plastic Bag Use

Plastic bag use has plummeted in England since the introduction of a 5p charge last year, under the previous coalition government.

The number of single-use plastic bags used by shoppers in England has fallen by more than 85%. More than 7bn bags were handed out by seven main supermarkets in the year before the charge but this has been reduced to just over 500m in the first six months after the charge has been introduced.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said:
We always said the test of this policy would be by the amounts of bags that are cut from public consumption and the funds raised for charities – on both these tests this policy has passed.

I want to pay tribute to (Baroness) Kate Parminter who fought tirelessly for this policy and today’s figures are a testament to her. It is down to Liberal Democrats in Government that this policy happened – we announced it at our 2013 conference and we are now seeing what a huge impact it has had.

The facts are simple; single use bags blight our towns and countryside, they trap and suffocate wildlife, and plastic bags take hundreds of years to degrade. These figures show that this policy is starting to stop that.

In Bury the Liberal Democrats worked hard to get the Council to be more proactive in ensuring that the money raised by the sales of 5p bags would end up in local charities such as this scheme which distributes the money raised at Tesco from bag sales.

Openreach Broadband Reforms

The Liberal Democrats believe that Ofcom Openreach “reforms” leave millions with poor or substandard broadband.

BT’s Openreach division, which runs the UK’s broadband infrastructure, should become a distinct company within the BT group, according to regulator Ofcom.

Campaigners said the changes could not come soon enough for the millions of people who have suffered “woeful levels of service from Openreach”.

The media watchdog has resisted calls to split Openreach off entirely.

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Tim Farron, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, has criticised the watchdog Ofcom for “failing to bark” in not forcing BT to sell the division.

Tim Farron said: “It provides a poor service to customers and has been starved of investment. Giving more powers and investment to Openreach is certainly better than nothing but the crucial thing is it will leave millions of customers with poor quality broadband. That is unacceptable in the modern age when the government claims to be creating a digital economy.

“If a watchdog yet again fails to bark, perhaps it is time to put it down.”

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Full Council: Reporting Back

Earlier in the month was the regular meeting of Bury’s ‘Full Council’. This is the full meeting of all 51 councillors which meets five or six times a year. The meeting was a very busy agenda with important debates on Fracking, the EU Referendum and on Hate Crime.

Fracking
The Government last year released ‘licenses’ to private shale gas companies for potential exploration for future fracking sites. These licenses cover much of Bury.

As a planning authority, Bury Council cannot ‘pre-judge’ any future planning applications for fracking, so it would be impossible for councillors to vote against any fracking in Bury. What we did do is take a firm stance on the issue by saying that the Council would not allow fracking on any Council owned land in the borough.

Liberal Democrats are opposed to fracking. We don’t believe its proven as safe, we don’t believe it is what we want to happen to our countryside and we don’t believe it is a sensible future source of energy needs (i.e. it is not renewable). We voted to support the proposal which was then agreed.

EU Referendum
The Council debated the outcome of the EU referendum, and its potential impact on Bury residents. Obviously at this stage it is not clear what the full impact of the referendum vote will be, but some very early impacts have been on the currency, on the job market and investment – all of which will have an impact on local people.

As Liberal Democrats we were very clear that our Party campaigned for a ‘Remain’ vote, and we haven’t changed our opinion since and continue to believe that the country would be better off in the EU.  We do obviously respect everyone’s vote in the referendum, whichever way they voted, and want to support local people through whatever changes happen now.

Hate Crime
The Liberal Democrat group’s motion at the Council was on hate crime. As a country we have seen a very worrying increase in the reports of hate crime – for example this terrible incident in Prestwich only a few weeks ago – since the EU referendum campaign. We are particularly concerned of some of the language and racism used in the campaign by some people and the impact this has clearly had.

Our view is that we must take a firm stand against all hate crime, and the Council must do all it can to ensure that this sort of activity is not acceptable. Our motion was supported by all parties and is now the Council’s policy.

If you really want to you can even watch the debates online here.
Our contribution on the EU is at 2 hours 53 minutes, and on hate crime at 3 hours 13 minutes.

Questions
The Lib Dem group always ask our full quote of questions (nine in total), some of which we will be reporting on separately.

Tim Pickstone asked about the impact on the Government’s proposal to encourage all schools to be academies, and what leadership role the Council was taking to keep Bury’s schools as a close knit ‘family of schools’.

Steve Wright asked about  whether there is going to be sufficient provision in the borough to deliver the Government’s commitment to 30 hours free childcare.

Mary D’Albert asked about the way that Metrolink communicates with passengers when there are significant delays on the network, particularly when the system is operating at maximum (or well over) capacity when there are major events on.

All the papers for the Council meeting are here. Any questions please let us know.

 

 

Lib Dems Slam NHS List Removals

Millions of patients face being dropped by their GP for being too healthy. They will be axed if they have not seen a doctor in five years and fail to respond to two written warnings.The measure is aimed at freeing up space on surgery lists as well as saving public money.

In some areas patients are being written off after just a year. ‘This is an outrageous practice which undermines the principle that people have a right to be registered with a GP,’ said Norman Lamb, the LibDem health spokesman.

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‘It will hit some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, including many who suffer from mental ill health. It should be abandoned forthwith.’

Call for a Permanent Memorial for Victoria Wood

Prestwich Lib Dem Councillor Mary D’Albert has asked Bury Council to consider whether a permanent memorial to the late Victoria Wood would be appropriate in the Borough.

The much loved comedian, singer, writer, actor and director sadly died in April this year. She was born in Prestwich, brought up in Bury and was schooled at Fairfield County Primary and Bury Grammar School for Girls.

 

Mary D’Albert said: “Victoria Wood brought joy and laughter to so many people over so many years. I’m not sure if anyone one place can ‘claim’ Victoria’, but here in Prestwich and Bury we were particularly proud of her.”

“We have asked the Council to speak with Ms Wood’s family, to see whether some sort of permanent memorial might be appropriate. This might be name something in the local area, or an actual physical memorial or some sort. I am sure if needed the community would be happy to fundraise.”

“Obviously I’m biased to Prestwich, but we would need to speak with the family”

The Council Leader’s response was that he would  be very happy to take on board the Councillor’s suggestion and ask the Chief Executive to report back to Members. Apparently early discussions have already taken place with the Arts and Culture officer to look at the possibilities for progressing this. This could include sponsorship or crowdfunding opportunities to enable her many fans to make a contribution.

 

 

Saving Prestwich Arts College – 10 years ago this week

Monday, 18 July 2016, will be the 10th anniversary of saving Prestwich Arts College (and Broad Oak High in Bury) from closure.

The proposals came from (the then Labour-run) Bury Council which had reviewed secondary school provision in the Borough and decided to reduce the number of schools.  It was actually to reduce by three schools, as Coney Green and Radcliffe High merged to become Radcliffe Riverside at the same time.

In Prestwich there was a huge amount of opposition to the proposals. Prestwich Arts College (‘Prestwich High’ to many) was a school which was full, and one which was particularly good about getting extra forward progress for pupils across a wide range of ability. Prestwich residents were rightly concerned that there would be insufficient places for Prestwich children to attend a high school in Prestwich.

There was a great campaign to save the school, led by parents, governors, teachers and the whole school. The team of Lib Dem councillors in Prestwich were very proud to support the campaign and help as much as we could on the Council.

It is great that the school has gone on to prosper and achieve in the last 10 years, and continue to be a good school at the heart of Prestwich.

 

Tim Farron: Calls For A General Election

Just over a year after the last general election, the Conservatives have plunged the UK into chaos with David Cameron gambled with the country on Brexit, and now a Tory leadership election has turned into a coronation.

It is simply inconceivable that Theresa May should be crowned prime ministerwithout even having won an election in her own party, let alone the country. I believe there must be a general election. I thought it when Gordon Brown became prime minister and I think it now. The Conservatives must not be allowed to ignore the electorate, particularly now their mandate is shattered and whatever programme May offers can’t look like the platform she stood on in 2015.

Britain needs a strong, united and effective opposition and I believe the Liberal Democrats can provide it.

In an early election the Liberal Democrats will set out an optimistic, positive plan for Britain. We will stabilise the economy, improve education, deliver a new deal for our NHS, restore the green agenda, and secure Britain’s place at the heart of Europe.

 

Theresa May  should show leadership and tell the Queen when she visits Buckingham Palace this week that there will be an election in due course. Because the case for an early election is overwhelming.

Some people have raised the Fixed Term Parliaments Act as an obstacle to an election, but I don’t buy that argument.

The act wasn’t intended to allow the undemocratic appointment of a new prime minister, which is exactly why it contains provisions to dissolve parliament early. If May is canny, she will want to call one to secure her own mandate – not least because Labour is providing no credible opposition at all. The party’s obsession with its own divisions has allowed the Conservatives to go unchallenged. It is telling that Jeremy Corbyn has been utterly silent on the subject of an early election, despite the fact it is what the country needs.

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If May wants a general election, the Fixed Term Parliament Act allows her to put a motion to parliament calling for one, which would require the backing of two-thirds of MPs for it to succeed. Liberal Democrats would back such a motion – the question is whether Labour and the SNP will join us in doing so.

The Conservatives’ record in government over the past 12 months, without the Liberal Democrats, has been poor. The economy has weakened due to the massive constraints placed upon it by the conspicuously absent chancellor, and the stability they promised, now so desperately needed, has not been delivered.

Just 0.0003% of people in the UK have backed May as their new prime minister. That’s the 199 MPs who voted for her over her leadership rivals. The person that triggers Article 50, which leads us out of Europe, has to have a clear direction from the country, even if under our outdated and inadequate first past the post system that may be difficult to achieve.

The United Kingdom is now in uncharted waters. We face big decisions on how Brexit should look, on Tata steel, on the economy, our public services and foreign conflicts like Syria and Libya. We cannot anoint someone who has not explained their position on any of these – saying “Brexit means Brexit” is not a plan, it is a vacuous phrase.

I urge Theresa May to recognise that, and to put the interests of the people first, ensuring that the next government has a democratic mandate.

In 2007, the then opposition leader David Cameron demanded Gordon Brown take his premiership to a vote; “Gordon Brown doesn’t have the mandate, he wasn’t elected as prime minister, and he should go to the country.” May herself ridiculed Brown for “running scared”. As someone who campaigned alongside me for remain, but must now deal with the consequences of leave, May should appreciate that there is at least as much at risk today as there was nine years ago.

We should not let fears of election fatigue prevent us from arguing what is in the best interests of the country. In 2015, just 36.9% of people elected the government of today, a government that took us into the referendum, and out of Europe. With the recent campaign having caused so much bitterness, the electorate needs its politicians to give them the opportunity to elect a government that will work towards eliminating the divisions that have been revealed and reinforced.

British politics is in turmoil. Our country risks fragmentation, and those of us who believe in the United Kingdom should do everything we can to avert this course.

May has the power to bring a motion to parliament requesting an early election, and to present her vision of the Britain’s future to the 40 million or so people who make up our country’s electorate.

That is certainly more just than leaving it in the hands of less than two-thirds of the Tory MPs sitting in the Palace of Westminster.

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Source:  Guardian

Saying NO to Hate Crime

Liberal Democrats in Bury are giving a very clear message that there is no place for hate crime in our local community.

Regrettably, there has been a significant increase in hate crime reported to the police since the European Referendum result. Whatever our views on the referendum, we would hope all local people would join us in condemning violence and intimidation against people – for example people who are not from this country.

We are supporting Amnesty International campaign against hate and have submitted a motion for consideration by Council. We are hoping for all-Party Support and that this will become the policy of the Council:

Hate Crime and Tolerance
– This Council notes with concern the increase in hate crime (57% increase by 27 June 2016) following the outcome of the EU Referendum.
– Council restates that we are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society. Racism, xenophobia and hate crimes have no place in our country.
– Council condemns racism, xenophobia and hate crimes unequivocally. We will not allow hate to become acceptable.
– Council reassures all people living in Bury that they are valued members of our community.
– Council resolves to work to ensure local bodies and programmes as needed to fight and prevent racism and xenophobia.

Liberal Democrat Party Leader Tim Faron said:
“We must send the message that racist thugs cannot get away with intimidating any of the diverse communities of the UK. One of Britain’s great strengths is its mix of cultures, and despite the referendum result we must ensure that all citizens are made to feel safe.”

Report it!
If you do encounter or experience Hate Crime, it is very important that this is reported to the police (except in an emergency call 111). It is important that we know the true figure of crime so that the police can take action appropriately.