Council graffiti response “woefully inadequate” say local Lib Dems

Local Councillors have reacted with anger after another spate of graffiti in Prestwich, and are calling on the Council to take immediate action to clean up the mess.

Cllr Vic D’Albert, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Holyrood ward and Chair of Prestwich Local Area Partnership said “I am disgusted that vandals continue to bring misery to local people by daubing our streets with graffiti. And I am equally angry with the Council’s woefully inadequate response. This has been going on for too long now, and it’s about time action was taken. The Local Area Partnership and the Police are already using very tight resources to try to manage this problem, but the Council need to take action now to help us and clean up the streets”

Liberal Democrats at Bury Town Hall have been campaigning for action for months. At a Council meeting in February they staged a demonstration displaying photographs of graffiti which has blighted Prestwich for months. The Council have offered graffiti kits for residents and businesses, but have so far directed no extra resource to clear up a problem which is getting worse.

Lib Dem spokesperson for Environmental Service Cllr Ann Garner said “The graffiti is on everything from streets signs to walls, and from utility buildings to business property. Graffiti kits are not a suitable solution except in limited circumstances. The Council have the power to insist that utility companies clean up graffiti on their property, and need to direct real efforts into cleaning it from their own property. I am proud of what Prestwich has to offer, and it is being ruined by graffiti which goes uncleaned for months.”

Cllr D’Albert concluded “We need to work together on this. Prestwich Councillors are doing their bit by leading the community fight. The Police did their bit by catching offenders, and we are supporting them to try to catch the latest offenders. But the Council are letting us down. They need to take action to clean up Prestwich now. “

Ends

Notes to Editor
Cllr Vic D’Albert is the Chair of Prestwich Area Partnership and is a Councillor for Holyrood Ward in Prestwich
Cllr Ann Garner is the Lib Dem Spokesperson on the Environment and is a Councillor for Sedgley Ward in Prestwich

Liberal Democrats on Bury Council are “ashamed” of the treatment of Council staff in the recent Pay and Grading review, according to Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Tim Pickstone.

Cllr Pickstone, speaking at the meeting of Bury Council on February 4th, said “In all honesty, I was ashamed of the review. I was ashamed that that staff were sent letters saying that their salary would drop – only to be sent new letters a couple of months later saying that the rates would fall even more, and ashamed that staff were sent dismissal letters giving over the Christmas holidays, and then saw them withdrawn because of a lack of consultation.”

The Liberal Democrats supported a motion of no confidence in the Conservative Leader of the Council, Cllr Bob Bibby. But Cllr Pickstone said “It is true that the Conservatives run the Council and must take much of the blame for this calamity, but there has been a breakdown in relations between the Council and its staff representatives, and in my view the Labour Party must also take their share of blame because they were in control of the Council when this started.

Liberal Democrat spokesman for Resource and Performance, Cllr Richard Baum said “The Council has not been at its best whilst the Conservatives have been running this process. The Tories made a mockery of the scrutiny process by bending the rules around how decisions are overseen by the Council, and have consistently refused offers of help from other parties to try and work this out.”

Liberal Democrats in Bury have given their backing to plans for investment in green schemes that will make homes warmer, cut energy bills and improve public transport.

The plans, called Green Road out of Recession, were announced on 18th December by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg MP. 

The plans will cost £12.5bn, which would be paid for by scrapping the recent VAT cut. The vast majority of that money will be spent immediately, making a real impact on the economy and people’s lives right away. 

• A five-year programme to insulate every school and hospital, with 20% completed in the first year

• Funding insulation and energy efficiency for a million homes, with a £1,000 subsidy for a million more

• Building 40,000 extra zero-carbon social houses

• Buying 700 new train carriages

• Installing energy and money saving smart meters in every home within five years

“The plans proposed by Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats will give an immediate boost to the economy here in Bury,” said Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Bury South“. And by insulating people’s homes, it will help thousands of residents whose heating bills have gone through the roof in the past year.

 “I would particularly welcome the widespread introduction of smart meters in homes which would prove a massive boost to the increasing numbers of residents suffering from fuel poverty across the area.” 

Richard Baum, Parliamentary spokesperson for Bury North also welcomed the proposals adding, “Whilst Labour and the Conservatives are quietly dropping serious interest in tackling climate change and damage to the environment, Liberal Democrats believe that moving forward with green action on homes and transport will create jobs, cut energy bills, put money back into people’s pockets and protect the environment. It’s right for Britain and it’s right for Bury”.

The Liberal Democrats have consistently been ahead of the game on economic issues. Here is a list of ten things we called for first, and which have now either been implemented or taken on board by at least one of the other two main parties.

• Northern Rock nationalisation – it was clear to us that this was unavoidable in November last year. It took the Government until February to act.

• Independence of the Bank of England – longstanding Lib Dem policy. First Labour implemented it, over Tory opposition. Now even the Tories support it.

• Recapitalisation of the banks – Vince Cable was the first politician to call for this. Three days later the Chancellor announced that this would be going ahead.

• Tackling the bonus culture – in May we were the first party to put forward proposals for tackling the harmful bonus culture in the financial sector. By the autumn, ministers and the Tory leadership had realised the situation was indefensible and changed their tune..

• Regulation of ‘sale and rent back’ agreements – this was part of our ‘7 point plan’ for dealing with personal debt, launched in September 2003. The Government announced on 22nd October this year that they were finally looking into this.

• New court guidance to make repossession a ‘last resort’, obliging lenders to exhaust all alternatives first – another measure in the Government’s 22^nd October announcement that the Lib Dems had been calling for for more than six months.

• Changes to capital adequacy laws to require banks to hold more capital in periods of boom and less in recession – we called for this back in January 2003. Now the Conservatives back it too.

• Ban on short selling of financial stocks – Vince Cable urged this on September 16th (having also raised the issue in July). The Government did not act until three days later, once the Americans had announced restrictions.

• National network of financial advice centres – since 2003 we have been calling for a network of local and generic financial advice, particularly for those on lower incomes, funded by a levy on the financial services industry. Earlier this year the Tories announced their support for this too, using almost exactly the same language.

• Curbs on irresponsible lending – a commonplace sentiment now, but we called for “the publication by the Government of strict measures for responsible lending, which lenders must be required to observe” back in September 2003.

Liberal Democrats in Bury last week called on Council to help Bury residents through the credit crunch, suggesting new measures for local families and
businesses.

In a motion to the Council which was passed unanimously on November 5th, the Lib Dems noted the rise in local unemployment, the fall in local house prices and the threat to the survival of well-run and established businesses induced by the credit crunch and the economic slow down.

In response to rising fuel and food bills, the Lib Dems also called on the Council to do more for those on low and fixed incomes.

The Lib Dem motion called on the Council to boost help for local residents, in particular to work with the voluntary sector to boost the amount of help available to local people on debt and financial matters.

Lib Dem spokesman for Resource and Performance, Councillor Richard Baum, who proposed the motion, said “The Council should be working closer with agencies like the Citizens Advice Bureau. There are no branches in the town centre or the north of the Borough, and we call on the Council to fix that, whilst at the same time working hard to
improve and expand the services we already offer such as benefits advice, and providing more affordable housing.”

The motion also called for more help for businesses. Lib Dem group Leader Cllr Tim Pickstone said “Our motion called for a reduction in the time taken to pay invoices from small local businesses. I am glad that the Council have agreed to do this. But they need to do more. We need to give help with businesses struggling to pay their business rates, and invest more in improving the local environment to make it more attractive to shoppers and to boost trade.”

The Council agreed to adopt all of the Lib Dem proposals which will also see enhanced partnership working across the area to allow Bury residents better options and more help during the current financial difficulties.

LIBERAL Democrats in Bury have called for a cut in income tax for people on low and middle incomes to help them beat the recession. 

“Inflation is at its highest for years,” said Vic D’Albert, Parliamentary spokesperson for Bury South. “Residents of Bury are struggling with rising fuel and housing costs. They need money in their pockets now. 

“Liberal Democrats are calling for a cut in income tax of 4p in the pound. It will be paid for by closing the loopholes used by the most wealthy to avoid paying tax. And we will increase the level of tax on the most polluting activities. 

“Too many people are faced with the appalling prospect of either eating properly or heating their homes. Action is needed now to help residents of Bury who are struggling with rising prices. 

“Many residents on low incomes are paying more in tax following the government’s decision to double the starting rate of income tax to 20p in the pound. Though the government was eventually forced to come forward with a package to compensate people for the tax increase, many are still worse off. 

“Cutting income tax will therefore give residents and our local economy a boost at a time when it is desperately needed.”