Martin Redbond

The Government expects Council rents to reach the same level as in the private sector within ten years. However this year they have extended the timescale to 2015/16 enabling Mid Suffolk District Council if it wished to restrict the increase to 5.3%. However, at today’s Executive Committee, the Conservative led Executive without Liberal Democrat support have voted to push ahead with a 6.4% increase which they estimate will give the Council some £100,000 to spend on housing repairs. Garage rents are to increase by 5.0%.

The hot news is the decision by the Suffolk County Council Conservative Administration to put its controversial incinerator in Great Blakenham. No other options for sites have been released and the Council now intends to consult with the public. Given the Conservatives record on consultations in the last few years they are very unlikely to listen to what local people actually think about this. The decision to build an incinerator also co-incides with Council’s decision to delay its ‘aspirational’ target of a 60% recycling and composting rate for Suffolk to 2015 set under the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JMWMS) of the Suffolk Waste Partnership. This was originally to be achieved by 2010. The Conservatives are now focusing their attention on a tired technology at a time when the national mood is changing towards more green, innovative technologies for waste disposal and increased recycling. The disadvantages of building an incinerator include pollution of the environment and increased threats to the health of people living in Suffolk. Such a facility will also act as a dis-incentive to investing in recycling and will cost an estimated £500 million. Campaigners in Hull, Norfolk and many others parts of the country have successfully fought against incinerators. Watch this space.

The Government announced in December that it was not minded to accept Ipswich’s Unitary Bid in its present form. The Secretary of State has since asked the Boundary Committee for advice on and the rest of the county to see if there are alternative options for Unitary Councils including solutions that may cross the existing Norfolk/Suffolk border.  Although unexpected this provides an opportunity to look at a number of options. On the assumption that any proposal over 200,000 population would meet the affordability and value for money criteria it is proposed a range of different options are to be examined. This issue will be discussed by Suffolk Liberal Democrats on 9 January and by Mid Suffolk’s Full Council on 10 January. I have been giving a great deal of thought about local government over the holiday period and will be seeking the views of the electorate in my ward during the coming round of Parish Council meetings.

I was extremely pleased that my choice for the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg was elected, albeit by a small majority. Today Nick has revealed his Shadow Cabinet team to carry the party’s message throughout the country. The reshuffle sees promotions for many of the party’s talented younger MPs and a focus on issues that matter to people, such as delivering high quality public services, inequality, families and taking power back from Whitehall.

The Shadow Cabinet has also been grouped into teams such as Economy and Business; Home Affairs; and Public Services with an MP taking the lead in each area. Key appointments include Chris Huhne as Shadow Home Secretary and Ed Davey as Shadow Foreign Secretary. Nick said he was hugely excited by the new team because it demonstrates the vast talent in the Liberal Democrat party.

At today’s Mid Suffolk District Council’s Executive Committee meeting Liberal Democrats made a number of alternative budget proposals that will help the Council to achieve its corporate objectives in 2007/08. “These proposals will also increase the Council’s engagement with local communities as well as its Parish Councils and Town Councils”, said Lib Dem Group Leader Penny Otton.

We are particularly anxious to improve the Council’s engagement with young people which is currently lacking in motivation and imagination. We have proposed that the Council sets up a Youth Council and introduces a series of Dragons Den style events in each of the District’s High Schools. This will give young people the opportunity to bid for funds and to become involved in rewarding community projects. Penny Otton also said that the Council must work more closely with local communities. “We are in favour of setting up area forums that will give people the opportunity to say what they want. We would also like  to introduce locality budgets that Councillors will be able to spend in their wards in consultation with the people they represent.”  

The Liberal Democrats are also calling on Council officers to showcase energy saving technologies and promote available advice and grants. It is time that the Council led the way on issues relating to climate change. We are proposing that the council runs a number of ‘Green Day’ events throughout the District.  

Penny Otton also said that the Council should be taking more action on minimising packaging waste, recycling and car sharing schemes. “Liberal Democrats want the Council to work together with local retailers to remove plastic bags from the District and are proposing that reusable shopping bags, sponsored by local businesses, should be made available to the public”.  

We also proposed a campaign to remove chewing gum from the streets of Stowmarket and are promoting  the idea of Green Gyms that are already running elsewhere in the country. These are designed to inspire people to improve their health and the environment through practical conservation projects. Green Gyms  will provide the public with a healthy alternative to the Leisure Centre and will give vulnerable people opportunities for social contact and to develop new skills.

Ipswich’s bid to become a unitary authority leaving the rest of the county to function as two-tier (District and County) has stalled. Having given approval in the summer the Department for Communities & Local Government has now declared that the proposal from Ipswich has not yet demonstrated conclusively that it is financially sound when based on current boundaries. There are suggestions that it is the Prime Minister himself who has taken this decision.The proposal will now be referred to the Boundary Committee, who will look at the case for a unitary Ipswich, perhaps a Greater Ipswich and new proposals for the rest of the county including possible cross-border arrangements between Norfolk and Suffolk. Local governance in Suffolk is clearly back in the melting point and uncertainty once again reigns.

A unitary is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area. Typically unitary authorities cover towns or cities but may also be counties or parts of counties considered large enough to function independently. The Government has confirmed the go ahead for unitary authorities based on Cornwall, Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire.