Lib Dems delivering for Britain. Part 6.Your family

Lib Dem manifesto p.49

We will protect existing childcare support arrangements until the nation’s finances can support a longer term solution: a move to 20 hours free childcare for every child, from the age of 18 months”

We have extended 15 hours free early education to all disadvantaged two year-olds, while keeping the free offer of 15 hours early education for every three and four year-old. We will be spending £300m more on this by the end of the Parliament

Lib Dem manifesto p.52

“We will offer a week’s respite for the one million carers who spend 50 hours every week looking after a sick relative.”

Paul Burstow has made over £400m available in additional funding over the next four years to provide a week’s respite care to the almost 1m carers who work over 50 hours a week.

Sarah Teather also recently announced £800m investment in short break provision for disabled children and their families.

Lib Dem manifesto p.50

“Maintain the commitment to end child poverty in the UK by 2020.”

This commitment has been maintained.

Lib Dem manifesto p.50

“Enhance child protection. We will enforce the publication of an anonymised version of Serious Case Reviews to ensure that lessons are learned.”

Serious Case Reviews, including that of Baby Peter, have been published.

Lib Dem manifesto p.52

“Scrap compulsory retirement ages, allowing those who wish to continue in work to do so.”

The government has announced it is ending the compulsory retirement age.

Lib Dem manifesto p.54

“We will stop private sector wheel-clamping.”

Lynne Featherstone has announced that wheel-clamping on private land will be banned.

Lib Dems delivering for Britain. Part 5. Your life: culture and sport

Continuing our series of the Lib Dem manifesto in practice

Lib Dem manifesto p.44

“We will maintain free entry to national museums and galleries and open up the Government Art Collection for greater public use.”

We have maintained free entry to national museums and art galleries, and Government Art Collection works are to be shown in a public gallery for the first time.

Lib Dem manifesto p.46

“Use cash in dormant betting accounts to set up a capital fund for improving local sports facilities and supporting sports clubs”

Don Foster is currently conducting a review into dormant betting accounts, due to report soon.

Lib Dems delivering for Britain. Part 4.Your life: health

Part 4 of our series on the Lib Dem manifesto in practice

Lib Dem manifesto p.41

“Integrate health and social care to create a seamless service, ending bureaucratic barriers and saving money to allow people to stay in their homes for longer rather than going into hospital or long-term residential care”

Around 35,000 people will benefit from a £70m cash boost announced by the Coalition that will enable the NHS to support people back into their homes after a spell in hospital.

Lib Dem manifesto p.40

“We will…scrap Strategic Health Authorities”

The government white paper on health states that we will scrap Strategic Health Authorities.

Lib Dem manifesto  p.43

“Giving every patient the right to choose to register with the GP they want, without being restricted  by where they live.”

The NHS white paper states that we will give every patient a clear right to choose to register with any GP practice they want with an open list, without being restricted by where they live.

Lib Dem manifesto  p.41

“We will prioritise dementia research within the health research and development budget”

The Treasury confirmed in October that this commitment on dementia research will be prioritised within health research and development. Paul Burstow is now personally overseeing this commitment through his role as Chair of a Ministerial Advisory Group by ensuring that dementia researchers get a fair share of the £1.7bn research fund. Plans will be published in the New Year to accelerate the pace in this vital area of research.

Lib Dem manifesto  p.41

“We will improve access to counselling for people with mental health problems, by continuing the roll-out of cognitive and behavioural therapies”

The spending review included funding to expand access to talking therapies, including those with severe mental illness, and for the first time children and adolescents. We have already committed £70m this year to give more people the opportunity to access talking therapies. This funding will help tackle the devastating human cost of mental health by ensuring that the right action is taken early in people’s lives. By March 2011, services will be offered to around 60% of the country, increasing to 100% by 2014.

Lib Dems delivering for Britain. Part 3. Your life: education

The Liberal Democrats’ manifesto in practice. More actions on our May pledges..

Lib Dem manifesto p.34

“We will increase the funding  of the most disadvantaged pupils, around one million children. We will invest £2.5bn in this “Pupil Premium” to boost education opportunities for every child.”

The government has delivered on the key Liberal Democrat pledge of a £2.5bn pupil premium to bring extra funding to the most vulnerable students.

Lib Dem manifesto p. 34

“We will improve discipline  by early intervention to tackle the poor basic education of those children who are otherwise most likely to misbehave and become demotivated.”

The schools white paper introduced simple reading checks at age 6, designed to stop young children falling behind in basic skills which go unnoticed until it is too late and therefore contribute to bad behaviour.

Lib Dem manifesto p.35

“We will confront bullying, including homophobic bullying, and include bullying prevention in teacher training.”

The schools white paper specifically states that we will expect teachers and head teachers to take a strong stand on homophobic bullying. It sets out plans to rationalise and simplify anti-bullying guidance from a fragmented 500 pages to around 20 pages. It also commits to working with NGOs  such as Stonewall and the Anti-Bullying Alliance to promote best practice and make sure that schools know where to go to get support.

Lib Dem manifesto p.34

“We will…support the expansion of Teach First to attract more top graduates into teaching.”

The government has announced plans to expand the Teach First scheme. It also announced a new Teach  Next programme to encourage more mature entrants into teaching.

Lib Dem manifesto p.34

“We will improve teacher training by increasing the size of the school-based Graduate Teacher Programme… we will improve training for existing teachers over the course of their careers to keep them up to date with best practice.”

We have announced plans to expand the Graduate Teacher Programme.

Lib Dem manifesto p.34

“Axe the rigid National Curriculum, and replace it with a slimmed down ‘minimum curriculum entitlement’ to be delivered by every state funded school.”

The schools white paper announced that both primary and secondary national curriculums will be reviewed and slimmed down to become a national benchmark of the knowledge and concepts children should be expected to master in core subjects at each key stage. It will be designed so that parents can hold schools to account for what their child has learned.

Lib Dem manifesto p.36

“Reform league tables to give parents more meaningful information which truly reflects the performance of a school. Schools should be working to get the best from all their pupils but government league tables are forcing them to focus on those who are just above or just below the key “C” grade borderline.”

Under government proposals, performance tables will include a measure of how well pupils progress  as well as attainment. All of the information that underpins government statistical tables will be published for each school, and DfE will publish ‘families of schools’ documents that group similar schools in a region, and provide detailed performance information that can be used to identify best practice.

Lib Dem manifesto p.38

“Reform the existing rigid national pay and conditions rules to give schools and colleges more freedom.”

The schools white paper announced that we would give schools greater flexibility and freedom to set pay.

Lib Dem manifesto p.35

“We will replace the bureaucratic Early Years Foundation Stage with a slimmed-down framework which includes a range of educational approaches and enough flexibility for every young child.”

Dame Clare Tickell has been commissioned to review how the curriculum of the Early Years Foundation Stage prepares all children for school, reporting in Spring 2011.

Lib Dem manifesto p.37

“Introduce an Education Freedom Act banning politicians from getting involved in the day-to-day running of schools.”

The schools white paper introduced this year addresses many of our concerns, removing much of the centralised and stifling bureaucracy imposed by Labour. Every school will have more autonomy, but the white paper also includes provision for local authorities’ strategic oversight.

Lib Dem manifesto p.40

“We will end Train to Gain funding for large companies, restricting the funds to the small and medium-sized firms that need the support.”

The government has announced that it will end Train to Gain and replace it with an SME-focused programme to help small employers train low-skilled staff.

Lib Dems delivering for Britain. Part 2. Your job

Lib Dem manifesto p22

“We will break up the banks, to ensure taxpayers are never again expected to underwrite high-risk banking. We will introduce a Banking Levy so that banks pay for their tax-payer guarantee until the break-up is complete”

We have set up an independent commission on separating investment and retail banking, reporting by September 2011, and introduced a banking levy that will raise £2.5 bn a year

Lib Dem manifesto p.24

“To help the transition to a green economy over the longer term, we will set up a United Kingdom Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) to attract private finance”

The creation of a UK-wide Green Investment Bank will be funded by £1 bn spending allocation and additional proceeds from the sale of Government-owned assets. The Bank will encourage significant additional investment in green infrastructure.

Lib Dem manifesto p.26

“Support public investment in the roll-out of superfast broadband, targeted first at those areas which are least likely to be provided for by the market”

The Government has published an action plan, “Britain’s Superfast Broadband Future”, announcing an £830 m strategy to put a digital hub in every community, making sure the UK has the best broadband in Europe by 2015.

Lib Dem manifesto p.28

“Give both the Royal Mail and post offices a long-term future, by separating Post Office Ltd. from the Royal Mail and retaining Post Office Ltd. in full public ownership.”

The Postal Services Bill is curently passing through Parliament. It allows for the restructuring of Royal Mail, including the introduction of private sector capital and expertise from the sale of part of it, an employee share scheme, and provisions for Post Office Ltd. to continue to be owned by the Crown or a mutual ownership structure.

Lib Dem manifesto p.30

“We will extend the right to request flexible working to all employees”

We have put in place secondary legislation to extend the right to request flexible working to parent of children up to age 18 and are consulting with busines on shared parental leave and extension of flexible working to all employees.

Are the Lib Dems really “delivering for Britain”?

Well see for yourself!

The Liberal Democrats have been in government for only eight months, but we have already implemented many of our manifesto policies.

We are serialising a list of these policies and what we are doing to make them happen. The list does not  include those of our policies that are in the coalition agreement but have not yet been implemented – so this list is just the first part of a long line of Liberal Democrat policies to come.

The document is a striking illustration of the influence the Liberal Democrats are having in government.

We shall publish the 66 pledges on which we have taken action so far in the following order and on the following days, as there are too many to publish in one go!

Thu 30 December – Your Money

Fri 31 December – Your Job

Sat 1 January – Your Life

Sun 2 January -Your Health

Mon 3 January – Culture and Sport

Tues 4 January – Your Family

Wed 5 January – Your World

Thu 6 January – Your Community

Fri 7 January – Your Say

Lib Dems delivering for Britain: Part 1. Your Money

Lib Dem Manifesto p.18

“We will increase the income tax threshold to £10,000”

In June’s emergency budget, we raised the tax threshold by £1,000, lifting 880,000 low earners out of tax completely. This will increase each year of the coalition government until it reaches £10,000, which will lift an additional 3 million people out of tax altogether

Lib Dem manifesto p.14

“We will tackle tax avoidance and evasion, with new powers for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs”

In September, Danny Alexander announced a £900m crackdown on tax avoidance and evasion, expected to raise billions each year by 2014/15 from those who currently avoid paying their fair share of tax.

Lib Dem manifesto p.14

“We will tax capital gains at the same rates as income, so that all the money you make is taxed in the same way”

In June’s emergency budget we increased the rate of Capital Gains Tax to 28% for higher rate taxpayers while keeping it at 18% for basic rate taxpayers. This will raise an extra £1bn and end the disgraceful situation of bankers paying a lower rate of tax than their cleaners.

Lib Dem manifesto p.18

“We will immediately restore the link between the basic state pension and earnings. We will uprate the state pension annually by whichever is the higher of growth in earnings or 2.5%”

The link between pensions and earnings, scrapped by Margaret Thatcher, was restored in the Coalition’s first budget. The annual increase in the state pension will be protected by a ‘triple lock’ – the rise will be in line with earnings, prices, or a 2.5% increase, whichever is the greater.

Lib Dem manifesto p.17

“We will pay down the deficit by saying no to the like-for-like replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system”

There will be no like-for-like replacement of Trident this Parliament.

Lib Dem manifesto p.16

“We will scrap ID cards”

We have scrapped the ID card programme.

Lib Dem manifesto p.18

“We will give people control over their pension by scrapping the rule that compels you to buy an annuity when you reach age 75”

The Government announced in the Emergency Budget that it will end the effective requirement to purchase an annuity by age 75 from April 2011.

Lib Dem manifesto p.18

“Meeting the government’s obligations towards Equitable Life policy-holders who have suffered loss. We will set up a swift, simple, transparent and fair payment scheme”

We have agreed a deal on Equitable Life which is fair to policy owners and the tax payer. This will finally bring an end to a terrible saga which Labour wouldn’t resolve.

Consultations affecting our ward

I don’t know about you, but I’m finding it tricky to keep up with all the consultations that are happening at the moment, especially as many are online and can be easily overlooked!

A pre-application briefing has been sent to residents groups by the University of Oxford relating to a prospective redevelopment of land at their Old Road Campus. A meeting will be held on 20/1/11 by the University with residents’ group reps. There is no application submitted to date, but if you want more details please contact your local residents’ group or get in touch with David or me

The City Council has a number of consultations happening right now. These include:

  1. Parks and open spaces (ends 31 Dec)
  2. Housing strategy (ends 17 Jan)
  3. The budget 2011-2015 (ends 31 Dec)
  4. Implementation of dog control orders (ends 31Jan)

These can all be accessed via the City Council’s consultation page here.

Then there are the County’s consultations!

  1. Draft Local Transport Plan (ends 9 Jan)
  2. Oxford, Headington: Highfield and Old Road Transport Improvements (ends 12 Jan)
  3. County’s 2011/12 budget proposals (ends 10 Jan)

There will be an open meeting for Highfield residents to discuss the revised Highfield scheme on 6 JanuaryThe consultation on whether funding should be discontinued by the County Council for Bury Knowle Library will be held between March and May 2011.

We have called in the decision on increased car parking charges in the Headington District Centre (by double in one case!)  for further scrutiny on 10 January. The paper showing these prospective increases can be accessed here – please click on the link from item 8 to view it. If you have any comments on this document please email either David or me as soon as possible

Recycling and Waste update from Oxford City Council

Subject to there being no more significant snowfall overnight, Oxford City Council plans  to run the following Recycling and Waste service:For those who live on major bus routes that have been gritted and whose normal residual or food waste collection day is Tuesday we intend to run a reduced service where possible.The following services are suspended:

  • garden waste
  • bulky waste (including white goods and fridge freezers)
  • bin and box deliveries
  • co-mingled recycling.

We will be running a limited trade waste collection service within the city centre and major retail areas where possible. We will also, where accessible, provide a collection service to flats.

We will collect clinical waste where possible.

For collections the rest of the week we will confirm the afternoon on the day before they are due to take place whether or not our crews will go out – for instance the decision on whether crews go out on Wednesday will be made on Tuesday afternoon.

Due to the anticipated build up of extra waste in the next few days, where collections have been missed, a reasonable amount of side waste can be put out on collection days. This should be placed out as follows:

  • general/residual waste – black sacks only
  • recycling – either in recycling or cardboard box or clear bags
  • food waste – in extra biodegradable bags or, if not available, please place in normal household waste.

Due to the anticipated build up of extra waste in the next few days, where collections have been missed, a reasonable amount of side waste can be put out on collection days. This should be placed out as follows:-

 

·         General/residual waste – black sacks only

·         Recycling – either in recycling or cardboard box or clear bags

·         Food Waste – in extra biodegradable bags or, if not available, please place in normal household waste

 Roads Maintenance

 Two bulk gritters, complete with snow ploughs, have been working throughout the day on our priority gritting routes in the City to enable the majority of bus routes to continue to operate.

 In addition to the two main gritting routes, additional snowploughs and gritters have been deployed across the City to deal with localised problems.

 The Direct Services Streetscene teams have been re-deployed to clear snow and apply grit to high footfall and shopping areas across the City including the City Centre, Summertown, Headington, Cowley Road and other local shopping areas such as Templar Road, Cherwell Drive, St Nicholas Road, Blackbird Leys Road and Underhill Circus.

 Resources have also been deployed to clear snow and ice from the approaches to health centres including Manzil Way and Dunnock Way.

 We are working closely with the County Council to manage our salt supplies and arrangements are in place to supplement our supplies from the County’s large stock at Drayton.

 Our gritters will commence work at 8pm and will work through the night to cover major routes

 Housing Repairs

 We are currently dealing with a large number of frozen or burst water pipes and loss of heating in Council properties. Our first priority is the elderly and vulnerable but our aim is to get to everyone within our Service Standard of 24 hours for an emergency call.

 Our emergency service is being run using 4×4 vehicles and we have escalation plans in place should the snow arrive this evening.