Our MP Don Foster has been campaigning against the Whitehall imposed targets that will see Bath and North East Somerset forced to build over 21,000 homes within the next 20 years.  The rate of new home building has slowed significantly, and this target is unachievable as well as unwanted. 

There should be new affordable housing, but it should be local residents and the local Council who are best placed to decide how many homes are appropriate, not the Government.  Liberal Democrats have always believed in letting local people have the final say on local issues.

Don has signed a petition calling on the Prime Minster to scrap the centrally imposed RSS targets.  We hope many local residents would also be interested in signing up to oppose this scheme.  The link is: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SuspendRSS/

Members of B&NES Council’s Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet are proposing an alternative budget this week as the Council begins the process of setting the Council’s budget, spending priorities and Council Tax for the next year.

Budget proposals were made in the first place to the Corporate Performance and Resources O&S Panel, which met on the 2nd Feb 2009.

Councillor Paul Crossley (Southdown), Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, said:

“The Conservative budget is a budget with only limited ambition for our area. It does not seek to solve the pressing problems and issues affecting residents, but rather concentrates on stashing away funds in reserves, building new Council offices at vast expense and delaying essential service improvements.

“We recognize that at these times of uncertainty the Council must cut its coat according to its cloth. We are proposing a lower Council Tax level than the Conservative budget – a 3.25% increase in contrast to the Conservative 3.5% proposal.”

Read the rest of this entry.

Bath MP Don Foster is calling for the Conservative-led Council to live up to its promise in June 2008 to investigate ways of supporting the remaining Post Office network in B&NES. 

Commenting Don said that although our campaign saved two local Post Offices in Bath, more needs to be done to support the remaining Post Offices and to campaign for a new one in the Southgate development. But despite the council’s promise to investigate local opportunities, little has been done.

Councils around the country are looking at ways of using their local Post Offices to deliver council services, advice and support. Liberal Democrats in Leeds use Post Offices to issue school uniform vouchers to parents without bank accounts.  In the Vale of White Horse payments to the Council can be made into local post offices. In Essex the council has even re-opened a Post Office to deliver council services.

Numerous other councils are developing bright ideas. But after six months we understand no independent sub-postmasters in Bath have been contacted by our Council to find out what would most help them. During the closure programme earlier this year we were all delighted to hear that the Council was going to look seriously at offering further Council services through local post offices.  Sadly, Don and we are now left thinking that this was nothing more than a cheap political statement at the time.

Post Offices were big news earlier this year during the closure programme, and everyone wanted to talk about them.  However, now they are off the ‘political radar’ it seems that the Conservatives are hoping that we have all forgotten their promises at the time.  Post Offices, such as our one on Moorland Road, are a vitally important part of the local community, and in this economic downturn independent post offices need help just as much as other small businesses.

Is it too much to ask of the Council for them to come up with at least some ideas within 6 months of what they described as an “urgent review”?  During the closure programme the Tories did little in the campaign to save local post offices in Bath.  Now they are seemingly doing even less.  Clearly the new Conservative motto ‘Doing nothing is not an option’ doesn’t apply here!

Bath MP Don Foster has revealed that small businesses within Bath and North East Somerset are currently missing out on over £1million of small business rate relief. 

Although in Bath and North East Somerset the take-up of the relief is substantially higher than the national average, over 1000 eligible small businesses across the authority are not claiming money they are entitled to.  Any unclaimed money goes back to the Chancellor.

Don said, that he was delighted that the take up of small business rate relief is substantially higher here than the national average. He noted that the Council does a great deal to encourage businesses to claim this relief. However, in the current financial climate, Don has urged all small business to check whether or not they are missing out on this help to cut their costs.

 An independent small business with a rateable value of £5,000 or under is likely to be entitled to have 50% of their business rates refunded.  Many small businesses are able to claim back over £1000 a year. Even business with rateable values between £5,000 and £10,000 can get some help.  Small businesses, such our independent shops on Moorland Road, are an important part of any local economy, and here in Bath we are lucky to have such a high number of independent businesses, they add to the unique flavour of the city.

It is vital that we help our small businesses through the economic downturn, and we want to make sure that they are taking up all the opportunities available to them.  This is why we want to heighten the awareness of this relief and make sure the remaining 30% of eligible businesses start claiming it.