Over 20 million working people will be better off next year after Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government delivered the biggest ever increase in the income tax personal allowance in the Budget.
The massive £3.5bn tax cut for working people delivers:
The biggest ever single uplift in the tax threshold
A personal allowance of £9,205 in April 2013
21 million working people getting an extra £220 tax cut
Brings the total tax cut for basic rate tax payers to £550
Brings the total number of people lifted out of tax to 2 million.
Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have welcomed an independent panel's recommendation that county councillors' pay should remain unchanged.
The move backs up the Liberal Democrats' view that a freeze in councillor allowances is the right decision at a time when jobs and services are being cut.
The Lib Dems are now calling for the £100,000 Conservatives set aside to give themselves a 25 per cent pay rise to be invested in free public transport for 16-19-year-olds seeking employment or education. They will put this in a motion and ask for council support on March 27.
Schools converting to academies in Cambridgeshire have been cashing in at the expense of pupils who need extra help because of their special needs.
The Children and Young People's Scrutiny panel has been told that services will be reduced for disabled children, for young people in care and for those with special needs. An officer report said that 'services will be spread more thinly' and 'lower levels of need will not receive support'. There will also be a reduction in specialist teachers who support primary age children with special needs and a cut in family support packages.
Making good use of the Pupil Premium and accounting for it
Sarah Teather made a welcome announcement just before Christmas: the government is to increase to increase the value of the Pupil Premium from its current level of £480 to £600 and will extend the range of pupils eligible for this extra funding. The amount allocated for services children will also be increased.
A recent Lib Dem Focus castigated Luminus regarding the bungalows at Thongsley and The Whaddons.
This scandal first came to light during the election where Sam Kemp became the youngest councillor in the the County. That was in 2007.
At that time were told by local residents that some of the bungalows had been empty for 2 years. Since then more bungalows have been emptied and remain vacant.
Bungalows are a hugely sought after resource. To leave 20 empty for so long is appalling. Luminus did not immediately drag empty the remaining homes. They let the matter drift on for year, so the bungalows cannot have been dangerously unsafe.
So why didn't they issue short term lets providing short term lets to vulnerable and needy people whilst the company made its preparations for redevelopment?
After years of apparent inactivity shortly after our Focus hit the streets Luminus concluded a deal with the Council to acquire the site. Obviously just a co-incidence. Or is it?
Since the opening of the Guided Bus there are horrendous delays in getting out from St Ives along Harrison Way towards the A14 in the morning. There are similar problems in the evenings going the other way. This has caused acute problems for residents of St Ives as well as those living to the north who need to cross the river on their way to and from work. Tales abound of 45 minute hold ups. These rush hour traffic problems in St Ives are the result of the Guided Bus and the pedestrians crossing Harrison Way. There is a suspicion that the traffic wizards failed to take account of motorists parking in the free Guided Bus car park then walking to town on foot and crossing Harrison Way. Members of your Lib-Dem focus team monitored the situation one morning to quantify the proportion of time that traffic was halted for pedestrians only. Given the number of buses that turned the lights, red pedestrians took up a significant proportion of the limited time that was left. Stagecoach have ordered more buses on the strength of the passenger traffic to date. This could make an already bad situation, worse particularly as there is no effective alternative river bridge within a reasonable distance. This issue requires urgent attention. Pressure has to be put on the County Council to act. So we have asked for the issue to be on the next Town Council agenda.
