In a turn of events which left opposition councillors, members of the public and the press gasping, the Labour group on Oxford City Council last Monday 16th Feb prevented any debate on their budget proposals in council, and then forced them through on the Lord Mayor’s casting vote. The increase in council tax will be 4.5%, well above the increases in income which most Oxford residents are likely to get this year.

My good friend and Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr David Rundle said: “You have to wonder why Labour were so keen to avoid discussion of their proposals. In recent weeks we have seen them going back on their promises to keep the Peers Leisure Centre open, and on their undertaking to traders in the Covered Market to invest in repairs and improvements. They are saying they will keep the Museum of Oxford open, but have not budgeted enough money for this. What else are they trying to hide?”

As our Finance spokesperson, I added: “We proposed our own alternative budget, setting the Council Tax increase at 2%, which we felt was more reasonable in the present climate. But we still found ways to honour the council’s promises on the Covered Market, and the Museum, and to help community centre users which are going to be squeezed with the new business rates, and the various other local groups who rely on grants from the area committees. Labour seems to have no understanding of what life will be like for people during this recession.”

To see the report in the Oxford Mail, click here.

At the Oxford City Council budget debate on Monday 16th February, the Liberal Democrat group will propose a set of amendments intended to honour undertakings to community groups which the Labour administration’s proposals have abandoned.

Stephen Brown is the Lib Dem finance spokesman and I have said: “We find it unacceptable that Labour should let down those in the city who are most in need of help in these difficult times. The users of our community centres, those in fuel poverty and other financial hardship, and those in fear of crime, are not getting the help from Labour that they deserve. Instead, Labour is proposing a stonking 4.5% increase in Council Tax, which will hit those on low incomes hardest.”

Further: “Last year, the Lib Dems proposed an increase in council tax of 2% for the financial year 2009/10, and we still think that is the right level. We also want to see the council honour its promises to repair the Covered Market, to keep the Museum of Oxford open, and to maintain area grants for the many valuable community initiatives. We also want to correct the serious effects of new business rates on community centres, and to cancel cuts in the budgets for Street Wardens and Social Inclusion initiatives which Labour wants to make.”

Please let Stephen know if you have views on this important issue.

Lib Dems believe that planning decisions should be made as close as possible to the people affected. It is with great satisfaction that the Oxford City Liberal Democrats with support of the other opposition parties have forced the Labour Administration to back down on their proposals to centralise planning decision making powers. Cllr. Stephen Brown emphasised ” this is great news that local accountability will be retained. Back in 2002 LibDems introduced Area Committees, and since then local people have been able to make representations, hear the debate and see decisions being made all within their local area.” He added “I am also convinced that the quality of the decision made by local councillors, who have the knowledge and accountability, is far superior than a centralised system where sometimes important and sensitive decisions can be made by members not familiar with the locality”. More information is available here.

Cllr. Ian Hudspith, the Conservative County Councillor responsible, will attend the next Central South & West Area Committee to receive questions and hear opinions. Although it seems clear no final decisions have been made yet and Transform Oxford is still very much aspirational, it is important that clear messages are sent. The meeting is on Tuesday 10th February at St. Barnabas School, Jericho at 5.30pm.

Please contact Stephen Brown or you County Councillor, Alan Armitage, if you can’t attend and wish to make a comment.

Here is a letter I wrote to the local media this morning.

“What a way to react to the credit crunch! While local people and local businesses are feeling the pinch, Labour in Oxford decide it’s time to hit them with higher taxes.

In the first hit, as hard working people struggle with their bills, they want to raise Council Tax by a full 5% next year and every year after. In the second hit, as retail suffers from the downturn, they want to increase car-parking charges by 15%. Labour seem not to realise that a Council should be helping local people and local businesses out of recession, not kicking them while they are down.

Everyone knows that Oxford’s Council Tax is one of the highest in the country. And everyone knows that that tax is regressive and unfair and hits the most vulnerable in our society the most. The sooner this unfair tax is replaced with a system related to people’s ability to pay the better for us all.

If we can’t axe the tax, let’s do what we can to help people and businesses in these hard times, rather than adding to the troubles. Labour in Oxford needs to wake up to what’s happening around them.”

If you have any views on this important subject please contact me at cllrsbrown@oxford.gov.uk

Yours

Stephen

You are invited to a community exhibition organised by the West End Partnership on Saturday 4th October, between 9.30 am - 1.30pm, at the Long Room, Oxford Town Hall.

The exhibition will provide detailed information about the progress of this proposed renaissance. Members of the partnership between Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council and the South East England Development Agency will be present to answer your questions.

I will also be available in case you wish to raise any questions or issues with me.

A special evening has been arranged for local residents to drop in, meet with representatives from Crisis and the City Council, ask questions and gather information about the development.

Just drop in between 6.30pm and 8.30 pm on Tuesday 23rd Sept at the Wesley Memorial Church, New Inn Hall Street. I hope to meet you there and listen to your views. If you are unable to attend but have any questions you can always contact any one of your LibDem Team.

Following an initiative earlier this year by the then Liberal Democrat administration of the City Council, Oxford has now
been awarded a £2.1 million grant from the government’s Places for Change programme to improve the arts and culture services offered at the Old Fire Station, Gloucester Green.

The building will be refurbished throughout, to create a cutting edge arts-focused community centre. It will include spaces for performances, rehearsals, exhibitions and new social enterprises that will benefit the whole community.

The redeveloped building will also provide a new Skylight centre, operated by Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people. Skylight will be an educational and activity centre for people who want to learn new skills. It will offer creative workshops and formal learning opportunities to help people gain qualifications and find employment.

There are also plans to replace the nightclub with a social enterprise cafe or restaurant which will also offer training and work experience in the hospitality industries, which abound in Oxford. The existing theatre and art gallery will be retained and refurbished and there will be new facilities for community groups to perform and practice.

I have stated publicly that “This is very exciting news for an area of the city so often neglected in the past. Crisis is an excellent charity, and although new to Oxford has a proven record of supporting homeless and vulnerable people in London and Newcastle.”

Consultation with local residents and businesses has already started. Further, “This is a fantastic opportunity and will surely gain local support. No overnight accommodation is being provided. The centre will mainly operate during the day. It will add a buzz to the area”.

I am committed to make this regeneration project a success. Please contact me if you have any questions or interested in supporting this project.

At the last meeting of the full county council, members unanimously agreed to a motion proposed by Lib Dem Cllr Alan Armitage proposing 20 mph speed limits on all non-arterial residential roads in Oxford. A council officers’ report has since proposed how to do this, and the cabinet has agreed to consult on the details of how the 20 speed limits can best be introduced. If no major difficulties emerge, the limits could be in place by May 2009.

Alan said: “this is all about saving lives and reducing injuries in Oxfordshire, where there are an estimated 30,000 road accidents of all types each year. In 2006 – the last year for which there are figures - there were 68 deaths in our county from road accidents, and 304 people suffering ‘Serious’ effects.”

He added: “there is little dispute that cars going at 20 mph have a less catastrophic effect when they hit people, than cars going only slightly faster. Tests indicate that a child hit by a car at 20 mph is killed in something like 5% of cases, this rises to over 30% of cases at 30 mph. Across the county cars speeding in residential areas is one of the top three law-and-order issues for local people.”

STOP PRESS: This report will be discussed on Tuesday 9th September at the Central, South and West Area Committee commencing at 5.30pm at the St. Matthew’s Parish Centre, Marlborough Road. County Councillor Ian Hudspeth, who is responsible for this matter, will be present and answering questions from your Carfax LibDem Team. As always the meeting is open to the public, who may ask questions, but if you are unable to attend do please contact either Alan or Stephen with your views.

Lib Dems on Oxford City Council have welcomed the decision by Oxfordshire County Council to approve a plan for a new recycling facility in North Oxford. This will mean that much of the domestic and commercial waste collected in Oxford will only have to be taken a few miles up the road, instead of being transported to Milton Keynes for sorting and processing, as happens at present. Savings in transport costs, and savings in carbon emissions, will make a big difference to Oxford’s recycling revolution.

Said Lib Dem group spokesman Cllr Chris Scanlan: “This is the first piece of good news we’ve had recently about recycling in Oxford. The Labour administration which took over from the Lib Dems in May has allowed recycling levels to decline every month. They’ve cancelled the weekly food collection pilot which we had found budget for. And they’ve also put off extending the recycling service to flats.”

Added Cllr Scanlan: “The new Material Recovery Facility (MRF) will replace the ugly old grain silo by the A34 next to one of the park-and-rides on the edge of Oxford. It will have the capacity to process non-hazardous waste from commercial, industrial and municipal sources in Oxford and the surrounding area. This is not an incinerator. It is expected to allow very high levels of recycling, approaching 90% for much of the “clean” commercial and municipal waste we will supply to it. Altogether, this is very good news.”

Carfax Ward Cllr Stephen Brown concluded: “This is good news and my colleague County Councillor Alan Armitage should be congratulated on his efforts to get this new facility approved. However, I am very concerned that the Labour administration have delayed the recycling proposals for flats. Please contact me directly if this continues to cause you problems.”