Steven Lambert talking with Police Community Support Officers about crime issues

Liberal Democrats in Aylesbury have set out their General Election plans to put more police on the beat throughout the constituency. The extra officers for Aylesbury will be funded by the savings from scrapping ID cards, and are part of the Liberal Democrats’ Safer Streets – More and Better Police manifesto commitment.

Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Aylesbury said “People in Aylesbury are often telling me how they feel unsafe. Expensive ID cards aren’t going to change that, but an extra officer walking down Elm Farm Road or more police in the Town Centre on a Friday night will. The Liberal Democrats are committed to more police, and this is the only way to create safer streets.”

Recently a Thames Valley Police survey revealed that people would be happy to see their council tax go up to pay for more policing. The Lib Dem policy would negate the need to do this as we would be scrapping large expensive government projects to fund the extra police. With 4189 officers – which increased by 5.5% last year, we have a detection rate of just 24% or 15% arrests per officer.

Steven added “as Aylesbury is set to grow by thousands of homes, we need to make sure we get the police numbers we need. The Lib Dem plans would bring that to fruition along with an elected Police Authority local priorities could be set by local people for the area.”

Commenting at the launch of the nation al policy on 4th February, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said “the Liberal Democrats are the only party that wants to cut crime by putting more police on the street. When only one in a hundred crimes ends up with a conviction in court, it is time for things to change. Labour and the Conservatives may talk tough but they are unwilling to make the crucial decisions to cut crime.”

Arrests and Detections

Police Numbers Per Force

Safer Streets More and Better Police

At a meeting of the full Aylesbury Vale District Council the Tories unveiled their ideas for the 2010/11 budget, they artificially capped the increase in Council Tax to 1.95% or 5p/week, as a result of this temporary measure the following services will be cut:

- Introducing charges for pre-planning advice, this means that you will have to pay to talk to your planning department.

- Making a reduction in the amount of funding to voluntary and community groups, this will hit the most at need in the area, services such as Relate, Citizens Advice Bureau, the Southcourt and Walton Court community project.

- Removing council funding from events such as Parklife and Buckingham Festival Fortnight, this will have a massive effect on tourism, leaving the parish council to pick up the cost if these events are to continue.

- Removing funding from the Reflex Gym in Winslow and the Buckingham Tourist Information Centre, at a time when the local economy needs tourists and the country is facing an obesity crisis these cuts can only cause harm in our area.

District Councillor and Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Aylesbury, Cllr Steven Lambert said, “These cuts particularly to the voluntary groups will have a massive effect on those most in need, the Tories seem to be taking the view that as this section of the population do not vote Tory that it doesn’t matter if they cut the funding, that view is simply unacceptable”.

Cllr Steven Kennell the Liberal Democrat finance spokesman added “The Liberal Democrats asked that a small amount be taken from reserves to allow funding of the voluntary groups to continue, the fact that the Tories voted against this just shows how detached they are from reality, they can afford a new theatre, a new council chamber, but anything that relates to the lives of the people of our area they simply do not get”.

Other measures to fill the hole in the AVDC budget include charging villages for public toilets and an increase in car parking charges. Speaking about the effect on Aylesbury Town Cllr Mark Willis, Town Councillor for Bedgrove, said “Increasing car parking charges will drive away visitors from shopping in the town, to our rivals MK and Oxford, the Tories have the money to leave the Kingsbury water feature on all day and night, and to put flagpoles up at the parks, but supporting our local shops seems to be beyond them”.

The Liberal Democrat amendment calling for £39,000 to be taken from reserves to protect the work of the voluntary groups was defeated by the Tories, but one of their councillors later remarked that he would have voted in favour if he had realised exactly what the amendment was calling for.

Notes for editors
Steven Lambert PPC for Aylesbury can be contacted on 07884428833 for interviews.
The budget for AVDC is £20.7 million, £8.8 million is raised through the Council Tax

“The Liberal Democrats are the only party committed to increasing police numbers of every area of the country,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary.

Commenting on figures showing the number of police officers has fallen in most forces, Chris Huhne said:

“This is a worrying sign of what is to come as budgets are cut and numbers fall in over half of all police forces.

“Instead of squandering billions on ID cards, the Government should concentrate on getting more police officers out on the beat.

“The Liberal Democrats are the only party committed to increasing police numbers of every area of the country. It is time for the other parties to come clean about their plans.”

Steven Lambert Liberal Democrat PPC at Rayners Hedge

Aylesbury Liberal Democrats were horrified to learn of the planned closure of Rayners Hedge neurology rehabilitation unit in Croft Road Aylesbury, and are set to fight the move by Buckinghamshire Health Trust.

Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Aylesbury, Steven Lambert, said, Whilst we all understand the pressures on the NHS to make savings in the current economic climate, axing this vital services will impact on the most vulnerable residents of our town. The closure of Rayners Hedge will mean that many people who already find travel a challenge will have to go to Amersham to get essential treatment and support.  This will be traumatic for those who are part way through a course of treatment at the time of closure and make life harder for future patients too.

If Rayners Hedge was uneconomic to run because it did not have enough patients I could understand why they would consider closing it, but it’s a purpose built small personal environment which is vital for rehabilitation. In addition it employs about 30 local people directly and many more indirectly. This is yet another example of cost over care and it’s not right.”

Aylesbury Lib Dems are launching a campaign to save the Rayners Hedge unit with a petition to the Prime Minister via the Number 10 Downing Street website and I would urge everyone to sign the petition and help save this small but essential rehabilitation unit.

To sign the petition go to http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Braininjury/ or go to our Facebook site to find out more information at http://bit.ly/685TNr or contact our campaign team on 01296 395 511 for more details.

Fair Taxes For ALL
The first priority is to introduce fair taxes, with radical proposals for the biggest tax reform in generations. The Liberal Democrats will close loopholes for the richest and introduce a tax on mansions to fund tax cuts of £700 for everyone else. No-one will pay income tax on the first £10,000 they earn, meaning millions of low earners and pensioners will stop paying taxes altogether, while millions more will get hundreds of pounds back in their pockets. Only the Liberal Democrats will make taxes permanently fair.

A Fair Start for Children
The next priority is to give every child the fair start they deserve through a huge transformation of our education system that will build the foundations of fair society. That means cutting class sizes so children get the individual attention they need to thrive. The Liberal Democrats will be putting an extra £2.5 billion into schools to pay for more teachers, better discipline and catch-up classes so children get the individual attention they all need. This means an average of £2,500 extra per pupil for the schools teaching the million most deprived children in the country, funded by taking above-average earners out of the tax credit system and cutting wasteful programmes at the Department for Education. The Liberal Democrats will also phase out tuition fees over the course of six years, so that, after school, everyone who gets the grades has the opportunity to go to university without fear of debt, no matter what their background.

Fair and Transparent Local Politics
Thirdly, the Liberal Democrats are the only party committed to real change of our political system. This means getting big money and corrupt donors out of politics altogether, reducing the number of MPs by 150, giving power over the police and NHS to local communities, changing the voting system to abolish safe seats and giving you the right to sack corrupt MPs. These are changes that would upend our political establishment. Neither Labour or the Conservatives will ever offer change on this scale – they will defend the status quo to the last. Only the Liberal Democrats offer the chance for a different politics. Another whitewash is unacceptable, we need permanent change to make politics clean, fair and local.

A fair and sustainable economy
The Liberal Democrats will shift the economy away from the traditional over-reliance on the City of London and on financial services. Our plans will usher in a new era where growth is enabled in every part of Britain in a way that promotes green technology and creates lasting jobs. We will put an end to the casino banking that caused the financial crisis by breaking up the banks and encouraging regional and local ways to bring competition back to the financial sector and make sure businesses can find the money they need to grow. Under our plans, councils will regain control of business rates, reconnecting local enterprise with local politics; Local Enterprise Funds will help people invest in growing businesses in their area and Regional Stock Exchanges will give companies a way to move into public equity without the huge risks and costs of a London listing. The Liberal Democrats will also create a new National Infrastructure Bank to bring in private money to build the transport links, energy grid and public buildings we need for a sustainable, low carbon economy in every part of Britain.

The recent snow is Buckinghamshire has led to a number of problems, not just transport related, the bin collections so needed after the Christmas period have also been cancelled due to the Bucks CC landfill site at Calvert being closed for safety reasons, but residents trying to get rid of their rubbish at the local tip were again stopped, as the site at Rabans Lane site was closed, with residents being directed to the Aston Clinton site.

Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Aylesbury Steven Lambert said “I can fully understand and appreciate not collecting rubbish for safety reasons, there is not much point if there is now where to put it, but to close Rabans Lane stopping people trying to get rid of the Christmas waste, with no word of an explanation but divert people to Aston Clinton is very strange, how is the Aston Clinton facility able to open when Rabans Lane is not?”

Residents have also not been helped by the fact that the Bucks CC website has been down since the snow started, Cllr Graham Webster the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Central ward by-election said “It’s very annoying for people trying to do the right thing, they cannot get the information required due to the fact that the Buckinghamshire CC website has gone down, and is still not fully functioning, it is a very poor service”

After speaking to concerned staff after the announcement, Steven said “It seems that there is an agreement with HBOS staff for no compulsory redundancies, but that is not the case for Equitable Life staff. I hope that HBOS management will afford the same agreements and processes to all staff going through this and will offer real help to those affected to find new roles regardless of which company they work for.”

The government is destroying the original intention of Local Housing Allowance which was to bring choice and flexibility to the benefits system while also combating poverty. Anyone who has had to get by on a low income or manage a household budget will know that every penny counts and a £15 is a significant amount to lose from your family budget without any warning.

The people who would lose out under this proposal are poorer than those who would have been hit by the 10p tax debacle, and will be hit harder. Worse still, the government will not actually save any money by clawing back these £15 payments. I’m supporting the Lib Dems in Parliament and calling on local Tory MPs David Liddington and John Bercow, to protect low income families by signing the Early Day motion in Parliament.”

This week, Nick Clegg, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats challenged Gordon Brown directly over the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions and the Liberal Democrats in parliament will continue to do all they can to oppose this latest government assault on some of the very poorest families in the country.

Background information
The Early Day motion 2069 was tabled by the Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister Sarah Teather and supported by the housing charity, Crisis, to oppose the government’s proposed cuts for the poorest tenants.
- Link to the policy motion
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=39300

Steven Lambert the Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Aylesbury said “life is a real struggle for parents. The Government has not made things easy and the Tories look set to make things worse if they win the General Election. Parents who need to go back to work must be properly supported. Parents should be entitled to 20 hours of free, high quality childcare for each child from the age of 18 months to when they start school. Successive Labour and Tory governments have failed our families. It’s time to change this once and for all.”

Lib Dem County Councillor Jenny Puddefoot, said “the campaign for free high quality child care is very much linked to the Lib Dem plans for a Universal Health Visitor Service which will see help and advice given to all families by a qualified professional Health Visitor from when a baby is born to the age of five. It’s been proven beyond doubt that the more you invest in a child in their early, the better life chances that a child will have.”

The petition can be found at http://www.libdems.org.uk/our_campaigns_detail.aspx?title=Petition%3a_Free_Childcare_for_Every_Family&pPK=eef38f95-16e5-4add-b1aa-962d4ea3a0f5

After attending the reception for returning armed forces personnel at Judges Lodgings in Aylesbury last Monday, Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesman for Aylesbury, Steven Lambert, has signed up to the Royal British Legion’s manifesto for the next election. Steven also laid a wreath at the ceremony on Remembrance Sunday in Aylesbury’s Market Square alongside South East MEP Sharon Bowles.

Steven said “It’s crucial that we honour the commitment and sacrifice of our armed forces. Too often they have been let down by our government. Labour has sent our brave young men and women into battle without adequate kit with which to do their jobs. The average wage for a private in the army is below that of other public service workers. And, of course, sending our troops into Iraq was a massive blunder that cost so many lives. We must take better care of those who are prepared to put their lives on the line for their country.”

The Liberal Democrats have an ongoing campaign to get the Government to stop short changing our armed forces. Follow this link to find out more. Don’t short change or Armed Forces.