Liberal Democrat County Councillor, and Chair of South Northants Liberal Democrats, Cllr Jane Hollis, has welcomed the news that Cllr Bromwich is standing down. Cllr Bromwich had moved to Cornwall, 250 miles away, yet remained as Councillor for Towcester.

Cllr Hollis said “It is right that Cllr Bromwich has resigned. There was no way she could represent her constituents properly from 250 miles away – nobody could. It was wrong for Northamptonshire Conservatives to think she could in the first place.”

“South Northamptonshire Liberal Democrats will fight this by-election. The Liberal Democrats won 2 of the 3 district seats in Towcester Brook ward in May, and we will be fighting to win.”

“Local people deserve a strong voice, standing up for them against the Conservatives cuts to street lights, buses and lollipop ladies. Towcester Liberal Democrat Councillors have a strong record of local action, including leading the fight against the District Councils move of offices to the Moat Lane Development and fighting South Northants Tories decision to close toilets, whist funding refreshments for themselves instead.”

END

Northamptonshire Liberal Democrats have slammed Conservative-run Northamptonshire County Council after a Liberal Democrat motion to Full Council debating the effect of the street light switch off on safer routes to schools was turned down.
Cllr Hollis said “This is a real shame. Local parents are worried about their children getting home from schools now that the nights have drawn in and the lights are off. People deserve to have their say and really the Conservative-run County Council should not be shutting down democratic debate.”
“I am very disappointed for local people. It’s so dark in so much of our county now, thanks to the Conservatives decision to turn so many lights off. It’s clear that they don’t care about public safety. The Liberal Democrats will not be deterred from fighting the Conservative decision to plunge Northamptonshire into darkness.”

Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg has announced a £1 billion pound Youth Contract to tackle youth unemployment, which aims to ensure that all jobless young people are earning or learning again before long-term damage is done.

In Northamptonshire 3830 18-24 year olds are currently in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance and would stand to benefit from the Youth Contract.

Starting next April, the Youth Contract will provide at least 410,000 new work places for 18 to 24 year olds into work over the next three years. This includes 160,000 wage subsidies and 250,000 new work experience placements.

A new programme to will help 16 and 17 year olds who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs).

This will help the most disengaged of the 3830 in Northamptonshire get back to school or college, onto an apprenticeship or into a job with training.

In addition, there will be at least 20,000 more incentive payments to encourage employers to take on young apprentices in England.

Commenting, Scott Collins said:

“I feel that in spite of difficult times its the Liberal Democrats that are doing the right thing and making sure we help those who need it most.

“If young people are out of work, the consequences of that will be felt for decades afterwards. We need to ensure that the young people of today do not have a false start. We are still reeling from the lost generations that suffered under Labour gimmicks and previous Conservative failures.

“The Youth Contract will help those who need it most through advice, support, training and by giving people in Northamptonshire the experience necessary to be successful in the work place.

“While we’re clearing up the economic mess that Labour left behind, the Coalition Government is ensuring that our children do not bear the consequences of Labour’s mistakes.

“As a Liberal Democrat, I am proud that the Coalition Government is doing the right thing to prevent another lost generation.”

Commenting further, Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg said:

“Youth unemployment is an economic waste and a slow-burn social disaster.

“We can’t lose the skills and talent of our young people – right when we need them most. We can’t afford to leave our young men and women on the scrap heap. We need the next generation to help us build a new economy.

“The aim of the Youth Contract is to get every unemployed young person working or learning again before long-term damage is done.

“This is a £1bn package and what’s different about it is that it gets young people into proper, lasting jobs in the private sector.”

Councillor Martin Johns is asking South Northants Council to explain why a large
council property in Towcester has been left empty and unused for the past five years. At a meeting next week Cllr Martin Johns will raise the matter with the council’s Conservative led administration.
Commenting Councillor Martin Johns said: “Despite spending £454,895 of public
money on a building intended for those in housing need, the property is still empty five years on. There appears to have been difficulties with housing organisations that should be running the building but leaving it empty for five years is a disgrace.”
Liberal Democrat Councillor Chris Lofts commented: “Given the level of housing need, failing to use this property to help those in need reflects poorly on the Conservatives.”
Councillor Lofts added: “ It shows yet again that it’s been left to the Liberal Democrats to expose how the Tories are failing to get to grip with important issues in our town and district.”

ROSEMARY BROMWICH, the Conservative Council Councillor for Towcester, say she will remain on the Council despite moving to Cornwall, more than 200 miles away. Councillor Bromwich gets an allowance from taxpayers of over £7,000, and says she will stay on as a councillor till 2013 when there are county council elections.

What do you think? Leader of the council Jim Harker says “…she”ll be able to represent people and know what’s going on.”

It’s hard to understand how she will know what’s happening on the ground from 200 miles away. South Northants Lib Dem Councillor Chris Lofts says she should have left the county council “It seems a very odd way to represent Towcester”.

South Northamptonshire Liberal Democrats were recognised by the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors last night (Saturday 17th September 2011) for their outstanding campaign in May this year which returned to 2 Lib Dem Councillors, Cllr Martin Johns and Cllr Chris Lofts, seats onto South Northants District Council.

The highly commended award was awarded at the Liberal Democrats Autumn Conference by Party President Tim Farron MP and Tim Pickstone, ALDC Chief Executive.

The award was awarded for the high quality of the design and content of the local election literature in May.

Scott Collins, Parliamentary Spokeperson for the South Northants Liberal Democrats, Was pleased with the result saying “Its always good have local campaigns and campaigners recognised. Martin and Chris were excellent at understanding and expressing views that reflected the views of many voters across Towcester who feel the Conservative administration at SNC are not listening to them. It made the job of creating the literature very easy”.