Oxford City Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrat Group on Oxford City Council

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20 Most Recent News Stories

City Council Tax increase reduced to 2%

Wed 24th Feb 2010

Oxford City Council has one of the highest council tax levels in England, and it has been the ambition of Liberal Democrat councillors for several years to reduce the level of increase, and bring the Council Tax level more into line with other authorities. Until this year, the Labour group, which holds the largest number of seats on the council, has rejected Lib Dem proposals for reductions. Usually they have had the support of Green group councillors in imposing 4% or higher increases on the citizens of Oxford.

Council Tax is an unfair tax.  It penalises people on low incomes. (photography: Andrew Cooley)

City Council's programme for cutting carbon emissions wins national award

Fri 15th Jan 2010

With a combination of initiatives including voltage optimisation, chemical "covers" on swimming pools, cycle-to-work days for the staff, "power-down" events, and plans for wind turbines in the city, Oxford City Council has won the Carbon Trust's "Innovative use of technology" award in the public sector category. The programme has enthusiastic support from the three main parties represented on the city council.

Wind Turbine

Find out if you're entitled to the Cold Weather Payment

Fri 15th Jan 2010

Charity Age Concern Oxfordshire has joined forces with Oxfordshire County Council to urge those who think they may be entitled to the central government Cold Weather Payment to find out more and claim money that is available to them. The £25 payments are automatically distributed when the average temperature is, or is forecast to be, zero degrees Celsius or below, for a period of seven consecutive days where a recipient lives to those who fulfil certain criteria.

pensioner

Anglers on the Oxford canal should ignore signs saying that angling has been banned

Thu 14th Jan 2010

Liberal Democrat councillors on Oxfordshire County Council have obtained formal confirmation from the council, supported by the Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) and British Waterways, that there is no good reason why anglers should not continue to use the Kidlington to Oxford stretch of the canal. Recently, small laminated signs have appeared on posts and trees alongside the canal stating that "due to recent cases of Weil's disease ... angling is currently not permitted ..."

Anglers on the Oxford canal add to the atmosphere

Lib Dems lead on providing new homes for people on council waiting lists

Thu 14th Jan 2010

Lib Dem councillors in Oxford have welcomed the formal decision by the City's Executive Board to go ahead with building new council houses in the Rose Hill area of the city. The cost of the project is £12.2 million, including £4.6 from a special government grant. This will provide 38 new homes and an additional 20 sheltered housing flats.

Affordable Housing

Lib Dem spokesman calls for head of Student Loans Company to resign

Thu 5th Nov 2009

Dr Steve Goddard, a university lecturer and Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesman for Oxford East constituency has called for the head of the Student Loans Company (SLC) to resign as figures reveal that only 20% of Disabled Students' Allowances for the current academic year have been processed.

Dr Steve Goddard, Lib Dem partliamentary spokesman for Oxford East

Lib Dem controlled cities sign up to 10:10 energy saving programme, but Oxfordshire's Conservatives refuse to

Wed 4th Nov 2009

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg MP yesterday announced at the Core Cities conference in Liverpool that every city in the group under Liberal Democrat control has signed up to the 10:10 campaign. Bristol, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield make up half the Core Cities group of England's major regional cities. But on the same day, the Conservative group on Oxfordshire County Council voted out a Lib Dem motion which would have committed the council to achieve the same 10% reduction in carbon emissions during 2010.

10:10 logo

Congestion in St Aldate's should have been tackled sooner

Fri 30th Oct 2009

As warned by the Lib Dems at the time, the moving of the bus stops from Queen Street has caused extra congestion on St Aldate's in central Oxford. Cllr Alan Armitage, who will be putting a motion to the County Council meeting next week, said that cyclists were having a hard time overtaking stationary buses and that pedestrians were having to step into the road to pass long queues of people at bus stops. Pembroke Square is a particular hazardous point.

Oxford Bus Company vehicle in central Oxford

Closing Oxford's public conveniences is discriminatory and will stop tourists coming here

Sun 25th Oct 2009

The decision by Oxford City's Labour administration to close public toilets across the city, to save a small amount of money, has been condemned by a Lib Dem spokesman. Despite feedback from a brief period of consultations which showed unanimous hostility to the proposals, seven public conveniences will be closed as early as this week. This flies in the face of recent recommendations from the House of Commons select committee against such moves.

Cllr Jean Fooks (photography: Richard Huzzey)

Anti-Trafficking Day celebrated in Oxford

Tue 20th Oct 2009

On Sunday, Lib Dem Euro MP for Oxford Catherine Bearder met local residents and students to celebrate EU Anti-Trafficking Day. The Royal Blenheim pub in central Oxford was selling the locally brewed William Wilberforce Freedom Ale to commemorate the day, and 10% of the brewery's profits on this beer are donated to Stop The Traffik.

Catherine Bearder MEP and Oxford East spokesman Steve Goddard help pull Wilberforce Freedom Ale

Oxford Lib Dems say Labour is letting dodgy landlords off the hook

Thu 8th Oct 2009

Oxford Lib Dems have attacked Labour's voluntary scheme for landlord accreditation. Cllr Patrick Murray, Oxford Lib Dems Housing Spokesman said: "There is a huge problem with rented housing in Oxford. Dodgy landlords let out poor quality housing and, in some cases, mistreat tenants. Vulnerable tenants, in particular, are at risk, but anyone who's tried to rent a house in Oxford will have seen some shockers along the way."

Lib Dems believe that a voluntary scheme for landlords will let the bad ones off the hook

Reform in management of student finance needed urgently

Sat 3rd Oct 2009

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary spokesman for Oxford East, Dr Steve Goddard, has called for reforms in the management of student finance as thousands of students await the arrival of their loans - with just days to go before term starts. The Student Finance Company, which handles applications, is reported still to be processing forms from August. Oxford Brookes University is allowing students to defer rent payments until funding is reserved.

Steve Goddard

County Council idea of academy at Oxford School not supported by Lib Dems

Wed 16th Sep 2009

Speaking at yesterday's meeting of Oxfordshire county council cabinet, Lib Dem councillor Mohammed Altaf-Khan condemned the way the proposal to create an academy at Oxford School has been handled so far, pointing out that even the local councillors only found out about it via the newspapers. He also raised a number of concerns about the proposal to carry out a feasibility study.

Lib Dems say academy status is not the only way forward for Oxford School

Change of heart cheers West Oxford probation centre campaigners

Sat 5th Sep 2009

A meeting of West Oxford residents has enthusiastically welcomed a statement by the owners and developers of Trajan House in Mill St that they have broken off negotiations with Thames Valley Probation Service (TVPS) about the possibility of a new mega-probation centre being established in this residential street of small terraced houses. This follows a very effective campaign, actively supported by the local Lib Dem MP Dr Evan Harris and Labour and Lib Dem councillors.

Trajan House, Mill St, is due to be constructed on this site next to the Thames in Oxford. (photography: Alan Armitage)

Lib Dem councillor gets community library going in Rose Hill

Thu 3rd Sep 2009

As reported in the Oxford Mail, a community library, designed to offer a warm welcome and encourage people to pick up a book, is opening on an Oxford estate. The Rose Hill Read/Swap Library is set to open its doors twice a week at the community centre in The Oval. The project has already secured £5,000 from housing developers' contributions to Oxfordshire County Council, and donations of books are piling up.

Cllr Ruth Wilkinson

Oxford's own Member of the European Parliament to chair powerful economic committee

Thu 27th Aug 2009

Oxford-born Sharon Bowles, European Parliament Member for the South East, has secured one of the European Parliament's top jobs. She has been elected by fellow MEPs as Chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee in the European Parliament. The committee is responsible for legislation on the financial markets of the European Union, the world's largest single market. It has been described as 'arguably the Parliament's most powerful body.'

Sharon Bowles MEP

Cuts to pavement maintenance increase accidents and claims against council

Thu 27th Aug 2009

Figures obtained by Liberal Democrats using the Freedom of Information Act show that Oxfordshire County Council spent half a million pounds less than the average last year on pavement maintenance, compared to nineteen other county councils which have provided figures. Probably as a consequence, there were eighty-eight claims for compensation in Oxfordshire last year, fifty-six of which have yet to be settled.

Zoé looks at pavement with weeds

Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg launches radical programme to reform Britain's political system

Fri 29th May 2009

"Warm words and rhetoric are easy", said Nick Clegg on Thursday. "Indeed, they are a guarantee that little will happen. So let us bar the gates of Westminster and stop MPs leaving for their summer holidays until this crisis has been sorted out, and every nook and cranny of our political system has been reformed.

Nick Clegg visits Osney Island in Oxford with European Parliament candidates Catherine Bearder and Sharon Bowles (photography: Alan Armitage)

Britain needs to be at the heart of Europe

Sun 17th May 2009

Times are tough in Britain. The recession is hitting people and families hard: tens of thousands are losing their jobs, businesses are failing, and every week hundreds are losing their homes. Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg said: "We can only protect British families from crime, the recession and climate change if our country works with other European Union countries."

The Lib Dems launch their campaign for the South-East Region in Oxford (photography: Alan Armitage)

Decision to introduce 20 mph speed limits in Oxford widely welcomed

Sat 25th Apr 2009

Following extensive consultation lasting several months, the county council cabinet member for transport has made a decision on behalf of the council to introduce 20 mph speed limits on most roads inside the city limits. The decision makes Oxford only the second city in Britain (after Lib Dem-run Portsmouth) to introduce the lower speed limit on a such a wide scale.

Cllr Clark Brundin at one of the entrances to the Walton Manor 20 mph zone (photography: Alan Armitage)

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