East of England Liberal Democrats

Mayor Dave Hodgson has reshuffled his Cabinet after the Conservative Group on the Council failed to even vote on the crucial Council budget on which he had worked with them throughout the past year. Mayor Dave brought together a Cabinet of all parties on the Council following his re-election in May last year, casting aside party politics in the interest of working together in these difficult times. The Conservative Group have now thrown that back in residents' faces even after Mayor Dave had worked with them all year to set a budget in these difficult times to which protects services and freezes Council tax again.

This afternoon I'm heading down to Bedford Central Library to take part in an information and taster session on researching your family history at the Borough's libraries, in support of a new project running throughout February. The Council's Library Service has linked up with Family History Detectives to promote family history at Bedford, Kempston and Wootton Libraries this month.

Today I informed the Council's Chief Executive of changes to the Council Cabinet, following the extraordinary action, or rather inaction, of the Conservative Group at the Full Council meeting on Wednesday night. In a shock move, out of the blue they broke their pledge to support the budget they had produced jointly with all parties on the Council and did not even take part in the most important decision all year for the residents the Council serves. They simply abstained, without offering any alternatives at all on the night or at any stage before. Sadly, they have again turned their backs on working for the good of the Borough, and clearly have separated themselves from running the Council in the interests of local residents and delivering this all-important budget which they approved at every stage until it mattered.

It looks as though the long wait for the final decision on the proposed lorry terminal in Park Street will soon be over.

The witnesses at the most recent Public Inquiry into Helioslough's proposal and other interested parties have just received a letter from the Department for Communities and Local Government which says:

The Advertising Standard Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint by Co-founder of the Campaign for Body Confidence, Jo Swinson MP, about a misleading L'Oréal advertisement featuring Rachel Weisz.

The ASA ruled that the image used in an advertisement for L'Oréal Paris' Revitalift Repair 10 was altered to change Rachel Weisz's complexion, making it appear smoother and more even. It was judged to be in breach of industry code and "misleadingly exaggerated" the performance of the product.

The advertisement has been banned in its current form and the ASA has warned L'Oréal not to use digital retouching to misrepresent the effect of their products.

MP Julian Huppert has received a commitment from the government that it plans new legislation to tackle metal theft across Cambridgeshire and nationally.

A new criminal offence will be created to stop dealers buying scrap metal with cash and fines for all scrap metal offences will be significantly increased.

Simon Wright MP and the Norwich Lib Dems are campaigning for better broadband in Norwich.

At this week's Full Council meeting, Cllr James Wright highlighted the fact that there are areas of Norwich that do not have access to consistently high internet speeds. He also called on City Hall to play its full part in the 'Say Yes to Better Broadband in Norfolk" campaign.

Against a backdrop which requires savings of £36million over the next four years Bedford Borough Council has set a budget that will freeze the Borough's average Council Tax levels after a small reduction last year.

To help find the savings needed to balance the Council's budget following a reduction in central government funding, Bedford Borough Council carried out a full, open and transparent consultation with local residents last year. This helped contribute towards the budget that was agreed at last nights Full Council meeting which has provided £13million of savings while enabling extra investment and support to key services for residents.

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Last week a Mr Bailey wrote about the cancellation of Welwyn Hatfield council's most recent meeting due to lack of business. This is not entirely accurate as the LibDem group had submitted a question to the council leader about a little-known change to council tax benefit which will mean many residents losing 25% of their benefit. I am pleased to say that on this occasion, leader John Dean has agreed with us.