East of England Liberal Democrats

A community scheme to improve the area around Eastcotts Road in Bedford got underway this weekend with a litter pick of the Fenlake Meadow car park.

A team of 17 volunteers arrived on site on Saturday morning and in just two hours cleared some of the following:

• 55 bags of litter
• 2 rolls of carpet
• 3 wheel trims
• 2 road cones
• Broken rusty scooter
• Kids scooter
• Wheelbarrow wheel
• Broken garden chair
• Flattened shopping trolley

Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell was a member of a team of eight MPs from the House of Commons who won the annual Shrove Tuesday Parliamentary Pancake Race organised by the Rehab Group which promotes the importance of rehabilitation and support for those with a range of disabilities.

There is a Rehab centre in Colchester - TBG Learning at 27 Southway. They provide a range of learning programmes for people wishing to gain basic skills to enter employment as well as those in employment wishing to up-skill or re-skill to progress their careers.

At last night's Budget Council the Liberal Democrat Group proposed an amendment that would have seen cuts to spending on managers and communications and the savings used to freeze council tax for two years and reverse Labour's cuts to frontline services.

This amendment was defeated with Labour and the Green Party voting against it.

Norwich South MP Simon Wright has asked the Minister of Care Services what the Government is doing to help identify and support carers in Norwich.

The question Simon Wright put to Minister Paul Burstow today follows a meeting between Mr Wright and staff from Norwich & District Carers forum about boosting the identification of carers in the county.

The latest 'Pints in the Parishes' event is taking place tonight, at The Bedford Arms in Oakley from around 7.30pm. If you're in the area, please come along and let me know about any local issues of interest or concern, Council services or indeed anything at all you want to discuss. Here's a link to The Bedford Arms's website: www.bedfordarmsoakley.co.uk.

A cut in the size of the Army has again been criticised in the House of Commons by Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell.

Speaking during Defence Questions, Sir Bob repeated his previous criticisms about the decision to reduce the size of the Army which he said would in due course by no bigger than it was at the time of the Boer War more than 110 years ago.

Prior to the latest County Council meeting Lib Dem Councillor for Huntingdon East sent the following email to Tory County Leader, Cllr. Nick Clark

To: Cllr N. Clark

From: M.Shellens (Constituency Organiser, Huntingdon Lib-Dems)

Re: County Council Budget, 2012/13

Dear Cllr. Clark,

I write re your proposal to increase budget funding for councillors' allowances by £100,000 a year.

In Pilgrims Hatch, despite residents and councillors calling for action rubbish is left strewn around the area.

Cllrs David Kendall and Vicky Davies have demanded the council removes items as a matter of urgency, in particular:

• Harewood Road where there is a mattress, blankets and an assortment of other rubbish.
• In Sandringham road there are soiled baby's nappies blowing in the wind presenting an environmental hazard.
• Cllr David kendall said:
• "It is disgraceful that the council has not automatically cleared the area and we have demanded this is done without delay."

It was a rare weekend away from Colchester for Town MP Sir Bob Russell - he was in mid-Wales where he was the guest speaker at the Annual Weekend School of the Lloyd George Society named in honour of Britain's last Liberal Prime Minister, Welshman Lloyd George who was an MP for Carnarvon Boroughs for 55 years until 1945.