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Liberal Democrats - a fresh start for Bournemouth

Lib Dems Group Photo Cropped

We represent a fresh start, with many new to party politics, but with plenty of experience of getting things done.

The local Lib Dems have a record of running the town efficiently in the past. Boosting recycling, cutting crime and protecting frontline services all happened under the Lib Dems. We are also passionate about putting cultural services back in the town, cutting councillor expenses and ensuring basic services, (not grand Town centre visions), are there for all residents.

Peter Charon Resigns after Losing Vote of Confidence


Peter Charon (Daily Echo Bournemouth)

Troubled council leader Peter Charon lost the no confidence vote brought by his conservative colleagues

The motion carried by a clear majority, perhaps an admission of the disasterous performance of the conservative administration in the year since he was elected leader.in a private meeting of the Tory group at the the Town Hall on Tuesday (17th) and has resigned as leader.

Peter Charon was criticised for his bullying leadership style, his Nixonian polticial maneuvering and his dogmatic stand on the disastrous Mouchel deal. Cllr Bob Chapman who brought the motion, said that the consensus was that he was "abrasive".

Charon was hoping to stay on as leader of the council until February 21 while Deputy Council leader Cllr John Beesley was made acting Conservative group leader. Many backbenchers believed Charon had resigned as leader at the same time leading to much confusion and anger.

Charon was given a seven day deadline by his backbenchers or he'd have to face a further embarrasing vote of no confidence in the council. He eventually succumbed to the pressure and resigned as leader of the Council on Thursday (19th).

May 2010 General Election Results

General Election 2010

Nick Clegg's New Year Message

Report Casts Doubt on Legallity and Value for Money of Mouchel Deal

The deal made by the Conservative Council involves the outsourcing of hundreds of millions of pounds of council services to the troubled business services firm Mouchel.

Mouchel Logo

The leaked report by Stephen Parker, the former Chief Accountant for Bournemouth Council stated:

"as Chief Accountant I have expressed serious doubts about the value for money and deliverability of the contract"

Email Response from Cllr Roger West to the Administration & Resource Overview & Scrutiny Panel upon recieving the Parker Report: (Outlook Format / Word Format)

Budget Figures Show No Overall Saving from Mouchel Deal: (Page 1 / Page 2)

REDACTED COPY OF THE PARKER REPORT: here

Boundary Commission Reports Dorset

Lisa Northover on the Boundary Changes

Bournemouth East: http://rr-bce-static.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Bournemouth-East-BC.pdf?9d7bd4

Bournemouth West: http://rr-bce-static.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Bournemouth-West-BC.pdf?9d7bd4

Graham's Newsletter Friday 13th January

Parliament and the other EU institutions returned to work this week. Graham co-hosted with Nick Clegg a meeting for senior EU LibDems (three prime ministers, five deputy prime ministers, one or two other ministers and five EU Commissioners) with UK government cabinet ministers from our party.

A declaration was adopted on the measures needed to ensure that government austerity is accompanied by economic growth and job creation.

Other Articles

New Council Chamber Sound System Requested - Cllr West calls for action, Beesley asks Mouchel to "research" the possibility

Bournemouth Borough Council in disarray - BBC Report on the series of scandals gripping the council

Bournemouth Lib Dems back whistleblowing accountant - BBC Report on Stephen Parker and the Mouchel contract.

£270,000 boost to Modernise CCTV System

Consultation starts for Gypsy and Traveller Site

Coalition Programme to Spur Youth Employment - Nick Clegg announces new programme to reduce record high youth unemployment

Councillor Beesley Planning Board Scandel - (Tribunal Case Summary/ Full Tribunal Case)

Links

Liberal Democrats in Government

Poole Liberal Democrats

Mid-Dorset & North Poole Lib Dems

West Dorset Liberal Democrats

Swanage & Isle of Purbeck Liberal Democrats

Graham Watson Liberal Democrat MEP for the South West


Bournemouth Town Gallery

Lisa Succeeds in Drawing Attention to Sub-Standard Housing

Lisa Northover

Council Officers will work with landlords to see if improvements are needed in targeted inspections of rented accomadation in Boscombe.

Lisa Northover, former councillor and ward representative for Boscombe West, lauched a petition calling for increased inspections in response to the dire conditions of much of the housing. Lisa has said she's "pleased the council is taking action. We need proactive inspections, not just reactive ones."

Lisa's Petition: http://www.petitiononline.co.uk/signatures/inspect-all-dave-wells-housing-in-boscombe-within-6-months/4015

Channel 4 Dispatches: Landlords from Hell

Housing in Boscombe: Housing is the issue which underpins most of the problems in Boscombe. Poor planning over many years has led to a dominance of single person units and bedsits.

Conservatives spend £500,000 in Severance Packages to Prevent Employment Tribunals

Tribunal Service Logo

In the face of massive cuts of council services £472,543.92 has been paid out in compromise agreements from April 2008 to January 2012. One of largest payments was to Mr Neil Smurthwaite the former service director for community care who received £58,000.

A service delivery manager was given £57,668, £31,828.31 was paid to a technician engineer, £30,000 to a service and strategy manager. A Programme manager was paid £29,915, a principlal officer recieved £29,062 and a mortuary supervisor was given £28,000.

There are also many smaller amounts paid to junior staff. Independant councillor Ron Whittaker called the agreements "absolutely outrageous"

Are our Standards Slipping? - Advert Overload in Bournemouth


Planning & Advertising (1) (Roger West)

Cllr Roger West asks Planning Board Chairman to explain huge advertisements popping up all over Bournemouth, damaging the image of our town.

Lib Dem MP Annette Brooke supports Coalition plan on Council Tax

Annette Brooke Annette Brooke is calling for second-home owners in Dorset to have their 10% tax discounts scrapped as part of a coalition plan due to be announced soon.

This is coming at a time of dire housing shortages within the county. Brooke said "This proposal would ensure local councils receive the right level of finances they need to provide vital local services"

They Work for You Profile: click

BBC Democracy Live Profile: click

Council Signs Over More Departments to Mouchel as Workers Pack Meeting

Dozens of staff from the finance, organisational development and human resources departments packed the meeting to witness their jobs being transfered to the finicially unstable business services firm.

Conservative councillors have cited lower costs as the primary reason for the deal but it is unclear that the firm will be able to make the savings promised. This is following an independant risk assessment which adviced that the council should adopt a cautious "wait and see approach"

After dicussions which lasted three hours the Conservative cabinet voted unaniously to ignore the advice and proceed with the transfer.

Bad Planning - Top Down Dicta an Affront to Localism in New Planning Policy

Ken Mantock

Ken Mantock comments on the government's new Draft National Planning Policy Framework.

The new policy dictates how many new homes must be built and adds a new presumption in favour of development in an affront to the stated objectives of localism and building a Big Society.

Peter Charon Forced to Apologise Over Bullying

The [former] council leader Peter Charon was forced to apologise to a backbencher after the Standards Board investigated comments and emails to Cllr Mark Anderson.

Cllr Charon's comments had included "Be very careful what you say - I'm the leader of the council". Cllr Anderson's records an email from Charon that left him feeling "intimidated" after he wrote in July "If you want to take me on and have a public fight - go right ahead but do so with your eyes wide open".

Cllr Charon has called for harmony in the face of an increasingly disunited party. As of 14th December Cllr Charon may be required to make a fresh apology after it was claimed that the standards board did not approve it in advance (as it should have done)

Ellwood in row with Council Leaders as Conservative Party Continues to Creak

Cllr Charon began by attacking the local conservative MP Tobias Ellwood over his Conurbation 2050 scheme. Cllr Charon claimed the MP was getting too involved in local issues which in his mind ought to be the reserve of the council. Writing in an Email: "We don't tell you how to vote in the House, do we?". Mr Charon also accused Ellwood of "manipulative and unwarranted interference" over the defection of independent councillor Derek Borthwick.

Mr Ellwood told the Echo: "I will not be bullied by the leader or deputy - and will defend my right, and the right of others, to comment on the town's long-term strategy while leaving the day to day tactics to the council."

The Mouchel Scandal Continues.... a Summary in 39 Long Hard Expensive Steps


For over a year Lib Dem councillors and activists have been battling the Conservatives on the disastrous outsourcing of council services to Mouchel, a troubled business services provider. The deal has cost the council millions and now the firm teeters on the edge of bankruptcy.


The deal has been a complete policy failure from the moment of its conception right up to the present day. So much so in fact that it has become impossible to remember every instance of negligence, poor judgement or downright illegality in this mammoth saga, we've collected them all up so you can know exactly how and why your money is being wasted.

  • HMO (1) (Lisa Northover - Liberal Democrats)
    Article: Jan 24, 2012
    By Lisa Northover in www.lisanorthover.com

    Housing is the issue which underpins most of the problems in Boscombe. Poor planning over many years has led to a dominance of single person units and bedsits.

    The Lib Dems in Boscombe are making representations to make sure that planners understand the impact of allowing one type of housing to dominate, and plan for a more mixed community in the future. Zero tolerance for Rogue landlords.

  • Event: March 20, 2012
  • Event: February 13, 2012 7:30 PM
    Bourne Spring Centre
  • Article: Jan 24, 2012

    The CCTV network in Bournemouth will get a quarter of a million pounds to be spent upgrading and modernising Bournemouth's CCTV system. It is hoped the work will reduce anti-social behaviour in the social capital of the county. Bournemouth's nightlife is a huge asset to the local economy but only if it is also safe.

  • Article: Jan 24, 2012

    The Nobel Prize winning economist gave a lecture at Yale in 2010 explaining why deficit spending in a recession is not only benificial but unavoidable. Techically we are now out of recession (though we may be slipping back) but things haven't changed, unemployment is still high, our bond yield rate is still comparable to the internationally recognised rock solid countries like Germany and the US, meanwhile the spending cuts have not reached their targets and inflicted huge amounts of social suffering at the same time.

  • Article: Jan 24, 2012

    Cllr Roger West has called on the council to install a better sound system for the public who can't hear the debates and have to sit in a gallery above the council chamber.

    Cllr Beesley has said he had asked the council's outsourcing partner Mouchel to reasearch other systems - so I'm sure we can expect action sometime in the vague and distant future.

  • Richmond Park Gardens Car Park (Michael Chizlett - Liberal Democrats)
    Article: Jan 24, 2012

    Car Park permit income has fallen dramatically in Bournemouth. Between April and November the Council had projected they would recieve £500,000 from the sale of parking permits, in the same period last year it recieved £300,000, it actually recieved only £150,000. The sharp drops in revenue are being put down to cost cutting by companies like Abbey Life and Nationwide who have cut back on staff permits.

  • Gallery: Jan 24, 2012
    Planning & Advertising (1) (Roger West) Planning & Advertising (2) (Roger West - Liberal Democrats) Planning & Advertising (3) (Roger West - Liberal Democrats) Planning & Advertising (4) (Roger West - Liberal Democrats) Planning & Advertising (5) (Roger West - Liberal Democrats) Planning & Advertising (6) (Roger West - Liberal Democrats) Planning & Advertising (7) (Roger West - Liberal Democrats)
  • Planning & Advertising (6) (Roger West - Liberal Democrats)
    Article: Jan 24, 2012
    By Roger West

    Cllr David Kelsey, Chair of Planning Board.

    Dear David

    This is not the first time that I have expressed concern about advertising around cafes, pubs and clubs.

    I was shocked to see the frontages of the Australian Bar, the bar at Horseshoe Common and the one now called Sherbet. I think that standards are slipping; just imagine what it would be like if all the restaurants and bars did the same? Do these enormous adverts in shop windows need planning permission and surely the one fixed above the Australian Bar needs permission if it is to stay?

  • Gallery: Jan 22, 2012