News

No to Helioslough say County Council Liberal Democrats

Hertfordshire Liberal Democrat County Councillors Rob Prowse (St Albans East) and Aislinn Lee (St Stephens ) position on the Rail Freight Terminal on the Old Radlett Aerodrome site has always been quite clear. They have, along with fellow Lib Dem Councillors in St Albans and local residents, strongly opposed the application for a Rail Freight Terminal on this site. Indeed local county councillor Aislinn Lee has been a leading light in helping oppose the scheme and getting the plans rejected at local level.

22 Feb 2013

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Public Health Budget Increase is Welcome After Labour Neglect

Responding to the Government's announcement on the public health funding settlement, Cllr Nick Hollinghurst, County Councillor for Tring and the Villages said: "Here in Hertfordshire our funding for Public Health will increase by 10% per annum for the next two years. This is the largest percentage increase in Britain and is appropriate for a county where the population has increased so much over the last 10 years. The extra money will help Hertfordshire tackle a number of Public Health issues including rising obesity, alcohol abuse and smoking."

8 Feb 2013

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£40m More for Local Sport Funds

Sport England last month announced a Community Sport Activation fund supported by the National Lottery designed to develop grassroots sports in a flexible manner. This could massively boost local sports groups. A website detailing the scheme and how to apply is at http://www.sportengland.org/funding/csaf.aspx.

5 Feb 2013

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Hertfordshire Conservatives Failing to Provide Enough Pre-School Places

Figures released by the County Council in January 2013 have revealed that there are just 1200 pre-school places across the entire county, despite a target requirement of 4000 by September 2014. Failure to recruit organisations to provide the places has already lead to the criteria having to be amended. This Tory failure is letting down parents trying to get back to work.

20 Feb 2013

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Herts County Council Spins Out of Control

Hertfordshire Council's hugely expensive and inappropriate "Spin Machine" has spun out of control again. Leader of the Opposition on Hertfordshire County Council, Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst has made further complaints, this time regarding press releases issued by the Council that are inaccurate and misleading.

16 Jan 2013

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Shelter Closure Will Hit the Most Vulnerable Hardest

County Councillor Ron Tindall (Hemel Hempstead St Pauls) has today called for action from Herts County Council following the news that Shelter Hertfordshire is to close.

17 Feb 2013

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Children with Free School Meals are Being Let Down in Hertfordshire schools In Spite of the Pupil Premium

A recent report to the Education and Skills Cabinet Panel on the Standards and Quality in Hertfordshire Schools shows that at Key Stages 2 and 4 children with free schools meals are achieving far lower results than their fellow pupils. The figures are damning. At key stage 2 , 24% fewer children with free school meals made the expected progress in English and Mathematics, 7% worse than the national average and significantly worse when compared with similar authorities. At Key stage 4 it's the same story. Only one third of pupils with free school meals achieved the expected progress from Key Stage 2 to 4, 11% worse than the national average. Last year Hertfordshire Schools received £16 million pounds of additional Pupil Premium funding specifically to improve the education of disadvantaged children.

12 Feb 2013

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Unwise G4S Plan to Outsource Police Support Work Scrapped After Liberal Democrat Pressure

Last October and November Liberal Democrats campaigned strongly against the "unwise" plan by the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner. County Councillor Nick Hollinghurst who spoke twice at Council meetings at County Hall said "Apart from G4S's lamentable performance with Olympic Games security, we have to remember they are a large multi-national corporation. They run prisons, courts, police administration, prisoner transport and support services. It is unwise to hand over yet another part of Britain's criminal justice system to an international private business with, some say, already too great an influence in UK policing."

13 Feb 2013

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Hertfordshire Councillors take Main Highway Repairs Contractor to Task over Response Failures

Senior Directors of Ringway had to answer a storm of criticism at a packed meeting in Hertfordshire's County Hall last Tuesday (5th February, 2013). With 37 councillors and council officers in attendance, the contracting company was left in no doubt about widespread dissatisfaction with their failure to deliver an adequate service since taking over most of the County's highways work on 1st Oct last year.

10 Feb 2013

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Lib Dem Pension Plans Mean Men and Women will be Treated Equally

But not just equality and fairness. We have also built in a triple lock to ensure pensions will rise by inflation or average earnings or 2.5% WHICHEVER IS THE HIGHEST

7 Feb 2013

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