May Day Manifesto and Grove Annual Parish Meeting

Today has been a very busy day for me. May Day revellers were launching themselves off Magdalen Bridge whilst I was busily preparing myself to launch the County Council's Liberal Democrat manifesto on Radio Oxford. I hope I got our main message across on the Drivetime programme this evening. We have been in Opposition on the County Council for the last four years, and it has not been an easy job for me as Leader. It has been difficult to have any influence on the administration with the Conservatives taking all the Scrutiny Chairs and basically scrutinising themselves instead of giving us the power to do that. This would be the obvious democratic solution. But with the County Council elections coming on on June 4th, it will be an opportunity to change things for the better.

Liberal Democrats have 7 clear messages in our manifesto:

• Helping our economy to thrive
• Giving our children the best start in life
• Improving our roads and pavements
• Investing in social care & home support
• Protecting our environment
• Making Oxfordshire a safer place
• Using your money wisely

Our key message is to invest in front line services – this is what people tell us they want. The County Council has been criticised for children’s poor achievement in schools, and we want to turn that around. We also need to support our young people, provide more youth workers and support the elderly and vulnerable. But when it came to budget setting this year, the administration chose to invest in things like appointing a new Head of Marketing and Public Affairs. Wasting money on glossy leaflets instead of spending money on residents’ everyday needs. We are ambitious to change that. This is what we have set out to achieve in our manifesto today.

Afterwards I attended our Annual Parish Council meeting in Grove, where I reported on my activities over the past year. David Buckle, our new Chief Executive at the Vale of White Horse District Council came to give us a presentation, which was very informative and I hope interesting to residents. He set our the savings we are achieving at the Vale with our shared management. He also gave us an update on the proposed development for Grove which now seems to be on hold due to the economic recession and the impact it is having on housebuilding.

There were not many questions from the public, and nothing controversial, so I suppose that means we must be doing something right. I always enjoy these occasions where it gives us a real opportunity to engage with our electorate. Interesting times ahead for all of us.