Only days ahead of the end of the financial year Conservative run Northamptonshire County Council has admitted it’s run out of money. Similar sized local councils are said to hold reserves of over £500m, NCC has less than £17m. Two government civil servants are taking over control of NCC’s finances, and will oversee how other key decisions are scrutinised. It’s also been revealed that local tax payers will have to pay for the salaries and expenses of these civil servants.

Liberal Democrat Leader at South Northants Council, Councillor Chris Lofts says: “Liberal Democrats have been saying for years that the Conservatives were steering the council towards disaster, but they weren’t listening. To try to balance next year’s books the Tories say they must spend every penny of NCC’s financial reserves. In doing this, they will have to try building new reserves and the only way of achieving this is to make yet more cuts to services. Local residents are being punished again because of the mismanagement of their council by the failed Conservatives.”

Councillor Chris Lofts adds: “Even this Conservative Government has lost patience with local Tories and are sending civil servants to run NCC’s finances. To add insult to injury it is local council tax payers who will pick up the bill for civil servant salaries. Once again when Tories fail it is communities that suffer.”

Lib Dems have campaigned against the Tories cuts to bus services

Commentating Liberal Democrat Councillor Martin Johns says: “The Conservatives had been in the last chance saloon for some time and must now spend all that was left of council taxpayers’ reserves. It’s a scandal that our county council and the local services many people rely on has been destroyed by such incompetence. My concern now is that many more local services will be run down or closed all together in the months to come.”

Campaign

In which her body was a question-mark

querying her lies; her mouth a ballot-box that bit the hand that fed. Her eyes? They swivelled for a jackpot win. Her heart was a stolen purse;

her rhetoric an empty vicarage, the windows smashed.

Then her feet grew sharp stilettos, awkward.

Then she had balls, believe it.

When she woke,

her nose was bloody, difficult.

The furious young

ran towards her through the fields of wheat.

Carol Ann Duffy

Headteacher Richard Camp welcomes      Chris Lofts to Towcester Primary

Chris Lofts, Liberal Democrat candidate for South Northamptonshire has been focusing on spending on schools and colleges. During the campaign Chris Lofts has visited schools across the constituency and also visited Silverstone University Technical College (UTC).

The Liberal Democrats say they will invest more in schools and colleges in South Northamptonshire over the next parliament. The funding would reverse cuts to local school and college budgets, protect per pupil funding in real terms and ensure no school loses out from changes to funding arrangements.

Funding would be spent on protecting the Pupil Premium, introduced by the Liberal Democrats to help the most disadvantaged children.

Locally for example, under the Conservatives by 2019 Sponne School will see its budget cut by £627,695, Nicholas Hawksmoor by £85,910, Towcester Primary by £100,491, Stoke Bruerne by £64,383 and Tiffield Primary by £62,652.

Chris Lofts says: “Children in South Northamptonshire are being taught in overcrowded classes by overworked teachers – but Theresa May doesn’t care. Under the Conservatives, funding per pupil is set to see the biggest cuts in a generation, while billions of pounds are being spent on divisive plans to expand grammars and free schools. This extra funding would ensure no school and no child loses out. We will reverse crippling Conservative cuts to school budgets and invest to ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed.

The Conservative’s disastrous record on education has done untold harm to our schools, teachers and young people across the country – enough is enough.”

Chris Lofts added: “A big majority for the Conservatives would allow Theresa May to take parents across the country for granted and cut our schools to the bone.

Only the Liberal Democrats can provide the strong opposition Britain needs to stand up for South Northamptonshire.

Vote for the Liberal Democrats and you can change Britain’s future.”

https://m.facebook.com/snlibdems/

Chris Lofts, Lib Dem candidate for South Northamptonshire, has been campaigning with supporters, listening to people in Brackley, Kings Sutton and Middleton Cheney. One of their main concerns is about the crises in NHS and social care funding.

Chris Lofts said: “People are very worried about delays to treatment and longer waiting times for operations. In the growing community of Middleton Cheney, the GP’s surgery closed last October, forcing those who are ill to travel to Banbury.

In Banbury, the Horton Hospital provides services to the Brackley area. Services, including maternity care, are under threat. Our former Conservative MP, has offered warm words of support, but she has always voted with the Tories to starve the NHS of adequate funding.

As I said at a public meeting in Brackley earlier this year, we can’t go on like this, starving the NHS of the money it needs to give families the care they deserve. Liberal Democrats would put a penny on income tax and ring-fence this money for the NHS and social care.”

Chris Lofts adds: “The Lib Dem plan is clear, credible, and supported by doctors and health professionals. Liberal Democrats say South Northamptonshire needs action to save our NHS and social care, not just warm words of sympathy from the Conservatives.”

https://m.facebook.com/snlibdems/

Chris Lofts, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for South Northamptonshire, visiting Towcester’s Farmers’ Market today, to listen to people’s concerns about air pollution in the town.

Chris Lofts said: “Stall holders and shoppers expressed their worries about the failure of the Conservatives to take action to improve air quality in Towcester. This view was shared by those I spoke with who run town centre businesses and residents I met, walking along Watling Street. We have a great monthly market in Towcester and excellent small shops but locals tell me air pollution and heavy traffic is badly affecting trade. Of course, it’s badly affecting our health too. The excellent monthly Farmers’ Market should by right, be in the market square, but lack of a bypass / relief road makes this impossible.”

Recently a judge ordered our former MP Andrea Leadsom, to publish her highly embarrassing report on air pollution. Justice Garnham said the environment secretary was in breach of a court order to take action in the shortest possible time. Despite the court’s order, the Conservatives still put their own party politics before public health and didn’t publish their report until after the local elections.

Liberal Democrat Chris Lofts added: “Andrea Leadsom has finally been forced to publish her ‘action plan’ to reduce air pollution, but this has been universally ridiculed by health experts, as offering no solution to the very serious public health issue of air pollution; a problem which is causing up to 40,000 premature deaths in the UK each year. We urgently need a scrappage scheme for older diesel vehicles and tax incentives to promote cleaner more efficient cars, buses and HGVs.

It’s disgraceful that the Conservatives are still ducking measures to reduce the air pollution blighting many of our cities and towns, including Towcester and other locations across South Northamptonshire.

Liberal Democrats have been campaigning hard for Towcester’s relief road. The Conservatives still claim they support the Lib Dems on this but have failed to take action. All we get from the Tories is ‘hot air.’

We need action on air pollution, not just words…”

https://m.facebook.com/snlibdems/