Stockport Liberal Democrats

Leader of Stockport Liberal Democrat Group, Cllr Mark Hunter, has described the Northern Powerhouse as “dead in the water” and challenged central government to better demonstrate their commitment to investment in the North West.

Speaking at the recent Liberal Democrat annual conference at Brighton, Cllr Hunter claimed that because the Northern Powerhouse was originally the creation of George Osborne, the current Conservative government are paying only lip service to the idea of more power for the region.

“The Northern Powerhouse exists now in name only to all intents and purposes,” said Cllr Hunter.  “It is little more than a gesture to help a few North West Tory MPs to hold on to their seats at the next general election.

“Transport is a clear example of its failure.  We have just seen a summer of chaos on our local and regional rail services with no practical oversight or intention from central government. Thousands of rail users have been inconvenienced and yet the minister does nothing.  It is simply unacceptable that so many local people continue to struggle with over-crowded and unreliable rail services. 

“The time for government intervention is long overdue,” Cllr Hunter concluded.

 

At a meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority last month the Labour leader of Stockport Council, the other nine Labour council leaders and the elected mayor agreed to take away the requirement for each Council to individually vote to agree the controversial forthcoming Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF), which is expected to include proposals for considerable green belt development.

In an innocuous paragraph hidden away in a description of the revised timetable, brief reference was made of taking an ‘in principle’ decision, changing the approach taken from being a “Joint Development Plan” to a “Spatial Development Strategy”.

Cllr Lisa Smart, Deputy Leader of Stockport Liberal Democrats and Chair of the Greater Manchester Housing Planning and Environment Scrutiny Committee, has uncovered that this means that any decision to implement GMSF need only be approved by a vote of the 10 council leaders and the mayor.  The previous approach would have required a vote in each of the 10 constituent full councils for the proposals to be accepted.

Cllr Smart said: “This is a blatant power grab by Andy Burnham and Greater Manchester Labour bosses.  Power should be given to, not taken away from, local people who have real concerns about transport, school places and hospital beds that have not yet been fixed by this plan.

“We need the right homes in the right places. Labour and the developers have failed to win the argument with local people about building on the green belt. They are running scared that they wouldn’t win a vote in each council and so now they are changing the rules.

“This is an abuse of power and they must think again. Once our greenbelt is gone it is gone for good.”

The Liberal Democrat Group on Stockport council welcomed the second Pride festival last weekend and had a very popular stall manned by several local councillors and activists.

Cllrs Mark Hunter and Lisa Smart, the Group Leader and Deputy, along with many colleagues enjoyed a great community event which highlighted how open and inclusive the borough is.

Pictured are Lisa with Lib Dem activists Claire Halliwell from Cheadle Hulme North and Richard Flowers from Bramhall North.

At the most recent meeting of Stockport Council, Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Mark Hunter revealed, to the surprise of those present in the chamber, that he had discovered that the council had been using consultants PWC for nearly a year to support Stockport Together.

The consultants have been employed on a rolling contract to provide additional capacity as Stockport Council and Stepping Hill Hospital wrestle with the issues involved in setting up the new Stockport Together organisation, designed to improve delivery of health and adult social care services to local residents.

Cllr Hunter cited a recent joint report of parliamentary Select Committees which had disclosed that the average fee for a senior consultant at PWC was £885 per hour.

Cllr Hunter pointed out that, despite Stockport being a balanced council, the decision to use consultants had not been discussed via the usual channels of all-party Group Leader meetings and, in the interests of openness and transparency, demanded to know which cabinet member had signed off the decision, which cabinet meeting had formally agreed it, what were the terms and conditions, and what has been the cost so far.

Cllr Hunter said: “The Leader of the Council likes to remind us on a regular basis of how committed he is to accountability and transparency, yet he appears to think he can get away with hiding what is a potentially significant expense and keep this decision secret.

“He was clearly wrong-footed at the council meeting when I asked the question and, although he promised a reply, one has not yet materialised.”

Following the recent shock announcement by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to close another 162 branches nationwide, Stockport Liberal Democrats have called on the bank to re-think its proposal and have asked Stockport Council to write to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee – Nicky Morgan MP – demanding an inquiry. The Lib Dems have also submitted a motion to the next meeting of Stockport Council condemning the five branch closures proposed in the borough and hope to get all party support for their campaign.

Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Lib Dem Group at Stockport Town Hall, said: “As RBS is owned by the tax-payer these proposals to reduce their high street presence still further are simply unacceptable. Many jobs will be lost and for those people who still use these facilities the trek to the next nearest branch will cause great inconvenience. In Cheadle Hulme the problem is especially bad as this is the last remaining bank branch in the district centre. We reject the assumption that internet banking is the right choice for everyone – many people still prefer to conduct their business face to face.

Deputy Leader, Cllr Lisa Smart, added: “Bank branches can be anchors in their high streets and draw customers to neighbouring small businesses. Losing 31 branches across Greater Manchester and five across Stockport will be a further blow to our hard-working retailers. We hope that the Treasury Select Committee will take up our call for an inquiry into this ill-thought proposal.”

Stockport Liberal Democrats have called for the resignation of a senior Labour councillor after she was forced to apologise for using “abusive” language on social media. Cllr Kate Butler, the cabinet member responsible for Economy and Regeneration at the Town Hall, was formally rebuked by Council bosses who said “the language used was abusive and can reasonably be regarded as bringing the office of councillor into disrepute”.

Cllr Butler was alleged to have referred to a representative of various community groups a “sock puppet w*****”.

Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group at Stockport, Cllr Mark Hunter, said “There’s simply no excuse for this kind of behaviour and it is plain wrong that the Labour leadership of the Council continues to support this member on its front bench. Cllr Butler has been found guilty of breaching the councillors’ code of conduct on two counts and should be relieved of her duties forthwith.

“The fact that this incident happened several months ago and the complaint has only come to light because of this week’s report by the Manchester Evening News is simply wrong – councillors and local people would otherwise have been kept completely in the dark.

“Having been reprimanded officially by the Council, Kate Butler should have done the decent thing and offered her resignation, but to continue to be backed by the Labour leadership and keep her front bench position just demonstrates the contempt some Labour politicians have for the general public.”

Cllr Lisa Smart, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group added ” Residents are right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour from the people they elect to represent them. I just don’t see how Cllr Butler can bring the community together to make the most of the ongoing investment projects given her past behaviour. For that reason, we are calling on her to resign from her role on the Labour Cabinet with immediate effect and allow someone else to take these projects forward.”