Reading Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat councillors in the University area have slammed the Labour Council after a list of new bottle banks for the town was produced – with none for Redlands ward which currently has no facilities for glass recycling.

The new banks are going to be limited to a handful of wards in Reading.

Commenting on the news, Cllr Daisy Benson, Lib Dem Councillor Redlands ward said.

“Speaking to residents on the doorstep they all wonder why the Council does not provide a kerbside glass recycling service, and they are fed up with excuses and no action. The Council promised residents the first ever bottle banks in Redlands last year when Alternate Weekly Collections were introduced. None have been delivered. This isn’t good enough.”

Cllr Benson and Greater Reading Lib Dems have launched a petition to extend the materials that can be recycling in Reading.

“The Council needs to involve the community in deciding where bottle banks should go. We want to hear why none of the sites we mentioned have come forward. The Council should reconsider its position on kerbside collection of glass as a priority.”

Cllr Kirsten Bayes, newly-elected Lib Dem Councillor for Redlands added:

“The Council needs to involve the community in deciding where bottle banks should go. We want to hear why none of the sites we mentioned have come forward. The Council should reconsider its position on kerbside collection of glass as a priority.”

Cllr Gareth Epps, environment spokesman and prospective parliamentary candidate for Reading East added:

“The local elections showed that people in Reading are fed up with Labour’s record on waste and recycling. The Council needs to make it easier for people to reuse and recycle.

Glass and food waste recycling must be brought in. There is now more evidence pointing to the importance of food waste recycling, and proven evidence that glass recycling not only is good for the environment but saves taxpayers’ money.”

We believe that Reading Borough Council needs to offer convenient bottle banks and kerbside glass recycling to all residents of Reading.

The experience of nearby councils shows that glass recycling is not only good for the environment but saves taxpayers’ money.

If you agree , please sign the petition below! -
Click here to sign the petition to improve Glass Recycling in Reading

Reading East Liberal Democrat campaigner Gareth Epps has hit out at the government’s disgraceful tax credit record after the government published records showing they overpaid £3.4 million of tax credits in three years to 3,700 residents of Reading borough and wrongly paid out over £9 billion across the country.

At the same time they failed to pay over 1900 families in Reading borough the tax credit awards they were entitled to. This amounted to a massive underpayment of £1.3 million.

Commenting on the figures, Gareth Epps said,

“The government’s record on tax credits here in Reading is a disgrace. Gordon Brown has presided over a tax credits fiasco of entirely his own making.

“Not only have taxpayers in Reading and Woodley lost out, but the government is now trying to claw back money from people on very low incomes – even when it was government mistakes which led to the errors. It all adds up to a disgrace which, yet again, is a Labour policy hitting families on low incomes the hardest.

“The government has overpaid residents of Reading £3.4 million, and underpaid others £1.3 million.

“The government’s shambolic tax credit system leads to uncertainty for many families in Reading as they have no way of knowing what they will receive. I am campaigning for a simple system of fixed term awards of six months so that families know what they are getting and get what they are entitled to.”

Overpayments and Underpayments by local authority and constituency can be found here.

Nationally the government has overpaid £5.7billion in tax credits, but Liberal Democrat research also shows that the Government has incorrectly paid out around £3.6bn in fraud and error since 2003 – most of which will never be recovered. This means over £9bn has been paid in error, of which up to £5bn will be lost.

Reading MP Martin Salter has come under fire for backing a controversial Bill in the House of Commons designed to exempt Members of Parliament from Freedom of Information legislation.

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary spokesperson Gareth Epps – who backs the action led by Lib Dem MPs to oppose the Bill on Friday – has highlighted Salter’s role in speaking and voting for the Bill and in passing correspondence from a constituent – allegedly released under the Freedom of Information Act by Reading Borough Council – to the Bill’s Tory promoter David Maclean MP. The correspondence – with the constituent’s name blacked out – was produced by Maclean during the debate.

Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords have already pledged to kill the Bill off using all means possible.

Commenting, Gareth Epps said:

“This squalid Bill is designed to reduce the amount to which Members of Parliament are open to public scrutiny. It will damage freedom of information and gives politicians a bad name.

It is sadly no surprise to see Martin Salter enthusiastically in support of it for those precise reasons.

I cannot see myself siding with John Redwood on many occasions. However, on this issue Redwood is right and Salter is wrong. The opposition in the Commons – led by my Liberal Democrat colleagues – will now be taken to the House of Lords.”

This years council elections saw Labour lose 5 seats to the Tories and 2 to the Lib Dems, reducing their majority to just 4 on the council. Equally importantly, Labour are set to lose their majority entirely in 2008, assuming they continue to lose seats to the opposition.

The fallout from Labour’s debacle is already being felt. Labour Leader David Sutton has signalled a major rethink on the one-way IDR scheme that cost them thousands of votes this year across Reading.

He has also had to think again about the fortnightly refuse collection, and especially about how it has worked out for the many residents around the town centre who live in houses of multiple occupancy, and whose streets are now blighted by the sight and smell of overflowing bins.

The Lib Dems want to see the one-way IDR scheme consigned to the dustbin, it will do nothing to reduce traffic in our town centre, it will do precious little to improve public transport and it will cause widespread havoc during its construction phase and also when, inevitably, it gets blocked. It is a large waste of public money.

Reading Lib Dems support efforts to increase recycling in our town but the council’s ‘one size fits all’ policy has created chaos in many areas around the town centre and still the council have no policy to collect glass or kitchen waste from the doorstep, issues that Lib Dems have been campaigning on for some time.

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Cllr Gareth Epps agrees and comments: “Our position is clear -

The IDR is not wanted.

Bin collections cannot be worked as ‘one size fits all’ in densely-populated areas.

We must seriously press for workable glass and food waste recycling at the doorstep.”

Gareth added “This is the right time and place to start discussions – for the benefit of the people of Reading.”

Reading Lib Dems welcome Labour’s rethink of its two most unpopular policy planks and we salute the signs of approaching u-turns. This may be one fantastic example where lots of individual voters have protested against an arrogant, non-listening council and given the ruling party a well-deserved kick up the backside. Well done to you all!