Commenting on the news, Cllr Daisy Benson said:

“It is very good news for Reading that this longstanding Liberal Democrat policy is being implemented as it will help give the local economy a real boost and increase accountability over spending.”

“As the Centre for Cities recently noted Reading has a thriving private sector and this move will help stimulate growth even futher.”

“At the moment, business rates paid by businesses in Reading go straight into Treasury coffers and often end up being spent in other parts of the country – as a result of decisions taken by bureaucrats in Whitehall not the Civic Centre.”

““This reform will give Reading Borough Council a genuine incentive to actively encourage business growth and create jobs which is good for residents and businesses.”

“If more taxes raised locally are spent locally people and businesses will be able to see how their money is spent and hold councillors to account more effectively for decisions.”

Liberal Democrats led the calls for changes after raising serious concerns at the party’s Spring Conference in March.

The Government has completed a listening exercise during a break in the passage of the Bill to hear the concerns.

In particular, Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats want to ensure:

• The pace of change is slowed down to ensure changes are not rushed into. The changes must be evolution, not revolution
• There is no privatisation of the NHS and no special favours for the private sector. We want a level playing field, not a race to the bottom
• The NHS is properly accountable, both nationally and locally

Commenting, Cllr Daisy Benson, Group Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Reading Borough Council said:

“Liberal Democrats have been clear from the start that there must be no privatisation of the NHS and that it must remain universal, based on need and free at the point of use.

“I joined Lib Dem members including a large number from Reading who backed a motion calling for substantial changes to the Health & Social Care Bill when it was debated at our conference in March.

“With an ageing population and rising costs it is clear the NHS can’t stand still, but these changes are too important to get wrong.

“I am proud that Nick Clegg and my Lib Dem colleagues have been fighting to make sure the concerns raised by the public and medical professionals have been heard and addressed.”

It encourages care and support to be delivered in a partnership between individuals, communities, the voluntary sector, the NHS and councils – including wider support services, such as housing.

The vision sets out a new agenda for adult social care based on a power shift from the state to the citizen, by committing to:

• Extend the rollout of personal budgets
• Increase preventative action in local communities,
• Keeping people independent and helping to build the Big Society
• Break down barriers between health and social care funding
• Encouraging care and support to be delivered in a partnership between individuals, communities, the voluntary sector, the NHS and councils – including wider support

Welcoming the plans, Cllr Kirsten Bayes, Deputy Leader of Reading Borough Council said:

“The Coalition Government has demonstrated its clear commitment to supporting carers and vulnerable people and that is very welcome.”

“These proposals will help us to support older and disabled people in Reading – and their carers, to live more independent lives.”

Cllr Daisy Benson, Lead Member for Community Care added:

“The vision is built on two key reforms that Liberal Democrats have been campaigning for many years.”

“The first is that people – not institutions- will have control over their care. By extending the roll out of personal budgets, first proposed by the Liberal Democrats in 2004, we will give individuals the freedom to decide what their money is spent on.

“The Coalition Government’s vision for social care will also deliver on our Party’s manifesto commitment to provide respite care to carers by making additional funding available  for this specific purpose.”

Liberal Democrats in Reading have long campaigned to reform the Housing Revenue Account subsidy the so-called ‘tenant tax’ which has seen millions of pounds of Council tenants’ rent go back into Treasury coffers every year under Labour.

Commenting, Cllr Daisy Benson, Lead Member for Housing on Reading Borough Council said:

“I’m delighted that the Coalition Government has announced the end of the unpopular and unfair “Tenant Tax” on some of Reading’s poorest household, something that Labour failed to deliver in 13 years in government.”

“Council tenants in Reading many of whom are on low incomes should not subjected to an additional tax to fund social housing improvements in other parts of the country.

“The government’s proposals will enable Reading Borough Council  to use council house rents to  invest in the repair and maintenance of the social housing stock in Reading and put the money towards building much-needed new social homes.

“Liberal Democrats locally and nationally have long campaigned to reform the Housing Revenue Account subsidy and replace it with a fairer system. Lib Dems have now been able to deliver on that pledge in government.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has issued a call to arms against pointless regulation and unnecessary bureaucracy, asking the public how they want the Government to redress the balance between the citizen and the state.

If you wish to make a suggestion or comment please visit www.hmg.gov.uk/yourfreedom

The Reading East constituency is likely to be a close contest between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. At the last election, the Liberal Democrats reduced the gap to fewer than 5,000 votes, after a 5.7% swing in their favour. At this election, Gareth Epps needs a 5.7% swing to beat the Conservatives and win. The seat includes a large student population, with most University of Reading students living in Reading East alongside students from Thames Valley University’s Reading campus. The Lib Dems are set to profit from their policy of scrapping tuition fees – a policy Gareth Epps helped to engineer back in 1997. The Conservative candidate has refused to sign a National Union of Students (NUS) petition committing candidates to oppose further increases in tuition fees.

The Labour Party has continued to decline in Reading East after its vote fell by over 10 per cent in 2005. From having 16 councillors in the constituency in 2005, it has lost seats in Caversham, Church, Park, Redlands and Katesgrove wards – the latter to the Liberal Democrats, who now have 11 councillors to Labour’s 5.

The Conservative candidate for Reading East has refused to attend a hustings being organised by Reading environmental groups under the banner of GREN (Greater Reading Environment Network) on 13 April, and a student hustings organised by Reading University Students’ Union on 26 April. In both cases the Conservatives are sending a councillor as a substitute. Gareth Epps has written to Rob Wilson to ask why he refused to attend the GREN meeting, despite being offered a date of his choice on which the meeting could be arranged.

Gareth Epps has also revealed he is to launch a contract with the electorate, to demonstrate how Members of Parliament should form a bond of trust with the people electing them after the scandals of recent years.

The General Election comes at a good time for the Liberal Democrats. They are up 4% in the most recent ICM polls for the Guardian from 19% to 21% and 23%. And the Lib Dems’ Vince Cable is widely seen has having won the “Ask the Chancellors” debate on Channel 4 last week. The Independent newspaper gave Vince Cable 4 stars, the Conservatives’ George Osborne, 1 star.

Commenting on the doorstep reception in recent days, Gareth Epps says:-
‘Knocking on doors in recent days, I have found huge disillusionment with both Conservative and Labour. After 65 years of failure, we are dubbing them the “Labservatives” – each as bad as the other. People want to see a stronger Lib Dem presence in Parliament.

‘The days where Labour dominated politics in this area are now long gone, with them reduced to activity in a handful of wards in Reading East. Commentators and local residents are acknowledging the Reading East election this time will be a fight between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. Many Lib Dems who were helping in other constituencies last time will be spending more time in Reading East now we can win.

‘I will be campaigning at this election for a fair deal for local people. Fairness in taxation – a £700 tax cut for the average earner. Fairness for schools – millions of pounds extra for local schools’ through the Lib Dems’ pupil premium, to tackle the gaping divide in educational chances between children from the wealthiest and worst-off backgrounds. Fairness in jobs – a “green road” out of the recession through investing in renewable energy. And fair and accountable politics. All MPs share some responsibility for the problems that grew up over expenses; we must now reform the political system to restore trust as a whole.

‘This is the best chance for 100 years for us to elect a Liberal Democrat in Reading East. We start fewer than 5,000 votes away with the Labour Party continuing its rapid decline. We go into this election with very great confidence.’

Commenting on his challenge to the Conservative candidate, Gareth said:-
‘It is simply not good enough for a candidate who wants to be re-elected as our local MP to hide behind his councillors on some of the biggest issues facing us all. People do not want to know the views of a councillor on whether he or she believes in man-made climate change. They want to know what their prospective Member of Parliament thinks.

‘Rob Wilson was offered a date of his choice for this meeting. A similar event in Reading West was well-attended. To refuse to attend in the manner he has done demonstrates contempt for the electorate – or begs the question, what do the Conservatives have to hide?’

Cllr Gareth Epps, Liberal Democrat prospective MP for Reading East and Reading Safer Communities spokesperson, said:-

‘This is what happens when police authorities are underfunded and buried under piles of meaningless Labour Government targets. Thames Valley officers work hard to tackle crime – but everywhere I go, I hear people wanting to see more from our police which cannot be delivered because the resources are given by Whitehall to the Met. If the Home Office stopped wasting billions of pounds on useless and dangerous pet projects, that would be a start; ID Cards and the discriminatory PREVENT agenda are no substitute for effective policing.

‘It is a particular failure of Reading’s outgoing Labour leaders that they have achieved absolutely nothing to tackle this in thirteen years of a Labour Government. Reading needs a fair deal on policing, and has been let down by the Labour Party. We need a fresh start and our police need fair funding – not more demotivating attacks from Gordon Brown and Whitehall.’