LGA Liberal Democrat Group
The Liberal Democrats have just over 3,100 councillors across the UK. Consequently, our Group at the LGA plays a major role in the organisation. We are the persistent defenders of local democracy, arguing that what a local community can do for itself is best left to that community, without interference from central government.
You can find more information about the Group by viewing the "About us" section on the left.
These were awarded by Nick Clegg MP, Deputy Prime Minister, Cllr. Gerald Vernon-Jackson and Cllr Kath Pinnock at the Brighton Lib Dem Spring Conference in March 2013.
You can see more details of the winners at this link
"Stronger Communities" - the Liberal Democrat Local Government Conference, June 21st - 22nd
Held every summer, bookings are now open for the joint event put together by the LGA Liberal Democr Group and the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors. Plenty of training sessions, policy debates and key speakers. More details are available here.
Speaking as a cross party group of MPs cited their opposition to Government plans to allow larger extensions without planning permission, Cllr Gerald Vernon Jackson, Liberal Democrat Leader at the LGA, said:
“Liberal Democrats will fight to protect our communities from these Tory proposals that amount to the creeping creation of tawdry towns and vulgar villages.
“The Secretary of State needs to think this through; how would he feel if his neighbour built an ugly extension, blocking sunlight to his home and then found his neighbour peering at him from a new window while he’s eating his bacon and eggs in his pyjamas?
“At a time when we should be reflecting on peace and goodwill these proposals will bring neighbour friction and ill will.
“We are calling on our MPs and Lords to demolish these ludicrous proposals.”
‘DCLG are Doom Deniers’ – says Vernon-Jackson
November 22nd 2012
Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Local Government, Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson has labelled DCLG as ‘Doom Deniers’ for refusing to face up to the inevitable conclusions of the sector’s funding.
The accusation came after top DCLG officials, interviewed by a parliamentary select committee claimed the financial forecasting by the Local Government Association (LGA), known as the ‘Graph of Doom’, had taken a “most pessimistic interpretation”.
Cllr Vernon-Jackson, who leads the Liberal Democrats on the LGA strongly refutes the suggestion the Association has been in any way pessimistic. He has said:
“The LGA has been totally realistic about what future we’re facing here. The Graph of Doom deliberately avoided pessimism and consistently took a realistic assessment of funding, carefully feeding in data in a cool, analytical way.
“The LGA will be looking for very clear, hard evidence to demonstrate why our analysis has been dismissed.
“In the meantime we will be gathering further evidence to help DCLG better understand the financial prospects the sector faces”
Planning changes could mean "
October 20th 2012
Liberal Democrats in local government have slammed the proposal by Conservative minister Nick Bowles on allowing larger home extensions to be built without planning permission beyond the three year period.Cllr. Keith House, Environment Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats at the LGA, said: “This will not be acceptable to Lib Dems in local government and given the cross party opposition to the three year proposal, it is breathtaking that the government has not learned to listen on this subject.
“I appreciate this sounds like the Conservative side of the coalition flying a kite. Hopefully the Liberal Democrat side will show no hesitation in shooting it down. Otherwise this could lead to a creeping creation of tawdry towns and vulgar villages.
“We are raising our strong concerns with Liberal Democrat colleagues in
ENDS
Note to editors: More details at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19955112
September 18th 2012
We have launched more details of the hard work our councillors have done to tackle crime and improve community safety in their neighbourhoods. A copy of the booklet can be found here.