Norfolk County Council Liberal Democrats

Over 20 million working people will be better off next year after Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government delivered the biggest ever increase in the income tax personal allowance in the Budget.

The massive £3.5bn tax cut for working people delivers:

• The biggest ever single uplift in the tax threshold
• A personal allowance of £9,205 in April 2013
• 21 million working people getting an extra £220 tax cut
• Brings the total tax cut for basic rate tax payers to £550
• Brings the total number of people lifted out of tax to 2 million.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg used his speech to the Party's Spring conference in NewcastleGateshead to call for the forthcoming budget to be a "budget for fairness" and pledged that it would help working familes.

The Deputy Prime Minister pledged that by 2015 Britain would have seen an end to control orders, the first gay marriages and the first elections to the House of Lords.

Fairer taxes, promoting green jobs, protecting your civil liberties - these are just some of the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in government.

We're building a freer, greener and more liberal country - and stopping some of the worst excesses of the Conservatives. Find out more in this infographic.

Today we have the opportunity to focus not just on service cuts but also on how to spend some unexpected money. Late last year the Council was given an unexpected windfall of £8.624M. It was a bright day in what has been a gloomy year for this Council giving the opportunity to cut some new pathways, and the benefits of this money will be evident in our discussions today.

There is no hiding from it, January was a pretty bruising month politically. Our two motions at full Council on the 16^th led to some angry exchanges and later in the same week the Standards Committee met to hear my complaint against the Leader of the Council. You can read more about that on the EDP website and my blog. Suffice to say they were not desired or enjoyable occasions.

12 Rounds for the Future of Norfolk

There has been much talk from Norfolk County Council about the link between an incinerator in Kings Lynn and the future ofNorfolk. It is striking then that a project which is promoted as the future ofNorfolkshould be built to demonstrate today's political muscle. The facts are, like it or not, the incinerator has become a political battleground with the main protagonists much more concerned about their immediate political futures than the future ofNorfolk. The council has backed itself into a corner, and like the punch-drunk heavyweight who should throw the towel in, keeps coming out to fight the rounds, hoping a Don King style judges' decision will get them a verdict at the final bell. So let's review the blows in this heavyweight contest for the future ofNorfolk.

Website Leader's Report

December 2011

A month where we ended up with two less Councillors at the end than we had at the beginning can hardly be rated a success! The loss of the Lakenham by-election was hardly unexpected - Labour have always been strong there and we are part of a Government doing some unpopular things - but David Callaby's defection was a complete shock which also hurt many Group Members personally. We believed Councillor Callaby was man of principle but he had deceived us. It is clear he was panicked by the May District Council results in his Division where the Tories did well and thought the only way he would retain his seat in 2013 would be as a Conservative. No wonder the public have a low opinion of 'politicians'!

Leader's Report

October 2011

All politicians in power worry about their legacy. ForNorfolk's current Conservative administration it will surely be the Saddlebow incinerator… or maybe the record number of complaints (seven in the past year) to the Standards Committee about Derrick Murphy's behaviour as he fights to preserve his flagship policy.

In his keynote speech to the Liberal Democrat Conference, Party Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has outlined his goals for the Government and the country over the coming years. He reiterated his commitment to liberal values on the environment and human rights and his determination to ensure a fair chance for every child, saying "every child can do good things, great things, if only we give them the opportunities they deserve."

Our website is operational again after a few months down so I now have to be disciplined again about doing my monthly report.

The Incinerator issue rolls on. The Tories' attempts to gather support from the Parishes was a miserable failure whilst now the Environment Agency are very concerned about it being sited in a Flood Zone and Natural England are asking questions about the effect on the Wash. I have always believed that for political reasons the Government would find a way of denying the County Council the PFI credits.