Cllr Jack Cohen, Leader of Barnet Liberal Democrats has reported Barnet Council to its own Standards Committee. Cllr Cohen believes that Barnet has broken the law by allowing the increases in Members Allowances to be dealt with at Tuesday's Council meeting.
A rail operator has apologised to a disabled passenger after staff tried to "bar" him from a train. Tim Mason, 49, from Teignmouth, Devon, was told he could not travel on the First Great Western (FGW) train if his wheelchair could not be folded away.
I was delighted that the motion I proposed at a meeting of the Full Council last night in opposition to the plans to merge Beds Police with the larger Herts force received unanimous support from all sides of the Chamber. Councillors have spoken with one voice prior to key meetings at the two respective Police Authorities tomorrow, at which the Authorities will vote on whether to proceed with the plans and put them out to consultation.
A paper which largely draws on policy drafted by ALTER and approved by Party Conference in 2007 has been sent to HM Treasury's Commercial Property Tax Team, at their request. This followed a meeting in HM Treasury, attended by ALTER's Dr Tony Vickers, that was set up before the General Election by the cross-party Coalition for Economic Justice (CEJ). Subsequent to that meeting, CEJ wrote a pre-Budget submission to Chancellor George Osborne, copying the letter to Vince Cable.
In a motion put down on Tuesday at Full Council, County Cllr David Kendall stressed the important role that Essex County Council should be playing, as a community leader, in supporting those badly hit by the economic downturn - in practical terms and through partners.
A new ICM poll commissioned by the BHA has found that 72% of the public are concerned that the Academies Bill could lead to taxpayers' money being used to promote religion.