I want to talk to you about the direction of travel of the county council as a whole. It used to be that conservative councils and governments got elected on a platform of credibility. Now, governmental conservatism is a synonym for incompetence. This used to be a party with a plan, and a grip on […]

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Where my pay rise has been spent this year

by Steff on 20 December, 2018

At the start of this year the County Council debated increasing members’ pay and I voted against. But, the Tory majority made sure it went through.  Rather than trousering the increase, I’ve been putting it to good use across the division. Here are my highlights: £50 to sponsor a constituent in his successful bid to […]

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The debate is widening about the future of adult social care in our county. I am deeply concerned that we’re heading towards a two-tier system whereby those without wealth end up with poor, undignified care – even though they may have paid tax and national insurance throughout their lives. It falls to those of us […]

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A Rural Future: Time to Act

by Steff on 10 March, 2018

This weekend I’m up in Southport for the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference. I’m extremely pleased that we have just passed a policy motion called ‘A Rural Future: Time to Act’. Passing a motion is something you do in the big hall at Liberal Democrat conferences, and it’s a lot more pleasant than it sounds. The […]

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How I’m giving back my pay rise

by Steff on 17 January, 2018

Before Christmas, whilst wielding an axe to public services including mobile libraries, bus subsidies and even road gritting (all of which we’re campaigning hard against), the County Council voted to increase Members’ allowances. You couldn’t make it up: politicians giving themselves an extra £142,000 a year, whilst cutting more than twice that from each of […]

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I’m pleased that the motion I proposed, and Dr Marie Strong seconded, was passed with welcome adjustments from Councillor colleagues. That this Council considers that sexual harassment, bullying and intimidation are completely unacceptable and believes that it has no place in any workplace or society. Any councillor or member of staff who feels that they […]

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And so it is shipped! I’ve just pressed “send” on a big joint submission to DONG Energy from 5 Parish Councils, Norman Lamb, Councillor Perry-Warnes and myself – as well as 103 local residents who took part in surveys – about the Hornsea 3 wind project. This has been a fantastic collaborative project to work […]

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I had a very interesting meeting this afternoon with the County Council’s head of finance.  What a tough job he has! Amongst other things, I learned that the £100m the County Council needs to save is not ‘in total during 2018-22’, but per year by 2022. This means in total £175m less will be spent on services during […]

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Released on 16th September 2017 Fourth to First is a first-hand account of the campaign that elected first-time candidate Steffan Aquarone to Norfolk County Council in a division where the party came fourth in the previous election. It tells the whole story from start to finish from the perspective of the candidate and his sister […]

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“Keep an eye on your local services to make sure they don’t disappear” Liberal Democrat group leader Dan Roper has told people in Norfolk this morning. His comments came in advance of this morning’s full meeting of the County Council, where the big issue is the way the Council plans to meet the £100m gap […]

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