Derby Liberal Democrats

A recent report from the Care Quality Commission and OFSTED has revealed that Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) provision in Derby is failing families and hurting our children.

We call on the government to fully fund SEND services for Derby so that no child needs to suffer or be excluded because of government underfunding.

Derby has about 270 licensed Hackney taxis (currently yellow) which can be flagged down or found on taxi ranks. They can also do pre-booked work. Derby also has about 1000 Private Hire vehicles which can only do pre-booked work. There are also quite a number of hackney taxis licensed by other councils that do pre-booked work in the city. Derby City Council has no control over those "outside" vehicles. They are allowed to work outside of their licensed area due to a legal loophole.

For well over a year the Sinfin waste plant has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The plant, originally due to open in 2017, has not been able to meet the requirements of the acceptance tests during the past year. It has not proved possible to make the plant work as it was expected to. After detailed discussions between the companies, banks and the two councils, it has been decided to end the contract today.

At the July Full Council meeting, Liberal Democrat Councillor Lucy Care proposed a motion calling on Derby City Council to agree to stop using single use plastics as far as possible, and to avoid using products that contain micro-beads and similar micro-plastic particles.

The motion was seconded by Councillor Joe Naitta. It also called on the Council to minimise the use of other single use materials, including glass bottles, and to reduce the excessive use of packaging, particularly plastic packaging.

Housing beyond Havenbaulk

Land either side of Rykneld Road between existing housing and the city boundary has been kept for future housing for many years. The area nearly got planning approval ten years or so ago. Developers are now looking at plans for this area again. They held a public consultation event at the Heatherton Community Centre at the beginning of July. There is information available at www.rykneldroad-heatherton.co.uk or email consultation@rykneldroad-heatherton.co.uk to complete a survey before 21st July.

Some people choose to burn garden waste instead of putting it in their brown bin. Others see a plume of smoke and assume it is an out-of-control fire. They then call 999. Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service arrive on the scene only to find a bonfire being looked after by the householder. This type of situation happens quite often.

New Trees on Blagreaves Lane

Over the years, there have been gaps appearing in the trees on the grass verges along Blagreaves Lane.

The Council has recently planted new trees in some of the verges that had no trees.

Sunnydale Park - New Fence

Some time ago the hedge at the Blagreaves Lane entrance to the park was damaged by a vehicle ploughing into it.

At its meeting in May, Derby City Council agreed to declare a climate emergency in response to overwhelming evidence that we have 12 years left to make the necessary changes to limit a global rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees C.

A Climate Change working group has been set up which will have wide representation from across the city. A plan of action should be in place by the end of 2019 to make the whole city 'carbon neutral'. Most actions needed to combat climate change are also good in other ways, like cutting fuel bills or making people healthier. All areas will need to make changes over the next decade or so to prevent even more damaging climate change.

Nationally since 2015 there has been a £1.2 billion shortfall in Government funding for children with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND). In Derby the total cash shortfall in High Needs funding since 2015 is over £15 million.

On 30th May local Lib Dems joined with parents and others for a nationwide day of protest against this shortfall in funding. The campaign puts pressure on the Conservative Government to properly fund SEND.

From 10th June, various changes to the library services offered to city residents were implemented.

This is happening because about two years ago the then Labour-run Council decided to close most of the libraries as Council-run, and open them as Community Managed Libraries (CML) run by Direct Help & Advice (DHA). Derby's and Derbyshire's library services had been run jointly up until then. But now data protection issues have meant the two services are splitting.