At tonight's meeting of Warwick District Council local Liberal Democrat asked the Green Party-Labour administration about:

1) why has launch of the new £276,000 Agile Applications planning IT system been delayed until February 2027 and does this spending still make sense given Local Government Reorganisation coming in April 2028? The answers were that the project was bigger than first thought and the administration still thinks it worth going ahead; 

2) how will the Green Party-Labour administration Portfolio Holders keep councillors informed of issues and actions in their portfolio areas prior to the next Council meeting on 30th September? Several Portfolio Holders were absent from tonight's meeting and none had produced written statements in advance. The answer was that the administration will think about what can be done.

3) why, in the financial year 2025/26, was only 1/3rd of the £220,000 Warm Homes Grant Fund spent despite the Cost of Living crisis facing many residents and what's being done to increase use of the fund? The relevant Portfolio Holder was not present to answer, but a colleague said he'd find out what was happening.

4) whether the Green Party-Labour administration is aware the September 2021 planning decision for the Abbey Fields swimming pools required the Abbey Fields tennis courts to be restored within three months of the completion of the new pools? The answer was it seems not and the Council Leader said that their plan to bring forward in September 2026 a report about the way forward for the courts is now likely to be in October 2026.

5) what plans the administration has to ensure Town & Parish Councils are fully briefed by the District Council about new planning procedures coming into effect in October 2026? The answer was something will be arranged, but no details were given.

6) by separate email yesterday we've asked what's being done to reduce the fire risk of the long grass at the old 6th Form site on Rouncil Lane which is owned by Warwick District Council and has been left empty for the past 3 years? The answer from the administration was they'll get back to us.

The full meeting can be watched at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4DE3GFXauo&t=4420s

Andrew Milton - Lib Dems in Kenilwort

These £6 million works were meant to have been completed by the previous administration at Warwickshire County Council (WCC) by September 2024. Since the May 2025 elections we’ve been pushing the new administration and at last, after much chasing, we can confirm the current position.

Zone A - three new rooms will be built adjacent to the upper playground/Key Stage 2 (KS2) end of the school using Permitted Development (PD) rights. This requires the WCC Planning Department to issue a Certificate of Lawfulness, for which an application has now been submitted. We’re told that it will take six-eight weeks for this application to be processed, so it should be available by 31st August. We’ll be chasing!

The good news is that this work will enable the school to receive up to 14 children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs compared to the current maximum of three children. For families living with children with these needs these new local facilities, delayed by the current and previous administrations, will be vital. The PD rights building work will include provision of a new KS2 library and toilets. 

But, sadly, this work will NOT the new playground as originally planned for pupils with SEMH needs. Nor will it include, as originally planned, a new drop-off/collection point off Roseland Road, nor a new zebra crossing on Mortimer Road. We’re also pushing for the PD building works to include solar panels on the roof.

WCC has confirmed that it has asked its original contractor to retender for the PD works in an acceptable way so that building can start before October 2026 and be complete and operational by 31st August 2027. 

Zones B and C – WCC has confirmed that plans for these new extra classrooms also at the KS2 end of the school are now paused indefinitely. The reason given is the falling birth rate, although we have challenged what school sufficiency plans are in place if, even though it  would not be welcome, new housing development take place in the St John’s area. 

Special Resource Provision works – these works outside the old library in the quad area will create a much needed play area for children with SEMH needs and also more storage facilities and an office for the school’s Business Manager. It is planned that this work will take place in August 2026 to be ready for the 2026/27 academic year.

Mortimer Road road markings – in response to our chasing, WCC Highways Team has confirmed that the faded yellow zigzag markings outside the school will be repainted in August 2026. This should help improve safety outside the school.

Whilst not all of the above is good news, WCC has confirmed that none of the above works needs to be approved by the Administration’s Portfolio Holder. This helps to avoid yet another reason for delay in delivering these new facilities.

Throughout all the delays since 2024 the staff at the school have continued brilliantly to support pupils. 

For the school staff, for families living with children with special needs and for local children and for local residents we shall continue to push the County Council administration and its education, highways and planning staff to bring these long-delayed building works to fruition.

The Liberal Democrat Group is very concerned to see the comments from Cllr George Finch concerning displays of books at Warwickshire Libraries.

After the positive news regarding the flying of the Pride Flag on Old Shire Hall earlier this week, something the Liberal Democrat Group lobbied for, we are disappointed that we now face the prospect of the Reform UK administration trying to take steps to dictate the control of what books sit on our libraries. 

Warwickshire's libraries are one of the best things we share: free books, rhyme time for little ones, computers, internet, and a warm, welcoming space for everyone. It should therefore be free from political interference. 

This Reform administration promised to 'shift power from County Hall back to local people'. Telling what Warwickshire residents can and cannot read is the exact opposite. 

History shows us where censorship leads to, and we will not let Warwickshire go backwards. 

#WarwickshireLibDems #WarwickshireLibraries #SaveOurLibraries

(The picture below shows Richard Dickson - LibDems in Kenilworth outside the library in Kenilworth), 

Following our Annual General Meeting this week, Cllr Jerry Roodhouse will be stepping down as Leader of our Group in Warwickshire County Council. Cllr Sarah Boad has been elected Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group at Warwickshire County Council, with Cllr George Cowcher as Deputy Leader.

First, our thanks to Jerry, who has guided the Group through one of the most turbulent periods in the council's recent history, including our first year as the official opposition to the Reform UK administration. Under his leadership, we passed a unanimous full Council motion on child poverty, pushed the administration to take prevention seriously across health, education and social care, and established the Lib Dems as the principal opposition voice at Shire Hall. Jerry will be our Group Chair, whilst continuing to advocate for his ward in Eastlands and for improved cancer care across Warwickshire.

Sarah, our new Group Leader, has represented Leamington North on the council for many years and is a long-standing voice for residents on community services, equalities, and education. .

George, our new Deputy Leader, represents Wellesbourne and has been one of the group's leading voices on Local Government reorganisation, transport, and the basics that residents care about most. 

Together, they will continue lead our Group by proposing key solutions, and holding this administration to  account on behalf of every resident in our county.

Almost one year ago, your Liberal Democrat councillors took their seats at Warwickshire County Council. 

Fourteen of us, one united team, and from the very first day, we have been doing exactly what we came here to do. Asking the hard questions, proposing real alternatives, and making sure that communities right across this county have a voice that is not going to be ignored. 

For the next few weeks, we are setting out what that year has looked like, what we have done, what we have proposed. and what we are still fighting for.

We are only just getting started!

This week the Labour government has announced its preferred candidate to be the next Chair of Ofcom, the UK’s regulator for communications services  This follows widespread reports in recent weeks in national media that Kenilworth & Southam MP Sir Jeremy Wright was one of the three possibilities for the role, but he has not been chosen. At no stage had the possibility been denied by the MP.  

In response to the announcement, local Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate Cllr Louis Adam has said that he’d always put the needs of constituents before his own personal career ambitions. 

Cllr Adam has been a district and parish councillor in the Kenilworth & Southam constituency since 2019. He lives with his wife, daughter and two dogs called Jessie and Sybil in Long Itchington and currently serves as the Project & Communications Portfolio Holder at Stratford District Council. Louis works as a structural engineer and is a graduate of Coventry University. He was selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Kenilworth & Southam in 2025.

‘Everyone can see that politics is changing,’ said Cllr Adam ‘so, more than ever, residents in the constituency need an MP who is fully focussed on serving the needs of their community and not on whatever, as MP, their next career move might be. I’ll continue to be out and about meeting people from right across the Kenilworth & Southam constituency to share with them the benefits of having a strong local MP who’ll stand up for their needs.’

Notes to Editors: Cllr Louis Adam can be contacted on 07971 342940

The world has changed in ways no one could have predicted a decade ago. Trump, Putin and Xi have made the world - and the UK - much less safe. Our economy hasn’t grown, and the cost of living has soared.

Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson’s Brexit experiment has failed. It is costing UK taxpayers £90 billion a year. That is money being taken away from our schools, hospitals and armed forces, and out of our pockets in higher taxes in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

We all know that this has to change. We have to act. We need peace, and we need prosperity.

The EU needs and wants greater cooperation with the UK on defence.

We will seize the initiative - from a position of strength - to form a bold new deal with Europe that strengthens both Britain’s economy and our collective security.

Our new Growth and Defence Partnership with the EU - including joining the Single Market and a new Customs Union - will make the UK richer, safer and stronger.

This plan is the best hope our country has to stop the chaos and end the crisis, and the biggest step we can take back towards our long-term ambition of membership of the EU.

The Government knows that repairing our relationship with Europe is the biggest lever we could pull to secure growth, to make our country safer, and to end the cost-of-living crisis. But they would prefer to make tweaks around the edges of a bad deal, rather than showing the courage to be far more ambitious.

Our Growth and Defence Partnership with Europe would cut trade barriers to get businesses growing again, and the economy moving - creating jobs, boosting incomes, and giving the government more money to cut the cost of living, fix the NHS and care, and strengthen our Armed Forces.

And our plan would boost cooperation on defence, energy security, critical supply chains and new technologies to keep Britain and our allies safe in this increasingly dangerous world.
 

Our Plans for a new Growth and Defence Partnership:

Joining the Single Market and a Customs Union

The Conservatives wrecked our economy, wrapped business in red tape and sent prices higher with their botched Brexit deal. By ripping us out of the Single Market and Customs Union, the Conservatives - backed by Nigel Farage - blew an enormous hole in the UK economy, costing us roughly £90 billion in lost tax revenue in 2025 alone. 

Energy is not a luxury - it is an essential human need.

Every single household in Britain should be able to afford their basic everyday energy needs regardless of what happens in global energy markets, and regardless of who happens to be sitting in Number 10.

But as energy bills continue to soar, millions of households are being forced to choose between heating and eating, while cold and damp homes cause avoidable illnesses like asthma and pneumonia, costing the NHS over £1bn a year.

This is not just an economic scandal - it is a moral one too.

That’s why the Liberal Democrats have announced a new policy to help make essential energy affordable and help make fuel poverty a thing of the past.

Ahead of Parliament being prorogued last week, we secured a number of ‘Lib Dem Wins’ as Westminster entered a session of ‘ping-pong’.

This is where amendments go back-and-forth between the Commons and the Lords at rapid pace in order to get outstanding legislation over the line before the end of the Parliamentary session.

As we approach polling day, these wins are a timely reminder of why it is so important that we get more Liberal Democrats elected at all levels - we are the party that gets the job done!

Here are some of the fantastic wins we’ve secured in Parliament over the last couple of weeks:

Today we have set out a plan that would both tackle the GP crisis and help build the homes we need.

The two go hand-in-hand. Because what is it that stops homes getting built?

It’s the fact that people know that too often new developments don't come with the services and infrastructure they need. So they just make it even harder to see a GP, to get their kids into a good school or to get around without being stuck in traffic.

So if we’re going to solve the housing crisis – we have to address those concerns. We have to reassure people that they will be able to access the healthcare they need – whether that’s the people already there or the new families who will move in.

Our plan would end that vicious cycle, by guaranteeing the funding is in place to hire GPs as soon as the first new homes are sold. It would give a better deal to existing communities and to new residents moving in. It would help to rebuild trust and get the community buy-in we need for new homes.

And it would help to tackle the GP crisis that fuels so much of the crisis across our NHS.

The problem we’re trying to solve

In communities across the country, when new housing is built, GPs are promised but not delivered. The result is hundreds of missing GP surgeries, broken trust, and huge pressure on local services - a bad deal for residents old and new. Despite 1.5 million new homes since 2015 the total number of main GP practices has declined by over 1300.

It’s perhaps not surprising that GP access is the top concern of people over the NHS at the moment, and that 2025 saw record numbers waiting over one month for an appointment.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We have high levels of unemployed and underemployed GPs and significant levels of developer money earmarked for infrastructure improvements but which currently goes unspent or unclaimed.

Our communities, and families trying to make a new life for themselves, are being left high and dry.

What would we do?

Liberal Democrats are clear: new housing must go hand in hand with new GPs.

Under our proposals, developers would be required to build or expand existing new GP surgeries when building new housing developments, or fund this construction upfront. We’d ensure additional GP provision is made a reality, by ensuring developer levies can be used to pay the contracts (or salaries) of GPs while patients are still moving in.

Currently, local councils use developer funds to build or expand the premises of GP surgeries (though often the process is disjointed and not fit for purpose), and developers can commit to building health infrastructure as part of a development.  However construction of this infrastructure often takes too long and there is usually no new money to fund the GP contract before patients move into an area, making new surgeries hard to staff. This creates a vicious circle where new patients register with over-subscribed practices elsewhere, and it never makes sense for a new GP to set up shop. Our plan - to guarantee the GP contract with developer contributions-  would ensure GP surgeries are not only built, but funded and staffed from the get-go.

This is part of our infrastructure-first approach to development, and supports our campaign to rescue General Practice and ensure everyone can get an appointment within 7 days or 24 hours if urgent.

Why are we talking about this now?

This is important for our communities and people’s daily lives

How can we expect residents, existing and new, to trust decision makers and to embrace change if we fail them at the first hurdle? People are promised services that never materialise, and they feel it in their daily lives. This is about basic fairness.

New development is essential - to meet the aspirations and needs of people and families around the country. That’s why we have ambitious proposals to build 150,000 social homes a year, and slash building costs through a customs union with the EU. But new residents and existing communities deserve services that can cope with growing populations. Building infrastructure first is crucial for improving people’s quality of life, strengthening community and restoring trust.

Health services are key for taking on the far right and defending our liberal values

The failure to deliver new health services fuels support for populists like Farage. Recent LSE research has confirmed what many already knew - where GP provision has receded and more surgeries have closed, support for the extreme right has risen. Restoring trust, and showing we can deliver new services, and that local communities won’t just take what is doled out to them, is critical to keeping Farage out of No.10. Liberal Democrats are offering the change people really want and need - not the false promises and snakeoil of Reform UK and the Conservatives.

Donald Trump’s idiotic war with Iran – cheered on by Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage – is making it far more expensive for people to get around. Families are paying more at the pump because of a war they didn’t start and don’t support.

Liberal Democrats are calling for an emergency transport package to keep Britain moving, cutting the cost of travel for people – whether by car, train or bus.

Our plan would help people across the United Kingdom who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. It would cut petrol and diesel costs for the parent in rural Devon who has no choice but to drive, the home carer getting from patient to patient, and the small business owner whose van is their office.

But it would also make it easier for more people to take public transport or switch to electric vehicles, by dramatically cutting the prices of bus and train tickets and the cost of charging electric vehicles. This would help to bring down demand for fuel during this crisis, while encouraging people to switch to public transport and EVs for the long-term too.

Our emergency transport package would:

• Cut fuel duty by 10p, bringing down prices at the pump by 12p per litre.
   
• Slash bus fares to £1, from the current £3 cap.
   
• Cut rail fares by 10%.
   
• Cut VAT on public electric vehicle charging, and review the unfair network costs that push up charging prices.

We’re pressing the government to implement our plan for three months at first. The £2 billion cost would be covered by the unexpected extra tax revenues the Treasury is raking in due to higher fuel prices. If the crisis drags on for longer and fuel prices stay high, our package could be extended until they come down.

Every family deserves to feel safe when they go into hospital to have a baby.

That means having the right staff in place at all times and making sure mothers get one-to-one care during labour. But too often that is not happening, and too many mothers and babies are being let down.

Shockingly, more than half of units do not meet “good” standards of safety. This is particularly alarming in the face of rising injuries and complications for mothers.

Over a quarter of deliveries (27%) in 2024 involved heavy bleeding after childbirth (postpartum haemorrhage) - a rise of 13,600 more cases than in 2020. The number of emergency c-sections and rate of severe tears in childbirth have also increased to record levels.

Over half of maternity units in the country are in need of repair, and 73% of units do not have a consultant present at night, despite most births taking place outside of working hours, when most negligence claims are made.

Our NHS staff do an incredible job under pressure but too often they are overstretched and don’t have the support they need. We need to get more experienced staff, fix crumbling maternity units and ensure every mother and baby gets the care they deserve.

That’s why the Liberal Democrats have announced a £600m rescue plan to fix maternity care, and make Britain the safest country in the world to have a baby.

Our plan includes:

• A guarantee for one-to-one care from a midwife for all mothers in labour.
   
• A consultant doctor on every maternity ward 24/7 to end the lottery of care after hours.
   
• Reversing cuts to funding for enhanced care for complex pregnancies and bereavement.
   
• A new maternity commissioner responsible for overseeing improved levels of care.
   
• Investing in hospital estates to ensure staff don’t continue to work in poor conditions, particularly at night.

Current maternity teams are being stretched by incredibly high turnover and burnout, with many junior and new midwives having to deal with incredibly complex births, often without someone in a leadership position to support them.

By focusing on the retention of experienced midwives and recruitment of senior midwifery posts and more specialist consultants, complex deliveries can be more easily managed with less strain on staffing, allowing every mother to have the one-on-one care they need.

Clinical negligence claims cost the NHS £1.3bn last year. Our plan would see the number of these claims fall dramatically - by bringing all our maternity units up to good or outstanding standards of safety, and reducing the likelihood of clinical error - delivering substantial savings longer term, and the high level of maternity care that mothers and babies deserve.