Paul Varnsverry

Paul Varnsverry at Danes Camp Leisure Centre. When he was Deputy Leader of Northampton Borough Council, Paul was responsible for steering the Trilogy leisure centres from council ownership into a charitable trust. "I am delighted that they are going from strength-to-strength and providing enjoyable and convenient school holiday activities" said Paul

Lots of activities including Funzone, swimming, cinema and drop in day camps will be taking place during the half term holidays at Northampton’s leisure centres.

Funzone, the popular and exciting play scheme for kids, runs from Wednesday, 6 to Friday, 8 June.

Offering exciting and affordable childcare, Funzone takes place at both the Lings Forum and Danes Camp Leisure Centres.

A wide range of activities are on offer at each session including swimming every day, a climbing wall, bouncy castles, parties, cinema, sports activities, roller skating, space and time to chill out and play freely, computer consoles, and arts and crafts.

Registration starts at 8.30am and the day ends at 5.30pm, providing ideal childcare for working parents, and kids can be booked on for a day or a week.

Lings Forum runs two groups; the Mini’s group for 5 to 8 year olds and the Junior’s group for 9 to 13 year olds.

Danes Camp runs the Junior’s group for children age 8 to 13 years old.

Funzone daily and weekly booking prices are very competitive at just £18 a day or £85 for a whole week. Childcare vouchers are also accepted – making the sessions even more affordable for parents. You can also pre-book for the summer holidays.

For more information, or to book, call Lings Forum on 01604 837300 or Danes Camp on 01604 837200. Alternatively for more information visit www.nleisure.co.uk

As well as Funzone, there are plenty of other activities on offer at Northampton’s leisure centres to keep you fit, active and entertained this half term.

Danes Camp’s Daily Drop Off Club runs between 2pm and 4pm on Wednesday, 6 to Friday, 8 June offering supervised activities for 8 to 13 year olds including gladiators, team challenges and a roller disco.

Lings Forum cinema is also showing Pirates, the animated film featuring the voices of Hugh Grant and David Tennant. The film starts at 2.30pm and runs from Saturday, 2 June for a week.

Finally, Danes Camp, Mounts Baths and Lings Forum will be running swimming crash courses to improve confidence and abilities or why not just pop along and enjoy a swim.

For more information about any of the half term holiday activities call 01604 838333 or visit www.nleisure.co.uk

At the launch of the new Draft Bill on energy, Liberal Democrat Secretary of State of Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey, writes:

Over the next decade, around a fifth of existing power plants are due to close, against a background of increased energy demand and increasing prices. We need new investment simply to keep the lights on.

But more than that, we need a clean energy revolution to meet our ambitious climate change goals and make this the greenest government ever.

That’s why I am bringing forward a new Energy Bill today.

You can read more about our clean energy revolution here.

We also need to transform our energy market to reduce the risk and cost of low carbon technologies.

That’s what our Bill does.

The UK is fast becoming a world leader in renewable energy, especially in off shore wind. I want us to lead the world in Carbon Capture and Storage too.

And we are also tackling rising energy bills. Without reforming the energy market bills will rise by around £200 in the coming years. Our reforms will mean bills are around 4% lower than they otherwise would have been.

Going green is good for the economy, good for Britain and good for you.

Yours,

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

(Image licensed under Creative Commons from DECC)

(Click picture to play video)

It is shameful that, despite all the promise on a four or five year old’s first day at school, or the passion of their teachers, you can all too often plot that child’s path just by asking how much their parents earn.

The £2.5billion Pupil Premium was one of the four pledges on the front page of our manifesto.  And now, with Liberal Democrats in government, schools are using the money for things like breakfast clubs; homework clubs; or to provide one-to-one-tuition. These are the sort of experiences many middle class children take for granted but a poorer child might rarely enjoy.

Yesterday I visited a fantastic primary school to see how they are spending their Pupil Premium, highlight our new Summer Schools to ease the transition from primary to secondary, and to set out our plans to reward teachers and hold schools to account.

The Pupil Premium shows that, in tough times, we are implementing Liberal Democrat values and prioritising help for those pupils who need it most.

Best wishes,

Nick Clegg MP

Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister

PS Click here to find out how much money your local school will receive from the Liberal Democrats’ Pupil Premium.

Why won't Conservative leaders hold a public meeting to discuss their proposals for Northampton's new bus station?

Decisiveness – or sheer panic? That is the question about the mindset of the Conservative administration at the Guildhall, given its attitude towards the Grosvenor Centre development and the impact this will have on the town’s bus station.

 After many years of inaction, things finally seemed to be moving ahead, as evidenced by the signing of the Grosvenor Centre development deal in November 2009.

So what has happened to destabilise progress since the Conservatives took control of the borough council one year ago? They promised to “talk tough” to Legal and General. They demanded L&G “get a move on” – and demanded to know when the new Grosvenor Centre would open; coincidently just hours after their colleagues on WNDC’s Board had been given this commercially sensitive information in confidence.

Why has the situation apparently deteriorated further since the former Conservative Leader of the Council found his back decorated with political daggers from his own Conservative colleagues?

With most of the bunglers who presided over the decline of Northampton Borough Council to its nadir as “The World’s Worst Council” back in ‘control’, it would be no surprise if Legal and General saw an opportunity to test their Conservatives’ mettle. Have L&G refused to house the bus station within the Grosvenor Centre extension and tried to secure a more favourable deal – or a further delay until market conditions pick up?

Why has the Leader of the Council flatly refused to call a public meeting to account for the decision to flatten the Fishmarket and to build a bus interchange which, even before the ink is dry on the plans, bus users have unequivocally stated will prove inadequate, will disadvantage elderly and disabled people and will cause gridlock around the town?

Why does the leader of the council insist on claiming that the public will be provided with the opportunity to have its say when the bus station application is heard before the Planning Committee, when he knows that this closing stage of the planning process  represents a done deal on the location, not a chance to debate alternatives? NBC’s Planning Committee allows just two public speakers in support of and two in opposition to any application. How will this enable the many hundreds, if not thousands of residents of Northampton who have an opinion on the proposed location, to make their views known?

The impression is that Northampton Borough Council has lost its leadership and gained a weak and indecisive dictatorship. Leaders can be forceful, assertive and opinionated, but the decisions they make should be well thought-out and considered. In a weak and fearful dictatorship the preoccupation is on spin and being seen. Making truly difficult decisions plays second fiddle – and the views and needs of the electorate come a distant third.

This week, Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat minister at the Department of Health) has launched a national £4 million lung cancer awareness campaign. The campaign, the first of its kind, will use TV, radio and press adverts, and advertising on pharmacist bags and inside GP surgeries, to raise awareness of the disease.

One of its aims is to persuade anyone who has had a cough for more than three weeks to see their doctor.

You can find more information about coughing and lung cancer at the Department of Health website, here: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/05/coughing-could-be-a-sign-of-lung-cancer-2/

With 33,000 new cases diagnosed each year, lung cancer is a blight on the lives of far too many of our families and an early diagnosis can make all the difference. Please take the opportunity of the Be Clear on Cancer campaign to find out more about prevention and diagnosis, and to visit your local doctor if you’ve had a persistent cough – it is always better to be safe than sorry!

http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/tag/be-clear-on-cancer/

Official reports have confirmed that no Liberal Democrat-run council in England has increased council tax for their residents. This is unlike both other major parties, many of which are increasing council tax by up to 3.5% this year.

Commenting on Labour and Conservative councils’ record on Council Tax, Liberal Democrat Party President, Tim Farron said:

“While Labour and the Tories fight over how many of their councils raised Council Tax, it’s clear that with the Liberal Democrats your money is safest: no Liberal Democrat-run council in England has raised Council Tax.

“Ordinary working families are struggling already with paying bills, without their councils increasing the burden.

“The choice in next month’s elections is clear: vote Liberal Democrat for financially responsible councils that create jobs. Vote Labour and the Tories for waste, mismanagement and tax rises.”

As well as freezing council tax across the country, Liberal Democrat councils are protecting front-line services, fighting to keep libraries and Sure Start centres open. This is in addition to the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in government, which after the Budget include a £130 income tax cut for all working families, the largest-ever rise in the basic state pension, an increase in child tax credits for the poorest families, and an increase in the Lib Dem Pupil Premium to £600 for every pupil receiving Free School Meals.

At every level of government, the Liberal Democrats are cutting taxes for low- and middle-earners and better targeting help to those that need it the most. It is a record of financial responsibility of which we can be proud.

A first look at part of this week’s Liberal Democrat Local Election Broadcast. This clip looks at our key pledge to cut taxes for working families, and celebrates the fact that Liberal Democrats in government have achieved:

• The biggest-ever single uplift in the tax-free personal allowance
• A £3.5 billion tax cut for working men and women
• 840,000 of the lowest earners in the country lifted completely out of paying Income Tax

Next year, the allowance increases again (to £9,205) – within touching distance of our manifesto promise to increase the Income Tax threshold to £10,000.

These are all significant achievements that are already making a difference for millions of hard-working men and women across Britain. Real change for real families in tough times – promised and delivered by the Liberal Democrats.

Northamptonshire Conservatives cut funding for safety cameras

The Liberal Democrat Official Opposition at Northamptonshire County Council have reacted with astonishment and anger after the Conservative Cabinet Member for Transport attempted to blame the police for switching off speed cameras in the County and claimed he would “not have encouraged” the move.

Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Brendan Glynane said “It was the Conservative decision not to fund the Casualty Reduction Partnership that was directly responsible for speed cameras being switched off across the county. They can’t pretend it was nothing to do with them and wash their hands of it now! The Conservatives hypocrisy is astonishing.”

“We warned the Conservatives last year that switching off cameras led to a massive increase in deaths and serious injuries in neighbouring Oxfordshire and that the decision to cut the speed camera money would be extremely risky and put lives at risk. Now we see the tragic results – an increase in lives lost last year to 28 and 14 deaths in the first three months alone this year.”

Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesman, Cllr Chris Lofts said “Last year the previous Conservative Cabinet Member told the local press “even if I did have a million pounds I wouldn’t spend it on safety cameras”. Now the new Conservative Cabinet Member says it was a mistake and they were wrong. He claims that he “would not have encouraged” the decision, yet he was part of a Conservative Cabinet that cut the money and he, personally, voted not to fund the speed cameras.”

“The Conservatives simply can not have it both ways. The truth is they didn’t fund cameras, they were warned about what had happened in Oxfordshire (where the Conservatives had to switch cameras back on after a 50% increase in deaths on the roads), and now they are trying to hoodwink the public and pretend it was nothing to do with them in the first place! The Conservatives should have listened to us last year. Now they should heed the lesson from their colleagues in Oxfordshire and switch the cameras back on.”

We can be proud that the biggest tax cuts in today’s Budget go to millions of working families.

As a result of this Budget, someone working a full week on minimum wage will see their income tax bill cut by over 50% compared to under Labour.

Increasing the personal allowance to £9,205 takes us within touching distance of our number one manifesto pledge – ensuring no one pays any tax on the first £10,000 they earn.

Thanks to our changes, a basic rate taxpayer will be paying £45 a month less in tax than they would have been under Labour.

We can be proud that we’ve ensured the richest in our society will be paying more, much more.

The Tycoon Tax, an increase in stamp duty for high value properties and other new taxes on wealth will raise five times as much as the 50p tax rate. Those with annual incomes of more than £150,000 a year will be paying on average an additional £1,300 a year in tax, as a result of this Budget.

Of course, this is a Coalition Budget and we did not get our own way on everything. Conservative priorities are not ours. But as on so many other issues, we have made sure that there is a real Liberal Democrat stamp on this Budget.

Lower taxes for more than 20 million working people; effective new taxes on the rich.

This is a Budget we can be proud of – a Budget for the many, not the few.

Best wishes,