Saturday, 27 June 2009

NATIONAL SURVEY EXPOSES LIB DEMS FOR FAILING DERBY CONFIDENCE IN DERBY

City Council and the services it provides have plummeted since the Liberal Democrats seized control last May.

That is the verdict of a national survey administered by the Department for Communities and Local Government and carried out last autumn.

The Place Survey shows Derby, which achieved 'Excellent' four-star status under a previous Labour administration, is now underachieving in the eyes of residents.

Just 35 per cent of Derby residents were either very or even fairly satisfied with how the council runs things, compared with more than 45 per cent nationally.

The city also fell below the national average in terms of the perceived value for money of services offered.

Derby's council tax was the lowest in the region throughout the previous Labour administration's time in office, but that record has fallen under the Lib Dems.

The numbers of people who felt they had been able to influence decisions in their local area and who felt the city was a good place to live, were also lower in Derby than nationally.

These results are disappointing but not surprising. The Lib Dems have demonstrated a lack of competence since taking control of the city and it was inevitable that people would become frustrated.

Just look at how the Lib Dems tried to close the city's public toilets and how they are now trying to remove school bus services.

Look at how they scrapped regeneration plans for the Exeter House flats in favour of retaining a decrepit building.

The regeneration proposals on Full Street and the former Debenhams site also appear to have petered out.

They're charging the elderly for home care services that we provided for free, and they've so far failed to back any of our suggestions for helping the city through the recession.

One of the most disappointing findings was that fewer people feel able to influence council decisions. When Labour ran the Council we put a lot of effort into creating neighbourhood forums precisely to give local people more say over local public services.

It's been a shameful first year for the Lib Dems and it appears the Derby public now feels they've seen the Lib Dems' true colours.

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