Tim Farron MP

The government has announced that local councils will no longer be obliged to provide up to a 50% subsidy on Council Tax for second home owners.

Under the current system, owners of more than one home can claim a council tax subsidy on each ‘second’ home, which is defined as any home that is not their primary place of residence.

So for example with the South Lakes being home to more than 3,200 second homes, Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron has long been campaigning alongside the charity, Shelter, to end this subsidy. Last Autumn, Tim’s Parliamentary Question to Treasury Minister Mark Hoban MP led to the government formally investigating the possibility of scrapping the subsidy.

The Government’s decision will bring in up to an additional £1 million in council tax receipts from south Lakeland, which could be used to help tackle the ongoing shortage of affordable homes for local families.

Tim said: “I am over the moon that the Government has taken up my proposal to end the second home council tax subsidy. At the moment local families in the South Lakes on the minimum wage are subsidising the council tax for wealthy bankers who have a second home here. This situation is morally wrong, and it is also a waste of money. The decision to end this subsidy is a victory for fairness and a victory for our area. It is fantastic news that councils like South Lakeland will be able to abolish this unfair tax rebate and be able to put the money saved to good use to help those who are struggling.”

Liberal Democrats from across the North West joined to demand a moratorium on shale gas exploration at their policymaking regional conference. Regional Chair and Southport Councillor Sue McGuire, called for a halt to further drilling until the environmental impacts were better understood. Shale gas recovery involves hard to reach reserves of methane being extracted by cracking porous rocks containing the gas using the controversial hydraulic fracturing technique known as ‘fracking’. Exploration companies are investigating shale gas reserves within the Bowland Shale Basin which covers a large part of Lancashire with test wells being drilled near both Blackpool and Southport. There are serious engineering and environmental concerns about the impact of fracking on low level seismic activity and on the possible contamination of water tables by the chemicals used in the process.

Sue McGuire said “A moratorium would give the government breathing space to fully investigate the issues connected to shale gas exploration and extraction.” Sue added ” There are strong economic arguments in favour of shale gas but these must be considered alongside any possible environmental impacts. Whilst Shale gas may well fill a short term energy gap it does not, in the longer term, provide any kind of solution to the ongoing issue of climate change.”

The conference heard that lobbying in the USA some years ago exempted fracking from key health & safety regulations and undermined confidence in the ability of companies to “do it right instead of do it cheap”. Chair of policy for the Liberal Democrats in the North West, Mike Turner explained “If shale gas extraction is to take place in the UK then we must ensure that it does so under strict industry specific regulation and that this legislation is enacted before further exploration licenses are issued.”

Professor Bill Winlow, leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Lancashire County Council commented, “In the US, the estimates of the amount of gas held within the Marcella Shale formation which stretches from New York State to Pennsylvania has been slashed by 80%. This must call into question the recent announcements made here regarding the amount of the gas held within the Bowland Shale Basin. If the estimates are so far wide of the mark in the U.S it may not be worth trying to extract the gas here, particularly as no one yet knows what proportion of the gas can actually be extracted”

As MPs prepare to debate an in/out referendum on EU membership, the North West’s Lib Dem MEP is warning that Britain could be forced to adopt 300 new laws every year with no say from MPs. 

The European Commission has confirmed that Norway, which has twice voted not to join the EU, last year adopted 300 laws as the price of staying in the European Economic Area (EEA).  While British Ministers, MEPs and civil servants helped to shape these laws, Norwegians had no say whatsoever and passed them into Norwegian law without question.

There are 27 countries, including the UK, within the EU.  Another three countries, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are members of the EEA.  Together the thirty countries make up the Single Market that is supported by all three major UK political parties.

Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies said, “No serious politician wants the UK to leave the Single Market with the economic disaster that would cause.

“The truth is that pulling out of the EU would leave Britain with no say in the making of laws that we would have to obey.”

Iceland recently applied for full EU membership and Croatia is set to join next year so the MEP claims that the EU is still seen by many countries as the best trade bloc to be a member of.

“Far from making us stronger and independent, leaving the EU would leave the UK weak and at the mercy of 28 countries who would no longer have to take notice of our opinions.”

While Davies agrees with the principle of an EU referendum at the appropriate time, he says that dealing with Britain’s economic woes must be the priority for the Government right now.