Tuesday 31 March 2009

CLEGG CALLS FOR SUMMIT ON MPs' EXPENSES

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has written to Gordon Brown and David Cameron seeking an urgent meeting to reform the system of MPs’ expenses.

In his letter he calls for the three parties to work together to agree an urgent overhaul of MPs’ expenses as recent scandals make it clear the current system cannot continue any longer.

The upcoming inquiry by the Committee on Standards in Public Life will not report this side of a general election. Nick Clegg said the parties owe it to the citizens of this country to ensure a fair deal for taxpayers before then.

Mr Clegg said recent changes were welcome but further reforms are needed to rebuild public confidence. In the name of transparency, every penny of public money claimed by MPs should only be reimbursed on production of a receipt: taxpayers have the right to know how their money is being spent. Also, the present rules on second homes are incomprehensible to millions of people who have to commute each day: no London MP should be able to claim for a second home.

Clegg told the other leaders that they needed to show political leadership, and act as party leaders to clean up the expenses regime once and for all. This is not a matter for party political point scoring.

Wednesday 4 March 2009

Plan for affordable homes backed in West Oxfordshire

Liberal Democrats in West Oxfordshire have welcomed plans to boost affordable housing and avoid home repossession. The plans, launched by the Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable MP and Shadow Housing Minister Sarah Teather MP, include:

* providing refurbishment loans for owners of empty homes if the homes are leased to housing associations,
* boosting the amount of private housing for rent including using empty commercial property temporarily as housing,
* bringing in a new type of secure mortgage to help boost lending to house buyers,
* letting councils and housing associations buy up unsold private houses and allowing them access to funds to bring them homes up to social housing standards,
* making sure the courts allow repossession only as a last resort.

Many people in our area are struggling to get their own home or are facing repossession because of the recession. We must do all we can to help residents through these bad times. Many homes built recently lie empty, often because the banks are not lending to people who want to buy them, yet many people need a place to live. We want to unblock the system and our plans will help to do that.

Giving housing associations and councils the opportunity to buy up empty homes that builders cannot sell will mean hundreds of local families will be able to rent a place of their own. Many privately owned homes stand empty so leasing them to housing associations means people can move into homes that would otherwise remain unused.

And making sure that the courts only allow homes to be repossessed as an absolute last resort will save many families in West Oxfordshire from the terrible situation of having their home taken away from them.