REFORM CABINET MEMBER CANCELS KEY MEETINGS

 

The Reform Cabinet Member in charge of Transport and the Environment at East Sussex County Council has only held one meeting since being elected and has cancelled all the subsequent meetings.  Cllr Carolyn Lambert explains:

“Highways is probably the most important day to day issue for the general public who are rightly concerned about the state of our roads.  At the County Council meeting held on 13 October, I asked the Lead Member why he had held one meeting on 20 July and had then cancelled the subsequent two meetings.

He did not appear to understand the question and said he did not know why he had cancelled the meetings. The Lead Member is given a Special Responsibility Allowance of £18,548.04 per year for undertaking the role, but it would appear that council taxpayers are not getting value for money.

This is extremely serious.  Cabinet Members are there to set the policy and strategy for the Council and to ensure that work is being carried out efficiently, effectively and transparently.  If Lead Member meetings are being cancelled, then we have to ask what work is being carried out on our roads?”

NOTES TO EDITORS

At East Sussex County Council, a Lead Member serves as a senior councillor who holds political accountability and delegated decision-making powers for a specific service portfolio. They act as the political head of their assigned department, bridging the gap between elected councillors and the council's paid professional officers. 

Core Responsibilities

Holding Delegated Executive Power: Unlike standard councillors, Lead Members have the authority to make executive, day-to-day operational decisions within their portfolio without needing the full Cabinet to vote. 

Setting Strategy & Priorities: They work closely with Directors of Service to formulate policies, set performance targets, and ensure services meet resident needs. 

Cabinet Representation: Every Lead Member is automatically a member of the Cabinet. They represent their portfolio's interests in broader Cabinet debates and ensure their services align with the council's overall budget. 

Public and Stakeholder Accountability: Lead Members host regular public portfolio meetings, handle enquiries from the public, defend their department's performance, and justify spending decisions to Scrutiny Committees.

Because the council currently operates under no overall control, Lead Members carry the vital task of navigating policy decisions transparently. When a decision needs to be made, the Lead Member meets formally with department officers, reviews reports, and signs off on actions during scheduled Lead Member Meetings. If a decision is highly controversial or impacts the council's entire budget, the Lead Member will escalate it to the full Cabinet rather than deciding it alone.

Cllr Kathryn Field

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This is an opportunity to take on substantial responsibility within a growing campaign operation, develop your campaigning and campaign management skills, and help build the organisation needed to elect more Lib Dems locally and to increase our general election vote, so that we once again can win Parliamentary elections in Herefordshire.

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Scottish Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson Willie Rennie has today revealed data obtained by his party which lays out the scale of the ferry fiasco blighting coastal Scotland – and the sheer cost of compensating passengers for the chaos.

According to the figures from operator CalMac, between 1st April and 30th June this year, £90,192 was paid out in response to customer's rights claims by passengers. Of that figure, £61,616 was paid out to cover the cost of alternative transport.

To make matters worse, the figure is nearly three times the total amount paid out in the whole of the 2025/6 financial year, reflecting just how disastrous this spring's wave of breakdowns and cancellations were.

In its response to the Scottish Liberal Democrats' FOI request, CalMac described the situation as "an unprecedented level of vessel unavailability as a result of planned annual overhauls and emerging technical issues".

In fact, in the first half of 2026, several routes saw shockingly high rates of cancellations because of problems with ferries:

Ardrossan-Brodick: 559 (22.7%) of sailings cancelled, 80.5% for technical reasons.

Kennacraig-Islay/Colonsay/Oban: 39 (24.7%) of sailings cancelled, 84.6% for technical reasons.

Mallaig-Lochboisdale: 142 (58.2%) of sailings cancelled, 95.8% for technical reasons.

In total in 2025, 15,150 services were cancelled out of 168,220 scheduled.

In the first half of 2026, 6,636 were cancelled out of 82,883 scheduled.

The freedom of information request also revealed that between 1 January 2025 and 30 June 2026, there were just 10 days on which all timetabled sailings across the network operated in accordance with the published timetable and that the total expenditure on vessel repairs and maintenance was £58,136,000 in FY 2025/26 and £7,082,000 in FY 2026/27 (to 30 June 2026).

Responding to the figures, Willie Rennie MSP said:

"Everyone knows the SNP's record on ferries is lamentable, but these figures spell out in black and white just how bad the situation really is.

"The first half of this year saw coastal and island communities forced to endure a level of chaos that no public service should ever sink to. Passengers are having to file claim after claim to fund their food and travel while they make other plans for often vital journeys. From missed schooldays and hospital appointments to serious damage to small businesses, this is a disaster that just keeps going.

"All the while, the SNP have failed to demonstrate contrition for what's happened to Scotland's ferries over the last two decades. Perhaps these figures will jolt John Swinney and Stephen Flynn into action so we can spare coastal communities this unnecessary suffering.

"What is needed now is to implement the Scottish Liberal Democrats' plan for a 30-year rolling programme of ferry construction and port infrastructure upgrades. It’s only common sense that new ferries have to be built before the old ones develop problems and start breaking down regularly."

Trafford Liberal Democrats are calling for vaccinations to be brought into shopping centres, empty shops and community spaces to reverse falling vaccination rates across the borough.

The party is bringing a motion to Trafford Council warning that falling vaccination rates risk the return of dangerous diseases.

Latest figures show just 90% of Trafford children have received both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine by their fifth birthday, below the 95% level needed to prevent outbreaks.

Cllr Will Frass, Deputy Leader of Trafford Liberal Democrats, said:

"We've spent generations fighting back diseases like measles, but we're now in danger of giving them a way back into our communities. A lot of the time, the problem is not anti-vax parents refusing to protect their children.  It's simply that busy families struggle to find time for appointments or travelling to GP surgeries. If we can bring vaccinations to an empty shop on the high street or a community centre, why wouldn't we? We should be making it easier for parents to protect their children, not putting obstacles in their way."

The Liberal Democrat motion calls for the Council to work with NHS services to provide vaccinations in convenient community locations and help children starting school catch up on missed vaccinations.

Cllr Frass added:

"Vaccination doesn't just protect your own child. It protects babies and vulnerable residents who cannot safely receive vaccines themselves. Prevention is better than cure. The Council doesn't run the NHS, but it can open doors and help make these services happen. This is a practical, common-sense proposal that could make a real difference to families across Trafford."

Win: Full Council support for Lib Dem motion to tackle fly-tipping

Imagine a world where Lambeth Council tackles fly-tipping with the same vigour as unauthorised parking! Fly-tipping, litter and uncollected waste are among the issues residents raise with us most often. We hear your frustrations, and we know how much cleaner streets matter to our communities.

That’s why the Liberal Democrats brought a motion to Full Council in October calling for tougher enforcement, more CCTV, a review of public litter bins and a stronger waste contract, with meaningful penalties for poor performance.

Our research revealed that in 2024–25, Lambeth investigated just 38% of reported fly-tipping incidents and issued fines in only 6% of cases. Because of high levels of non-payment, the average fine actually paid was a measly £45. The legal maximum is £5,000.

Our motion to address these issues was passed unanimously.

Following our decision to raise this issue, the Green administration confirmed that a Megaskip Pilot Scheme will launch in November 2026. We welcome this step. The results of the pilot will inform a full scheme, and Lib Dems are calling for implementation by June 2027. We’ll also continue pressing for stronger enforcement and a waste contract that holds Serco to account.

Ongoing: Fighting for greater accountability at Lambeth Council

Lambeth Council is currently in “No Overall Control”. This means no single party has an overall majority on the Council.

As the largest party, the Greens currently run the Council as a “minority administration” (not in coalition with any other party). But despite this, they want absolute power to make virtually all of the decisions! As Liberal Democrats, we believe this is undemocratic.

Residents deserve a Council where the councillors they elected have a meaningful say in decisions affecting their lives. This means changing Lambeth’s constitution to make it truly democratic and accountable. As a resident, you’ll get better-quality decision-making.

The question is: will the Green Party honour that?

The devil is in the detail. During the local elections, the Green Party committed in their manifesto to a full so-called “Committee System”, with true cross-party decision-making – an idea supported by the Liberal Democrats. But after the election, the Greens backed away, saying it was too difficult to achieve. Instead, they insisted, the Council would have to agree on a “Cabinet Committee System”, which is in effect a hybrid.

For this to work, Cabinet Committees must be able to refer issues to Full Council when they cannot agree with the relevant Cabinet Member. Without that power, they risk being toothless. But the Greens are now insisting the Committees should be “advisory” only…

As Lib Dems, we’re fighting this hard, and raised an amendment to restore this crucial escalation power at Full Council. But our amendment was blocked from debate.

Rest assured, we’ll continue pressing for a new constitution that gives councillors a genuine voice, strengthens scrutiny and makes the Council more accountable to local people. Further battles lie ahead…

Other business

Lambeth Labour raised a motion in support of the work of the RNLI, promoting Thames water safety and opposing attempts at intimidation by the Far Right. (Tower RNLI Station, near Waterloo Bridge, is the RNLI’s busiest lifeboat station.)

The Green Party raised a motion for debate on the need to protect Lambeth’s residents, children and workers from the climate emergency. In light of recent (and future) heatwaves, the Lib Dems secured an amendment to hold a summit of schools in the borough within four months, to discuss measures to protect pupils and staff from extreme heat.

A further Green motion on Palantir and the NHS passed without debate, while the Greens withdrew their proposed motion on Palestine.

See the footage of the meeting and council papers here.

The Green Party conference motion, ‘Zionism Is Racism’, is inflammatory and socially divisive.

It summarily charges a minority British community with the crime of racism and recklessly implicates it in Israel’s occupation and genocide, creating fear and insecurity. 
The Green Party motion fails to make a clear distinction between the ultra-nationalist Zionism propagated at the barrel of a gun, and the spiritual Zionism of ordinary British Jews practiced peacefully in synagogues and around Friday night dinner tables. Creating a generalised association between Zionism and racism is simplistic, deeply irresponsible and endangers our Jewish friends and neighbours. 
Finally, whilst the motion would purport to champion the just cause of Palestinians, it actually brings the campaign into disrepute and provides rhetorical ammunition for the Israeli Government and its apologists. It is counter-productive and undermines the growing consensus that Israel’s current actions are illegitimate.

We call for unity and urge the Hastings Green Party to renounce the motion at the earliest opportunity.