Harlow Council has applied to be re-inspected, to get rid of the 'Poor' label it was given at its last inspection in 2004. The Council's application for re-inspection has been successful, and the inspection is expected during this year. Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Chris Millington says:

"This is excellent news. We have all known for some time that Harlow is no longer a poor Council. I am looking forward to showing how far the Council has changed since the last inspection."

Since the 2004 inspection, independent inspectors have judged the council's environment and housing services both to be 'fair, with excellent prospects for improvement'.

A below-inflation tax increase, and a budget that invests in local people's priorities. That's the verdict of Harlow's Liberal Democrat leadership on Harlow Council's budget, agreed on Thursday 15 February. Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Chris Millington seconded the budget proposals. He said:

"This budget will result in a council tax increase of only 1.9% - less than 9p per week. This compares favourably with the national average council tax increase; with the 3.5% increase set by Conservatives in neighbouring Epping Forest; and with the inflation-busting 4.5% increase set by Conservatives on Essex County Council.

It's a budget that shows Harlow Council investing in its priorities - priorities that have been backed by our 'people's panel' of local residents. There's more money for environmental initiatives, such as recycling bins for flat blocks, environmental health, and enforcement.

We've invested money now to help us save money in the future - strengthening our audit function, reviewing staff accommodation and leases, and restructuring our legal service. And we've listened to local people, putting in money to support residents' associations, and committing £60,000 to carry out actions arising from the very successful scrutiny into last summer's floods.

Finally, our housing capital programme shows the council continuing to invest, including door entry systems and garage refurbishments. And, of course, the biggest change of all for the council is the successful transfer of our repairs operations to our new joint venture company, Kier Harlow.

Liberal Democrats believe the council tax is an unfair tax, and should be scrapped in favour of a fairer system based on ability to pay. It hits pensioners and those on low incomes especially hard. That's why, until it's replaced, it's vitally important to keep council tax increases as low as we can. The council has now committed not to increase the council tax above inflation in future years."

An 'unimpressive' alternative budget from Conservatives on Harlow Council was inaccurately costed, speculative, and would have risked the Council's finances, Liberal Democrats say.

The Conservative proposals were defeated at the budget meeting of the Full Council on Thursday 15 February. Commenting on the Conservative proposals, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Cllr Robert Thurston said:

"These plans are ill-considered, inaccurate, and complete folly. They rely on speculation about increased profits from a new joint venture company that's barely got off the ground, sponsorship and advertising revenue that they can't guarantee, and a massive increase in a Government grant that hasn't been confirmed.

They include unspecified savings, for which Harlow Council was rightly criticised in previous years, and which the financial strategy the Conservatives joined us in signing up to said we would no longer do. And they play fast and loose with the Council's capital budget, moving money into particular wards for purely self-interested reasons - a fact the Conservative finance spokesman claimed was 'purely coincidental'!

The Conservatives cost their proposal for free disabled parking in the Water Gardens car park at £20,000, when in fact officers advise that it would cost nearly three times that amount - leaving a gap of over £35,000 in their sums. The owners of the car park would be extremely unlikely to agree to it anyway!

They cost their proposal to reintroduce the old, poorly-attended Community Partnerships at £17,000 - a vast under-estimate, and another gap in their budget. And they want to scrap the very popular Police Community Support Officers, when the Council is bound by a contract and would end up paying to settle legal disputes with the police.

Finally, it needs to be remembered that last year's Conservative budget proposals - if we'd been foolish enough to agree them - would have added an additional £177,000 to the council's bills this year. So the Conservatives would have needed to make £177,000 of cuts this year to even start with - something they didn't factor into their calculations at all this year.

These unimpressive proposals would have risked the financial stability of the Council that councillors and officers have worked so hard to achieve, and councillors were absolutely right to reject them out of hand."

Harlow Council is consulting residents on proposed changes to the draft East of England Plan, including additional housing in and around Harlow.

In order to gather the views of local people, the Council is holding a consultation event on Saturday 17 February in the Civic Centre, from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. This will help to inform the Council's response to the Secretary of State's proposals.

If you are a Harlow resident and you would like to attend, please contact Paula Coleman on 01279 446893 or email her to book a place.

Conservatives at Essex County Council have today approved a further above inflation hike in the Council Tax paid to the County Council for the financial year 2007/2008.

Residents will see a County Council increase of 4.5% combined with increases from Harlow District Council and Essex Police and Fire Authorities.

The level of Council Tax for Essex County Council has been set by the Conservatives since 1998/1999. Over that period of ten years Essex's Council Tax, on a typical Band D property, has risen from under £500 to over £1,000 - an increase of 117% compared to a rise of only 30% in the general rate of inflation. Councillor Tom Smith-Hughes, Liberal Democrat Leader on Essex County Council, said:

"This latest increase, on top of previous increases, will hurt large numbers of people across Essex, but we are particularly concerned about the financial burden on those people on pensions and fixed low incomes. The Council Tax is a particularly unfair tax, not linked to the ability to pay, which hits elderly, vulnerable and disadvantaged people the hardest; it should be scrapped."

In addition to criticising the effects of the Council Tax rise, the Liberal Democrat Group sought to put more money into under-funded services, rather than into over generous reserves. Said Councillor Tom Smith-Hughes:

"Two thirds of the additional money to be taken from the Council Tax payer is being diverted into the Council's reserves on a scale which cannot be justified. It is regrettable that the Council was unwilling to support our amendment to the Budget. This proposed that some of the money being stuffed into reserves should be used on services which the Council's own surveys indicated residents wanted more money to be spent on, such as footway repairs, young people and addressing anti-social behaviour."

Kier Harlow, the new Joint Venture Company set up by Harlow Council and private sector partner Kier Support Services Ltd, started life on 1 February.

The new company is owned 80.1% by Kier and 19.9% by Harlow Council, and will provide the Council's environment, street scene and housing maintenance services.

Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Chris Millington is the Councillor observer on the Board of Kier Harlow Ltd. Chris says:

"This is a landmark moment for Harlow. The new joint venture company has the potential to deliver good value services for local residents, as well as significant savings to local taxpayers, and an opportunity for Harlow Council to work in new and innovative ways with a private sector partner."