On the day that free off-peak bus travel for pensioners is extended so that they can travel anywhere in England, Liberal Democrat councillors Lesley Rideout and Robert Thurston reveal that they are still receiving letters from pensioners who have been given tickets for longer journeys than those they have taken.

Senior citizens have been sending Lesley samples of their tickets, together with details of their actual journeys and comments.

• "My ticket is always wrong, I would say that it has been for the whole year."


• "I feel very ashamed now that I haven't reported this earlier, but I thought it was normal."


• "Many times the drivers have the tickets in their hands without even knowing what the destination is."


• "This has been a con ever since we had the free bus passes."

Cllr Rideout said:

"The evidence we are gathering shows that the practice of issuing wrongly extended tickets to pensioners is even more widespread than we first thought. It's certainly not the isolated example that Arriva are claiming. We're seeking a meeting with Arriva, Essex County Council and consultants MCL to discuss the evidence we have been sent and what they propose to do about it."

Cllr Robert Thurston added:

"The council has to pay the bus companies a high percentage of the cost of journeys undertaken using a bus pass. That cost has been going through the roof recently - leading to higher bills for the council, redundancies and reductions in other services. I'm furious that so many tickets appear to be for much longer journeys than actually happened, and I'm determined to put a stop to it."

Cllrs Rideout and Thurston are calling for the compulsory installation and use of smart-card readers on all buses, and for the Government to fully fund the increased costs of concessionary bus travel under the new England-wide scheme.

Residents receiving incorrect tickets are encouraged to continue sending them to Cllr Lesley Rideout.

Conservatives at Essex County Council insist it is good practice to allow potholes to get more than double their present depth before they will be fixed. The Tories rejected a claim by the Liberal Democrat group on the county council, that roads are likely to deteriorate under the new strategy. The Lib Dems pushed for a formal meeting to discuss the issue, but the group was eventually voted down by the Conservative members. Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Tom Smith-Hughes, Liberal Democrats group leader on Essex County Council, said:

"We are disappointed that the Conservatives have decided to go ahead with this new strategy, which we think will lead to a deterioration in road surfaces rather than an improvement. We have particular concerns that this strategy is aimed at motorists and leaves other road users such as motorcyclists, cyclists and all pavement users vulnerable to accidents.

We are convinced that this change of strategy is designed more to see off claims made by people involved in accidents from tripping over potholes, than it is in making people safer. Almost all of us routinely use roads and pavements that are strewn with potholes, splits and other defects and we know that it can be a challenge to get along some stretches of road. With even bigger holes and defects allowed, our local roads are going to become more like assault courses only accessible with 4x4s."

The new highways maintenance strategy changes the depth of potholes allowed before being fixed from 20mm to 50mm on roads and 15mm to 20mm on pavements.

On the fifth anniversary of the start of the invasion of Iraq, Liberal Democrats in Harlow have called on Bill Rammell MP to apologise for his support for the invasion of Iraq. Local Lib Dem leader Cllr Chris Millington said:

"Five years ago, the Labour Government led Britain into the war in Iraq. The Conservatives were the cheerleaders for military action. And MPs from both parties attacked the Liberal Democrats for our opposition to the invasion.

It is now clear that the war in Iraq and the occupation of the country were the worst decisions taken by Britain in foreign policy in living memory. And Bill Rammell backed this decision. He voted for the war in 2003.

Five years on from the start of the invasion, 175 British troops have lost their lives, £7 billion of our money has been lost on this appalling venture and, according to some estimates, 600,000 Iraqis are dead as a result.

Bill Rammell should apologise to the people of Harlow for his part in authorising this disastrous military venture.

This was a war that we were told was meant to make the world safer. We were told it was to get rid of weapons of mass destruction, weapons which turned out not to exist. We were told this was a war to end terrorism, but the threat from terrorism has gone up, not down.

The remaining British troops in Iraq are not serving a useful purpose. The Government are asking our brave men and women to put their lives at risk for no gain for either our country or the world at large. Despite assurances by Gordon Brown that our troops will be coming home, they are still in Iraq.

I am calling on Bill Rammell to join the Liberal Democrats in urging the Government to set a timetable for the full withdrawal of the remaining UK troops from Iraq.

Next week there will be a vote in Parliament calling for a full inquiry into the origins and conduct of the Iraq war. I urge Bill Rammell to join the Liberal Democrats in voting to hold this inquiry. Lessons must be learnt so the mistakes of Iraq are never made again."

Harlow Council could be being overcharged for pensioners' bus journeys using their bus passes, local Liberal Democrats can reveal.

Mark Hall councillors Lesley Rideout and Robert Thurston have been shown tickets given to local pensioners which show journeys considerably longer than those that have been taken.

A trip from The Stow to Old Harlow Post Office was shown as being from Harlow Bus Terminus to the Leventhorpe School in Sawbridgeworth. Another, from The Stow to the town centre, was recorded as being from The Phoenix pub at Bush Fair to the Pinnacles.

Because pensioners are entitled to free local bus travel their tickets do not include a price, but journey details are recorded so bus firms can claim the cost of the concessionary fare from Harlow Council.

The cost of bus travel to the council - which from 1 April will be extended to cover journeys anywhere in England - has been rising rapidly and uncontrollably, contributing to the council's cash problems.

The incorrect tickets were collected by four Mark Hall pensioners who contacted Liberal Democrat councillors Lesley Rideout and Robert Thurston. Robert Thurston says:

"We've just had to make quite a few staff redundant, largely because of the cost of funding bus travel. Now it looks like we've been paying well over the odds.

That extra money could have saved someone's job or helped us avoid a service reduction somewhere."

Pensioners receiving incorrect tickets are encouraged to send them to Cllr Lesley Rideout, with details of the actual journey undertaken.

Liberal Democrat council leader Chris Millington and Staple Tye councillor Lorna Spenceley joined youth councillors, council staff and funders for a special VIP preview evening at the new Cafe Youth.

Cafe Youth is a new cafe created by young people for young people, with a chill-out zone with comfy chairs and coffee; a video game and sports zone with the latest video machines, a pool table and computers; and a healthy eating zone where all products are sold at pocket money prices. Chris Millington says:

"What's really great about Cafe Youth is that it's something the young people themselves have made. The Harlow Council of the old days would have done everything itself for the young people - by contrast, we've enabled the young people to develop their own premises in their own way, attracting funding and bringing partners together to make it work."

Conveniently situated at 21 Westgate - the former bookmakers' - Cafe Youth will be opening its doors in earnest for the first time on Friday 28 March. The hours will be Fridays 4-8pm, Saturdays 4-9pm, and Sundays 2-6pm. School holiday opening information will be available in due course on Harlow Council's web site.

For more information, call 446012 or email Harlow Youth Council.

Lib Dem council leader Chris Millington and Cllr Lorna Spenceley were on hand to meet government minister John Healey MP yesterday, when he came to Harlow to see at first hand the story of Harlow Council's improvement.

Mr Healey, minister for local government at the Department of Communities & Local Government, toured Harlow and met councillors, officers and partner organisations at the Civic Centre for a presentation on how the council moved straight from being a Poor council to a Good one - a step taken by only four other district councils in the country. Cllr Millington says:

"The improvement demonstrated by Harlow Council is clearly of interest well beyond our boundaries. It's great news that ministers are keen to visit us to find out how we achieved it, and to hear about our ambitious plans for the future and the regeneration of Harlow."

Some interesting planning applications have been submitted to Harlow Council's planning department.

BT want to halve the numbers of payphones in various parts of the town centre, and replacing the remaining kiosks with new ones - at Marks & Spencers, The Rows, Westgate, Nationwide, and Adams House (ref HW/PL/08/00062 to 0066).

There's an application by the Scouts for fencing at the scout hut on School Lane (ref HW/PL/08/00068).

A revised application has been submitted for a two-storey day care centre at Goldsmiths (ref HW/PL/08/00070).

And there's an application for a new builders' merchants' warehouse at Dukes Park industrial estate on Edinburgh Way (ref HW/PL/08/00071).

Don't forget you can look up planning applications on Harlow Council's planning pages.

Liberal Democrats in Harlow have returned from their spring conference in Liverpool in an upbeat mood. The conference, which meets twice a year, had a record number of people attending it. Five members attended from Harlow. Lib Dem deputy council leader Cllr Robert Thurston says:

"The Liberal Democrats had a successful conference. We had important debates about putting people back in control of the NHS and ensuring there are enough affordable homes for all who need them.

Vince Cable MP, our Shadow Chancellor, gave an excellent speech which highlighted just how unfair the tax system had become under Labour, with too many people on low and middle income paying too much tax. And party leader Nick Clegg MP really hit the nail on the head when he said that we need a 'new type of politics' to clean up Parliament.

Many people in Harlow feel that Parliament is too remote and out of touch. So I was very pleased to hear Nick Clegg talk about Liberal Democrat demands for big reforms to the way government works. Nick's plan to allow the people to sack their MP if they abuse their position or expenses is a great one and I hope that it is put into action soon.

Now that we are back from conference, we are stepping up our campaigning here in Harlow. Councillors and campaigners are out on local doorsteps and we are getting a good response."

The Liberal Democrat Spring Conference today backed measures to build 1.3 million new social homes over the next ten years. The plans aim to greatly reduce the waiting list for social housing which currently stands at over 1.6 million, up nearly 60 per cent since 1997. Other main proposals include:

• Invest all the proceeds from council house sales in building more social homes


• End the system of 'negative subsidy' where council tenants subsidise maintenance costs in other parts of the country


• Support Government-backed equity mortgages to help first time buyers get on the housing ladder


• Pilot Community Land Auctions to ensure that local people get the benefits of new development through improved infrastructure.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister Lembit Opik said:

"We must build faster and better with at least one million new affordable homes in the next ten years to solve Britain's housing crisis.

Successive governments have let social housing crumble. There are almost one million fewer social houses available now than during the last housing market crash. Without this crucial safety net, what will happen to the 45,000 families expected to have their homes repossessed this year?

The Liberal Democrat proposals will help families into homes that they can afford in communities that are sustainable."