Liberal Democrats on North Yorkshire County Council have announced their intention to “call-in” the Council’s decision to freeze the level of the school clothing allowance at £60 a year. This means that the decision will be sent back to a committee to be looked at again.

The Executive Members of the Conservative-run Council decided last week not to increase the support to less well-off families in line with inflation, but to extend the scope of the allowance to include children whose parents are in receipt of the highest rate of Working Tax Credit.

Liberal Democrats feel that this will increase financial pressure on poorer families.

County Councillor Caroline Seymour, from Stokesley, said

“In reality this is a reduction in support for disadvantaged families. Around 700 families in North Yorkshire will be affected. It is quite wrong to do this at a time when heating and food bills are increasing faster than normal.”

”It is typical Tory penny-pinching which will hit less well-off families.”

“Whilst we welcome the extension of the scheme to families receiving the maximum level of Working Tax Credit, we feel that the rate should be increased in line with inflation. We have a duty to call-in this decision and ask the Council to reconsider its policy.”

“The Tories have just used inflation as a justification for raising the charges for home to school transport. Yet they seem to think it doesn’t apply to those people who will be hardest hit by a similar rise in the cost of living.”

Liberal Democrats at North Yorkshire County Council are asking the ruling Conservatives to look at what Essex County Council are doing to try to save Post Offices.

28 post offices serving North Yorkshire residents are under threat as part of the Labour Government’s closure programme.

A similar number are threatened in Essex. But there the County Council has stepped in and announced a £1.5 million plan to support post offices earmarked for closure. Negotiations are still taking place into how exactly the help will be given.

County Cllr Bill Hoult, Leader of the Lib Dems at County Hall, comments:

“The ruling Tories have made a lot of noise over proposed post office closures. It’s now time they took a proactive approach and looked at ways in which they could support the ones that remain.”

Councillor Hoult represents Knaresborough, where the Aspin Lane Post Office is one of those threatened with closure. He added:

“I feel that the Essex approach deserves consideration, though we may need to wait until the current consultation process is finished. The Tory Council certainly has money to spare, having taken £2 million more from Council Tax payers than it needs. So let’s see some of it used to support vital public services.”

North Yorkshire County Council has conceded that a planning permission given to Tarmac to excavate gravel at a site near Nosterfield North Yorkshire is fatally flawed following the threat of legal action by protest groups. The approval will be withdrawn and the whole application put before the planning committee again.

The controversial decision is near the  prehistoric Thornborough Henges often referred to as “The Stonehenge of the North”. One claim is that the three henges form part of a prehistoric religous site.

The legal challenge refers to 8 issues, three of which the County Council have conceded.

An application to excavate a much larger area was originally refused but the current application was approved by the Council’s Planning and Regulatory Committee in January 2007 despite strong opposition and a 10,000 name petition.

The application will be reconsidered at a meeting of the Planning Committee on the 22 April 2008 at Masham Town Hall. The meeting will be held in public session.