http://ldv.org.uk/47650 via @libdemvoice

Electoral canvassers will shortly be visiting homes which have not yet returned a completed household enquiry form.

All households in St Albans District were sent household enquiry forms in July. Completed forms help the Council keep the electoral register up to date. Reminders were delivered last month to households that hadn’t yet replied..

Over the next few weeks, canvassers from St Albans City and District Council will visit the 14,000 households who have yet to respond.

Mike Lovelady, Electoral Registration Officer for St Albans City and District, said: “If you have not responded to the household enquiry form, please do so as soon as possible. Just check the information on your form and respond by email, post, phone or text, either confirming it is correct or advising us of any changes. A canvasser will call at every property where no response has been received.”

The Council is making sure the electoral register is up-to-date and needs your completed form, even if there are no changes.

You can return your completed form or respond online, by freephone or by text. Details of how to do this are shown on the form together with the security codes that you will need for registration.

If you are not registered you will not be able to vote in elections.

Elections for St Albans City and District Council and Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner are being held in May 2016.

Residents who have questions can contact the elections’ team by email at   canvass@stalbans.gov.uk or by telephoning 01727 819294.

A few weeks ago, I went to Calais. I talked there with about 20 refugees.  I heard their stories of harrowing risks, dangers fled, and desperation for their children.

I have to tell you, not a single one of them mentioned benefits.

They wanted to come to Britain to be safe, to work, to contribute.

They see our country as a place of opportunity, a place to make the most of yourself, a place where you can be the best you can be.

Because you don’t risk everything clinging to the bottom of a truck if you’re looking for an easy life.

I met a 14 year-old boy who had broken both of his legs trying to board a lorry, he was in a wheelchair pushed by a boy who was 11.  Both had lost their parents, both were alone.

After the second world war, Britain offered homes to up two thousand children whose parents had been murdered in the Holocaust.  I know this because around 300 of them came to my constituency to recuperate and became known as the Windermere boys.  In all the UK provided homes to 700 such children.

That was all who were left alive to take up our offer.

It could have been so different if the offer had been made earlier but we could not have known that so few would have survived without our help.

We must learn from our mistakes.  20,000 places over five years would have been no use in 1939.   It will be no use today.   The crisis is now.

And I find myself thinking about the Jewish refugees that our grandparents did save. And about the Uganda Asians to whom we were able to offer a safe haven from that murderous tyrant, Idi Amin.

And it makes me realise the pride I feel in Britain when we do show such generosity of spirit.

So I call on the Government to opt in to the plan to take our fair share of the refugees to be relocated within the EU.   An international solution to an international crisis.

This is the Britain in which I want to live.

The Britain that stands tall and rolls up its sleeves to help solve an international crisis; The Britain that is proud of its history of welcoming refugees; the Britain that sees the person, not the label – the small boy – the mirror of ourselves.

Herts County Council’s main Highways contractor, Ringway has been fined £671,546 over the last two full financial years for failing to do the work it was paid for.

In figures exposed by Liberal Democrat Leader and Highways Spokesperson, Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst, shows that Ringway was fined £421,321 in 2013/14 and another £250,225 in 2014/15.

These fines under the terms of the County Council contract relate to failure to deliver work on a regular basis, such as not responding to emergency road repairs, not gritting a route with the target timeframe or working without a road permit.

Included in the fines are performance deductions – an annual calculation across the entire service in respect of general failures to do jobs they are tasked with correctly.

Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst said: “It so disappointing that these fines have to be made, but at least they relate to the numerous poor jobs that I and my colleagues and residents have to complain about.  I understand there are still likely to be fines this year so it does show that Ringway has not totally put its house in order.

‘All I and residents want is a decent highways service that delivers the right job first time round we still do not have that.’

Fly tipping has increased in St Albans District over the past year, councillors have been told.

St Albans City and District Council is having to spend extra money to remove some of the illegally dumped rubbish.

Small fly tips are dealt with by a contractor as part of the street cleansing component of its Council contract, but larger fly tip removal resulted in additional costs to the budget of £40,000 in 2014/15.

The problem has soared nationally with fly-tipping incidents rising 20% across England in 2013/14.

In the St Albans District, 863 fly tips were cleared by the contractor in the year to May 2015.

The Council’s Local Services Scrutiny Committee was briefed about the growing problem at a meeting on Thursday 3 September.

Both the contractor and private land owners such as farmers have complained of a surge in fly tipping.

Rural roads, particularly the area around Potters Crouch to the west of St Albans, have been the worst hit.

There has also been an increase in household rubbish and electronic goods, such as fridges, being dumped in residential areas.

The Committee heard a number of measures are being undertaken by the Council to deter fly-tippers.

Council officers are working with the police to organise further enforcement days, following the success of last year’s Operation Brunch.

This involves carrying out random checks on trucks in a targeted area to see if they are carrying waste without a proper licence.

During Operation Brunch, 85 vehicles were stopped near the Hertfordshire Showground over a four-week period and checked. A number of warnings were issued.

Each fly tip will continue to be investigated for evidence to use in possible actions including prosecution. There will also be further use of cameras at fly-tipping hotspots to try and catch offenders red-handed.

The Council is also committed to sharing intelligence about the problem with other councils in the county as well as community groups.

Councillor Anthony Rowlands, chair of the Local Services Scrutiny Committee of St Albans City and District Council, said: “Fly-tipping is a growing problem and a blight on the area. It also costs the Council money.

“The Council needs to continue to work with other agencies such as the police to prosecute offenders and deter people from illegally dumping rubbish. We need to examine all the ways we can do this.

“The Committee agreed to ask a small group of councillors to undertake a swift investigation of all the issues involved and make recommendations on what other action can be taken.”

http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/advice-and-benefits/services/default.aspx

Liberal Democrats on Herts County Council have called upon the County Council to do more to help refugees from Syria.

Lib Dem health spokesperson Chris White said: ‘We must be in no doubt what we are dealing with here. The BBC’s insistence, along with other media outlets, of continuing to use the term “migrant” has greatly muddied the debate. Many of those desperately seeking a new home in Europe are fleeing civil war and in particular ISIS, the new barbarians. There is a real parallel with those who fled the Nazis before the Second World War and those who fled the Russians at the end of it.

‘Local authorities across the country should respond by taking in refugees. We have a moral and humanitarian duty to do so.

​’The County Council must work with local districts to find a way of saving the ordinary families who have been forced to flee what were once comfortable homes through no fault of their own.

‘We can no longer pretend that this is a minor problem at the far end of the Mediterranean. Nor can any humane person say, like David Cameron, that you can’t solve the overall problem by helping those who are driven into leaving their homes. That policy would mean that you wouldn’t rescue people from a burning building because it did not address the cause of the fire.’

Chris added: ‘We should in particular be helping Kent County Council which has had to pick up the responsibility for looking after unaccompanied frightened children.’ ​

Liberal Democrats in the Local Government Association have urged local authorities across the country to show central government that they are ready and willing to offer to take in refugees fleeing persecution from the Middle East. But they have warned that the Government should have acted faster.

Cllr Chris White, Deputy Leader of the LGA Lib Dem Group, said: “The recent photos of drowned Syrian refugees are shocking. As a parent, it tears my heart out to see these images. Britain has a strong track record in working to support human rights across the world and fighting for values of tolerance and compassion. Local Government stands ready to help, but Central Government should be ashamed of itself for failing to work with other countries in addressing this issue earlier.

All local authorities should say how many refugees they will accept – and central government must say what it will do to make sure refugees get the funding needed”.

Cllr Ruth Dombey, Leader of Sutton Council and Chair of the LGA Lib Dem Group added:

“The United Kingdom cannot sit by and watch the suffering and death of refugees fleeing violence. Local authorities across the country should respond by taking in refugees. We have a moral and humanitarian duty to do so and I am sure other councils share my views.

“Sutton Council is already doing preparatory work in the hope that the government changes its stance on the situation in Europe and increases the number of refugees accepted by the UK.

“Sutton stands ready to help.”

Message from Tim Farron MP

Normally, when Lib Dems want to change something we would start our own campaign and ask you to join it. This time, we want the government to take action on the refugee crisis as fast as possible, and that means everyone signing the official government petition. This crisis isn’t about politics, it’s about helping the thousands of people who have risked their lives to escape conflict and violence. We have a duty to help them.

More than 200,000 people have signed the petition already. Please do the same and make David Cameron act:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/105991

The official brochure for this fun fortnight-long event is now available for those wanting a preview of the action.

St Albans and Harpenden Food and Drink Festival runs from Tuesday 22 September to Monday 5 October with appetising events and activities for adults and children to enjoy.

Among the activities are tastings, workshops and competitions which showcase the fantastic range of food and drink that is available in the District.

Festival highlights include:

• Opening night Gala Dinner at Thompson@Darcy’s, Hatfield Road, St Albans on Tuesday 22 September
• The Mayor of St Albans City and District’s charity fundraising three-course Tasting Evening at Poggenpohl showroom on London Road, St Albans on Thursday 24 September
• Harpenden Food Court with cookery demonstrations, food stalls and children’s activities, Church Green, Harpenden Town Centre on Sunday 27 September
• CAMRA’s St Albans Beer and Cider Festival at the Alban Arena from Wednesday 30 September to Saturday 3 October
• Afro-Latin Salsa Dinner and Dance at the Town Hall, Market Place, St Albans on Saturday 3 October
• St Albans Street Finale in St Peter’s Street on Sunday 4 October from noon to 6pm. St Albans Mayor is cooking Turkish. You can see cookery demonstrations from local chefs or buy tasty treats from food-stalls and pop-up restaurants
• St Albans and Harpenden Food & Drink Awards’ Dinner on Monday 5 October at Sopwell House Hotel, Cottonmill Lane, St Albans. This event celebrates the best of the best local food and drink businesses and producers.

Throughout the festival, the Herts Advertiser is running a Food Writing Competition and a Food Photography Competition with winning entries to be published in the newspaper. More information can be found in the festival brochure and will soon be on the Herts Advertiser website.

Festival brochures are available from the Civic Centre, libraries, leisure centres, St Albans Tourist and Information Centre, Harpenden Information Point and participating venues. You can also download the brochure from the website – www.enjoystalbans.com/foodanddrink