‘Slough Liberal Democrats propose “all parties working together in a joint administration”’ – Slough Express

Slough Lib Dems proposal for all parties to work together to solve the severe financial crisis facing the Council has been widely covered in the local papers.

The heading above was posted in the on-line version of The Slough Express on Friday 12 May.

On May 11, The Slough Observer reported how Slough Lib Dems had called a meeting of leaders of the Tory, Labour and Lib Dem groups on the Council "to form a joint administration at Slough Borough Council."

Both papers reported the Lib Dem's success in gaining three seats on Slough Council. Amjad Abbasi and Asim Naveed were elected in Elliman, and Frank O'Kelly was elected in Cippenham Village Ward.

The Express reported how Matthew Taylor, Chair of Slough Lib Dems (see photo), explained that the Lib Dems' attempt to get all the parties together to agree a joint administration was following through on pledges in the Lib Dem election manifesto to try to get all parties to work together because of the extreme crisis.

The Express quoted Matthew Taylor: "Bit by bit we should find some common ground between the parties and agree...Rather than find criticism with each other, try to find a constructive route out of the problem."

Both papers also reported the Lib Dem approach of suggesting that the parties start by identifying areas where they agree. The Lib Dems set out a series of what they called consensus measures that all parties on Slough Council could agree:

• Agree to produce a new list of council assets for potential sale that would exclude items that all parties agreed should not be sold, for example Slough crematorium and cemetery.
• Build on the goodwill that should be generated by Slough councillors being seen to be working together, and seek the Commissioners support for a revised proposal on cutting the number of Children's Centres in Slough. Instead of cutting them from 10 to 3, the number to be cut should be reduced and more should be retained across Slough.
• Use the added strength of a joint all party administration to make a case to the Thames Valley Police & Crime Commissioner for increased policing resources for Slough.