Liberal Democrats have taken overall control of Cheltenham Borough Council, thanks to the defection of a Conservative councillor to our group.  We previously ran the council under no overall control.

Councillor Klara Sudbury is both a borough councillor and a Gloucestershire County Councillor and will now join both the party and our groups on both councils.

In a statement, Cllr Sudbury said:

"However, I have been impressed by the work of the town’s Liberal Democrat MP Martin Horwood who has been a hard working and dedicated MP for the town for nearly five years. The Liberal Democrats have taken the lead on many local issues such as defending Cheltenham railway station from the threat of a Parkway station at Elmbridge Court and protecting services for the town’s most vulnerable people. I also fully support their proactive approach in fighting to save the town’s green spaces and Green Belt from inappropriate development."

Welcoming her to the group, Liberal Democrat council leader Cllr Steve Jordan said:

"Klara has a well deserved reputation as a campaigner on many local issues and I am very pleased that she would like to continue those campaigns as a member of the Liberal Democrat group. I warmly welcome her application to join us. Councillors represent all their constituents of whatever political persuasion and I’m sure Klara will continue to do an excellent job for local people"

A government proposal to claim back £15 a week from housing benefit claimants has been put on hold following an outcry from recipients and a campaign by a number of Liberal Democrat councils.

At present, if a housing benefit claimant finds a property to rent at less than the rate of housing allowance set by the council, they can keep up to £15 of the difference.  However, the Labour Government had tried to scrap this scheme in April, which would have hit those on the lowest incomes the hardest.  However, the government has now been forced to put off this cut until at least 2011.

More details from the BBC

Liberal Democrats in local government have responded to yesterday's Queen's Speech emphasising the lack of any concrete proposals that will make a real difference to people's lives.  Instead, the speech has been described as "a fantasy Queen’s Speech from a government that has run out of road in a Parliament that has lost the people’s trust."

Liberal Democrat Leader in the Local Government Association, Cllr Richard Kemp said:

A number of national newspapers have been carrying stories about Liberal Democrat-run Watford Borough Council banning parents from parks throughout the borough.  Indeed the story even made it to the front page of the Metro.  But, the truth on this story is very different.

The reality is that the only places affected by this ban on parents is TWO adventure playgrounds, that are specifically designed as supervised play facilities.  Every other playground in the borough is still free, open, unsupervised and can be freely accessed by parents.  In fact, parents have always been able to enter these adventure playgrounds to help settle their children in.  But, just as with nursery schools, parents then leave their children in the care of council staff, so they don't get in the way of the activities that are taking place.

Liberal Democrats are used to getting unfair coverage in the press.  But it's a shame that when we achieve the front page of a national paper, it's as a result of an unfair and misleading story.

You can read more about this story from local Lib Dem councillor Sara Bedford.