Southampton City Council

The Liberal Democrat Council Group 2008

The Liberal Democrats took control of the Administration of Southampton City Council following success at the local council elections in 2003. This was the first time the City's Administration had changed for 19 years, and the first time a party with 'Liberal' in its name had led the City since before the First World War. They successfully ran the council for four years until the local elections in 2007.

When the Liberal Democrats formed the adminstration on Southampton City Council, they had a difficult task given the political split and the fact they did not have a majority but one we were please to do for the good of the people of Southampton.

The current political composition in Southampton is:

• Liberal Democrat 5

• Conservative 28

• Labour 15

When the Liberal Democrats ran the council we:

• Set up initiatives to fight Anti Social Behaviour, including City Patrol Officers, City Safety and Youth Services

• Invested in Improvements to Local Areas, including improvements to shopping parades, litter bins on routes to schools and a special vehicle to clean major roads more regularly without having to close the road to traffic

• Launched an £18.5 Million Pound Scheme to reverse years of neglect of our Roads and Pavements

• Opened up all meetings so that all key decisions are now made in public after consultation

• Increased recycling from 11% to 35% with the introduction of doorstep collection of recyclables with the twin bin scheme before the Labour and Conservative groups combined to cancel the Alternative Weekly collection scheme and drop the rate back to 24%.

• Took difficult but important decisions on primary school re-organisation, secondary school re-organisation and the travellers site that previous administrations had failed to take.

For a full list of Liberal Democrat achievements in adminstration from 2003 to 2007 see :-

Southampton Liberal Democrat Achievements 2003 - 2007.

And during the 2005 year of a minority Liberal Democrat adminstration a large number of awards were gained see :-

Southampton City Council 2005 Awards.

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The Liberal Democrat Group

There are currently 5 Liberal Democrat Councillors serving on Southampton City Council :-

• Peartree Ward: Gerry Drake - Deputy Group Leader, Spokesperson for the Group on Adult Social Care & Health and Housing and Local Services, and is a member of Licensing Committee, Scrutiny Panel B Health, Licensing General Sub-Committee, Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Working Group.

• Peartree Ward: John Slade - Spokesperson for Environment & Transport and Leisure, Culture & Heritage. Member of Planning & Rights of Way and Standards and Governance committees, South East Employers Scrutiny Network.

• Portswood Ward: Steve Sollitt - Spokesperson on Resources & Workforce Planning, and is a member of Audit Committee, Standards and Governance, and South East Employers.

• Portswood Ward: Adrian Vinson - Economic Development spokesperson, Liberal Democrat Council Group Leader. Member of Overview and Scrutiny Management, Chief Officer Employment Panel, Partnership for Urban Southampton - Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

• Swaythling Ward: Maureen Turner - Group Secretary and Whip, and Spokesperson on Children's Services & Learning, and Safeguarding Children & Youth Services. Member of Scrutiny Panel A, Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Working Group.

• Related links :-

• Southampton City Council.

• Councillor Contacts.