Newcastle Liberal Democrat Councillors campaigning for you - report on recent City Council meetings

Liberal Democrats Councillors have been holding the Labour Council to account over the last 6
months and have called for action on many important issues. These include
 Warm homes - we called for funding to prescribe heat to people with chronic illnesses made
worse by the cold to keep them out of hospital. This has been shown in trials to be
extremely effective, costing only £647 on average compared to the huge costs of hospital
care. We also called for the Council to accelerate its programme for insulating homes to
reduce energy costs and improve health.
 Biodiversity in the City - we want the Council to scale up its efforts to support biodiversity
including a 2 for 1 tree replacement, sustainable drainage in highways projects and
integrating wildlife-friendly planting into low traffic neighbourhood measures.
 Clean air - we called for a national policy to grant fund conversion to low emission vehicles
and for immediate implementation of the Council's existing safer schools streets policy to
address public health risks for school children
 The cost of living crisis - we asked the Council to set up a local Poverty Commission, involving
partner organisations, to investigate ways of tackling the crisis locally, and to make
recommendations about what the Council and other agencies can do to help.
 The lack of adequate electric vehicle charging in the region
 Poverty proofing the school day
 Tackling unsolved crimes - we asked for the Police and Crime Commissioner explain the high
rate of unsolved crime, to outline any plans the police force has to reduce unsolved crime
rates with new officer recruitment and to commit to a more visible policing presence in
hotspot areas.
 The future of Gosforth High Street - We called for support for the development of Gosforth
High Street as a thriving local destination with a diverse range of shops and services with low
carbon transport, reduced air pollution, better road safety and meaningful consultation with
residents and businesses.
 Ending our twinning with China - We were delighted the whole Council agreed to end our
twinning relationship with the city of Taiyaun in protest over the appalling human rights abuses by the
current Chinese Government both in China and Hong Kong.