At a SHDC Executive meeting held last week the administration voted to continue the suspension of the brown bin collection until Spring 2022.

John Birch, a Totnes district councillor, says

" Many residents are more than disappointed with this continued suspension. In my view this is not only disappointing but also unacceptable. FCC, the council's waste collection contractor, has a contractual obligation to collect garden waste and yet is unable to do so. As FCC is unable to fulfil its obligation then, in my opinion, SHDC should seek to make alternative arrangements and deduct any additional costs from FCC's account.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-58745316?fbclid=IwAR2pAZeg81nE6WhijrU7QjEWHdMBhlOouuyGgyaxJqb5K3By_c8Mu1XLTxg

Today Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has announced a new flagship Education policy on the third day of the party's conference - Catch-Up Vouchers.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a £15 billion package of education catch-up funding, as recommended by the Government's former Education Recovery Commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins.

This is a victory for the Liberal Democrats and all those campaigners who stood up for our civil liberties against these deeply illiberal and unworkable plans. The Conservatives have needlessly sown confusion among businesses for months by threatening to introduce Covid passports, and will not be forgiven for it. After this inevitable U-turn, the Conservatives must now see sense and scrap the unnecessary and draconian Coronavirus Act as well.

As many as 20% of hard-pressed families across Totnes Constituency face being left worse off when the government end the uplift to Universal Credit next month.

New data from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation exposes the true nature of how badly some areas will be hit by the £20 Universal Credit cut, which is opposed by South Hams Liberal Democrats.

Dominic Raab is one of the worst Foreign Secretaries in British history and has presided over the worst foreign policy disaster since the Suez Crisis. He decided to spend more time on the beach instead of picking up the phone to help vulnerable Afghans. His continued dithering and delays has put lives at risk. Therefore it's only right that his pay be docked for failing to do his job properly. By repurposing his Ministerial salary, we can fund 10 Afghan refugees to resettle and build a new life here in the UK. This is a much better use of taxpayers' money.

Due to Government inaction, we could be in for a Christmas of chaos: empty shop shelves, no toys for our children and even a delay to life-saving flu vaccinations. We're now at the point where we must mobilise the army to get food to supermarkets, showing the depth of Government failure. This is all down to Priti Patel's disastrous new immigration rules that are harming Britain. She must listen to businesses, rather than hinder them, and enable them to hire the lorry drivers and other workers we so desperately need.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to commit to resettling at least 20,000 Afghan refugees as well as creating an emergency Women and Girls Resettlement Scheme.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran MP said:

"It's now or never to save innocent people from the terror of the Taliban. The Government must step up urgently and offer a new home to Afghan refugees who've been forced to flee theirs.

Lib Dem research reveals holidaymakers are paying millions for PCR tests that aren't being checked for new variants. Travellers are paying through the nose for a system that isn't doing its job - while the Government drags its feet over lower prices for tests. They must immediately cap the cost of PCR tests for travel and ensure that as many as possible are sequenced for new variants.