Solent suffers while Southern Water profits

The sorry saga of untreated sewage dumped in the Solent came to a head this week in the Canterbury Crown Court.  Southern Water had pleaded guilty to 71 violations over 6 years – including 8,400 illegal discharges – with the cover ups sanctioned at a senior level.

Some will claim that this is an example of the regulator doing its job – and others will point out that they were too easily fooled by a company whose top priority was to maximise shareholder profits.

Either way the saga stinks – and now, in 2021, we can finally look forward to the sentencing later this week for crimes committed before 2015.   Will the punishment be enough to stop further discharges?

And the Contaminated Crustacean Award goes to . .

Tories’ £2m grab from local schools

Schools in Fareham are set to lose thousands in funding for the most disadvantaged pupils in the county following the government’s decision to alter the method of calculating pupil premium funding.

The pupil premium, which aims to close the attainment gap by providing extra money to pupils eligible for free school meals, was a flagship reform introduced by the Liberal Democrats in government in 2011.

The move is “a shameful cut” which “will have a direct impact on the quality of education schools can provide for those who are in desperate need of more, not less, support”, says local parent James Fowler, who stood for the Liberal Democrats in Fareham South at the recent local elections.

See the full article here.

Jean’s victory boosts our team

Fareham Liberal Democrats’ team on the Borough Council is stronger after Thursday’s local elections, with Jean Kelly taking back the Portchester East seat from the independent group. The result makes the Lib Dems once more the main opposition group on the Council.

Jean Kelly

Our two sitting councillors who were defending their seats were safely returned – Roger Price retained his Portchester seat on Hampshire County Council, and Katrina Trott kept hers on Fareham Council. (Roger Price and Gerry Kelly are our other two sitting Fareham councillors for Portchester East.)

All of our other candidates increased the Lib Dem vote compared with 2016, the last time these particular seats were contested. (Councillors are elected for a four-year term, with half the council normally up for election every two years – this year’s elections were postponed from the 2020 cycle.)

Follow the links below for the results on Fareham Council’s website.

Fareham Borough Council

Hampshire County Council

Police Commissioner – first count

Police Commissioner – second count

Below are details of all the Liberal Democrat candidates.

Hampshire County Council

Fareham Crofton
Jimmy Roberts		Fareham Titchfield
David Leonard
Fareham Portchester
Roger Price		Fareham Town*
Ciaran Urry-Tuttiett
Paul Whittle
Fareham Sarisbury
John Hughes		Fareham Warsash
Jim Palmer
*Fareham Town has two County Council seats, so residents will have two votes

Police Commisioner

Hampshire Police Commissioner
Richard Murphy

Hope for Hampshire – the Lib Dem county manifesto

Fareham Borough Council

Fareham East
Katrina Trott		Stubbington
Jimmy Roberts
Hill Head
David Hamilton		Fareham South
James Fowler
Portchester East
Jean Kelly		Titchfield
Justin Grimley
Portchester West
Ashley Brown		Warsash
Jim Palmer
Fareham North
Ciaran Urry-Tuttiett		Sarisbury
Peter Davison
Fareham North West
Dominic Wong		Fareham West
Rowena Palmer
Park Gate
Graham Everdell		Locks Heath
Darren Alderson-Hall
Titchfield Common
Sandra Abrams

Vision for Fareham