Reading Borough Conservatives continue to set the agenda on Reading Borough Council. At last night’s Council meeting only Conservative Councillors tabled any questions to the minority Labour administration. In addition Conservative Councillors tabled four motions which were intended to make a real difference to the lives of Reading people. By contrast Labour Councillors moved three motions about national issues.
The Conservative motions were as follows:
Cllr Tom Stanway moved a motion calling for a referendum on a directly elected Mayor for Reading and moving Council elections to “all out” elections every four years, as in some neighbouring authorities. Labour agreed that this should be debated and moved an amendment to bring a report to a future Council meeting in the next Municipal year.
Cllr Dave Luckett moved a motion (seconded by Cllr Richard Willis) supporting the Times “Cities fit for Cycling” campaign and called for more 20mph zones in Reading and the publication of a list of junctions with poor accident records involving cyclists. He also called for an expansion of the planned cycle hire scheme and the installation of sensors on the side of buses to warn of the presence of cyclists. Labour successfully moved an amendment which kept the bulk of Cllr Luckett’s motion and the Conservatives therefore accepted the amendment.
Cllr Jeanette Skeats moved a motion proposing to limit the length of verbal answers to public and Councillor questions to just 2 minutes in order to maximise the number of questions which can be answered. At present Labour lead Councillors sometimes use lengthy answers to some questions in order to “talk out” later questions which then receive a written response avoiding them being heard in Full Council. Labour agreed to consider best practice elsewhere and bring forward a report as soon as possible.
Cllr Dave Luckett moved a second motion calling for a bid for funding to be made to Central Government to introduce ultra-fast broadband in Reading. He also sought to enlist the support of Reading’s two Conservative MPs, of whom Reading East MP Rob Wilson is already pressing for ultra-fast broadband. Labour’s amendment demonstrated a complete failure to understand the original motion, advocating merely super-fast broadband.
Conservative Leader Cllr Tim Harris said, “I was astonished that at full council The Conservatives were the only group working to improve Reading. Only one other group presented motions and they added zero value to Reading people, but were designed to create cheap political shots.
Every single Conservative Councillor present took part in the meeting. We were the only group that bothered to ask any questions, actually filling the questions slot. Most importantly however we presented more motions than all the other parties put together, with every motion designed to move Reading forward.
Surely that's the reason we are all here.”