Cambridge Liberal Democrat Manifesto 1998 A Responsive Council

We have consistently called for the Council to be organised primarily for the convenience of the public rather than for the convenience of its staff. That is why we have campaigned, for example, for more convenient opening hours of council offices. We support making information on planning applications available at more locations in the city. We will make Council agendas, minutes and much other official information available via the internet. We also intend to pursue the idea of expanding the hours of operation of the planning department. Our longer term goal is for the city to be served by a moderate number of electronically linked one-stop shops at which residents will be able to contract all of their business with the Council.

The Council should also be more responsive to the needs of the voluntary organisations it supports. It is a mistake to eliminate all "core" funding, as Labour is doing. Project-base funding has its place, but a purely project-based funding system will lead to the long-term decline of the voluntary sector. We will also reverse the trend that Labour has introduced towards creeping municipalisation in the guise of "partnership" funding. Partnership means working together other, not bidding to control them.

We also note that the Council’s complaints procedure has received a poor score from the Audit Commission. We will put that right by instituting the necessary reforms.

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