Southwark Liberal Democrats have announced their two amendments to the Labour budget. 

Both are fully costed and will prioritise funding a specialist Knife-crime unit and a new hub for rough sleepers.

Despite promising to keep libraries open at last year’s local election, Southwark Labour moved to shut libraries for part of the week in their first budget of the new term. They had hoped to squeeze the change through by burying the change in small print as ‘reshaping’ services. However, at the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny committee, Liberal Democrat councillors dug deeper to reveal the full story and launched a stinging attack at their backtracking.

South London has been plagued with youth violence and anti-social behaviour in recent times. The reasons for this are many and not simple to solve. Cllr William Houngbo is the Opposition Spokesperson for Community Safety and has taken a special interest in helping to address these issues in our ward and in our community. He has proactively taken steps, alongside the other agencies in Southwark, to start turning the situation around so we can all start to feel safer and worry less when our teenagers are out and about.

Local groups and opposition councillors have accused Labour-run Southwark Council of ‘stitching up’ a body that’s intended to be a grassroots-up forum and ‘feathering their own nest’ by giving their own pick over £12,000 for chairing a panel that will meet just three times a year.

Transport for London have announced plans to scrap the RV1 bus service altogether. The environmentally-friendly, zero-emissions bus route connects Covent Garden, the London Eye, South Bank, Tate Modern, the Globe, Borough Market, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. 

Transport for London have rejected calls from campaigners and the public to build a tube station at Bricklayers Arms. Although those living and working south of the river have always had far fewer tube stations, under guidance from Labour Mayor, TfL decided to save money in the short-term by opposing building a new station at the roundabout. For local businesses and commuters, this will be seen an opportunity of a lifetime missed, especially as this is one of the fastest-growing parts of the city.

A one-way system’s been introduced on Leathermarket Street, after almost a year’s campaigning by the local Liberal Democrat councillor, Damian O’Brien.

The latest police figures show that Southwark currently has the highest number of knife incidents and injuries in London. On average there are around 18 knife crime incidents every week in Southwark with a stabbing happening almost every day. Furthermore while knife crime increased by a quarter across the capital over the last year, in Southwark the figures went up by twice as much.

The first ‘Golden Goodbye’ payments for Southwark council cabinet members have been paid out, with a second batch in the pipeline. These payments, which the UK government states are ‘unlawful’, are given to councillors that cease to be cabinet members either by voluntarily resigning or are relieved of their post.

In a surprise defiance of expectations, Southwark Liberal Democrats emerged from the election in a strengthened positon and with the real possibility of increasing their overall numbers when the election of the contested seat of London Bridge & West Bermondsey takes place in mid-June.