http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/newsarchive.php Recent News Stories from Somerton and Frome Liberal Democrats en-GB Somerton and Frome Liberal Democrats http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2008 Somerton and Frome Liberal Democrats 2008-08-08T00:40+01:00 United Kingdom http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000114/post_office_closures_a_disaster_says_david_heath.html Responding to the news that the Post Office intends to close all the post offices in his Somerton & Frome constituency that they included in their closure consultation, David Heath MP has said: 2008-05-29T00:01+01:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000113/david_heath_mp_calls_for_taskforce_in_response_to_butler__tanner.html Local MP David Heath has held talks with union officials and with the local authority to consider further actions in response to the closure of Butler & Tanner in Frome. He has also visited the picket line at the factory gates to talk to sacked workers face to face. 2008-05-10T19:16+01:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000120/david_heath_mp_calls_for_fairness_in_the_hospitality_industry.html David Heath, MP for Somerton and Frome, has backed a campaign to bring fairness in wages to workers within the hospitality industry by co-sponsoring Early Day Motion 2035. The EDM supports the campaign, calling for amendments to the 1998 Minimum Wage Act. 2008-07-16T16:21+01:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000119/heath_congratulates_lottery_award_winners.html Somerton and Frome MP, David Heath, today congratulated two organisations within his constituency after their Big Lottery Fund awards were issued this month. 2008-07-13T20:57+01:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000118/rethink_tax_office_closures_says_heath.html Somerton & Frome MP David Heath has called on Ministers to re-think the closure of tax offices across Somerset. Speaking in questions to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in Parliament today, Mr Heath said that the decision to close HM Revenue & Customs offices in Frome, Yeovil, Wells, Bridgwater and Weston-super-Mare would damage the local economy and provide a worse level of service to people in Somerset. 2008-07-13T20:45+01:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000117/new_south_west_select_committee_branded_a_farce.html New proposals drawn up by the government to provide for House of Commons Select Committees for each region of England have been branded a farce by a South West MP. 2008-07-13T20:43+01:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000116/tax_rules_on_voluntary_car_drivers_must_be_changed.html Local MP David Heath has called for a change in the tax treatment of volunteer drivers such as the Hospital Car Service to stop the reduction in numbers over recent months. Many volunteer drivers, who are not paid but receive car expenses on a mileage basis, are being forced to give up because the mileage rates fall short of the real costs of motoring. 2008-07-13T20:40+01:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000115/david_heath_nominated_as_best_backbencher_mp_in_prestigious_awards.html Somerton & Frome MP David Heath has been shortlisted in the category of 'Best Backbencher' in the forthcoming The House Magazine Parliamentary Awards, for demonstrating 'sharp debating skills in the Chamber'. This is the 6th time he has been nominated for the award during his eleven years in Parliament, although as voting generally occurs along political lines, he has not won it. 2008-06-09T16:27+01:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000112/close_shave_for_tories.html The Mendip North East County Council by-election - caused by the disqualification of the previous Conservative Councillor - almost resulted in a big upset for the Tories. 2008-05-04T12:57+01:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000111/mps_plea_on_thatches.html Local MP David Heath has called for a rethink on the way planning officers deal with thatched cottages in an intervention in the House of Commons. In a question to local government minister Hazel Blears, Mr Heath called for relaxing guidelines on listed buildings to deal with a national shortage of thatching straw. 2008-04-07T16:11+01:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000110/give_us_back_our_seat_says_mp.html People in Frome who are waiting for a bus in the town centre, or have simply shopped till they drop, are finding it a little bit harder on the feet in Frome, since the bench which used to stand outside the old post office was taken away. 2008-04-07T16:08+01:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000109/if_we_have_welsh_and_scottish_questions_in_parliament_why_not_west.html A Somerset MP has called for time to be set aside in the parliamentary timetable for questions about the west-country. And he's suggested a good place to start would be the "most-neglected trunk road in Britain" the A303 and the "worst rail service" provided by First Great Western. 2008-04-07T16:03+01:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000108/tory_county_councillor_disqualified_for_nonattendance.html There will be a by-election for the Mendip North East County Division on May 1st. Liberal Democrats have already adopted local activist and former Mendip Councillor Ian Hasell. 2008-04-01T17:41+01:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000107/lib_dem_south_somerset_leads_again.html South Somerset District Council's thorough councillor development system has put it straight to the top of the list of the best training councils this week- and it is the first council in the South West region to make the grade. 2008-03-21T12:42+00:00 http://www.somertonandfromelibdems.org.uk/news/000106/government_must_take_rural_poverty_seriously__heath.html David Heath, MP for Somerton and Frome, has called on the Government to recognise the damaging evidence within the report by the government's rural advocate, Stuart Burgess and Rural Services Network's warning that little has been done to solve rural problems. 2008-03-10T14:39+00:00