The events of the last week have moved significantly with further allegations regarding Mr Parsons conduct and integrity being revealed. We have been increasingly concerned by Mr Parsons apparent disregard for the allegations considered by the Corporate Governance committee on Monday and the referral of the matter to the Standards Committee.
Blackburn Council announced £1m extra for road repairs in July last year. They have now admitted they can only spend half this money. When questioned by Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr David Foster Labour Cllr Dave Harling said that though they announced it in July they did not get round to formally approving it until months later. Cllr Foster said, " This shows that despite the poor state of the roads the Labour Council failed to get their act together quick enough to actually do the job. It highlights the incompetence of this Labour Council."
Three members of staff from a care home near Bristol have pleaded guilty to the ill treatment of residents. The case follows secret filming by the BBC's Panorama TV programme at the Castlebeck-owned Winterbourne View hospital near Hambrook.
Public opinion may be converging around a fusion of economic competence and social justice - in Lib Dem eyes, their natural territory. The current Lib Dem positioning of themselves as more economically competent than Labour but more socially just than the Tories is classic centre-ground politics.
Before the Icelandic banks collapsed Wiltshire Council 'invested' £12million at interest rates which were literally too good to be true. However thanks to the work of the Local Government Association much of the money lost by Wiltshire and other foolish councils is set to be returned. The county put £9m into Heritable Bank and £3m into Landsbanki.