Thank you!
May is always a pivotal month in politics. Local elections come round every May to determine how the things you rely on from the Council are delivered - and by whom. More on those elections to come, but to start with a very big thank you from me to everyone who took the time to vote, to stand, to deliver a leaflet, to knock on a door - our democracy relies on ordinary people stepping forward to shape our communities.
Of course, elections weren’t the only thing happening this month. This newsletter includes an update on my scrutiny of the County Council’s plans to fix our roads, the political games played at the latest County Council meeting, my ongoing efforts to tidy up our town, and much more!
But it will probably come as no surprise that we start with the question that only May brings:
What happened in the local elections?
The past two months for me have been dominated by campaigning to get Aaron Jacob and David Heritage elected in Harpenden West and Harpenden South.
I’m delighted to say that we did it - with Aaron gaining Harpenden West from the Liberal Democrats by 20 votes! Across the District, 9,334 people cast their votes for our Conservative team and we will continue to work hard to hold the Lib Dems to account and repay that trust.
The District Council now has 44 Lib Dems, 5 Conservatives, 3 Greens, 2 Labour and 2 Independents. My Group have re-elected me as our Group Leader - and I’m delighted to have Cllr. Teresa Heritage as my new Deputy.
I am interested to hear about your experience of the Local Elections, to help guide my thinking for the coming year. There is a short survey here on my website where you can give your views and I would be grateful for your feedback.
Why can’t we have an honest conversation about fixing the roads?
Every month, I seem to have an updated version of this same story. The Lib Dems made big promises on fixing our roads, but have no clear plan to do so.
Pothole repairs in their first nine months in charge were nearly 6,000 below the level 12 months prior and this financial year they have put in less money to fix the roads. But rather than an honest conversation about what that will mean - they are pretending it isn’t true.
I raised the Highways funding cuts with the Cabinet Member at this month’s Full Council and got back the same old spin. That’s why I’m pressing the case by forcing a discussion and, hopefully, a clear briefing from Officers at the next Highways Panel.
That’s the best place to scrutinise the Lib Dems’ plan for our roads. But their lack of a clear plan has led to three out of seven panels being cancelled in their time in charge - including the one which was supposed to happen in May. I’ll keep holding them to account.
Don’t we deserve better than more political games?
So many people I speak to tell me that they are tired of politicians playing political games, rather than governing. At the County Council, the Lib Dems need Labour and Green votes to get things passed at Council. That means they need a common agenda, sorted out behind closed doors.
The Overview & Scrutiny Committee exists to hold that agenda to account to ensure it is delivering for you. The Council's Constitutional Guidelines say it should be Chaired by the largest Opposition Group - in Hertfordshire, that's the Conservatives.
But this month, hot on the heels of the Committee using its powers to scrutinise a controversial decision to close one of Hertfordshire's schools, the Lib Dems, Labour and the Greens voted together at Council to hand the Chairmanship to the Labour Party.
So to recap: the Council Committee that is designed to make sure the Administration's agenda is working for you will now be Chaired by a party closely allied to that Administration and its agenda. We deserve proper scrutiny of Council decisions, not political games.
Shouldn’t we be doing more to tidy up our town?
One of the services provided by the District Council is street cleansing - making sure our town looks clean and tidy.
But cuts to the service by the Lib Dem Administration in recent years have left some parts of town looking a bit of a mess. I’m doing my best to change that - by campaigning for more resources for street cleansing and by working hard locally to get the resources we have targeted where they need to be.
One example of this is this area of vegetation on Broadstone Road, where debris from cutbacks wasn’t cleared properly by the Council. I visited the area with the Waste team this month to show them what residents had told me.
I’ll keep doing everything I can to ensure that our town remains a place you can be proud to call home. That means clean and tidy streets!
What makes a community special?
This is a more philosophical question than you usually get from me in these newsletters, but so often it is a central question that underpins the decisions we make at Council.
At the County Council this month, we were debating a school closure planned by the Lib Dems in Elstree. Now, putting aside for a moment the lack of a broad forward plan and the logic of closing a school in a part of the county expected to see significant housing growth in future years, this raised this question for me.
To me, a place for children to be educated is one of those key markers of community - like a high street and a place for the community to come together.
When we close a school, we are taking something central away from a community. That’s why in my speech I emphasised the need to ensure that we aren’t permanently and irreversibly closing the door on schools in the name of short-term drops in the fertility rate.
Do you support the abolition of Hertfordshire Constabulary?
One of the Government’s recent announcements was their plan to merge a number of police forces into distant regional forces.
That would mean that policing decisions in Hertfordshire would be made by a force covering other counties too - potentially reducing the focus on our county and particularly our smaller and rural communities.
That’s why I seconded a Conservative motion at the County Council calling on the Government to change course. I was pleased that we were able to get cross-party support for the motion and that it was passed. The Council will now write to the Government, setting out our concerns.
It is really important that we get this right. A more distant force, sitting far above any politicians who could meaningfully hold it to account, seems like a recipe for disaster to me.
Can we being doing more to tackle utility company disruption?
When I first got elected to the County Council, I had no idea how much time I would spend tackling the disruption caused by utility company roadworks.
At this point, this is basically a standing item in this newsletter. And this month’s worst example comes from the works on Crabtree Lane and Milton Road, where at one point temporary traffic lights were directing people into a road closure. I don’t have a picture, so forgive the re-use of last month’s example.
I raised this latest disruption with the County Council’s Highways team and they’ve been out to get it sorted out. But it shouldn’t be the case that every single month we are dealing with a new and significant disruption.
Behind the scenes, I’ve been shaping some new policy announcements on this to try to tackle disruption and keep Hertfordshire moving. In the coming months I’ll have more to share.
What did we get fixed this month?
Getting the simple stuff done right was my promise when I got elected and every month we’re making good progress getting things fixed in Harpenden South West.
My big good news this month is that the County Council have finally agreed to my long-standing campaign to resurface the Luton Road between the Nickey Line Bridge and the traffic lights by Clarence Road. I don’t yet have a timeframe, but that’s a long-needed repair and I hope it will make a real difference.
I was also pleased that we were able to sort out a replacement lamppost in Meadway, fix the pavement on the corner of Townsend Road and Wordsworth Road, and much more.
I continue to work to deliver your priorities and this month I met residents on Cowper Road to discuss road safety, joined a resident for a walkabout to look at pavements on Luton Road, and took my Highways Officer around Harpenden to assess possible sites to use my Highways Budget on in 2027/28. Lots done, lots still to do - I’ll keep working to get things fixed!
What else did I get up to?
As always, there is a huge amount that I simply can’t fit into the main body of this newsletter.
I got out and about before and after the election to knock on doors and speak to you about your local priorities. Listening doesn’t stop for me now the election is over!
I joined Conservative colleagues on the County Council to discuss my ongoing efforts to create a positive new plan to fix our roads. I’ve been re-appointed Shadow Cabinet Member for Highways for the coming year and I look forward to continuing that work.
I visited Citizens Advice in St. Albans to find out more about the work they are doing to support local people. They rely on support from the Council, so plans to re-organise local government in our area will present some challenges and it was useful to hear their perspective.
I met with local charities and continued to do what I can to support them to thrive - including with new awards of funding from my Councillor Locality Budget.
I spoke with the Council Officers involved in running the Herts Lynx - an on-demand bus service available in Hemel but not Harpenden. I continue to push for that to be expanded to cover our area too.
I had my regular meeting with senior Highways Officers at the County Council to speak to them about all things fixing our roads.
I joined Councillors new and existing at the St. Albans District Council New Councillor Induction. It was a good opportunity to see senior Council Officers and discuss some of our Conservative priorities for the coming year.
Not every piece of scrutiny I do results in a newsworthy outcome, but this month I concluded a piece of work I had been doing behind the scenes relating to the Hemel Garden Communities development. The scheme wound up on a Government longlist for potential new towns, and I had been trying to get to the bottom of exactly how. No real story in the end!
And there was undoubtedly more too - including lots and lots more casework, helping to get things fixed in our community.
What’s coming up in June?
I’m not sure that there has been an edition of this newsletter where the answer to this section isn’t “a lot!”, but it is certainly the case once again.
I’ll be out and about knocking on doors to meet you and hear about your local concerns.
I’ll be doing some mandatory training so that I can sit on the Planning Committee at District if required.
I’ve got a detail briefing with senior Highways Officers to answer some high level policy development questions I have been working through relating to new developments.
I’ll be attending the Planning Policy & Climate Committee to raise questions around High Street Design Codes, the Local Plan and Greenbelt protections, and the Council’s emissions targets.
I’m going to be hopping on the Hopper Bus to meet volunteers and find out a bit more about how it operates.
I’ll be joining the Public Realm Committee to raise questions around the huge financial losses run up by the Council’s Museums Service and the usage of the Civic Centre Car Park.
I’ll be attending Housing & Inclusion Committee to discuss the impact of Local Government Re-Organisation on the District’s social housing tenants, and ask questions about the Council’s social housing stock and strategies to shape access to the Council around digital exclusion.
I’ll be meeting senior Highways Officers for my monthly Highways Briefing.
I’ve got a meeting in the diary with the District Council’s Chief Executive to catch up on everything that has been going on.
I’ll be joining Conservative colleagues for meetings to discuss our ongoing work developing new policy and holding the Liberal Democrats to account.
I’ll be sitting on the Constitution Committee - ensuring that the Council’s constitution allows Opposition Groups to raise your concerns.
I’ve got a meeting of the Strategy & Resources Committee, where (amongst other things) I will be raising questions over the Council’s £6m+ project to re-develop the William Bird Pavilion, the local impact of the Government’s proposed Holiday Tax, and the Council’s Minimum Revenue Provision (the annual cost to the Council of big projects like William Bird above and Jubilee Square).
There’s also going to be a Full Council meeting to look at some planning documents relating to the Hemel Garden Communities project.
And hopefully at some point in the middle of all that, I’ll be able to find some time to cheer on England at the World Cup!
There will be much more too and I’ll be back this time next month to tell you all about it. In the meantime, if you need my help with anything, just get in touch.
Best wishes,
Matt
