Stockport has been ahead of the pack on jobs for some time, and the latest unemployment figures see that trend continuing. However, youth unemployment remains a problem here as elsewhere and we are keenly awaiting the Lib Dem Youth Contract to start up fully. o The number of people in Stockport claiming Jobseekers allowance decreased [...]

Earlier this week I attended a conference on boosting cycling. Though we don’t currently have the sort of money central London is able to put into it, we’ve been working hard in Stockport Borough and across Greater Manchester on getting more people on their bikes. Cycling isn’t for everyone, but if we could get one-in-ten [...]

A detailed new study showing the number of vacant shops on every street in Stockport Town Centre has proved that, far from having the highest number of vacancies of any large centre, as a recent study claimed, the town is doing much better with only one-in-five units empty. Councillor Iain Roberts said “Stockport Council is [...]

The Council is teaming up with town centre businesses, Merseyway Shopping Centre, community groups, market traders and residents in a bid to become a ‘Portas Pilot’. Mary Portas, who carried out an independent review of high streets last year, is working with the Government to offer grants of up to £100,000 to the most innovative [...]

The Liberal Democrats are campaigning for no one to pay tax on the first £10,000 of their income – an extra £60 in your pocket every month. You can sign the petition “Fast track the Lib Dem £10,000 income tax threshold policy” here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/28640

The Lib Dems in Government are leading the way in pushing for those on low and middle incomes to pay less tax, funded by those at the top paying a bit more. As the Lib Dem website explains: Imagine a mum who works 3 days a week as a teaching assistant – earning £10,000 a [...]

You might remember that, when Labour were in power, the Lib Dems run several “Save our post office” campaigns – sadly with limited success as Labour closed many post offices across the area. The Labour government were determined to close large chunks of the Post Office network. Now the Lib Dems in Government are sticking [...]

Stockport’s economic strategy for the next five years seeks to build on our success as a borough in having a high-skilled population with lower unemployment than the Greater Manchester or UK averages. 34.7% of working age residents have a degree or higher qualification, well above the national average. Our residents are highly productive and have [...]

Come along to Gatley for a festive evening of fun and late-night Christmas shopping on Thursday 1st December. Twenty shops are opening late, up to 8.00pm. This is combined with a Treasure Hunt, starting at Callaghans Estate Agency in Church Road from 6.00pm, Community Carol singing from 7.15pm at Gatley Green and starring Father Christmas [...]

Much to our frustration, the demolition and rebuild of Warwick Mall in Cheadle (due to have a Sainsburys on the ground floor and 14 new apartments above) has yet again been postponed. We were given an October start date which slipped and have now said that no building should start until the new year, to [...]