HOLMES CHALLENGES MINISTER TO VISIT CHESTERFIELD

Paul Holmes, Liberal Democrat MP for Chesterfield yesterday wrote to Transport Minister Paul Clark MP to invite him to visit Chesterfield to meet with Chesterfield Borough Council and to see at first hand the effects of the Government's disastrous under-funding of the Concessionary Bus Fares Scheme which is wiping out Council reserves, causing an initial 45 job losses and cutting Council Services.

Commenting Paul Holmes MP said:

"Yesterday I wrote to Paul Clark inviting him to visit Chesterfield next week so that the people affected by his Government's mishandling of this scheme can put their case directly to him.

"Despite writing to him on December 15th to ask for an urgent meeting, I was told that the earliest that he could meet with me was March 4th, a full two days after the Council sets it budget. Parliamentary diaries are always packed, but next week is a recess week with no business in London.

"The people of Chesterfield deserve to have their voices heard; the Government can not continue to bury their heads in the sand as they have done for the last 59 days. There is still -JUST -time for the Government to pay up for its own scheme and avoid the service cuts and job losses that the Council Budget on 2nd March will have to otherwise introduce.

"The Government seem content to ignore the people of Chesterfield and content to ignore the mistakes that they have made, mistakes that could leave up to forty five people losing their jobs. Gordon Brown was too scared to meet the local council, local people and the local MP preferring to scuttle on and off the train for a quick Labour party publicity stunt instead. Is his Minister also going to ignore the justified anger of local people?

"Frankly I am alarmed at the Government's complacency, after asking for an urgent meeting in December I am told I have to wait until March to make Chesterfield's case.

"The Government's complacency on this issue is staggering, and it is essential that Paul Clark takes up my invitation to meet with Chesterfield Borough Council to see the problems first hand and not in narrow confines of the Westminster bubble, the same bubble that not only caused the problem but seemingly has no intention of correcting it"