In their tax-raising Council budget, Labour run North Lincolnshire Council have decided to increase the cost of a student bus pass for post-16 students in North Lincolnshire by a massive 500%.

Andrew Percy and the local Conservatives have launched a campaign against the price hike and have succeeded in gaining the support of many local young people who are outraged by the rise.

Andrew Percy explains, "As you would expect, the local Conservatives have been out on the streets campaigning against Labour's massive increase. We have received very strong support from local sixth form students who share our anger.

Labour are once again punishing our rural communities as it is students from those areas who rely on public transport to access post-16 education. We should be supporting our young people, not making it more expensive to continue their education.

This Labour government has already introduced tuition fees on University students, it now looks as though the Labour Council think that students are a cash cow too. We will continue to fight this unfair charge."

I attended North Lincolnshire Council's Scrutiny Committee hearing on Monday which considered the issue of the Brigg Ambulance which the East Midlands Ambulance Trust are proposing to replace with fast response cars instead.

The Trust confirmed that -

• The Ambulance was being replaced because of changes introduced by Government .reviews
• The Trust has received a 'significant' cut in funding this year and so was being forced to consider its resources very carefully.
• They would review the situation in 12 months time to assess the impact.

The Ambulance will be replaced by 1 x 24 hour fast response vehicle and 1 x 8 hour fast response vehicle. They also claimed that the area will also be covered by another fast response vehicle bases, oddly, in Ashby. There was also confusion as to when the change will come into force but it looks likely that it will be the end of this month.

Whilst I appreciate that Trust is only implementing Government recommendations, I do remain deeply concerned that the changes will mean that if an Ambulance is needed in the Brigg and Wolds area it will now have to come from much further away.

Many thanks to all those residents who have signed our petition against the cuts, I am hoping to present it to the trust shortly.