The Liberal Democrats campaigned in the local elections to make Chelmsford Safer, Greener, Fairer and Better Connected. Below are some of the policy changes and actions that your Liberal Democrat-led City Council has undertaken in the first six months.

A Better-Connected Chelmsford

• Make it easier for the public to contact the Council by linking up Digital Services. New self-serve, online services will allow the public to report issues directly through the Council's website, rather than waiting in a telephone queue. This will bring the Council into the 21st Century and make it more efficient.

• Working towards a more open Council - encouraging the public to attend more Council meetings and ask questions; allowing all Councillors to ask more questions at and before Cabinet meetings, and putting out more information via social media. The first speech of the new Lib Dem leadership of the council was broadcast on Facebook Live and we are looking at low-cost ways to do that for all meetings.

Alistair Carmichael may be the Lib Dem Chief Whip in the House of Commons, but he's also a brilliant MP (currently a candidate, of course) for Orkney and Shetland. He came to Chelmsford earlier this year to support the winning local election campaign and now he is backing Marie Goldman's campaign in Chelmsford. Check out the video here - the backdrop is great!

The Liberal Democrats campaigned in the local elections to make Chelmsford Safer, Greener, Fairer and Better Connected. Below are some of the policy changes and actions that your Liberal Democrat-led City Council has undertaken in the first six months.

Making Chelmsford Fairer

• Reducing homelessness and rough sleeping a priority. With 15-25 people sleeping rough and 270 homeless families, there is a huge task ahead. The council convened the first ever round-table meeting of over 30 public sector and voluntary organisations dealing with rough sleeping. Under Lib Dem leadership, the council will pro-actively take responsibility for coordinating the way in which rough sleepers' needs are addressed, and not just comply with basic statutory responsibilities.

• Address the shortage of more affordable homes and the best way of financing them via the new Affordable Housing Working group, which is driving the development of a housing strategy.

• Agreed a suitable strategy for increasing investment returns.

• Reviewed and made changes to the Council's property strategy, ensuring that it meets the needs of citizens.

• Make it easier to apply for grants for local projects by integrating the grants and Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) processes into a single, coherent process.

The Liberal Democrats campaigned in the local elections to make Chelmsford Safer, Greener, Fairer and Better Connected. Below are some of the many policy changes and actions that your Liberal Democrat-led City Council has undertaken in the first six months.

Making Chelmsford Safer and Greener

• Declared a Climate and Ecology Emergency in Chelmsford and committed the Council to being carbon neutral by 2030

• 100% of electricity for the council now comes from renewable sources.

• Agree to only use Fair Trade / Rain Forest Alliance products on Civic centre site.

• Reduce single-use plastics and eliminate entirely from the Civic Centre site.

• Green vehicles - replacing park vehicles with two electric powered alternatives already in use and two more later this year.

• Green travel - encouraging staff and Councillors to cycle to work by providing new cycle stands, lockers and shelters at the Civic Centre.

• Protect vital green space in Chelmsford by removing John Shennan playing fields from the draft local plan

• Encourage sustainable transport by progressing plans for a new station, working with Essex County Council on the successful Housing Infrastructure Fund bid.

• Gaining Garden Village Status for the future development in N.E. Chelmsford; an additional £150,000 funding was awarded for this financial year.

• £500,000 of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) money devolved to neighbourhood CIL so that many local projects in the central, non-parished urban area can be funded to go ahead.

• Encouraging electric car take up with electric charging points. Two installed in Chelmsford City Council Car parks with another six being installed by the end of the year all at no cost to the council.

• Promoted health and wellbeing in new development through the design and launch of the new Live Well Development Accreditation Scheme.

• Start saving the council money and reducing vandalism in car parks by installing cashless parking machines on a phased basis, programmed to start next year.

• Address public concerns about badly parked vehicles with two more parking enforcement officers for Chelmsford in the second half of the year.

• Free advice sessions for start-up businesses by joint working between the City Council and COLBEA, a business support organisation from Colchester.

• Inspire young people to explore high-tech / vocational career opportunities by hosting the first Skills Festival at Hylands Park in July. Some 400 Year 8 students from two Chelmsford schools took part in work activities provided by many local businesses ranging from virtual reality engineering, to being a DJ, designing a town and working in media

• Promote high-tech manufacturing by creating the Chelmsford Tech Ambassadors group, bringing together many Chelmsford tech businesses to explore ways to grow this sector of the local economy.

The national Lib Dems have announced a policy to plant trees that complements the policy of Lib Dem led Chelmsford City Council, announced over the summer, to plant a tree for every Chelmsford resident over a 10 year period.

A Liberal Democrat government will plant 60 million trees every year, increasing UK forest cover by 1 million hectares by 2045.

For too many people, things are not working as they should.

Families are working harder than ever, but far too many are struggling to get by.

The Conservatives and Labour are taking our country backwards. Their plans don't meet the demands of modern life.

But the Liberal Democrats have a bold plan to build a brighter future. We want to create a fairer economy where it's easier to be a parent, have a career, and provide for your family.

Hard-working doctors and nurses from the EU are fundamental to the NHS. We all have loved ones whose lives have been saved through their skill and dedication.

But today, the full extent of the Conservatives' contempt for our dedicated doctors and nurses was revealed.

Even though the NHS is critically understaffed, they have revealed that part of their nightmarish Brexit plan is to charge EU nurses and doctors £464 to come to the UK to save lives.

Smita Rajesh has won the byelection in Marconi ward, Chelmsford, held on 7th November. Smita joins Jude Deakin as the two Liberal Democrat Councillors for the area.

The result saw an increased vote share for the LibDems, with a fall in the Conservative vote and a collapse in the Labour share of the vote.