A CITY and county councillor has made her speaking debut at the Liberal Democrat Conference in Brighton.

Mel Allcott, who represents Claines on both Worcester City Council and Worcestershire Council, spoke about the problem of sewage dumping in the Severn.

Cllr Allcott, who is currently the mayor of Worcester, also threw her support behind a Lib Dem bill calling for a fair deal for carers.

She admitted to a few nerves before her debut speech, but soon launched into a passionate speech detailing the issues around water companies dumping in the river.

“I know from speaking to my residents, they have had enough, of years of Conservative inaction, of doing nothing, to put an end to the sewage scandal,” she said.

“Water bosses have been allowed to take huge bonuses, whilst sewage is being dumped, into our rivers and seas.

“Labour are now in government and have pledged to give OFWAT more power. We need more than a pledge. We need real change.”

She said the motion would give the regulator the power to require water companies to record and publish lifetime data on sewage spills, to revoke licences of poorly performing water companies and to “fine top executives and initiate prosecutions where necessary”.

Cllr Allcott also touched on her personal experience with her own family as she spoke in favour of the motion to get a fair deal for carers in the UK.

She said: “The carers allowance, the main benefit for carers, remains the lowest benefit of its kind at £81.90 per week and that 1.4 million full time unpaid carers rely on this benefit.

“Let’s raise the amount carers can earn before losing their carer’s allowance and stop pursuing unpaid carers for difficult to avoid overpayments.

“Let’s introduce paid carers leave and guarantee regular respite breaks. Fixing care will not only help carers and their families, it will help the NHS which we know, all too well, needs fixing.”