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Real Change for Reading |
Reading Liberal Democrats’ Manifesto for Reading Borough Council elections May 1st 2008
After more than twenty years of Labour rule, Reading needs a change. A change from failure, a change from complacency. Most importantly we need a change from the waste and spin that have characterised decisions such as the one-way IDR, botched bin collections and the current crisis in school admissions.
There is no evidence that other parties offer any real change for Reading. Criticism of opponents itself does not show the sort of leadership that a successful and growing town needs: leadership to tackle the challenges Reading faces and to serve all our residents.
Liberal Democrats offer that change through our commitment to the environment, to getting a better deal on public services, cutting crime and radical policies to return power to local communities. We offer a positive agenda – but it is change that we want to see, to match our ambition for the town.
This document describes how these ambitions will be achieved in practice.
A fair deal for everyone.
A Council which listens to local people.
A Real Change for Reading.
Environment
Climate Change is the biggest challenge we face globally. Reading needs to play its part. This should start in local neighbourhoods where there are major issues of dumping, lack of green space and waste and recycling collection which have been neglected under Labour.
The Issues
1 – There has been no scrutiny of the council's 25 year waste PFI deal which appears to lock Reading into an inadequate waste deal – until the Liberal Democrats put it onto the agenda. There is inadequate provision for recycling and no zero-waste strategy.
Labour's fortnightly bin collections need change, particularly additional recycling – kerbside glass and food waste collection - to make them work. As it is they have caused a nuisance to thousands of residents. Missed bin collections doubled under the new arrangements.
2 – The everyday local environment in many parts of Reading has been left to rot. We have a chronic shortage of public green space and what we have is often under-maintained or not protected from damage. Street cleaning and graffiti removal have been historic problems which, after Lib Dem pressure, have improved in some areas but there is still much work to do.
3 – Fly-tipping, failure to clear up rubbish and graffiti are just a few of the environmental crimes which need tougher enforcement. We must make these a priority.
Our Vision
Liberal Democrats are working for a cleaner, greener Reading that is pleasant and healthy to live in and which minimises its impact on the planet.
Our Policies
• Undertake a full public review of the council's waste strategy – aimed at introducing weekly kerbside recycling of glass and food waste and based on a borough-wide Zero Waste Strategy.
• Progress towards making Reading a Carbon Neutral town. We would pursue a zero-carbon strategy for all council activities and apply for EMAS accreditation like other Lib Dem authorities.
• Continue to oppose the expansion of Heathrow Airport.
• Promote sustainable construction and green homes. We will seek to pioneer new and innovative eco-construction techniques in any new council building projects.
• Supplement existing on-street rubbish bins with recycling “triple bins” with separate compartments for recyclable paper, cans and glass – especially in the town centre and around shopping parades.
• Provide residents in terraced streets and flats more flexibility over bin collections which currently cause much inconvenience. Food waste is one-third of the rubbish that goes into grey bins. It is compostable and should be collected separately (and weekly). Kerbside glass collection will be introduced. We need a review of the current bin arrangements, starting with the most densely-populated urban areas.
• Invest in improved street-cleaning. This would be relatively cheap but would bring an instant and visible improvement in the local environment of our town. Graffiti removal from domestic properties should remain free and the ‘Big Clean Up’ should continue.
• Get tough on fly-tippers and illegal dumping – improving resources for investigation and using fixed penalty powers more widely.
• Create a partnership with the non-profit sector to collect and recondition unwanted bulky items such as furniture and white-goods, ending charges for the disposal of bulky waste for people on low incomes.
• Promote the creation of new public open space such as community gardens and allotments and invest in maintaining and improving our existing parks and green patches.
• Make advice on alternative energy and energy conservation available locally, and work much harder to improve energy efficiency especially in private rented housing.
Crime and Community Safety
The Issues
1 – Crime in Reading is high compared with other towns – partly because of our position as a regional centre which attracts many people to pass through. While the police do a fine job in difficult circumstances, the council has often not played its part in engaging the community to help tackle crime.
2 – Fear of crime is crippling for many vulnerable people. Over half of all residents say they fear being a victim of crime. Young-person-on-young-person crime is at an all time high across the UK and teenagers are as likely to be victims of crime as to be its perpetrators.
3 – Anti-social behaviour is often characterised as much by actual crime – graffiti and fly-tipping – as by “kids hanging about”, although both can be equally intimidating. Again, a lack of community development, especially in deprived areas, means many people feel threatened by activities the “perpetrators” think are quite innocent and a lack of enforcement means criminal damage and disorder offences often go unpunished.
Our Vision
We want communities in Reading where people work together to improve their local areas instead of being frightened of each other. We will be positive about people by providing opportunities for productive activities before trouble can set in and productive remedies when it does.
When communities experience problems they cannot resolve for themselves, local police and the council should provide clear frameworks for resolving problems that people on the ground can understand and be part of. Instead of meetings behind closed doors, local forums will provide residents with an effective means to raise problems in their area.
We will campaign for a fair deal for local police both compared with other parts of the UK and with neighbouring authorities. We will campaign for a fairer deal for Thames Valley officers currently paid much less than those in the Met. We will support them in their work by using the powers of the council to put in measures that reduce crime in the first place.
Our Policies
• We will offer communities the chance to have alleyways gated off to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour.
• We will replace inadequate street-lighting with new lamps which provide better light and are environmentally friendly.
• Scrap the council's little-used anti-social behaviour phone number and promote the police's own hotline to cut confusion.
• Make sure every neighbourhood in Reading remains covered by community policing and can always contact their local officers. We will seek to increase the numbers of community wardens to help give police officers more time on patrol.
• Appoint a dedicated youth officer within neighbourhood police teams.
• Invest in facilities for young people in the town centre and in neighbourhoods to provide opportunities to engage in productive activities rather than hang around or consume drugs or alcohol.
• Clamp down on shopkeepers who sell alcohol and tobacco to minors.
• Promote Acceptable Behaviour Contracts instead of ineffective ASBOs.
• Further investigate graffiti walls which have worked in areas such as Woodley to cut graffiti vandalism.
• Ensure licensed premises have an appropriate ratio of sitting and standing space, so as to tackle “vertical drinking” and the consequent problems it raises.
• Involve the local community in decisions on alcohol licences and support public drinking bans where appropriate and they are shown to have a benefit.
• Control the use of “mini motos” and other motorbikes on footpaths and open spaces, given the noise and disturbance these create for local residents.
Housing
The Issues
1 – Reading has a shortage of affordable homes of all sizes and what exists is of variable quality. The size of the waiting list is shocking. There is flood of planning applications for 14 flats each – just under the number at which developers must incorporate affordable housing here. Reading Council had no strategy to bring the roughly 600 empty residential properties in the borough back into use; it has only agreed one recently after pressure from the Liberal Democrats.
2 – Council tenants often complain of poor or no response from the council when they need repairs or renovations.
3- Reading provides very little in the way of services for homeless people. For a town of our size which is a regional centre in the Thames Valley this is unacceptable and leaves many vulnerable people at risk.
4-Poor housing is tied to a number of undesirable social outcomes, including poor health, re-offending and lack of opportunities for children. Private rented housing is in poor condition and is not energy-efficient; standards for landlords have not been enforced due to a lack of resources.
Our Vision
A Liberal Democrat council would recognise its responsibilities as a landlord and provide the best possible deal for its tenants. We want to make sure Reading remains a vibrant, diverse town and that means making sure there is availability of the right kinds of accommodation and a fair deal for all.
Our Policies
• Ensure the remaining Coucil housing stock continues in Council ownership, and maximise opportunities to create new affordable housing.
• Impose affordable housing requirements on all developments of 10 houses or more, and as it becomes possible, reduce that number to 2.
• Require high environmental standards on new housing developments.
• Develop a street homeless initiative in conjunction with voluntary sector partners and local community groups, supported by a centralised resource.
• Continue to work with social partners to develop low cost sustainable housing.
• Make new developments in the town centre private-car-free with access to car club vehicles.
• Implement a full Empty Homes Strategy.
• Improve levels of service to council tenants.
• Consult with tenants on how to improve levels of service and repairs.
• Ensure formal service level agreements are in place with all housing providers and make sure they are adhered to and regularly reviewed.
• Bring back Landlord Accreditation so that landlords are not able to treat tenants unfairly. Unfair treatment disproportionately affects students, immigrants and the very poor.
• Work with the Universities to ensure sufficient student housing continues to be provided on-campus, and to manage the impact of high concentrations of student accommodation that exists in some residential streets
Transport
The Issues
1 - Congestion is currently an enormous problem in central Reading and many roads in other parts of the borough. This increases pollution and carbon emissions as well as being a huge inconvenience to local people and bad for the local economy.
2 – There is very poor provision in Reading for those who do not want to use a private car. Buses are expensive and while some services are frequent, others are not. The town's cycle network is woefully inadequate and many routes are perilous for pedestrians.
3 – The main rail line through Reading and our local stations are long overdue for an upgrade. First Great Western currently provide the worst service as measured by customer satisfaction of any UK rail operator and fares continue to rise.
4 - We fully support the upgrade and rebuilding works planned for Reading station and the line through the area and welcome the improved service, larger range of destinations and enhanced passenger experience this promises to bring. We do however note that as we are already poorly served and overcharged, Reading commuters should not be expected to pick up the bill through higher ticket prices.
5. Cemetery Junction is the major bottleneck on the east side of town but there are only two ways of reducing congestion here. One is to reduce the number of cars using this junction and the Lib Dems will encourage the public transport alternative. The second involves building a bypass to connect the A3290, round the back of Newtown to join Napier Road. This may be feasible as a public transport corridor to get the buses and taxis moving much more freely but much work needs to be done on finding environmentally acceptable solutions for Newtown residents without whose consent this scheme is not acceptable.
Our Vision
We want to see a reduction in car use as people in Reading choose less polluting alternatives and we are determined to provide the right facilities to help them do this. We also understand the reality that some car use will always remain and we want to make our roads as free-flowing as possible.
Our Policies
• We will keep Reading Buses in public ownership and will continue to work with them to develop and improve bus services in the town, while making them more affordable for families.
• We remain absolutely opposed to Labour's one-way IDR, having been the first party in Reading to come out in clear opposition.
• We will extend the existing cycle lane network, improve maintenance and signposting, and promote its use.
• We will provide more secure cycle stores throughout the borough, combined with better security at key destinations, including Reading Station
• We will provide park and ride facilities for people coming into Reading and work with neighbouring authorities to do the same at outlying railway stations to reduce traffic coming into the town centre.
• We will encourage car clubs instead of private car ownership – and have suggested including the council's car pool in such a scheme. This particularly important in the many new developments in the town centre.
• We will introduce charging for heavy lorries cutting through Reading on the way elsewhere. Short-cutting creates unnecessary journeys which worsen congestion and pollution in the town centre while adding nothing to the town. There are also concerns about road safety.
• We will consult on introducing a new scale of prices for residents’ parking permits based on the level of pollution the car generates, but leaving permits free for the first car in the household bar the most polluting vehicles. The principle must be that more you pollute, the more you pay.
• We will develop Oxford Road as a green transport corridor when the new road north of the railway line opens.
• We support the building of a third Thames crossing but believe it and any other new roads should only be approved if they will result in a real cut in congestion and are accompanied by giving public transport priority on existing routes.
• While councils currently have powers limited by the central Government to directly subsidise fares, we will do all we can to keep bus fares low to encourage public transport use.
• We will introduce 20 mph zones where residents want them to improve road safety and prevent rat-running.
Consumer Affairs
The Issues
1 – Centralised retailing has made it harder and harder to shop without using a car and the rise of supermarkets has seen a huge increase in the use of plastic bags and over-packaging. This results in landfill, pollution and carbon emissions and is unsustainable.
2 – The expansion of supermarkets has been at the expense of local businesses and market traders that support local food producers. In turn this means people are no much further removed from the source of their food and it is easier to buy cheap processed food than cheap wholesome ingredients. This has knock-on impacts on the environment, the regional economy and public health.
3 – There is a gap in the provision of food-safety training available to restaurateurs and chefs. Training is often only provided weekdays during business hours making it inaccessible to many casual workers or those who work more than one job. This particularly affects food workers in the black and minority ethnic (BME) communities.
Our Vision
We want to create a retail environment where businesses of all sizes can survive and compete. Residents should have access to a wide range of healthy and safe food and the opportunity to support local communities and producers. We will seek to minimize the environmental impact of our modern lifestyles.
Our Policies
• Work with local traders to eliminate the disposable plastic bag – switching to durable multi-use bags.
• Encourage retailers to reduce the amount of unnecessary packaging they use and to provide customers the opportunity to recycle at the checkout as happens in other countries.
• Create a Sustainable Retail Plan that protects the variety of shops in the town centre and local shopping parades.
• Provide cost-effective trading locations to support food co-ops and farmers markets that allow local people to buy healthy local produce especially in deprived communities.
• We will ensure that classes in food preparation and training are available at convenient locations to all who would benefit from them, at times they can attend
• Allow people to opt out from receiving fast-food leaflets. This is a nuisance and generates large amounts of paper waste.
• Oppose any further closures of post office counters and current moves that threaten local pharmacies and free banking.
• Hold public services (gas, water, electricity) to account to ensure they continue to make the required investment in our area.
Community Care
The Issues
1. In an aging population, Community Care of the elderly and disabled will be come an increasingly important responsibility of local and national governments.
2. Neighbouring authorities, including Conservative-led Wokingham and West Reading offer only limited amounts of community care, ignoring all but the most needy residents.
3. Community Care is a service which is demand-led, rather than budget-led, and it is very difficult to estimate when and where pressures on expenditure may occur.
4. We note, with interest, the aspirations of the service director in Reading and her conviction that the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI, an independent watchdog that has awarded Reading only a one-star rating in this area) will award Reading a second star later this year. We expect the system in Reading to remain well-administered and will work closely with the managers of the service on funding issues.
Our Vision
Every elderly or disabled person, should have access to Community Care appropriate to their needs, regardless of their financial status. They should be treated with kindness, courtesy and respect at all times.
Our Policies
• Liberal Democrats will maintain the current eligibility criteria for social care. We will oppose any moves to restrict access to social care in the way the Tories have done in Wokingham and West Berkshire Councils, which have had disastrous results and have left Wokingham rated in the worst 10 councils in the country for the most vulnerable people.
• All clients should be made aware of the “Direct Payments” scheme and its implications, and be encouraged to opt in to the scheme.
• Every client should be the subject of an assessment within 10 days of admission to the system.
• Every client should be notified of a mutually agreed schedule of visits and treatment within 28 days of admission to the system.
• Carers should arrive promptly and fully equipped to carry out their allotted duties.
• If a carer is unable, for any reason, to attend a client at their allotted time, they must advise the client immediately.
• When a client is discharged from hospital or a care home, to their place of residence, they must be monitored daily, until it is considered they are able to care for themselves totally.
Children and Young People
Since the creation of an Academy in South Reading and Highdown's conversion to Foundation status, there is no LEA-controlled secondary school in Reading. Though a Liberal Democrat administration would do everything within its power, the direct impact we can have is therefore limited. Liberal Democrats believe in good local schools as the best way to give pupils genuine choice. Liberal Democrat policies will target funding to those with the most need.
The Issues
1 - Reading has consistently poor academic attainment at secondary level compared with the national average and neighbouring authorities. At the new Madejski Academy only 7% of students left this year with 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C.
2 – Reading has two traditional selective grammar schools. The proportion of students from deprived backgrounds able to attend these schools is pitiful. Of the 646 Reading children entitled to free school meals, only 2 attend grammar schools.
3 – Many of the borough's primary schools are housed in Victorian buildings in desperate need of repair or replacement. In some cases schools are still waiting for renovations originally needed over 20 years ago.
Our Vision
At a national level, the party's education policy is based around the “pupil premium” whereby money would be available to boost the achievement of the most deprived children on an individual basis and could be transferred to whichever school that child attended rather than the current system which allocates funding based on the post-code of the school and discourages “good” schools from tackling children with challenging educational or social needs.
Locally we want every child to have the same opportunity to attend the best school for them and for every school to improve and excel. While selective education still exists in Reading, the grammar schools should be inclusive and open to children from all parts of the borough, all social and economic backgrounds and all ethnic and religious groups. More outreach work is needed to achieve this.
Schools should be encouraged to work together to provide the best education across the board – sharing resources where possible to jointly provide opportunities individual schools cannot (The Luton model) – as opposed to Labour and the Conservatives model of league-tables and constant competition between schools.
Where funding becomes available for renovations of school buildings (often via government grant) it should be distributed fairly according to the needs of schools and their pupils.
While university is not the only valuable option for young people post-18, it should be provided for those who want it without the imposition of fees.
Education should not end with school. There should be facilities in the community for adults to learn at any point in their life.
Our Policies
• We will launch – as an urgent priority - a full inquiry into the school admissions crisis in South Reading, which we believe was directly caused by Wokingham Borough’s closure of Ryeish Green School for cynical reasons, with barely any opposition from Reading Borough Council. Our first priority is to address the shortage of provision for children in this area and identify solutions such as the retention of Ryeish Green as a Trust School.
• We remain opposed to student tuition fees and top-up fees.
• We will work with primary schools and the grammar schools to ensure bright pupils from less well off backgrounds and ethnic minorities are encouraged to consider applying to grammar schools while they still exist.
• We will work to reduce selection in the secondary sector.
• We would encourage the LEA and local schools to work together as partners, not rivals to share facilities and resources and to experiment with offering jointly-run courses to increase the choice of subjects and classes available to all pupils.
• We will encourage the development of personalised learning, allowing students to access vocational as well as academic courses.
• We will continue the expansion of early-years centres and develop them to be places where children learn and develop.
• We endeavour to integrate children with special needs or disabilities into the mainstream school system wherever possible.
• We will increase education opportunities for young offenders.
• We will encourage schools to develop links with the community and voluntary sector, to develop pupils’ awareness and understanding of citizenship.
Culture and Sport
The Issues
1. Reading currently benefits from three performance venues, two museums, three galleries, seven libraries and the County Archive as managed facilities; over one hundred parks and playgrounds; seven sports and leisure centres.
2. Cultural services play a key role in the achievement of desired outcomes for children and
young people, from childhood obesity to youth employment.
3. The energy and creativity that comes from a vibrant cultural sector will underpin future economic and social development in Reading.
Our Vision
We believe that a decent quality of life requires all residents to have access to a full range of sporting and cultural facilities according to their interests and within their means.
Our Policies
• We support the continued development of leisure facilities through partnerships with the private sector or other providers, where that is shown to create investment over and above what can reasonably be provided by the Council Tax-payer;
• We shall insist that access to such facilities is open to all, irrespective of means, and in particular we shall maintain and where possible enhance the "Passport to Leisure" scheme;
• We support the replacement of the Hexagon on a town centre site to give Reading modern theatre and concert facilities worthy of the town's cultural aspirations;
• We shall ensure that Reading's library services develop to meet the changing needs of a diverse population, and in particular we shall look to further development of branch libraries and the mobile library service for those who cannot or who prefer not to rely on the town centre.
• Reading’s vibrant and diverse communities are supported by a grant provision generous by comparison to other authorities, but less so in terms of places to meet. We want to see less time following Government fashions and fads, and more time providing the infrastructure that our communities need. One example is the Central Club, closed for two years and the subject of much mystery. We do not want to see such provision disappear.
• We will back the establishment of a contemporary art gallery for the town.
A different approach to running the Council
We value open government and local decision-making. We want a council which listens to local people and speaks up for them. We propose a radical set of changes to give people real power and a say in how the Council operates in decisions that affect local neighbourhoods.
The Council’s finances are in jeopardy from short-term political interference such as this year’s Budget pushed through by Labour and the Conservatives which raided the Council’s financial reserves to a level which financial officers noted was unsustainable beyond the short term. We want to see a responsible approach and for Reading to make full use of its assets.
A Liberal Democrat council would:
• Merge existing forums and action groups into decision-making Neighbourhood Forums which will involve local people directly in how money is spent in their area.
• Consult with local people and local groups on major projects to make sure Reading gets the best possible development.
• Allow any group of 100 local residents on the electoral register to “call in” any Cabinet decision for further scrutiny.
• Build partnerships with community-led organisations to keep money the council spends in the local community.
• Investigate more joint procurement deals with other local authorities to save money.
• Disinvest in ethically dubious assets the council has such as arms and tobacco.
• Run Reading the best way for local people, not just follow the latest government gimmick.
Labour and the Conservatives have spent decades taking power from local people...
• By denying them the right to choose their own priorities.
• By imposing unfair and painful taxes.
• By allowing violent crime and anti-social behaviour to rise, unchallenged.
• By ignoring the challenges of climate change.
This has to stop. It is time power came back to you and your community.
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