Labour has spelt out 10 key pledges that the party hopes will help it to win the local elections next year.
They were set out at an event on Brighton seafront attended by candidates and party members.
Warren Morgan, leader of the opposition Labour group on Brighton and Hove City Council, described the pledges as a “contract with Brighton and Hove”.
Councillor Morgan said that if Labour won the election it would aim to build at least 500 new council homes within four years.
A Labour administration, he said, would also build a new secondary school to avoid demand outstripping places in the city and work to aim to eliminate youth unemployment through new apprenticeship schemes.
He said: “This city is crying out for change, desperate for a competent council leadership which will improve the lives of residents across the city in every community.
“Labour will deliver that change, will set the city council the task of tackling poverty and promoting opportunity for all.”
He said that an incoming Labour leadership would establish a year-long fairness commission to tackle poverty and promote opportunity.
It would work to deliver new facilities for the city on time, in budget and without committing the city’s taxpayers to further debt.
And improving the city’s refuse and recycling service would be a “top priority”, he said.
But Labour council would not increase council tax or parking charges above the rate of inflation, he added.
The local party has also relaunched its website.
Councillor Morgan acknowledged the challenge of bridging the council’s £100 million fiding gap over the coming four years and said: “These ten commitments will form the foundations of our detailed manifesto next year and the direction of travel of our Labour administration for the four years of our term of office if elected in May.”
The 10 pledges would meet the party’s goals of better jobs, more homes, excellent schools and decent basic services, he said.
And they reflected the party’s values of fairness, sustainability and competence.
The 10 pledges are
- We will make collecting refuse, increased recycling and cleaning the streets a top council priority. The leader and senior councillors will directly oversee work to improve the service.
- We will commit to tackle the city’s housing crisis, aiming to build at least 500 council houses by 2019, and securing 40 per cent affordable homes in new housing developments.
- We will consult on introducing a register of landlords to protect tenants in the private rented sector, promote secure tenancies and tackle rip-off fees through a tenant’s charter.
- We will build a new secondary school to meet the growing need for places across the city and it will be run by the council under powers restored by a Labour government. We will work to ensure all schools are accountable and offer excellent education.
- We will aim to keep any increases in council tax and parking charges within inflation-level rises, with additional income invested in public services, road safety and transport infrastructure that the city needs and residents want.
- We will establish a fairness commission to tackle the growing poverty and inequality in the city, independently chaired, reporting within a year and funded within existing budgets, to set out an action plan for the Labour administration and partner organisations to implement.
- We will work to support a broad sustainable and prosperous economy that benefits all parts of the city, with secure jobs paying the living wage and action to combat zero-hours contracts. There will be innovative proposals in our manifesto to help small and medium sized businesses in the city.
- We will ensure that major projects that are built in Brighton and Hove offer jobs, homes and new facilities for the city, are affordable, rigorously scrutinised and are delivered on time with private investment not taxpayers debt.
- We will seek to eliminate youth unemployment in the city within four years, with real apprenticeships and career opportunities for young people.
- We will aim to keep public services local and democratically accountable, with power devolved to communities. Sustainability and co-operative principles will run through the solutions we develop to meet the funding challenges we face.
All well and good but falls at the first hurdle as Warren points out above that they will not raise council tax above inflation and therefore will take the full Conservative and Labour (can you believe it!) austerity cuts in silence and some of the pledges depend on outside agency, the money has not been there to deliver more than a few council houses despite a lot of effort to do so.
It will go something like this…500 council houses we have no money, improve cityclean…we have no money etc.
and I might just point out that for the last 3 years the Labour Party has been beligerent; unco-operative, trying to turn away investment for political ends, even encourage car use and has centralised power.
Labour makes no mention of how a School would be funded. Local authorities are not allowed to build their own schools. Look more closely, and the School appears to depend on there being a Labour government – when in fact a hung Parliament looks to be the national result. And, of course, there is no mention of the key factor in contemporary life.
The Council could build 500 homes quite easily if they wanted.I thought of an idea when the proposal to turn the Piano Warehouse was introduced.Bernard Place provides nothing else other than parking spaces and could be used the build houses linking up to form continual terracing in Bonchurch , Whippingham, Brading and Bernard Rd.I would think they could build about 24 houses there alone this could be achieved throughout the City as there are lots of unnecessary intersecting roads.I rang the relevant Planning Department and put forward my suggestion and was asked to put it in writing which I did.I never heard anymore so rang back and was told that I should have received a reply, and that my idea was a very good one, however The Planners want to push ahead in providing housing in bigger developments, well these seem to be taking a long time to come to fruition and by the time they get started all of the infill housing I suggested could have got off the ground and perhaps some even finished.I wonder if a reporter could ask the question of Cllrs Kitcat, Theobald and Morgan and The Planning Department why this idea cannot be implemented A.S.A.P?
Rolivan, I understand that it is not the physical space, but funding restrictions that prevent more council housing being built. Apparently, Preston Barracks was proposed to include 400 social houses, but the scheme would not fly.
Seems to have got Green Party green ink brigade leaders Jarrs and Hawtree very upset. Can’t be bad…
“Seems to have got Green Party green ink brigade leaders Jarrs and Hawtree very upset. Can’t be bad…”
Exactly.
Hjarrs and Hawtree are happy enough to privatise care homes and leave Able and Willing in the lurch. Who would have ever thought, vote green go blue?
Inconveniently, this is not what has happened. However, when it comes to privatisation I don’t think the Greens can touch Labour.
Hey, do you remember the disasterous tube privatisation, setting up operating companies and personally pushed through by Gordon Brown. Complete failure and cost the country a billion! Then there was PFI…could go on all night.
I saw the Labour candidate for Kemp Town supporting the Fire Brigade Union in town today. How ironic, I thought, that in just 7 months she could be in a Labour government voting for the same cuts!
I notice the pinky red backdrop to the Labour Party conference was a deep pink. Isn’t that what you get when you mix red with blue?
HJarrs well perhaps they could sell some of the he land then and use the money to build Social Housing.The Council also own hundreds of Acres of Land that they lease could they not sell some of that?
What is a ‘Fairness Commission’?
What it its remit, aims and cost?
Who will be funding it?
At this time it sounds like some McCarthyesque socialist witch hunt..