Lewisham Lib Dem Manifesto

8/9/2019 Lewisham Lib Dem Manifesto

1/19

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Lewisham Liberal Democrats

Manifesto 2010

freeze council taxfor a minimum of two years

revitalise council housingand build the rst council homes for a decade

strengthen local police teamsand have them work with young people and local enforcement teams

double recycling rates

by improving facilities and processes

improve young peoples livesby providing more facilities, activities and opportunities

campaign to abolish the mayoral systemand create a more democratic and accountable form of government

LIBERAL

DEMOCRATS


2/19

2 www.lewishamlibdems.org.uk

Liberal Democrats want to provide Lewisham

with a fresh start. We want to create a place

where people choose to live because its a safe

environment, offers good quality of life for all

residents and because its a place where people

of all ages can realise their full potential.

Labour has run Lewisham for nearly 40 years,

and our community has suffered because of

it. There is a stale, uninspired and complacent

attitude towards delivering services to local people.

Liberal Democrats know we can do better.

We will revitalise the Council and our local

communities by making sure that residents are

at the heart of all the Councils activities. Liberal

Democrats will make sure that Lewisham Council

works harder for its customers, and that our

borough is a better place to live, bring up a family,

and grow old.

We are the challengers to Labour across the

whole of Lewisham. For the last four years, Liberal

Democrats have been a strong and effective

opposition. Our councillors have a proven

record of serving their communities, keeping

people informed, consulting residents and making

a real difference.

At this election, only the Liberal Democrat team

fully represents the diversity of Lewisham residents;

only we have the vision, experience, vitality and

enthusiasm to make a real change in Lewisham.

A vote for the Liberal Democrats or the stale,

old Labour party? The choice is clear. In this

manifesto, we set out policies that will achieve

our vision of making Lewisham a great place to

live: a place people choose because it is a safe,

caring community and has a council that helps

them lead the life they choose.

It is time for a change, and we hope that you will

help us make it happen.

Chris Maines

Liberal Democrat candidate for

Mayor of Lewisham

LIBERAL

DEMOCRATS


3/19


Lewisham Liberal Democrats

Manifesto 2010

housing

community safety

environment

our community

children and young people

open, efcient and accountable local government

beating the recession

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LIBERAL

DEMOCRATS

Published and promoted by Marcus Mayers

on behalf of Chris Maines and the Liberal

Democrats, all of 8 Woodham Road, SE6 2SD


4/19


HousingLiberal

Democrats believe

that decent and

affordable housing isevery citizens right

Under Labour, there are 17,000 families on the waiting list for

housing in Lewisham, and 70% of Lewisham Homes housing

fails to meet the governments basic decent homes standard.

Very little has been done by the current Labour Mayor to

address Lewishams housing crisis.

Liberal Democrats want to tackle homelessness and provide

more family housing. We would seek to raise the standard

of all tenures of housing in Lewisham, starting with service

improvements for Lewisham Homes customers. We want to

empower tenants and leaseholders so they can exercise more

control over their homes, services and estates.

Tackling homelessness

A Liberal Democrat Mayor will build Lewishams rst new

Council Houses for a decade.

We will enlist the support of local housing associations to

access Temporary Social Housing Grant funding to bring

empty properties back into use.

We will provide more attractive incentives for tenantsoccupying larger houses to move to smaller homes,

covering removal and redecoration costs.

A Liberal Democrat Mayor will seek urgent discussions with

the new Housing Minister to demand the reinstatement of

Lewishams Decent Homes funding.

We will look creatively at Lewishams existing housing stock

to see where larger homes could be created by merging

ats together, or de-converting shared houses.

Almost a third of the housing stock in the borough is nowprivately rented. We will establish a Lewisham Standard

for private rented accommodation.

Where private sector housing is built on Council-owned

land, we will ensure residents get better value for money

with a higher proportion of affordable housing, and morefamily units.

We will seek to establish Londons rst Community Land

Trust within Lewisham, working with the Mayor of London.

Providing more family housing

Raising the standard of Lewishams housing


5/19


Within 12 months of a Liberal Democrat Mayor taking

ofce, we will submit Lewisham Homes to an external

inspection to ensure tenants are receiving quality services.

All council tenants will be offered the opportunity to take

control of their housing through a tenant management or

community gateway approach if the majority of residentswant it. We will also explore the transfer of community

centres and tenants halls to community groups.

Tenants will be entitled to a 10 refund if a repair

appointment is missed.

We will introduce a repairs guarantee, whereby tenants

can arrange their own repairs with private contractors if the

council fails.

We will ensure that leaseholders are properly consulted on

works that affect their properties, and provide access to

independent sources of help and advice.

Improving housing services

Empowering tenants


6/19


Community safety

We will introduce

effective policies to

make the boroughsafer for everyone.

We recognise that the experience and fear of crime and anti-

social behaviour are of great concern to all Lewisham residents.

Tackling gun, knife and gang crime is essential. We know that

these are challenging problems but we are committed to nding

imaginative and creative solutions for them.

Tackling crime and anti-social behaviour

Provide a 24-hour patrol service and telephone line for

reporting anti-social behaviour.

Strengthen local police teams by involving council

enforcement ofcers, anti-social behaviour ofcers and

local youth workers in Safer Neighbourhood teams. Where

necessary, provide extra PCSOs and work with the police

to provide night-time cover.

Work with partners and agencies to tackle and reduce

domestic violence throughout the borough, and ensure that

victims and their families receive more support and advice.

Work nationally and locally with the police and the

community to implement intelligence-led policing againstguns and gangs.

Work with national and local police and other agencies to

address the problem of crime against children and young

people near bus stops and on buses.

Collaborate with schools, youth clubs and other agencies

to support local communities in tackling gun culture and

drug problems.

Provide specialist training and support to carers and

families who are concerned that their children are involved

in gang activities.

Hold a public question-and-answer session with theboroughs Police Commander at least once a year.

Initiate an amnesty for knives and weapons create a

condential advice line for those aware of knives and

weapons in the community.

Tackling gun and knife crime


7/19


To complement Envirocall, we will provide one phone

number for sending text messages or photos about grafti

and broken street lights.

Improve and promote the use of community mediation

and restorative justice programmes and mentoring for

young people.

Bring all Council enforcement services together under one

new department to make more efcient use of resources.

Be more proactive prosecuting the illegal sale of reworks,

knives, alcohol and tobacco.

Work to ensure that all new housing developments are

designed to a high standard that seeks to prevent crime

through intelligent design.

We would introduce cumulative impact licensing policies.

Improve poor street lighting, and badly maintained

footpaths to make people feel safer.

Creating a safer environment


8/19


EnvironmentThe

Liberal Democrats

promise practical and

workable solutions toput the environment

at the heart of council

policy-making.

We will ensure your local environment is improved and

protected, and that our local economy is fair and sustainable.

A cleaner, greener borough

We want to double Lewishams recycling gures within

four years, beginning with immediate action to reduce

drastically the amount of Lewisham recycling that is being

rejected due to contamination, by:

1. ensuring residents can recycle all types of plastic and

Tetra cartons within the rst year

2. ensuring residents in ats can fully recycle

3. building local bio-mass waste facilities, introducing akitchen and garden waste collection service.

We will devolve funding to local bodies in order to:

1. carry out major cleaning blitzes annually in each local

area

2. ensure street drains are regularly cleaned, and

encourage residents to report blocked drains

3. improve smaller local parks and play equipment.

Acquire a bubble gum removal machine and remove

bubble gum from town centre pavements.

We will plant 1000 new trees in the rst year, and properly

maintain existing trees.

Work with independent housing providers and LewishamHomes to provide allotments on housing estates and

provide funding and training to local groups to help set

them up and run them.

Provide more help and support to develop and expand our

nature reserves to promote biodiversity and to protect sites

of special interest.

We will work to set up community land trusts to manage

and enhance spare parcels of land for local people.

We aim to become a zero-waste council.


9/19


Town centres

Buildings

Use the planning system to support local shopping

parades that meet local peoples needs.

Seek an energy company partner to install free home

insulation to all Lewisham residents.

Actively ght any further closure of post ofces in Lewisham.

We will reform local planning policies to make it easier for

residents to build micro-energy generation schemes, and

to make sure that all new housing schemes obtain at least

a third of their energy from renewable sources and reuse

grey water.

Encourage greater use of the councils power to acquire

underused properties to revive local housing and to help

improve run-down areas.

We will make best use of new building and renovation

projects to try to provide apprenticeship schemes were

appropriate.

We will reward good development by establishing a

prize for the most innovative, creative and sustainable

developments in the borough.

Provide more shopping time parking spaces and disabled

parking spaces in or near local high streets.

We will engage with local people when developing

planning policy.

Provide extra resources for better planning enforcement.


10/19


Transport

Campaign to improve bus and train services across the

borough.

Develop and promote accessible and safe pedestrian

routes to encourage more walking.

We will review parking across Lewisham, ensuring that

residents parking schemes are more exible, that shopping

parades are not strangled by parking regulations, and we

will introduce incentives for low-emission vehicles.

Undertake a full conditions survey of Lewishams roads

and pavements and use the results to develop an action

plan to tackle the poor conditions which currently exist.

Promote pedestrian safety over car use. We will aim to

slow trafc by widening pavements, instead of using

excessive numbers of speed humps.

Provide more mobile trafc enforcement cameras toaddress persistent motoring offences.

When replacing council vehicles, we will purchase cheaper,

greener alternatives and install electric car charging points

for public use.

Investigate 20-mph zones for non-main roads to help

reduce accidents.

Work with Transport for London immediately to provide

road safety improvements at known accident blackspots.

Improve cycle paths in the borough and introduce more

secure cycle parking.

Promote healthy living by promoting car-free days.

We will make the parking system simpler to use, and

investigate the use of pre-pay cards similar to Oyster cards

for parking meters.


11/19


Leisure facilities

Provide a Youth Opportunity Card to all young people

under 16, widening access to all council leisure and

cultural facilities.

Do more to ensure that Lewisham residents benet from

and contribute to the 2012 Olympic Games.

Work to bring improved leisure facilities into the borough

and to ensure they are accessible to all.

Provide more support to grassroots sporting clubs and

societies working with our young people. We will ensurethat these facilities are accessible to all and that they are

free or affordable to all.

Work to ensure the borough has a cinema.


12/19


Our community

We will engage and

support the many

community activitiesthat take place

around the borough.

Lewisham has many strong local communities with a rich and

diverse heritage. We will support existing activities, such as

festivals, cultural events, adult education classes and social

networks, and will seek to strengthen them wherever we can.

We are particularly concerned to see the rights and contribution

of older people and people with disabilities properly recognised.

Building strong community groups

Recognise the diverse festivals and activities around the

borough, and engage and support them.

Work towards setting up a local history museum in the

borough.

Extend and promote a year-round cultural calendar.

Work with the community to create and host a Lewisham

Heritage and History website.

Recognise the importance of adult education that enriches

peoples lives, not just for the sake of qualications.

Free up council buildings for greater use by adult

education groups.

Promote better access for disabled people in all spheresof life.

Work towards greater equality in access to all council

services and against discrimination in all its forms.

Develop better social, cultural and educational

opportunities for elderly people.

Provide a higher standard of service to those who needsupport in their home, and to provide as much help as

possible to carers.


13/19


Helping the elderly live dignied lives

Strengthen citizen befriending and inspection services for

care homes.

Help ensure all elderly people are safeguarded from abuse

and neglect.

Establish a Mayors Commission on dementia care and

long-term care for the elderly.

Create a multi-agency Safeguarding Adults Partnership.

Continue to give priority to supporting carers.


14/19


Children and

young people

We will do our best

to give Lewishamchildren a fair start

in life by directing

resources at those

children who need

most support.

Children prosper when they grow up in a comfortable and

secure environment, free from fear of abuse or neglect.

Unfortunately, this is not the case for many children in our

borough. We will work hard to break inter-generational cycles of

poverty, neglect and abuse.

We will ensure everyone in Lewisham has access to a good

education and all sections of the community are given equal

educational opportunities.

Our ambition is to make education in Lewisham better than any

comparable area in London.

Poor planning by the existing Labour administration means we

face a crisis in primary school places. On current projections

an extra 500 places (or 15 classes) will be needed across the

borough by 2012-13. The government has refused to give the

council any extra money to meet the need for places. We shall

address this need by opening new schools and expandingexisting ones where possible.

We shall work to increase and improve pre-school provision in

the borough.

Education

Liberal Democrats national policy is to enable smaller class

sizes by introducing a pupil premium so that resources are

directed to where the need is greatest.

We will do whatever we can to ensure complete fairness

in school admissions policies. The strengths of Lewisham

schools will be actively promoted to all parents to ensure

they attract a balanced comprehensive intake of children.

We will upgrade the support provided to supplementary

schools and recognise the valuable contribution they make

to education in the borough.

We will make reading a priority and support parents to read

to their children.

We will encourage restorative justice and mentoring in all

schools.

Our aim will be to enable more use of programmes to

encourage learning outside of the classroom.

Primary schools will be encouraged to set up allotments.


15/19


The important issues of guns, knives and gang culture will

addressed as a high priority in all our schools as part of a

borough-wide initiative to tackle the rise of violent crime.

We recognise that some pupils prefer vocational to

academic routes to achievement; all are valuable and

should be recognised and supported.

We will continue the Building Schools for the Future

programme, where possible, but put greater emphasis on

good design and quality project management.

Greater support will be provided to parents who need it

most by providing better access to a range of specialistservices and advice.

We will work to address Lewishams issue of childhood

obesity by promoting healthy eating projects in the

community, providing healthy school meals, and promoting

competitive sport in schools and the wider community.

In addition, the councils planning process will be used to

restrict the opening of new fast food outlets near schools.

We will improve existing play parks and facilities and

explore extra grant funding to create new ones.

Childhood diseases such as measles and chicken pox

will be addressed by working to achieve better rates of

immunisation in our area. Currently rates are well below the

national average.

We shall work to raise awareness of sexual health issues.

We will work to ensure more schools can and do open

out of hours so that their facilities can be used by local

communities.

Families and the community

Child health


16/19


Safeguarding children and young people is a a priority.

We all share responsibility for it. Lewisham has had

a number of recent Serious Case Reviews resulting

from failures in practice we will ensure that all the

recommendations are implemented.

We will take every opportunity to listen to children in care

and children leaving care so that we can learn from their

views and experiences.

We will give more individual support to looked-after children

who need it to help them achieve to their full potential.

We will give a Youth Opportunity card to all young people

under 16, to widen their access to leisure and cultural

facilities.

We will launch a programme of consultation with young

people, to produce a strategy for young people between

the ages of 16 and 25.

We will work to provide more jobs and apprenticeships for

young people.

Lewisham has one of the highest rates of teenage

pregnancy in the country. We will work on nding effective

solutions to this issue.

We will aim to secure the lowest possible turnover of

placements for our looked-after children by recruiting apool of foster carers and improving training for them.

Protecting children

Engaging young people


17/19


Open, efcient

and accountable

local government

We will create fairand efcient public

services for all.

The Liberal Democrats are committed to fair, open, responsive

and transparent local government.

Good service is about inclusion, efciency and attention to

detail. All Lewisham staff will deal with the public respectfully

and efciently, so that issues are dealt with effectively rst time. [

Openness and accountability

A Liberal Democrat Mayor will be more accountable

and accessible. We believe the public should be more

involved in Lewishams decision-making processes and will

establish regular opportunities for the public to scrutinise

Council decisions.

We will promote openness through a user-friendly and

useful council website, webcasting council meetings and

providing access to reports and information, includingcouncillors expenses.

We will ensure the council promotes an open style of

participation and management, and fully complies with to

the Freedom of Information Act.

Liberal Democrat councillors and the mayor will keep in

touch with residents through a regular newsletter.

We will promote participation in decision-making

processes, rather than meaningless consultations.

We will transform the Local Assembly system, giving

residents real control over services in their area.

We will promote equality of representation and involvement

in council decision-making for all, including young people,

elderly people and people with disabilities.


18/19


Value for money

We will freeze Council Tax for at least two years.

The overall cost of council senior management posts will be

cut by freezing the highest salaries and reviewing each post.

We will reduce the dependency on agency staff and

expensive consultants.

We will investigate innovative ways of using council tax to

tackle deprivation.

We will nd new ways to use council land and assets to

unlock regeneration and help kickstart the local economy.

We will reduce Labour waste by cutting out duplication of

services and excessive communication spending within

council departments.

We will investigate ways of attracting more income and

commercial sponsorship.

We will make it easier for residents to access and comment

on planning and licensing applications.

We will support and promote community asset transfers

for some council-owned buildings, such as Louise House

in Forest Hill.


19/19

Beating the

recesssionWe

will do all we can to

keep Council Taxlow, protect front-line

services and help

those most in need.

The recession has had a devastating effect on Lewisham. Due to

the crisis in public nances, the next administration is likely to be

forced to make sweeping cuts to council services. These could

total as much as 14% of all services over the next four years.

Managing the budget

We will look for ways of rationalising council services to

save money.

Any new projects we undertake will be assessed for value

for money in the long term.

We will always remember that it is your money we arespending.

The council will work to provide more jobs and

apprenticeships for our young people in particular.

We will make sure everyone who is claiming benet gets

what they are entitled to

We will provide a 20 council tax reduction for pensioners

on means-tested state pension credit and investigate other

ways to make this regressive tax fairer.

We will devise a scheme to re-introduce Council mortgages

for rst time buyers and seek support for the scheme from

central government.

We will work to create a green economy and create local

jobs in providing home insulation, planting trees and other

environmental and community improvements, such as

providing 600 new affordable homes, and business support

to the voluntary sector.

Assist residents and businesses by providing more support

for business advice.

Creating jobs

Supporting vulnerable people

Documents

Lewisham Lib Dem Manifesto