LABOUR MANIFESTO FOR EALING COUNCIL ELECTION 2002

INVESTING IN OUR COMMUNITIES

Building a Better Borough.

The Labour Council was elected in 1994 with a clear commitment to achieving the highest standards in delivering services to local people while keeping our Council Tax as one of the lowest in London. We have kept our promises and can be proud of our achievements over the last four years.


We have:

  • Invested more in local services while keeping Council tax levels among the lowest in the country
  • Increased the area of our open spaces more than any other London Borough.
  • Maintained our tough line against unauthorised encampments.
  • Introduced the Green Box Recycling scheme to every house in the Borough
  • Set up the Dumped Rubbish Investigation Unit.
  • Tackled graffiti in partnership with local communities
  • Dramatically increased the clear up rate for abandoned cars.
  • Robustly defended local residents against inappropriate development.
  • Invested in environmental improvements in all our town centres.
  • Made it easier for children to walk to school through our Safe Routes to School programme.
  • Introduced popular road safety measures including 20 MPH zones.
  • Increased spending on highway maintenance
  • Funded the re-establishment of the Citizens Advice Bureau in the borough
  • Brought the Council closer to residents through introducing Area committees
  • Opened the Borough's first Customer Service Centre
  • Won National recognition for increasing employment opportunities for disabled people.
  • Achieved better than ever results in our schools and reduced the size of all infant classes to no more than 30.
  • Won over a million pounds for improving and increasing children's' play areas.
  • Invested over £25 million in improving and rebuilding our schools
  • Built a major new youth centre in Southall Introduced an acclaimed new music service in our schools.
  • Won national recognition for supporting children in our care
  • Cut crime by introducing CCTV in Acton and Southall as well as on many estates
  • Started the biggest ever street lighting replacement programme
  • Worked with the police to spend £1 million on action against drugs in our communities.
  • Won praise for the best Youth Justice team in London
  • Invested more than ever in improving our housing estates
  • Increased our Library opening hours throughout the borough and opened the Central Library on Sundays
  • Carried out major upgrades at Gurnell Pool and sports centres in Acton, Northolt and Southall
  • Increased our investment in Adult education.
  • Continued to win more Chartermarks than other London boroughs.

Building on our Achievements.

A new Labour Council will build on the achievements of the last four years. In partnership with the Labour Government there are tremendous opportunities to further improve our services and to develop new initiatives.

Labour has a track record of providing quality services and of giving best value for money. We know that people in our borough expect their services to be delivered efficiently. Our communities look to the Council to take the lead in caring for our environment, winning investment in public transport, raising achievements in our schools and supporting older people. Only Labour can respond to these challenges.

The Tory proposals to cut £4.5 million from the Council budget would lead to drastic cutbacks in the areas that matter to local people - less teachers in schools, dirty streets, closures of libraries and of older people's facilities. They did it before and we must not let them do it again.

Labour has proved services can be improved and expanded while tax levels remain fair. More than ever is now being spent on front line services like schools (£10 million this year for our sixth forms and 220 new teachers in this Administration). There has also been a significant increase in standards (20% in English and science and 15% in maths). Funding of social services, our streets and open spaces has also increased . Meanwhile there have been huge cutbacks on unnecessary town hall bureaucracy. Effective financial management is combined with tough action against fraud and corruption - such as the £2 million saved by the Audit Team and the £17 million saved by the Housing Benefit Investigation Team. Labour will continue to combine efficiency with prudence and ensure that our council tax will remain lower than those of our neighbouring boroughs.

This manifesto sets out Labour's plans for the new administration including the 10 key election pledges which are central to our programme.

In the pages that follow we list out our realistic priorities for the next four years. Our record demonstrates that we can be trusted to deliver on our promises and to build on our achievements to date. We welcome the challenge of building on our success and working with local people to build a better borough in the years ahead.

LOCAL BOROUGH ELECTIONS 2002

KEY PLEDGES

WE WILL ……

  • Improve school standards and increase our investment in school buildings Provide better support and facilities for older people
  • Work to reduce traffic congestion and improve public transport
  • Modernise and enhance library provision
  • Protect and enhance our open spaces
  • Provide more facilities for the Borough's young people
  • Guarantee a nursery place for every child of nursery age
  • Continue to improve the Borough's Street lighting Continue working with the police to tackle crime and the fear of crime Improve Street Cleaning and clear up dumped rubbish.




Caring for our environment

We will:

* Protect and enhance our open spaces
* Improve all our parks.
* Continue the development of Northolt and Greenford Countryside Park.
* Provide a new visitors centre at Horsenden farm.
* Continue to protect our open spaces from illegal encampments.
* Plant more trees every year
* Improve Street Cleaning and clear up dumped rubbish.
* Improve standards in the refuse collection and street cleansing contract
* Extend the popular Green box scheme to every dwelling in the Borough.
* Enhance graffiti removal including free removal within a week for local residents
* Speed up the disposal of abandoned cars


Planning for our Future

* Continue to support and improve all our town centres
* Work in partnership with the Government and other agencies to regenerate our towns through investment.


Investing in Transport

We will:

* Work to reduce traffic congestion and improve public transport
* Provide major public transport improvements.
* Support the tram as the heart of an improved transport system with an integrated network to all parts of the Borough.
* Improve car parks and make them safer.
* Achieve *Secured Car park* status for our car parks
* Implement CPZs but only where there is public support following consultation
* Ensure that all road schemes are designed with cyclists in mind and dedicated facilities are provided where possible
* Ensure improvements to the accessibility of Ealing Broadway station and support the pedestrianisation of the station forecourt.


Increasing access to Council services

We will:

* Broaden access to the Council through E-Government.
* Open more customer service centres.
* Extend Council opening hours.
* Guarantee that all new public buildings are accessible to disabled people.
* Make the wider environment more accessible to disabled people.
* Increase the public's participation and engagement in the decision making process.


Investing in our children's' future.

We will:

* Improve school standards and increase our investment in school buildings
* Guarantee a nursery place for every child of nursery age
* Keep class sizes small.
* Rebuild five schools and upgrade existing school buildings.
* Open a new sixth form centre in Southall in partnership with Ealing Hammersmith and West London College.


Meeting people's housing needs

We will:

* Increase investment in Council housing
* Maximise tenant involvement.
* Keep rents as low as possible.
* Install central heating in all council housing
* Increase Key Worker housing
* Promote affordable housing
* Expand our successful Registration Scheme to improve standards in private rented housing.


Fighting crime and making the borough a safer place

We will:

* Continue working with the police to tackle crime and the fear of crime
* Increase CCTV in our town centres, schools and estates.
* Expand the popular gating schemes.
* Increase funding for anti-burglary schemes and work with the police to crack down on anti-social behaviour.
* Invest in safer streets to meet the concerns of local residents.
* Fight drugs to protect our young people
* Continue to improve the Borough's Street lighting

Improving facilities for our whole community

We will:

* Provide more facilities for the Borough's young people
* Increase play facilities for all children
* Improve the Borough's sports and leisure facilities with particular emphasis on young people
* Maintain and improve the Borough's popular Bunny Park

* Provide better support and facilities for older people
* Build three new day and residential centres for our older people
* Extend services for people with Alzheimer's.
* Work in partnership with the Health Service to develop improved health care.

* Modernise and enhance library provision
* Extend library opening hours
* Provide free Internet access in a modernised library service.

* Support Area Committees with more funding for local projects
* Increase employment opportunities for disabled people.

Ensuring a fair deal for local taxpayers

We will:

* Keep our Council tax levels among the lowest in the country
* Maintain the highest standards in managing council finances
* Maximise central government grants to the borough
* Fight fraud and benefit cheats