SECURING OUR FUTURE A PLAN FOR COVENTRY Our five year plan for Coventry Vote Conservative on 6 May 2021 #PlanforCoventry SECURING OUR FUTURE CONTENTS A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM THE CONSERVATIVE GROUP LEADER 3 RECOVERING FROM CORONAVIRUS 4 MANAGING SOUND PUBLIC FINANCES 5 REGENERATING OUR CITY 6 DELIVERING HOUSING FOR MODERN COVENTRY 7 CELEBRATING CULTURE IN OUR DIVERSE CITY 8 TAKING PRIDE IN OUR ENVIRONMENT 9 GETTING COVENTRY MOVING 10 IMPROVING OUTCOMES FOR FAMILIES AND YOUNG PEOPLE 11 BUILDING STRONG COMMUNITIES 12 THE CHOICE AT THIS ELECTION 13 Promoted and printed by Gary Ridley, on behalf of Coventry Conservatives, both of 22 Lynbrook Road, Coventry, CV5 6BE. A plan for Coventry 2 SECURING OUR FUTURE A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM THE LEADER OF THE COVENTRY CONSERVATIVE GROUP Councillor Gary Ridley CLLR GARY RIDLEY CONSERVATIVE GROUP LEADER, COVENTRY CITY COUNCIL 3 A plan for Coventry SECURING OUR FUTURE RECOVERING FROM CORONAVIRUS HOW WE’LL BUILD BACK BETTER IN COVENTRY: • We’ll tackle health inequality and improve access to sports facilities • We will fight pollution and green the city • We will prioritise job creation aiming to deliver a new ‘Gigafactory’ creating 4,000 jobs During the lockdown the nation’s health has once and for all. Nationally, it is responsible for undoubtedly suffered. Many people may be 40,000 deaths every year and Coventry has less active today than they were a year ago, been identified as a pollution hotspot. The medical conditions may have gone Government has provided millions to tackle this undiagnosed and it may have been harder for problem but our local Council could do more. some to control addictive behaviour. There will They have been slow to make use of funds be a range of mental health problems, like such as the Emergency Active Travel Fund and anxiety and depression, to confront too. their suggestion to close Coundon Road was unimaginative and unhelpful. The Council will be at the heart of the response to this as the body responsible for Throughout this document we will outline an public health. So a Conservative-led Council will ambitions programme to make our busses all prioritise resources for the public health team electric, open three new train stations and roll- to improve the city’s health. We will work with out more cycle lanes. We will defend the the NHS and other health care providers to greenbelt and set out an ambitious programme ensure we are able to signpost people to the to green our city. services they need. Finally, Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on our But there is also another foe which we must economy. Despite enormous and defeat once and for all - health inequality. It is a unprecedented support from the Government, scandal that people in the city’s wealthier areas there have inevitably been job losses. Our can live, on average, ten years longer than challenge is to build our economy back better those in deprived areas. The fight back must than it was before so that everyone can start with childhood obesity. The succeed. So, we will work with partners to Commonwealth Games present a clear maximise the benefits from ‘next generation’ opportunity to build a lasting legacy of technology. increased participation in sport. A prime example is the opportunity offered by So a Conservative-led Council will work with autonomous and electric vehicles. The the Mayor of the West Midlands to maximise Conservative Government has pledged support the benefits of the games in our city. We will of £1bn over the next ten years to support a also undertake a full audit and review of our ‘Gigafactory’ manufacturing car batteries. If we city’s sporting facilities to ensure everyone has are successful in our bid to bring it to the city the opportunity to access them, especially we could create up to 4,000 jobs in locally. So those in deprived areas. we will work closely with partners to make this happen and maker the Coventry Airport site Finally, it’s time we tackled poor air quality available for this opportunity. A plan for Coventry 4 SECURING OUR FUTURE MANAGING SOUND PUBLIC FINANCES HOW WE’LL BALANCE THE BOOKS IN COVENTRY: • We will produce a balanced budget and have already identified nearly £2.5 million in savings for Council services over the next five years • We’ll reduce the amount of money paid out in Councillors’ allowances • We will introduce a Community Infrastructure Levy raising additional revenue Like many local authorities Coventry has year. It is scandalous that public money is faced significant pressures on its budget as a being used to support organisations that are result of Covid-19 but it has stayed afloat aligned to the Labour Party. thanks to a £56m grant from the Government. We’ll also reduce the amount of money paid However, Labour has been found wanting out to Councillors by abolishing ‘do nothing’ when it comes to their management of local deputy cabinet members. We will also reduce finances. They’ve squandered millions on a the size of the cabinet from ten to eight. number of ‘get rich quick’ schemes then blame the Government because they have no money. In the longer-term, we will explore the feasibility of working with other local authorities One example of this is the purchase of to deliver back room functions such as HR, Coombe Abbey Hotel, which has required payroll and procurement services more multiple bail outs in the last year and has seen efficiently. These efficiencies will drive savings £3m wiped off the value of its shares. which will be directed back to service delivery. We will also introduce a Community They have borrowed to fund many of these Infrastructure Levy so that developers pay their projects racking up debts that Coventrians are share back into the city. liable for. Every year, the Council now spends £11m on interest payments alone. Funds We will continue to lobby the Government to which could have been used to provide change the business rates regime to include services to the people of Coventry. students’ landlords and HIMOs in business rates the same as any other business. This Why is it there’s always enough money to would generate an additional £8.5m for the city fund these schemes but they wouldn’t provide every year. Plas Dol-y-Moch with £150,000 to keep it afloat during the pandemic? Just as we did in control, we’ll reduce council tax rises. We’ll also be more transparent than This isn’t right and it doesn’t have to be this Labour, producing an annual report showing way. So we will produce a balanced budget and how tax has been spent. This will be included in prioritise debt reduction over these risky council tax demands. schemes. We’ve already identified savings of nearly £2.5 million which we will plough back We’ll introduce an ethical investment policy into service delivery over the next five years. so the Council can’t hoard taxpayers money in questionable offshore accounts. We will also These savings start with the taxpayers work with the West Midlands Pension Fund to money Labour gives to the trades unions every ensure assets are invested ethically. A plan for Coventry 5 SECURING OUR FUTURE REGENERATING OUR CITY HOW WE’LL SHAPE COVENTRY’S FUTURE: • We will support our city centre retailers by providing free late night parking and turnover based rents • We will develop a truly mixed economy in the city centre providing space to make Coventry the number one destination for start-up IT companies • Introduce a Challenge Fund for the local high street With support from the Government, the companies in the UK. Our aim is to build the Council has never had so much money to next Silicon Valley, creating jobs and wealth. So invest in regeneration. All of the public realm we will make space available within the city improvements you see are only possible thanks centre and Friargate area to make this happen. to the Conservative Government. This has given us a chance to reboot our ailing city centre The Council is one of the largest landlords in which has been in decline for some time with the city centre which allows the organisation to more and more empty shops becoming the exert great influence over the direction the city norm. takes. This has also enabled the Council to share in the success of its tenants during the Sadly the coronavirus pandemic has made good times. So we’ll support further property this task even more difficult. Many people have acquisition when it’s in the interests of the taken to shopping online during the lockdown. taxpayer. However, we will stay away from the Some argue that this was beginning to happen risky schemes which the private sector has anyway, but only time will tell if the changes in deemed unviable. the retail sector will become a permanent shift. But if nothing else, this period has It’s also vital that we remember local demonstrated that our city centre needs to be shopping centres like the high street in more diverse in what it does. Earlsdon or The Parade in Cheylesmore. So we’ll work with the Mayor of the West Midlands, We don’t claim to have all the answers to the Andy Street, to identify appropriate support kind of shift you only see every 50-100 years! from the Government. We will also set up our Regeneration of the city centre will be one of own High Street Challenge Fund which will our top priorities so we’ll review Labour’s allow district shopping centres to bid for match overall approach with some immediate funding.