“ I've Delivered on My Promises. Now I Want You to Know How Labour Will Fight for Our Borough Over the Next Four Years
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
TOWER HAMLETS MANIFESTO 2018 FOR THE MAYOR AND LOCAL ELECTIONS, 3 MAY “ I’ve delivered on my promises. Now I want you to know how Labour will fight for our borough over the next four years” John Biggs Labour Candidate for Mayor of Tower Hamlets Our Record – Cleaning Our Streets, Cleaning Up Our Air – Making Tower Hamlets Safer – Putting Young People at the Heart of All We Do – Fighting the Housing Crisis – Tackling Poverty and Inequality – Being On Your Side 2/3 TOWER HAMLETS MANIFESTO 2018 Poverty Fund to assist those residents hardest If you share our vision, our values and our – hit by this Government’s benefit cuts and commitment to making Tower Hamlets better austerity. We have been investing in cleaning for everyone who lives here, please support us up our streets, after deep cuts by the previous at this election, electing myself as your mayor FOREWORD mayor made our borough dirtier than ever – and your Labour councillors in your own ward. BY JOHN BIGGS, LABOUR CANDIDATE FOR MAYOR OF TOWER HAMLETS we aren’t yet where we want to be on this but we’re starting to turn things around. And Together we can build a cleaner, safer, we’ve been paying to put police back on the fairer Tower Hamlets. streets, to counteract the loss of almost 300 police and community support officers due to In the coming weeks, you will decide which Conservative austerity cuts. direction our borough goes in by electing your executive mayor and ward councillors. Second, this manifesto is about looking forward to what we can achieve together over the I want you to be clear about what I would do next four years – a vision of a borough that is if you re-elect me as your mayor. It’s a job that clean and well-looked after, where our air is affects the daily lives of everyone who lives cleaner and our streets and estates are safer; here, especially as we continue to return the of a borough that is fairer, with more access Our record of achievements: John Biggs with Tower Hamlets Labour Council to the mainstream after the corruption to affordable housing and more of our most • We have cleaned up the of the previous independent mayor and fight local election candidates disadvantaged residents achieve their potential; to protect services from deep Conservative and about a Council that is run to the highest council and got the finances austerity cuts. allegation of corruption, we have delivered on standards, delivering high quality services under control this promise, enabling the Government last efficiently and fairly. The Labour Party is a party of social justice, year to hand back the running of all parts of • We have invested in extra equality and the fundamental belief that we the Council it had taken over. But this progress Finally, it is about our Labour values. A vision police officers to tackle drug achieve more together than we achieve alone. in not assured – we are still under scrutiny and that has at its core the celebration of the crime and ASB This manifesto sets outs how we will run our with two of the former mayor’s councillors heritage and diversity that makes Tower borough for the benefit of all of our residents, running to be mayor, a return to the problems of Hamlets so special and a commitment to work • We are delivering 1,000 new ensuring that the most disadvantaged receive the past is a risk that hasn’t gone away. to ensure that as a community we understand council houses and tackling significant support to transform their life each other better, not just living parallel lives in chances, whilst also delivering excellent I also promised to focus the Council back on the same place. And a commitment that, where rogue landlords universal services for everyone that lives here. the core issues of concern to local people, and we can’t deliver something on our own – for • We have launched WorkPath we have done that too. We are well on the way example because it needs the Government This manifesto is about three essential things to deliver the 1,000 new council homes we to change the law – we will be a campaigning to help thousands of our that you will need to consider as you vote for promised in 2015, have made new tenancies council, fighting alongside our residents to bring residents into work your mayor and councillors. genuinely affordable for local people and now positive change for their benefit. • We have got the school license landlords to improve the quality of First, it’s about our record of achievement. When privately rented homes. We’ve got the school We can do a lot at the Town Hall, but we need places crisis under control and I was elected in June 2015 after the previous places crisis under control, protected our two other things too. First, for you to help us improved our youth service independent mayor was removed for corrupt Children’s Centres, and ensured that there is to achieve these goals – a community working and illegal practices, I promised that I would good quality youth work in every part of our together. Second, whilst we will continue to do • We are investing to clean up return our Council to the mainstream, cleaning borough. We’ve launched our flagship WorkPath more with less and to fight austerity, cuts – in our streets and increase our up his mismanagement. From getting the employment service, helping thousands of health, in education, in policing, in housing – are recycling rate finances under control to investigating every local people into work, and set up a Tackling hurting us all and we need a Labour Government. 4/5 TOWER HAMLETS MANIFESTO 2018 – LABOUR’S RECORD WE ARE WELL ON OUR WAY TO COMPLETING THE PLEDGES WE MADE TO YOU IN 2015. HERE ARE JUST A FEW: John Biggs with Henry Moore’s sculpture Old Flo, now back in the borough In 2015, we said we would: Our progress today Abolish the previous mayor’s chauffeur Done on day one Take a balanced approach to development Planning policies are now being revised driven car in the borough to better manage development Clean up grant-making Grant-making process totally reformed Create a Tower Hamlets Apprenticeship The mayor’s Apprenticeship Commitment with all decisions now taken in public Exchange is helping create 1,000 new apprenticeships Scrap the previous mayor’s £15 bulk Now collected for free, saving residents waste charge money and cutting dumping Nurture new entrepreneurs through Our Whitechapel Enterprise Centre Start-Up Centres opened in July offering free expert advice Reduce the number of missed waste Missed collections falling but still collections more to do Urgently tackle lack of primary Additional places provided and 94% school places now get 1st or 2nd choice Stop the sale of the borough’s Henry Old Flo now back in the borough Moore sculpture Old Flo Expand free school meals to all All primary pupils now get free primary pupils school meals Prioritise neighbourhood policing 39 new police officers paid for by the Council Strengthen youth facilities across Youth clubs now running six days a the borough week in every part of the borough Produce a Violence Against Women Launched in 2016 & Girls Strategy No child more than a short walk from a We have created five new pocket parks high quality outdoor play area Plan the building of 1,000 new 260 built, 249 in planning, and the rest Council homes on the way Improve the provision of social care Ethical Care Charter ensures no 15 minute by the Council visits, no zero hours contracts Create a Landlord Licensing Scheme Set up and running with thousands and workers paid properly signed up 6/7 TOWER HAMLETS MANIFESTO 2018 – OUR COMMITMENTS CLEANING OUR STREETS. CLEANING UP OUR AIR. We will deliver a cleaner, greener Tower to council, social housing and private estates Hamlets, with 10 new pocket parks and blocks that want them. We will work with and 1,000 new trees, safer streets for businesses to improve their access to, and pedestrians and cyclists, and cleaner air for use of, recycling services. We will install water everyone to breathe. fountains in public places across the borough, introduce a Tower Hamlets water bottle and We have reversed many of the previous mayor’s work with small business to establish a re- cuts in street cleaning and scrapped his bulk usable cup scheme for the whole borough. waste charge that had increased dumping. We will enforce tougher standards for cleaning We will continue the mayor’s Neighbourhood our streets and work with social and private Refresh programme to remove clutter, repair landlords to improve the cleanliness of the broken pavements, and install trees and traffic borough’s estates. We will continue to roll out calming measures. We will plant 1,000 street ‘Smart bins’ across the borough to keep our trees and install 50 ‘green benches’ with streets tidy, introduce recycling into street planting and cycle parking. bins, and encourage residents and visitors to keep their litter off the streets. We will bring Our many award-winning parks are the green in a Graffiti and Street Art policy, specifying lungs of our borough. We will invest £13million how and where street art will be allowed and in a parks investment programme, prioritising adopting a zero tolerance approach to graffiti those – like Allen Gardens and King Edward and tagging everywhere else, increasing Memorial Park - needing improvement, and will investment in our graffiti removal team.