Stirling SNP 2017 Manifesto Stirling Council Election: Thursday 4th May, 2017 Introduction • Foreword from Cllr. Scott Farmer, Leader of Stirling Council SNP Group (page 2) • Our Candidates (page 3) • Our Priorities o Education (page 4) o Social Care, Equality and Diversity (page 5) o Communities and Community Safety (page 7) o Housing (page 9) o Regional City Deal (page 10) o Roads and Transport (page 11) o Rural Communities (page 13) o Economy (page 15) o Planning and the Environment (page 17) o Arts and Culture (page 19) Promoted by Alycia Hayes on behalf of Stirling SNP, both!1 of: Pickersgill House, Balquhidder Station, Lochearnhead, FK19 8NX. Foreword from Cllr. Scott Farmer Leader of Stirling Council SNP Group Although the Scottish National Party was the largest party at the 2012 elections, we have had an undemocratic Tory/Labour coalition run this Council for the last 5 years. This is your opportunity to change that and vote for an SNP group dedicated to providing quality services. Stirling SNP has a team of individuals who are representative of our diverse society, with a wealth of talent and life experience. We are the only party in this election fielding enough candidates to take overall control and rid Stirling once and for all this appalling Tory/Labour Administration. The economy and economic growth will be at the heart of an SNP Administration. We will harness the potential of the City Regional Deal and ensure the benefits are felt across all our communities. Stirling Council has lost the trust of its residents through the ill-fated Priority Based Budgeting Process (PBB). Communities were led to understand they had a role to play when in reality, decisions had already been taken or worse still, their views were ignored. We believe in genuine consultation and will never take our communities for granted. The SNP believe in involving our communities. We support participative budgeting. It commits the Council to making available a portion of its budget for the community to decide its priorities. Community Empowerment under the SNP will deliver real meaningful change for our communities, both Urban and Rural, with exciting challenges ahead. The SNP believe that power lies with people. Communities are the life blood of our local democracy and we will ensure that communities are at the heart of decision-making, not having it imposed from above. We know that our different communities have varied needs and accept the principle that one- size-fits-all is no longer applicable or acceptable. We believe that the best decisions are made by those who are most affected by them and we are determined to embrace your ideas so we can flourish and change our communities for the better. Underpinning this manifesto is the key principle of empowering our communities to shape their future as we work to make Stirling a fairer, more equal and more prosperous community. !2 We believe we have a manifesto that will deliver quality services in partnership with all our communities. Join in our vision to make Stirling a great place to live and work, support Team Stirling in delivering for all our communities. Scott. Cllr Scott Farmer, SNP Group Leader Meet our candidates… Ward 1, Trossachs and Teith. Evelyn Tweed Fergus Wood Ward 2, Forth and Endrick. Graham Lambie Ian Muirhead Ward 3, Dunblane and Bridge of Allan. Graham Houston Rosemary Hunter Ward 4, Stirling North. Susan McGill Jim Thomson Ward 5, Stirling West. Scott Farmer Morag Fulton Ward 6, Stirling East. Alison Laurie Gerry McLaughlan Ward 7, Bannockburn. Maureen Bennison Alasdair MacPherson !3 Education Early Learning and Childcare. Funding has been provided by the SNP Government at Holyrood to Councils to allow them to offer free childcare facilities to families. We will work with parents and providers to deliver local and coordinated, affordable, after-school and holiday childcare from nursery to P7, 8am to 6pm, all year round Nursery places will be provided for all our three- and four-year-olds and those two-year- olds who stand to benefit. This means that parents can choose a nursery or childminder that best suits their needs and ask the local authority to fund it, so long as the provider meets the agreed standards. We will talk to parents about how we can best align the nursery day with the school day. Education for All We will maintain teacher numbers. We also understand the role undertaken by classroom assistants and support the work they do. We are committed to the development of Regional Education Hubs to ensure that pupils who need it receive the specialist help they require. We welcome the Pupil Equity Fund from the SNP Scottish Government which has allocated £1.4million per annum additional resource to our primary and secondary schools to close the attainment gap (see Appendix). Head teachers will be given free rein to use these funds as they see fit. The SNP will work to ensure that parents are supported to play an active role in their child’s learning and that parents and communities play a bigger role in the day-to-day lives of their schools. We will carry out a detailed assessment on the condition of outdoor play areas within schools and invest in good quality provision for our children. Music Tuition We will continue to provide music tuition with no increase in fees, and will maintain the existing musical tuition categories namely: Woodwind; Brass; Strings; Percussion; Piano; Voice; Guitar; and Scottish bagpipes. We are committed to providing high quality musical learning opportunities for all of our pupils, with expert music tuition a key part of that journey. !4 Social Care, Equality and Diversity Properly supported Social Care Our social care services were set back 2 years when the Tory/Labour administration reversed the decision to work in collaboration with Clackmannanshire Council. This has meant an overspend on care budgets, as managers grapple with the unnecessary changes. We will work with our professionals and external partners to sort out this problem and deliver high standards of care. Diversity Charter We will invite the public to consider setting up a charter to look at how we provide facilities for our communities and in particular, disabled persons - such as pavements, play parks, parking, carer provision and public transport. This list is not exhaustive but we will ensure all Council policy puts equality at its heart. Care Village delivery It has taken many years of consultation and planning, but the innovative new Care Village promised by the SNP run Council in 2010/11 will be built in the grounds of Stirling’s Community Hospital, following the recent approval of detailed plans. The £35m development is due to start in January 2017 and the majority of the new facilities are expected to be operational by autumn 2018. It is a joint venture by Stirling Council, NHS Forth Valley and the Scottish Ambulance Service and the plans will see the creation of a new Care Hub for older people who require additional short-term care. Community Planning Partnership and the Third Sector Community Planning is at the heart of effective service delivery and the SNP believes that it is through partnership working with the Voluntary/Third Sectors, Health, Police, Fire, and further Education Sectors that we can improve the outcomes for our communities. In Stirling the SNP will work with our partners to tackle the wide divergence of health inequalities between our communities. We will tackle in-grained deprivation both Urban and Rural, ensuring that our partners and our own Income Maximisation Officers target those at risk. Credit Unions We will undertake to develop accessible Credit Unions and do everything in our power to mitigate against the devastating impact of Tory austerity and the so-called “Welfare Reforms”. !5 Welfare Reform UK Welfare Reform changes are hitting the poorest in our society very hard. Local government and voluntary services are working together to help those affected by Welfare Reform. The Scottish Government has been granted powers over some Welfare Reform and is currently consulting on the best way to mitigate the damaging effects of the current UK Welfare Reform. We will work with Scottish Government to ensure the smooth implementation of the new Scottish Social Security system. We will ensure Council officers are fully trained on the new changes, policies and procedures. We will work with the third sector and our local charities to deliver the much needed support for families and individuals in crisis. Planning Policy We will revise policy to ensure that the Stirling Area Access Panel are consulted in an advisory capacity on all planning applications. They are best placed to advise on accessibility requirements for the disabled. !6 Communities and Community Safety Safety Where we stay is at the heart of our daily lives. Stirling and the many towns and villages that make up the Stirling Council area are a great place to stay but lives are being ruined by the minority who do not look after their properties, who litter our streets and allow their pets to run wild. For too long the places where we live and work and play have been allowed to deteriorate, partly due to a lack of maintenance. Central to our manifesto is a pledge that we will reverse this trend and ensure we work with communities to look after our public spaces and to use our enforcement powers to make others behave. We will do this by: • Investing in our play areas. Over the next 5 years we will invest to bring all of our play areas up to an excellent standard. • Allocating more money to the garden maintenance assistance scheme, for those unable to do it themselves.