Robert Marshall-Andrews

|

Labour’s Vision: Safer, Healthier, More Integrated Communities

At last night’s Council Meeting, at which the budget was set for the next year, the Labour group proposed a range of ideas that would benefit the whole community.  With a special emphasis on crime prevention and provision for youth services, Cllr Glyn Griffiths set out the Labour group’s vision for Medway.

“This is about people’s priorities.  We have opposed the extra money for the huge call centre that the Tories want, and instead propose that the money be used for the benefit of everyone in Medway.”

“Residents always tell us that they are concerned about crime.  This is why we have allocated over £50 000 to restart the alleygating scheme.  This scheme was extremely popular with residents, for the simple reason that it was effective in cutting crime.  We would also allocate £80 000 to bid for four new PCSOs, who have been shown to be successful in tackling anti-social behaviour and providing high-visibility reassurance.”

“A recurrent theme when discussing crime-related issues is that of young people hanging round on street corners.  This may be intimidating for some people, but the real issue is that these young people have nothing to do.  We have taken a two-pronged approach: firstly, we would introduce a discounted bus fare for 10-17 year olds on Friday evenings, Saturday and Sundays (and public holidays) at a flat rate of 50p.  Secondly, we would introduce discounted sports centre usage for the same age range and at the same times, at a flat rate of £1.  This would not only tackle some of the issues surrounding anti-social behaviour, but also encourage young people to take up a healthier lifestyle.  We would also fund two extra youth workers- which will increase Medway’s allocation quite significantly- to engage with young people.  Hopefully this would improve our rating nationally, as under the Tories we have fallen to second worst in the country for youth provision. ”

“We have also proposed a range of other measures, such as nearly doubling the Tories’ allocation for extra money for road repairs, increasing the total funding for the Nursery Education Grant, and levying a car parking charge on officers and members at the Council to bring us into line with the rest of Medway’s workers.”

“Finally, we would propose using the money that the Council has received for hitting some of its targets to reduce council tax to 5%.”

Paul Clark MP added,

“I fully support the budget proposals put forward by Medway’s Labour group. It is essential that we plan to meet the needs of young people locally, by providing cheaper transport and access to leisure facilities. Not only does this help reward hard-working families by freeing up their income to spend on other things, but by allowing our young people more access to local activities, it keeps them busy and – to be honest, keeps some of them out of mischief. And most importantly it leaves them with a positive image of the Medway towns, making them more likely to plan to stay here in their adult lives. “

Bob Marshall-Andrews MP made the point, in respect of the volume of correspondence he has received about the Nursery Education Grant,

"Fully funded pre-school education for the under fives is a must if Medway LEA is to improve its educational standards.”                                              

“In last year's Tory Budget the private and voluntary sector was awarded a mere 2% increase, compared to the 6% awarded to the council's own pre-schools. Last year's settlement to volunteer/private pre-schools was obviously unfair.”

“This year it seems that all pre-schools will get a 6% increase.  However, when you look into the settlement, you realise it’s based on an unstable assumption that only a proportion of parents will take up the offer of pre-school places.”

“The result of this settlement will only mean that the number of volunteer/private pre-schools going out of business will continue to rise. When it comes to the education of our children the local Conservatives are failing to deliver and thus I fully back Medway Labour Group's proposals on extra nursery funding."

Jonathan Shaw MP added

“Medway has again received an increase in funding from central government well above inflation, and all councils have benefited from the Chancellor’s extra billion pounds.  The Tories should welcome these continued increases.”
“However, when Medway’s settlement runs into hundreds of millions of pounds, it is difficult to support the Council when it is not able to competently perform the most basic of functions such as keeping the streets clean.”