Manifesto 2014

Investing for tomorrow

and delivering today

Bradford DistrictLabour Party

Building a Better Bradford DistrictVote

02

At a time when the Government is hitting the District withdisproportionate and unfair spending cuts, when people aresuffering a cost of living crisis and when national policies arebenefiting the wealthy towns and suburbs of SouthernEngland at the expense of the North, your Labour Council hascontinued to deliver good services, meet the needs of localpeople and invest in the future to the benefit of us all.

The cost of Cameron and Clegg to Bradford District can bemeasured in damage to public services, jobs, the economy andincomes as people struggle with the cost of living crisis.

Bradford has seen school building programmes axed, money for housing slashedand budgets for the NHS and policing cut. Council funding has been cut by over£100m with £115m more to come yet Councils in the wealthiest parts of theSouth will see their income increase.

Meanwhile demand for school places and social care is increasing and we needbetter schools, more jobs and training and good local services to meet the needsof a growing population. Cuts to welfare are hitting local people hard, especiallythe bedroom tax, and increasing homelessness and demand for crisis services.

The Council cannot stay the same. Cuts handed down on this scale mean verytough decisions about services have to be made.

That’s why you need a Labour Council that can be trusted to deliver fairness andopportunity, protect the most vulnerable, give all our children a good start, towork for prosperity, good services and invest in infrastructure and jobs.

A value for money Labour Council that has shown it listens to and works withlocal people and is prepared to take decisions for the long term not just short-term fixes.

A Labour Council you can trust to lead, listen and deliver.

A Labour Council investing for tomorrow and delivering today.

Leader, Bradford Labour Group

Bradford Labour:Investing for Tomorrow, Delivering Today

03Building a Better Bradford District

Our Vision With Labour leadership we can build a City and District thatstands proud on its own two feet, where ambition, fairness andopportunity are ever present.

Where there is help for those least able to help themselves andwhere people understand that together they achieve what theycan never achieve alone and take responsibility for helping tomake it a better place to live.

Where education is valued, enterprise and effort rewarded,culture and diversity celebrated and respected.

To achieve this Bradford District needs a LabourCouncil you can trust to invest for tomorrow anddeliver today.

Labour will fight for the NHS, tackle inequality, care for themost vulnerable and help more people to keep living in theirown homes and communities.

Defending the NHS and Fighting for a Fair Deal for Bradford

Investing in New Homes for Older andDisabled People

More Choice, More Independence

Tackling Inequality in Health

04

Better Health, Better Choice, Better Lives

Labour will

Improving health is a top priorityso the District needs a LabourCouncil that will fight against Toryand Lib Dem attacks on the NHSand for local health services to getthe funding they deserve. We havefought off Tory plans to cut NHSfunding from Bradford andAiredale and Labour willconcentrate on reducing theDistrict’s big inequalities in healthand life expectancy, not onneedless, expensive top-down re-organisations of health services.

Your Labour Council, workingclosely with health services, hasmade big investments that arehelping to tackle health inequalities,cut winter deaths and reduce infantmortality. We are taking action on

fuel poverty, helping people to cuttheir energy bills and investing infinancial advice to help keep peopleout of crisis and poverty.

Labour is giving vulnerable peoplegreater choice and independence,supporting them to stay in theirown homes and is caring for thoseunable to care for themselves.We’ve invested £16.9m more tomeet the rising demand for socialcare and delivered new extra careand intermediate care housing.Many people who had previouslylived in care homes most of theirlives are now able to take their owndecisions and live independentlyand young people with disabilitiesare getting work experience thanksto Labour.

Defend the NHS from Government attacks

Tackle poverty and health inequality

Give more choice and independence in housing and care for older andvulnerable people including more extra care and intermediate care provision inSaltaire and Keighley with a view to further expansion in Bradford

Help people regain and keep their health and independence.

Improve services and make savings through greater integration of health and social care

Help more people to live at home for longer.

Improve the care and support available to people in communities to helpthem help themselves and support each other and take the lead indeveloping dementia friendly towns and communities.

05Building a Better Bradford District

Labour will keep improving schools and making sure youngpeople have the skills to get good jobs.

Better Schools, Better Opportunities

Improving Skills

Protecting Vulnerable Children

Fighting Child Poverty

Young People Driving Youth Provision

A Good School For Every Child

06

A Great Start and Good Schoolsfor Every Child

Local schools are improving withthe help of investment from yourLabour Council and most are nowgood or better.

We have built two new specialschools, expanded the numbers ofschool places and will deliver a newsecondary school, but pressure onschool places remains. We willcarry on lobbying Government forthe resources our children andfamilies need.

The Tory led Coalition cut fundingfor Children’s Centres by over£10m. Labour will work withparents and communities to findways to keep delivering despite themassive and unfair cuts.

Young people need the rightqualifications and skills to get goodjobs which is why we will keepinvesting in high quality trainingthat matches young peoples skills tothe needs of local employers.

Labour has protected funding forservices to the District’s mostvulnerable children fromGovernment cuts and is takingconcerted action to tackle childpoverty.

We will give young people thechance to decide on the youthprovision they want to see in theircommunities.

Keep increasing the number of good or better schools for all our children.

Challenge and support schools to improve.

Deliver a new secondary school to reduce pressure on places.

Campaign for the money to provide the places our children need

Protect and care for the most vulnerable children

Fight child poverty.

Put young people in the driving seat.

Improve skills and further develop Industrial Centres of Excellencematching young peoples’ skills to employers’ needs.

07Building a Better Bradford District

Labour will

Labour will attract new jobs and investment, tackle youthunemployment and revitalise our City and Town Centres.

Tackling Youth Unemployment

Regenerating the District

Increasing Prosperity, Reducing Inequality

Building A World Class District for Culture

Improving Transport Infrastructure

Creating More Jobs and Apprenticeships

08

Ambitious on Jobs, Economy & Culture

Labour will keep investing to reduceyouth and long term unemploymentthrough “Get Bradford Working”, thebiggest project of its kind, that isdelivering new jobs, apprenticeshipsand work experience to young andlong term unemployed people from allour communities, ensuring that theyhave the skills and confidence to enteremployment.

Labour is making visible progress not

the artists impressions of the past.

We’re delivering Westfield’s Broadway

Shopping Centre and we’ve improved

city and town centre public spaces,

opened a brand new city centre library

and City Park has attracted hundreds

of thousands of visitors and millions of

pounds. Labour will keep working

hard to regenerate your city and town

centres.

Our “can do, will do” approach tobusiness and investment is increasinginvestor confidence, attracting newjobs and driving development acrossthe whole District.

Labour will continue to deliver policieson jobs, investment and skills thatreduce inequality and increaseprosperity.

We are ambitious about building aworld class cultural offer helping todrive the economy forward, attractinvestment and improve education andquality of life. Labour will do more torealise Bradford’s potential as a leadingcultural City and District.

A Labour Council will improve theDistrict’s transport infrastructure todeliver significant economic, social and environmental benefits.

Invest more to tackle youth and long term unemployment through GetBradford Working to deliver more jobs and apprenticeships and better skills.

Progress the regeneration of our District

Deliver a Retail Academy so local people are ready to take employmentopportunities at Westfield’s Broadway Development.

Work to attract further high value advanced manufacturing jobs.

Promote and help to deliver Bradford as a world class cultural District.

Tackle congestion in Keighley

Make sure we get new stations at Low Moor and Apperley Bridge

Improve transport infrastructure.

09Building a Better Bradford District

Labour will

Labour is delivering more affordable homes, cutting thenumbers of empty homes, putting brownfield first, supportingthe vulnerable and boosting the economy.

Increasing Housing Supply IncludingAffordable Homes

Revitalising Empty Homes

Preventing Homelessness

Balanced Approach to SustainableDevelopment While Protecting Our Open Spaces

10

Everybody Needs A Decent Home

Everyone has a right to a decent,affordable home. Labour is investingto increase the number of affordablehomes including building the firstCouncil houses for 30 years. Wecontinue to make building more ofthe right homes in the right places atthe right prices a priority which willalso boost employment and oureconomy.

Empty homes are a wasted resourceand environmental blight so Labourhas been reducing their numbers,successfully bringing 3,000 back intouse. Labour will keep revitalisingempty homes including more citycentre properties. Our policy isrejuvenating neighbourhoods,increasing housing stock, creatingjobs and preserving green space.

A Labour Council will continue tohelp vulnerable home owners withrepairs and assist people to cut the

costs of heating their homes. We willpromote low carbon homes and theuse of clean and efficient energysources.

Homelessness is increasing as theGovernment’s welfare cuts kick inincluding the hated bedroom tax.Labour will support people in crisisto prevent them becoming homelessand continue to call on theGovernment to abolish the bedroomtax.

We will help to protect green andopen spaces by concentrating mostnew housing development in urbanareas and ensuring the District has aLocal Plan in place to managehousing, economic growth and jobsotherwise developers will pick andchoose where they want to build.

Identify funding to build more affordable homes.

Bring more empty properties into use including more in the City centre.

Reduce homelessness and support vulnerable households

Put brownfield first where possible by focussing new housing on urban areaslike Canal Road and the City Centre and delaying the release of green space.

11Building a Better Bradford District

Labour will

Despite unprecedented and unfair Government cuts Labourwill keep doing all it can to make sure that everyone can live ina decent place where their families are safe, there are goodlocal services and they get more say in what goes on.

Keeping Weekly Bin Collections

Increasing Recycling

Delivering New Swimming Pools

Supporting Communities and Local Decisions

Keeping Communities Safe

11

Keeping Communities Clean,Safe and Active

Labour has kept Police CommunitySupport Officers and Councilwardens on the streets, taken actionon problem families, delivered highquality Domestic Violence Servicesand invested more to protect childrenfrom sexual exploitation. We willkeep working closely with the Policeto keep communities safe and willfight Government cuts to frontlinePolicing.

Labour will retain weekly bincollections and improve recycling. Wewill deliver decent standards ofcleansing to all areas with particularemphasis on keeping our City andtown centres clean. A LabourCouncil will work with local peopleto maintain good quality parks andopen spaces and will undertakemajor improvements at Cliffe Castle.

Labour will maintain a high qualitynetwork of leisure and libraryservices and build new swimmingpools to increase provision andaccess. Libraries in the main centreswill be retained but elsewhere we willwork to put more communities incharge of their management andlocate them with other services.

More decisions are being takenlocally and more people are able tobecome involved in shaping localservices and the future of theircommunities. As further Governmentcuts bite local people will have to bemore active in delivering what theywant for their communities andLabour will support them to getinvolved.

Keep uniformed patrols on the streets

Fight Government cuts to Policing

Keep Weekly Bin Collections and Improve Recycling

Build new swimming pools but no pools will close until replacements open.

Take more decisions locally

Make services more co-ordinated and responsive at a neighbourhood level.

Help people to get involved in improving their neighbourhood.

12Building a Better Bradford District

Labour will

Labour is cutting the inefficiency and waste left by tenyears of a Tory run Council.

Low Council Tax

Fair, Open and Transparent

Fighting For A Better Deal for Bradford

Efficient and Value for Money

13

Value For Money Services, Open and Honest Leadership

3.9%

Conservative

0.9%

Labour

Keeping Council Tax LowAnnual increase %

Since Labour started running theCouncil in 2010 we have slashedmanagement costs by £13m as part ofa £24m efficiency drive. We’ve madebig savings on property costs andenergy bills by using fewer buildingsand investing in efficient, clean andrenewable energy. Spending onexpensive private consultants hasreduced by £7m. We keep on makingefficiencies and cutting costs as amatter of course and closercollaboration and integration withother public services will help us tokeep driving down costs.

The Council is far more business likewith Labour and we’ve driven harderbargains with suppliers andcontractors to save money.

Labour’s action has helped to providesome protection to services fromGovernment cuts and to keep CouncilTax the lowest in West Yorkshire.

Contrast our record with the Tories

and Lib Dems whose legacy includedvastly inflated management costs,duplication, disastrous and expensiveprivatisations, wasteful projects likethe botched £8m Asset ManagementPlan, a £3m wage bill for an ineffective regeneration companyand increases in Council Tax ofnearly 4% a year.

Labour will work to build anefficient, sustainable and securefuture for council services. localpeople, communities and businesses.

We have a track record of listeningand responding to the concerns oflocal people and that will remain ahallmark of a Labour Council.

We will keep fighting for a fairer dealfrom Government and more localpowers.

Labour will provide honest,responsible leadership that invests fortomorrow and delivers today.

Keep cutting costs and improving efficiency

Keep Council Tax low

Deliver value for money

Be open, honest and listen to local people

Promote opportunity and equality for all.

14Building a Better Bradford District

Labour will

Building a Better Bradford District

www.bradfordlabour.org

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