SAMRA Local Manifesto for Solihull 2011

We all know things must change and that many residents have already had to cut back and economise and think carefully about the future. The Coalition Government has already started to act in curtailing public expenditure in order to bring down the level of deficit and this will impact directly onto our Council Services here in Solihull.

SAMRA understand this situation and have developed policies to protect the level of services we already have and ensure the local community have a real voice in the important issues that affect their everyday lives.

Solihull and Meriden Residents Association are a local organisation of local people working with the community at all levels across party lines with a new approach to open local government.

Council Finance

Councillors Pay

Councillors need to set an example and we will reduce Councillors Pay and Allowances to 2005 levels and Freeze this for two years.

Council Tax

This is an unfair tax and there are many anomalies in the Valuation Lists that need to be addressed by Legislation by the Coalition Government. At local level we undertake our Councillors will not vote for inflationary increases in future years. We will seek to offset any additional expenditure by making comparative savings and offset the creeping additional regulation by cancelling a less necessary measure elsewhere for every new regulation we may be compelled to introduce.

Funding Capital Projects

The Private Finance Initiative is the most expensive and inflexible way of paying for new capital projects and in Solihull this is highlighted in the “Schools for the Future” programme. It has also led to many problems in the NHS. While most of the cost is reimbursed by Government this is not guaranteed and leaves Solihull Council Tax Payers at risk for many years to come.

Local Government Pensions

The present final salary index linked Council Pension Scheme is unsustainable and unfair and is currently under review by the Coalition Government. Public Sector Pensions need to be in line with good private sector practice and we favour the system based on career average salaries as recently adopted by the Co-op.

Other Action Areas

1. We will oppose petty cash economies and seek the cooperation of private sector partnerships to reinstate Spring Planting and Christmas Lights which provide a huge benefit for little cost. We will continue support Solihull’s popular Christmas Market.
   
2. We would introduce modern flexible working practices to avoid the need for Expensive Agency Staffing.
   
3. All Staffing Vacancies would be frozen pending an assessment for filling by internal transfers and redeployment.
   
4. Managers would be retrained on controlling Staff Time and Attendance.
   
5. Further savings would be made by making Communications in English only.
   
6. Action would be taken over empty and abandoned houses which devalue neighbourhoods.
   
7. The present contract for Private Parking Wardens will be reassessed.
   
8. We will stop overpaying top posts by reducing pay scales for future appointments and seek to reduce the current number of Directorates.
   
9. We will support the elderly and vulnerable in our society - Solihull is currently rated only adequate by the Quality Care Commission which means it only provides the minimum level of service to the most disadvantaged people in our community.
   
10. We intend to deliver better and farer support to those in real need. We will review some high cost social packages and improve efficiencies in this big budget area.
    
11. We support the important Day Centre Service and have lodged objections to the proposed big transport charges which will make the service unaffordable for many frail and disabled residents.

Education, Young People and Our Community

Local Education Authority (LEA)

Schools have been subjected to many changes in recent years and we now want to focus on supporting our schools in making the system developed over the years work better.

Parents must be given more certainty on a clearly understandable and fair school admissions policy by introducing a clearly understood catchment system while maintaining parental choice and allowing for special circumstances. We will end the annual lottery over school places which cause so much distress.

In Solihull every child is important and we would encourage excellence and high achievement in all our schools but seek intervention at an early stage where under performance is identified. While Solihull has a good Education System there are still some schools in the LEA family that will continue to need additional support from time to time from the Council and we will ensure that help will be there for them.

We are opposed to schools opting out of the Local Authority Democratic Control and Accountability to both parents and the community.

School Governance

School Governors now have responsibility for huge publicly funded budgets and setting Head Teachers Pay and can even take schools out of local council control. We would seek to widen the appointment of School Governors to make them more representative of local Taxpayers and Parents.

School Meals

We believe parents should be allowed to determine what and how their children eat but believe encouraging healthy dietary habits in a child’s formative years are important. SAMRA will actively promote nourishing school meals - targeted at the early years of primary education when healthy lifestyle eating habits are formed.

Nursery Education

We support the provision of part time Nursery Education to all 3 year old children.

Extra Income

We believe that School Buildings and facilities where appropriate should be available for Community Use with income raised used to supplement school facilities and equipment.

We would also encourage a healthy approach to competitive sports activities throughout our educational system.

Youth Services

We support Solihull Youth Services and the Schools Music Service and would look to where possible protect the high quality service that is currently provided. We would also look at alternative activities for young people to enjoy.

Community Libraries

We support the need for our Library service to be protected for the Community and would look at ways to ensure a wider use of the facilities. We believe that our Library service is vitally important to our community and would support opening the Solihull Central Library on Sundays for 6 hours, this proposal would be met by closing the Library on the quietest day of the week. If the trial were to be successful we would look to open Chelmsley Wood Library on the same basis.

Community Voluntary Sector

We believe it is important to recognise the important role played by the Voluntary Sector in Solihull and provide practical support to organisations that give freely of their time to help the local community. We recognise that modest financial support to such bodies at local level will be necessary to implement the Coalition Governments “Big Society” policy. We would also encourage more social activities for the elderly to improve their quality of life.

Community Policing

Policing Comes under the control of the Joint West Midlands Police Authority and will be under additional pressure with reduced funding. We will seek to ensure Police resources in Solihull are focussed to best effect on crime protection. The Coalition Government are carrying out a review of Police Pay and conditions and it will be necessary to monitor carefully those changes.

Environment and Green Issues

Solihull has a good record on recycling and is leading the way with doorstep collections of Plastic, Glass, Tins and Paper. For the future of our planet we need to be recycling more and reducing our household carbon footprint to help reduce the effects of climate change. We also need to be more responsible with our planning decisions so that we keep as much of our green open spaces as possible.

In Solihull we produce around 102,000 tones of waste every year - on average, this works out at around 1 tonne per household. That's the same weight as 12,798 double decker buses - if you parked these buses end to end they would stretch from Solihull to Swindon and back.

Most of your rubbish goes for incineration or to landfill sites, but these are filling up fast and the cost of having to send waste to landfill is rising. The good news is that nearly 34% per cent of this is now being recycled or composted and Solihull Council is working hard to make is easier for you to recycle more.

Recycling allows materials to be used again and again which is good news for the environment because it reduces the need to take raw materials out of the earth. This saves energy and so helps to reduce your carbon footprint.

We will:

1. Help promote household Carbon reducing measures.
   
2. Fight to protect our green open spaces and green belt land.
   
3. Achieve improved recycling targets in Solihull by practical means rather than imposing any more unsightly and costly bins or containers on householders.
   
4. Take action on Recycling to save money on the costly European Levied Land Fill Tax.

Planning and Development

1. We will take action to protect Solihull’s remaining Green Spaces and adopt local policies to better control inappropriate infill development (Garden Grabbing) given changes by the Coalition Government to guidelines on planning.
   
2. We will also require adequate off-street parking for all new build homes and commercial developments.
   
3. We will use the planning process flexibly to encourage inward investment into the town to facilitate local employment prospects in our main shopping centres and designated business parks.
   
4. We will support our larger employers and act to keep jobs in Solihull.
   
5. We will aim to ensure that all trees removed in development projects are replaced on a one for one basis.

1. We believe it is time to concentrate resources on basic service provision in this core area that is being subject to substantial cutback in funding.
   
2. We propose to focus on repairs to our crumbling road network and footpaths and take action to ensure the free flow of traffic by dealing with congestion black spots. All new projects including highways, cycle ways and footpaths will be subject to careful cost/value analysis so only the most advantageous works are undertaken.
   
3. We will make savings by abandoning costly Road Humps in favour of flashing speed signals and part time 20mph Speed Limits around schools avoiding costly damage to vehicles, discomfort to bus passengers and vibration damage to property.
   
4. We will reduce the proliferation of new traffic controls and regulations and act to remove unnecessary signage and clutter along our highways.
   
5. Arrangements will be made to ensure the Winter Treatment of designated roadways and maintain the safest practical traffic flow is maintained in snow and icy conditions.
   
6. Free Parking will be maintained in the principle shopping centres of Shirley Knowle and Chelmsley Wood.

Community Housing - Local Housing for Local People

Solihull has a huge Housing Waiting List and we would want to revise the present Housing Allocations System in order to prioritise families with close links to Solihull and reinstate points for each year on the waiting list.

1. We would want to keep rents affordable by prioritising and controlling Housing Repairs and expect tenants to be responsible for internal decoration and minor maintenance items where householders are deemed able to do so.
   
2. We would also expect tenants to maintain gardens in a reasonable state and take this factor into account when allocating a property.
   
3. We would revise the allocation of sheltered accommodation for the elderly and vulnerable to ensure disruptive tenants were not placed in properties designed for the elderly.
   
4. Our tenants should be treated with respect and fairness by Solihull Community Housing Association while problem and disruptive tenants should be dealt with firmly and promptly.
   
5. We will encourage the continuing improvement in public transport services throughout Solihull including more Free or Low Cost Park & Ride facilities.

Council Structure and Elected Mayor

The mayoral agenda has stalled, but we believe the case for elected mayors is compelling. There is a growing recognition across the main political parties of the need for greater localism and a more place-focused approach to policy.

Strong local leadership and vision is needed to take bold decisions and citizens need to be better engaged in choices about what can be realistically delivered, particularly with constraints on public spending likely in the coming years.

Elected mayors, with their unique local mandate and clear lines of accountability could hold the key to the devolution of powers from central government to communities.

SAMRA will campaign for a Directly Elected Mayor who we believe will be best equipped to manage external partnerships, promote economic growth and regeneration and be far more accountable to the electorate.

They will be more likely to improve efficiency and performance and be personally accountable for results. We would back candidates with the business experience and ability to curtail the growth of big government at local level and reduce its financial burden on the local community.

Under the present Cabinet System many Councillors are effectively excluded from the decision making process and the scrutiny system fails to hold Cabinet Members or the Executive to account.