Securing a Stronger Borough Our Manifesto for the 2016 Elections
Introduction by Cllr Sean Anstee An introduction by Councillor Sean Anstee Leader of the Conservatives on Trafford Council Welcome to our manifesto for the 2016 local elections in Trafford, which sets out our pledges for the 2016/17 financial year and future aspirations for the years ahead. On May 5th, you will have the opportunity to vote to secure and retain a high performing, low cost and efficient Council or take a gamble with a Labour Party that nationally opposes many of the things that make Trafford great and locally has no coherent plans whatsoever for our Borough. We want Trafford to be the best, most economically prosperous, thriving and diverse part of Greater Manchester and we will achieve this by being a progrowth, pro-business Council and enhancing capacity in our communities recognising their individual assets but also their collective strength when they come together. There are six principles that are our overarching commitments to Trafford: Enabling the best start in life for our children and young people. Delivering the strongest, most resilient economy in Greater Manchester. Helping those who need our help the most. Securing the best schools and children s services in the country. Saving working families money with the lowest Council Tax in the North West. Backing business to grow and be successful. Since winning back control of Trafford from Labour in 2004, a Conservative administration has transformed the
Council from one where services were all but collapsed, Council Tax increases were the norm (including a whopping 13% in a single year) and overspends were ignored. Today, the contrast couldn t be more stark; twelve years of delivering a balanced budget, over 100m saved through our Reshaping Trafford programme, Council Tax frozen for the last six years, our children s services independently inspected by Ofsted as the best in the country, plus the highest recycling rate of any metropolitan or unitary authority. Our primary schools are number one, our grammar and high school system does so much to get our young people off to the best start in life and our care services for elderly residents are funded properly and of a high standard. Under Conservative control, Trafford is a Council that is focusing on what it can do, rather than what it cannot and is disproving the notion that throwing money at something makes it better. It doesn t here in Trafford, despite being the most poorly funded Council in Greater Manchester and having the 3rd lowest spending power of any metropolitan or unitary authority in the country, our outcomes for residents and businesses are second to none and we outperform our neighbours easily. A Conservative-run Trafford is on the side of residents, standing up for our collective interests in Greater Manchester and working collaboratively to lever powers down from Whitehall to a local area. These are opportunities that mean we can be more than just a functional Council, but one that for generations to come will create the conditions for Trafford to thrive and prosper. As we approach the election, we do so with a proud record of achievement and with a clear view of our future. The choice for our voters is whether to put that at risk with an incoherent Labour party or vote to secure a stronger borough for the future, by voting Conservative. Thank you for your support. Introduction by Cllr Sean Anstee
Davyhulme West Flixton Bucklow-St Martins Bowdon Davyhulme East Urmston Ashton upon Mersey St Mary s Broadheath Altrincham Timperley Hale Central Stretford Brooklands Gorse Hill Priory Village Hale Barns Trafford is a borough of busy traditional town centres, exceptional shopping centres, including the renowned Trafford Centre and internationally recognised sporting venues in the two Old Traffords, homes to Manchester United and Lancashire County Cricket Club. Our borough is also home to the award winning Imperial War Museum North and Coronation Street with ITV Studios built beside the Ship Canal and frequent filming taking place out and about in Trafford. Longford Sale Moor Clifford TRAFFORD - a great place for living The range of housing in Trafford spans everything from edge-of-city urban locations, across leafy suburbs to rural settings. Almost 100,000 households and 220,000 residents make up the borough. The low levels of crime make Trafford the safest place to live in Greater Manchester. Trafford has long had an enviable record in educational attainment, with outstanding examination results in some of the region's best schools. Trafford sends record numbers of pupils on to university education. The borough has excellent road and public transport links yet also features fine countryside within its boundaries. Traversed by the expanding Metrolink, Trafford eagerly awaits a further extension of the system through Trafford Park.
Low Council Tax and Value For Money have frozen Council Tax for the last five years, and in 2016/17 will freeze it again for non-social care related spend. This means households in Trafford have the lowest level of Council Tax in the North West, meaning more money for you and your family. At the same time, we are committed to increasing income, managing the Council s finances carefully and working with other agencies to make sure we get value for every Trafford pound spent. In 2016/17, we will: Continue to ensure Trafford retains the lowest level of Council Tax in the North West and will continue to have the highest collection rate of Council Tax and business rates in Greater Manchester, with a target of 98% and 97.5% respectively. Ensure the delivery of 2016/17 budget savings, and deliver a balanced budget for the 13th successive year and publish our financial plans for the period 2017-20 to outline how the Council intends to spend your money. Introduce a new IT system to make it easier to report issues to the Council and find out what is happening with your request. Actively investigate allegations of benefit fraud and ensure that this includes a focus on targeting more serious abuses. Develop a Social Value Framework for Trafford which will enable us to maximise added value from our contracts and ensure businesses that receive contracts from the Council are contributing back to Trafford s communities. Launch an innovative and collaborative HR Shared Service with Greater Manchester Police, the first of its kind in the North West. Low Council Tax & Value for Money
Backing Business to Grow Backing Business to Grow and an Enhanced Environment have invested in backing business and supporting our town centres and Trafford is now recognised as having the most resilient and thriving economy in the North West. We are proud of our environment and through our new partnership with Amey we are committed to ensuring our parks, greens spaces, roads and highways are maintained to the highest possible standards. In 2016/17, we will: Support our town centres to be vibrant, dynamic places with a good retail offer and maintain amongst the lowest car parking charges in Greater Manchester. Through the One Trafford partnership with Amey, invest 3.7m in our roads and pavements and continue to support the Metrolink extension through Trafford Park to the Trafford Centre. Expand the Trafford Pledge, to help support local residents into employment with local businesses, continue the roll out of superfast broadband and also lobby for improved broadband connectivity across the whole Borough. Commence the roll out of energy efficient street lighting across the Borough, to both reduce our carbon emissions and save taxpayers money. Oppose fracking in Trafford until such time that it can be proven safe, in line with the unanimous cross party position that exists in the Borough. Encourage housing development, including through access to the Greater Manchester Housing Investment Fund, with a target of 250 new homes being completed and permission for 700 being granted. Continue public realm works in Altrincham Town Centre and progress with improvements identified in Stretford. Our Economic Growth team will continue to support businesses across Trafford.
Supporting Those Who Need Our Help The Most A Conservative-run Trafford has some of the best health and wellbeing outcomes for our population in Greater Manchester, and our children s social services have been independently inspected by Ofsted as the joint highest performing in the country. Support for vulnerable adults and the elderly continues to be a priority and we are working to the following principles for future support: Personalised care to meet an individual s assessed needs. Reducing health inequalities where the gap is widest within the Borough. Promoting resilience and independence alongside community based services. Safeguarding vulnerable adults and children and young people. Working to avoid the need for expensive care in future through early help prevention. Making sure all of our care providers offer a high standard of care and good value. This is a significant area of focus for local Conservatives and we have recently adopted the Trafford Locality Plan that shows how, across the Trafford Partnership we will work to improve health and social care across Trafford by 2021. In 2016/17, we will: Complete our work to reshape social care services to ensure appropriate care is provided and the Council's resources are targeted at the most vulnerable people in Trafford. Work closely with the Trafford Clinical Commissioning Group and local health care organisations to integrate health and social care in Trafford. Use our public health responsibilities to promote healthy lifestyles and enable access to sport and leisure opportunities, including bringing forward a full review of Trafford Leisure. Support communities to promote their health and wellbeing and offer support within localities. Partner with the Trafford Clinical Commissioning Group to continue to bring forward work on the Trafford Care Co-ordination Centre a revolutionary way of managing health care in Trafford. Focus on children leaving the care system to ensure they are able to get off to the best start in life, continuing to ensure outstanding support is provided and educational achievement is high. Actively participate in Greater Manchester devolution of health and social care responsibilities including delivery of the Trafford Locality Plan. Supporting those who need our help
The Best Start in Life for Children The Best Start in Life For Children and Young People Under Conservative-control, Trafford is renowned for the supportive environment it fosters to ensure our children and young people are able to get off to the best start in life. Alongside our children s services, educational outcomes for our young people are unrivalled and our Youth Offending Service was also independently inspected as the best in the country in 2015. Trafford has the lowest level of young people not in education, employment or training in Greater Manchester. are staunchly supportive of our schools system in the Borough, including our selective secondary school mix of grammar and high schools. In 2016/17, we will: Work closely with our schools to offer support to maintain educational excellence. Increase the proportion, number, range and take up of apprenticeships in our priority groups of looked after young people, children in care, young people aged between 16 and 24 and those that are not in employment, education or training. See the completion of our new school for children and young people with Special Educational Needs on the former Cherry Manor site in Sale. Continue to support Trust Youth, Trafford our new organisation to develop sustainable youth service provision for young people across the Borough. Work closely with Greater Manchester Police and our other partners to target support where it is needed in instances of anti-social behaviour and help prevent young people from becoming involve in inappropriate behaviour in the first place. Defend and advocate for our selective secondary system of grammar and high schools, which does so much to get our young people off to the best start in life. Continue our campaign for Fairer Funding for Trafford s schools through ongoing lobbying of Government.
A Safe Place to Live With Great Partnerships Trafford remains the safest place to live in Greater Manchester, and local Conservatives are committed to making sure that crime is tackled and dealt with quickly and appropriately. Trafford was one of the first Councils in Greater Manchester to co-locate our community safety team with the Police. They are now within Stretford Police Station to help ensure we work together with our local policing teams. The Trafford Partnership is making sure that all public and private sector bodies work together with our communities and voluntary organisations for the benefit of the whole Borough. In 2016/17, we will: Campaign for Trafford to receive its fair share of police resources from Greater Manchester Police to ensure residents and visitors feel and are safe. Collaborate with Greater Manchester Police to increase the number of Special Constables in Trafford, retaining our policy of a 50% Council Tax discount for those who live and volunteer in Trafford. Work hard to ensure Trafford remains the safest place to live in Greater Manchester and maintains the top ranking position in terms of Total Crime Rate. Support the Stronger Families programme which brings together different organisations to work together in helping families overcome any issues they may be facing and become independent. Continue with the refreshed Trafford Partnership and locality working to ensure that our communities are able to benefit from economic growth and better public services. Work with Greater Manchester Police to reduce by 20% the number of repeat demand incidents that are linked to domestic abuse, children missing from home or from care and alcohol or substance misuse. A Safe Place to Live
Re-shaping Trafford Council Re-shaping Trafford Council and Devolution Local Conservatives are the only party with a comprehensive plan for Trafford and are clear about how we can make our Borough an even better place than it is today. We do this through a programme called Reshaping Trafford and our plans are set out below. At the same time, under Conservativecontrol, Trafford is punching above its weight in Greater Manchester and leading the way to taking greater control of decisions that affect our lives. In 2016/17, we will: Develop further arrangements to co-locate, integrate and share services across organisations in Trafford and Greater Manchester to secure greater efficiencies and better outcomes for our residents and businesses Build up the Info Trafford data website to ensure we remain one of the leading open data and transparent Councils in the country. Support the aims of the Greater Manchester Strategy including preparing for localisation of business rates and lobbying for a Fairer Funding settlement for Trafford residents. Transform our Children, Families and Wellbeing services by: Establishing an All Age Integrated Structure for community health and social care services Reshaping social care provision to ensure support is tailored and targeted at those who need our help the most Create one multi-agency access point for people who require social care or have complex support needs Take steps to use the Council s resources to generate additional revenue income to support front line services and promote Trafford on the national and international stage as an inward investment location, to support the creation of jobs and a growing economy.
Working for the whole community Promoted by Sean Anstee, on behalf of, both c/o Thatcher House, Green Lane, Timperley WA15 8QW. Printed by Tradeprint, Northallerton, DL6 1PL
Conservative councillors contact details are available on www.traffordconservatives.com Twitter: @TraffordBlue