DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL
CONSERVATIVE GROUP
Manifesto 2005 - 2009
Listening
to Devon
Devon County Conservative
Manifesto 2005 -2009
2 April 2005
Leader’s
message
Four years
ago we asked the people of
Devon
to give the Conservatives at County Hall a chance to “make a difference” to the way in which your Council was run.
You agreed, and ended eight years of Liberal Democrat control. We
became the largest group on your Council and since then have played
a lead role in an all Party administration. Our aim is to use our
position to achieve the best for you
and
Devon
.
We see
ourselves as the Low Tax, High Action, Value-for-Money Party.
We now seek your
support to take Conservative control of
Devon
. Our aim is simple
to protect and improve front line services whilst stamping
out waste and cutting bureaucracy.
Christine
Channon
Better
services-lower
taxes-accountability
The
Conservative vision for
Devon
.
Devon
Conservative’s Key Principles
As
Conservatives we believe
in the concept of giving people power through freedom, independence
choice and opportunity. The individual, family and community lie at
the centre of this empowerment and we believe that in
Devon
local government is the embodiment of local communities.
Devon
Conservatives believe in a reverse
in the current trend where freedoms and responsibilities have been
pulled away from local communities towards central government and
other un-elected organisations.
Devon
Conservatives believe that:
·
The best judges of the performance of Devon County
Council are the people of
Devon
.
·
Improvement of public services in
Devon
must be focussed on the people of
Devon
they are the users of those services.
·
The best possible use of the
Devon
public’s money must be made in delivering services to the people
of
Devon
.
·
All organisations spending
public money in
Devon
must ultimately be accountable to the people of
Devon
the quango state is incompatible with this
principle and must be reduced.
·
At the heart of this lies the scrapping of the
un-elected Regional Assembly and the setting of a date for a
European Constitution. Devon Conservatives would vote “NO”.
Taxing Less – and doing
more
It is
always tempting for Councils to spend more money but every pound the
Council spends has been earned and paid for by someone else,
be it the Devon Council Taxpayer, the Business Ratepayer
or the taxpayer nationally. We see it as our job as your
Councillors to exercise both discretion and caution in how we spend
your money -
better
services, lower taxes:
·
Bureaucracy has become an
obsession in Labour’s world of
Local Government. Local Plans and costly endless inspections
now dominate the work of our Councils.
·
Labour has adopted a position of thinking that they
know what is best for everyone and have
forced Councils to deliver these targets.
However, Audit
Commission reports show that County Councils, particularly
Conservative-run ones, have performed
well and so Devon
Conservatives believe that the best judge of performance comes via
the ballot box and that inspection should
simply be a light touch
·
The money saved should be used to improve front-line
services and cut Council Tax.
·
The future of local government finance is a thorny
question. The Liberal Democrat solution of Local Income Tax (LIT) is
discredited, unworkable and misleading. The average working family
in
Britain
would be £630 per year WORSE OFF under LIT. In
Devon
the figure could be even higher.
·
We will restore security and dignity to pensioners.
Nationally pensions will be increased and we will cut the
council tax bills of pensioners over 65, living alone or together—up
to a maximum of £500
·
We need a fairer funding system that stops Labour
shifting
Devon
’s money to their “friends in the north”.
·
Above all, Devon Conservatives will resist further
attempts by the Government to push additional burdens,
responsibilities and costs upon local authorities without proper and
adequate funding mechanisms.
·
We will improve
Devon
’s economic well-being through
development of skills, and endeavour to achieve a better
match between skill levels and the requirement of providers.
·
We will work to enhance skills which make a positive
contribution to sustainable development such as food/farming,
tourism and culture.
Educating
Devon
’s children and working with our youth
Devon
’s children are
Devon
’s future. A Conservative County Council would recognise this and
work accordingly. We believe that the best people to run schools,
are schools. Here in
Devon
we would:
·
Give Head Teachers control over
discipline.
·
Set up a local fund for capital schemes in schools
which would allow discretion at local level to deliver small
schemes of their choice.
·
We will encourage excellence at all levels in our
schools, with special help for those with special needs and ‘looked
after children’.
·
We will encourage young people who have left school
without basic skills and qualifications through higher education to
achieve access to full-time employment.
·
We will encourage healthy eating
in schools by setting up some pilot schemes and provide more
exercise and sport -
team and individual.
·
We will lead and support initiatives to tackle the
under-age sales of alcohol, tobacco and solvents.
·
We will encourage young people to stay in
Devon
by endeavouring to bring together all the strands that will enhance
the quality of young life,
jobs, transport, recreation and affordable housing.
Supporting and caring for
those who need help
‘Social
Services’ as a term has come to include a multitude of different
things. A Conservative
County Council would seek to ensure that the best possible use was
made of taxpayer’s money to help all those
young and old
who need help and support in their daily lives.
·
We will create a stable and caring environment for
children who are unable to live with their families -
an area in which Conservatives believe we could make some
improvement. Too many of our young people end up unskilled and
unemployed. And too many end up in psychiatric hospitals and prison.
·
We will provide support for youth services -
in
particular those that seek to help young people take charge of their
own lives
through
skills training, job provision and youth organisations. We will roll
out the on-street bus provision to all districts.
·
We will improve care for the elderly and those with
disabilities. We must modernise to meet demand and expectations.
This will mean more day care, domiciliary care and specialist
residential care for the elderly, infirm, frail and disabled. We
must support those with learning difficulties and the mentally ill.
·
We will encourage the take up of direct payments,
particularly amongst those with learning disabilities, mental health
problems, adults over 65 and adult carers. Direct payments encourage
independence and choice.
·
We will work together with local partnerships to
improve outcomes for local people.
Making our County an easier
place to live
Devon
is the finest County in
Britain
with, for many, a quality of life envied by visitors and outsiders
alike, but there is much to be done to enhance and improve this. A
Conservative County Council would lead this task:
·
We will continue the programme of road maintenance and
footway improvement.
·
We will improve travel choices and reduce the
congestion that now blights Exeter
and many other towns.
·
We will work closely with local Councils on local
highways issues – the mobile ‘lengthsmen’ scheme.
·
Tourism is a vital cornerstone of
Devon
’s economy. Over 80% of our visitors arrive by road
and who knows how many are deterred from coming at all by the
congestion levels. We must further improve
roads like, the Newton Abbot/Torbay corridor.
·
We will improve access to the countryside. This is an
important part of our local economy i.e. 33% of our visitor spending
per annum. The South West Coastal Path alone contributes over £120
m to the
Devon
economy.
·
We will develop a Rights of Way Improvement Plan which
will enhance and create cycle routes and cycle-hire facilities,
bridleways and riding centres.
·
We will endeavour to link walking routes and ferry
services with all other transport means, offering enjoyment of the
countryside to Devonian and visitor alike.
And
a safer and cleaner
Devon
for all
As far as
the public are concerned, nothing describes the work of their
Council better than the world around them. Devon Conservatives are
determined that
Devon
will be an environment in which people feel safe, at home and proud.
We also understand the need for access to your Council and the
provision of a ‘joined up’ service by it:
·
The fear of crime is rife in
Devon
particularly amongst the elderly.
·
We will stop illegal traveller encampments and let
local people decide where the provision of transit and permanent
sites should be developed. We oppose the imposition of centralist.
arbitrary quotas and statutory obligations on councils to provide
sites. They should be a
local, plan-led process
·
A Conservative County Council will work with the
police and the courts to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
·
We will take measures to remove and discourage litter
and graffiti
both in urban areas and the countryside.
·
We will designate an Executive member to be
responsible for the ‘cultural’ development of
Devon
through libraries, the creative arts, heritage, leisure, sport and
the environment.
·
We will form wider
and stronger partnerships with District authorities, the
voluntary and private sectors to deliver these projects.
·
We will set up a contact centre which will provide
access by telephone to information across all Authorities. We will
work with District Councils to share
the portal through which
e-government can be accessed and information shared.
Devon
needs a single multi-access service which leaves no-one excluded.
The internet and mediated access points are an important part of
this.
·
We will promote the work of the voluntary sector in
all manner of ways
be it school governors, foster parents, youth workers, local
environmentalists
and all others who combine to work for a better Devon.
A sound and sustainable
economy
Devon
suffered badly under the Foot and Mouth epidemic and even now some
residents are still suffering from the effects of this disaster.
The economy of
Devon
tends to divide with the A30 and there is still a lot of work to be
done to equate the economic divide.
Conservatives promise:
·
To monitor DEFRA to ensure that protocols are in place
so that any possible future outbreaks will be dealt effectively and
rapidly
·
To provide opportunities for diversity are promoted
for businesses which will lose
out on CAP subsidies
·
To promote small business and access to Broadband
·
To promote sustainable tourism
·
To protect the future of
Exeter
International
Airport
and ensure its development as the major airport in the South-West
peninsula
·
To continue the growth of the Exeter Economic
Development Area, through the promotion of Skypark
·
To work with the University
of
Exeter
to promote the development of research, industry and business.
This is the vision of the Devon County Conservative group for
the next four years. We
accept that there are many challenges but with the support of the
people of
Devon
we believe that our pledges are deliverable and we seek the
opportunity to put them into action
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