Lib Dems launch manifesto for local elections

10.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 16th Apr 2008

Brian Watkins

More Police and PCSOs, scrapping council tax, saving local post offices and empowering local people, are some of the policies outlined today by the Norwich Liberal Democrats, as they launch their manifesto for the upcoming local elections.

The manifesto called "Value, safety and community pride" offers Norwich voters a dynamic and innovative set of policy proposals.

Norwich Liberal Democrat Council Group leader Brian Watkins commented "This is a manifesto which I believe to be bold, imaginative and ambitious. It is primarily about policies that will help to strengthen the local communities which are the lifeblood of our city. We will put the needs and concerns of people first. I want to reach out to those who feel that their voice is ignored and their concerns dismissed. At a time when Norwich is facing the challenge of change, the Liberal Democrats are ready to play their part in shaping its future destiny."

Brian Watkins said the manifesto sets out three big challenges:

Value - "Norwich voters deserve value for money. This means keeping the unfair council tax low in the short-term and in the long-term replacing it with a fairer income-based system that doesn't disproportionately punish the elderly and poor. It means sorting out the financial problems at City Hall and it means improving council performance across the board."

Safety - "We want more police and more PCSOs on the street. This will be achieved by ending the duplication between Wardens and PCSOs that currently sees taxpayers paying twice for same service. We will be focused on PCSOs - who have real power and work hand-in hand with the police. We will continue to campaign for the government to abandon its ill-conceived ID card scheme and argue that the money should be used to fund an extra 10,000 police officers nationally."

Community Pride - "We want strong communities. This means reversing the government's Post Office closure programme, ending the disgraceful sell-off of school playing fields and giving people a genuine voice. We will empower local communities by setting up local scrutiny panels to monitor the performance of public bodies, allow the public to "call in" council decisions and force the council to think again, introduce participatory budgets and devolved budgets where people decide where money is spent and campaign for a genuine decentralisation of power from Whitehall. I want to end the "London knows best" attitude of Labour. I believe Norwich residents know what is best for their communities not pen-pushers in London."

The manifesto continues the Lib Dems work on the environment. As the "practical greens" the party will look for environmental action that stresses the need for individuals and the council to take practical steps in tackling climate change. These local day to day actions are achievable and make a real difference. The manifesto calls for a sustainable transport policy where cycling and walking is encouraged and real public transport improvements are made.

The full manifesto can be downloaded by clicking here http://norwichlibdems.org.uk/resources/index/ or going to "Manifesto 2008" in the left-hand navigation menu.