LOCAL ELECTIONS: Monmouthshire party statements

CONSERVATIVES 

The last five years have seen Monmouthshire facing challenging times with considerable funding reductions from the Welsh Government. We have reduced council running costs by £18 million and have done so by operating more efficiently and innovatively.

We have prioritised those services which have the greatest impact on the wellbeing of our residents; education, care of the vulnerable, the retention of local services and economic development, encouraging new jobs and apprenticeships.

Our progressive, efficient and caring approach has enabled us to protect valued services, invest in new schools, deliver better solutions for the care of the most vulnerable, drive economic growth and create resilient and sustainable communities.

Conservatives in Monmouthshire have a plan to deliver a county that works for everyone, a plan that secures social justice, believes in people; a plan that will maintain services, drive improvements, but is also sensitive to the diverse needs of all parts of our communities.

Each year we have set and delivered balanced budgets, keeping a check on Council Tax and resisting calls from opposition parties to set higher council taxes for more services.

Politics is about people and Conservative councillors working together under the Conservative banner share a set of principles that will deliver the best for our residents. If elected on May 4 we will implement the promises laid out in our manifesto.

GREEN

The times, they are a-changing. Voters in Monmouthshire are questioning the future that we are offered by the parties of the past and are turning instead to the Green Party.

Greens want a future where our air and water is clean and our food healthy.

Greens want a future where our energy comes from the wind, the waves and the sun, saving our planet and creating jobs.

Greens want a future where the young are given every opportunity to make use of their talents and fulfil their dreams, where the elderly and those with disabilities can still play an active role in our communities, where diversity is valued, where everyone is supported to have good mental and physical health, where the most vulnerable are protected, and where we all have the time to pursue our interests and to live a full life.

More and more of us share that vision of a future full of opportunity and are determined to play our part in making it happen.

You can join us by rejecting the politics of despair and vote Green on May 4.

As Bob Dylan said: “I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours”.”

PLAID CYMRU

PLAID Plaid Cymru is a party for local communities, based entirely in Wales. We fight against downgrading and selling off local services.

Where Monmouthshire services are good, Plaid councillors will support them; where they need improvement, there will be open, constructive criticism and proposals for better ways of working.

Plaid Cymru candidates are committed to: l Protecting your services by fighting for fair resources, delivered by fairly treated frontline staff.

• Clamping down on executive top-level pay, but paying all staff above the “living wage”.
• Putting people’s needs first instead of ticking boxes. This has transformed services in Plaid-run Gwynedd.
• Supporting teachers and reducing bureaucracy to give more time with pupils. Plaid-run Ceredigion council is ranked No 1 in Wales, the only education authority classed as “outstanding”.
• Acknowledging that bilingual education is of enormous benefit, therefore making it accessible to all.
• Buying council goods and services locally; investing council reserves locally where possible, but always responsibly and ethically.
• A cleaner, greener Monmouthshire, supporting sustainable working and local renewal energy projects.
• Working for planning reform, towards sustainable, affordable development meeting the needs of local communities..
• Working in partnership to invest in social housing. A decent home is everyone’s right.

UKIP

People see a lack of democracy and connection with the three old parties. UKIP bring a breath of fresh air into politics and offer the electorate a real alternative to the status quo.

Importantly a UKIP councillor is not under a party whip like the old parties. UKIP councillors are encouraged to represent the people who voted for them not the party they belong to.

Local government is under pressure and services are stretched due to the government’s open door immigration policy combined with reduced funding. UKIP will change this and put local people first. We want to keep the National Health Service free and oppose Labour and Conservative attempts to privatise it. UKIP will prevent developers from concreting over the countryside, protect our pensioners, look after our veterans and help our young people seeking work.

3.8 million people voted UKIP in the General Election and 17.4 million voted with UKIP in the referendum. We now have Councillors all over the country – improving democracy in their local government, saving tax payers’ money, rolling up their sleeves, working hard and serving the people.

You can be confident that if you vote UKIP, you’ll get UKIP. We are the only party being honest about immigration, jobs and housing; the only party offering you a real alternative.

LABOUR

Monmouthshire Labour Party Vote Labour for a better Monmouthshire Labour Pledges for Monmouthshire

• We will protect front-line services
• We will fight for better bus and rail services
• We will support schools, children and teachers
• We will tackle loneliness and isolation in our communities
• We will improve roads, street lighting and pavements
• Monmouthshire needs change

The Tory council has increased council tax but has cut services. Zero-hour contracts have been doubled. Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been wasted. Estyn viewed the Tory-led council as failing children. The elderly experience isolation as services are stripped, and streets neglected. Free school breakfasts are threatened whilst one third of food bank users are children.

Never have our local services been under so much threat. For example, the Tories have cut bus services by 62 per cent in five years. Enough is enough: we must make a stand. The Liberal Democrats have been in coalition with the Conservatives in Monmouthshire for five years: only Labour represents a positive change. Labour has candidates in every ward: experienced, hardworking people who will keep in touch with you, and put in the hard graft necessary to ensure that your needs are met, and your voices heard.

monmouthlabour.org

LIBDEMS

This year’s County election is one of the most important ever. The next five years present enormous challenges.

By 2030, the County will age: more people over 65, fewer young people. Adult social care demands will grow, costing £25 million a year extra. We’re committed to funding essential support so our elders are healthy and independent in the own homes, where people are happiest.

We’re passionate about our children’s futures. The new high school building programme has started. Caldicot opens this year. We’re committed to ensuring Chepstow and Abergavenny get theirs as promised.

We’ll continue to tackle climate change by making Monmouthshire more sustainable.

In the future the money does not exist for the County to deliver services as it has done unless we change how we do things.

We’ve seen the transformation of ex-council homes by transferring to a non-profit organisation. We want this success repeated for other council services too.

We reject wholesale privatisation. We want enterprising, locally based non-profit mutuals to do the job instead. Then residents will know services are run for their benefit, not for the profit-driven corporate interests on faraway stock markets.

Working across party lines and managing things correctly means a good future for Monmouthshire.