From a total of 128,433 votes cast Labour received 57,462 (44.7%) compared to 50,866 for the Tories (39.6%) and 11,302 for the LibDems (8.8%) – so Labour actually gained 5% more of the vote than than the Tories!

Congratulations to the following 24 Labour Councillors:

• Central:  Junab Ali, Julie Wright, Bob Wright
• Covingham & Dorcan: Julian Price
• Gorse Hill & Pinehurst: John Ballman, Ray Ballman, Rochelle Russell
• Liden & Eldene:  Neil Heavens, Fay Howard, Derique Montaud
• Lydiard & Freshbrook: Cindy Matthews
• Mannington & Western: Jim Robbins, Kevin Small, Steve Wakefield
• Old Town: Nadine Watts
• Penhill & Upper Stratton: Paul Baker, Teresa Page, Joe Tray
• Rodbourne Cheney: Jim Grant, Des Moffatt, Peter Watts
• Walcott & Park North: Steve Allsopp, Abdul Amin, Mark Dempsey

As long as you are on the electoral roll all you need to do on polling day (May 3^rd 2012) is to turn up at your polling station and give your name and address and you’ll be able to vote.

Finding your polling station:

The council website has details of polling stations that can be downloaded here in PDF format – you can download the free Adobe Reader software at http://get.adobe.com/reader/ if you can’t open the polling stations list.

Swindon is now one of 170 councils that have taken back control of all the income from their housing stock. The Tories said this was not their preferred position and their warning  of we’re all doomed if tenants voted No. Self financing commenced at the end of last month despite Tory warnings during the ballot of Fraser like utterances of “we’re all doomed” if tenants did not accept the Tory preferred position.

With a one off payment to adjust the Council’s finances of millions of pounds by Swindon Borough council  to the Tory government saw the end to the old system of Treasury pooled council house rental income. This was a system where all the rental incomes from councils were put into one pot and then redistributed according to the government’s assessment of local need.

Under the new housing revenue self financing accounting system, not only will Swindon be able to maintain its existing houses to sustainable standards. It will allow increasing investment in existing council housing and more importantly allow the building of new homes.

The Localism Bill, which tilts planning in favour of development may bring back applications north of Hay Lane. Labour is opposed to this and is taking a petition to the next full Council to ensure we keep our officially designated open spaces.

Proposals are under discussion for house building off Gainsborough Way on the old playground site in front of Cottington Close and Crawford Close. This is currently a piece of open amenity land for the residents which will be lost if it is built on.

There are also planning applications progressing for mobile telephone masts across West Swindon which are causing concerns that Cindy, Ged and Jamal are taking forward on your behalf.

It must have taken him a while to write, and yet at around the same time, he publicly berated the Labour Party in Swindon for, and I quote from a tweet he made on the 27^th March, being “too busy issuing press releases”.  Might this be because Labour are bringing the failings or the Tory administration to light, which takes me nicely to my next point.

Another interesting observation is that Cllr Bluh recently told a Local Government Association event that “we need to stop being precious with our data and get beyond the fear of sharing”.

According to Openly Local, a website that presents open data sets provided by local authorities, who should be on their list of “Councils with no open data” but Tory run Swindon Borough Council.

From what I can tell, Swindon Borough Council doesn’t license any data under the Government’s own “Open Government Licence” – something local authorities are encouraged to do.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea.  The Conservatives in Swindon are just for transparency and open data practices in theory, while ensuring information does not get shared in practice in case it paints them in a negative light.

The Conservatives, led by Councillor Bluh, have said that if they retain control of the Council they will provide the same approach to running the council as they have done over the last 9 years. They will continue to spend your council-taxes on what they want it to be spent on, rather than what you want it spent on- like the failed Wi-Fi project which cost £400K. They will continue failing to consult you on major decisions facing your community before they’re decided- as they did with Croft, Tadpole Farm and Pickards Field. And they will continue to make promise after promise on town centre regeneration, while still delivering no significant improvements.

While Labour, under my leadership, are offering you an opportunity to have real change. If Labour take administration of the Council our approach will be based on four priorities.

• Delivering Value For Money for Swindon’s Council-taxpayers.
  This means taking tough decisions to address the Council’s £100m+ debt, keeping council-taxes as low as possible and improving council services, in the face of inevitable budget cuts.
• Protecting the vulnerable & supporting our young people.
  This means ensuring there are good local schools available for local people and ensuring that the care the council provides to its elderly and disabled people isn’t reduced because of budget cuts.
• Retaining and Attracting Jobs.
  This means prioritising local council jobs rather than expensive consultants and working with Swindon’s major employers to attract their suppliers to Swindon.
• And Restoring Trust in the Community.
  This means ensuring the Council is open and accountable for all it does and fully consulting residents before decisions that affect them are taken, not after.

If you elect Labour as the majority party on the council, my pledge to you will be that all our policies will be based on these priorities, starting from day one.

This is the type of Labour Council I am seeking to lead.  A Council working hard for our residents to ensure that any problems they have are addressed and delivering on our election priorities to drive value for money, protect the vulnerable, retain and attract jobs and restore trust in the community.

Cllr Jim Grant

Swindon Labour Group Leader

Just as businesses in Swindon have declared – the Tories strategy is not for low growth; but no growth.  Under Labour in the 1980s Swindon became a powerhouse for inward investment attracting Honda, BMW and Nationwide. We were the zero unemployment town.  Under the Tories youth unemployment stands at the second highest in the South West region.

The Tories economic strategy is hurting but not working.   Families, pensioners and businesses already know the Tories cuts are hurting.  Unemployment has soared to 2.67 million, the highest levels for 16 years.  And youth unemployment is at its highest level since records began.

And with the Tories plunging the Council into £116 million of debt – it’s just not working.   Who is paying the price of the Tories economic failure?  Families with a 150,000 cut to SureStart; the disabled with a £615,000 cut for help for disabled care; and the sick with a £150,000 cut for bus services to Great Western Hospital.

What should the budget have said?.  At the heart of the budget we need a plan for growth and a long term vision for rebuilding our economy.

Nationally we should implement Labour’s 5 point plan for jobs including a new bankers bonus tax to fund 100,000 jobs for young people.  In Swindon we should do the same and cut senior management costs and spend the money on apprenticeships getting young people back to work.

We also need a long term economic strategy.  Swindon Labour’s proposed Green New Deal will ‘get Swindon working’ and build the new businesses, the new jobs and the new economy that our town needs.   We will place Swindon at the heart of the hydrogen highway and at the forefront of creating new green collar jobs.

We will also establish a new inward investment team to market Swindon and build relationships with businesses.   To help Swindon’s successful businesses to grow and expand, we will establish mini enterprise zones to attract supply chain businesses of Swindon’s major manufacturers.

To increase local opportunity for education and skills, we will build a long term plan for a University for Swindon.  Finally we will create a new Masterplan for the regeneration of Swindon Town Centre.

Instead of these cuts, we need to build a plan for the economic future of Swindon.  With a strong economic strategy Swindon can once again become an economic powerhouse for jobs and prosperity.

Swindon has been particularly hard hit – identified as a youth unemployment hot spot by the recent report by the Association of Chief executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACVO).  The percentage of young people (18-24) out of work in Swindon has more than trebled from 2.5% in 2000 to 8.8% in 2011.

There is a real danger we create a lost generation.  We know how corrosive and damaging unemployment is to local communities, and how demoralising the search for work can be.

For young people, long-term unemployment scars for life. It means lower earnings, more unemployment, and more ill health later in life. It means more inequality between rich and poor.

It also affects young people’s mental and physical health. It increases susceptibility to illness, mental stress, and helplessness, and loss of self-esteem leading to depression.

Youth unemployment means that those people affected are more likely to be unemployed and welfare-dependent later in life and it creates a long term divide in aspiration passed down the generations.  According to the Princes Trust 25% of those from deprived homes believe that ‘few’ or ‘none’ of their career goals are achievable.

Studies have found that increases in youth unemployment relate to increases in burglaries, thefts and drug offences.  Overall it is it is urgent that we take action to tackle youth unemployment.

Unfortunately at a time when we need to create new jobs and open the door for opportunity, many of the key support mechanisms have been dismantled.

•          The Future Jobs Fund, cut

•          The Connexions Service, Cut

•          EMA’s cut

•          And Tuition Fees Trebled

The ACVO report recommends 3 key strategies to tackle youth unemployment:

1. Young people need more job opportunities:

It calls for a Youth Contract Work Programme and for young people to be guaranteed a part-time ‘First Step’ job as a stepping stone to unsupported employment.

2. Young people need better preparation and motivation for work

The raising of the education participation age from 16 to 18 is a massive moment for the country.  They also call for the creation of national Job Ready programme for those most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed.

3. The creation of Youth Employment Zones

Starting in the youth unemployment ‘hotspots’ across Britain, the key organisations responsible for tacking youth unemployment should come together and coordinate their efforts.  It must become everybody’s business to get young people into work.

Tackling Youth Unemployment is one of political challenges of our times.  It is a challenge we must face together.  It is essential that we develop a clear strategy for Swindon and make a real positive difference to the future of young people across our town.

Swindon has been chosen to pilot restorative justice.  It has been used by the Youth Offending Team for 12 years but is now being extended to adults.  Restorative justice connects the criminal with the consequences of their actions; and shows the victim that justice is being served.  Restorative Justice holds offenders to account for what they have done, and helps victims to get on with their lives.  In other parts of the country restorative justice schemes have seen a 50% reduction in the reoffending rate of young offenders.  According to Cambridge University every £1 spent on restorative justice saves £9 in criminal justice system.

Under Labour crime came down.  However under the Tories personal crime has gone up by a shocking 11 per cent. This is the biggest annual increase in personal crime for over a decade.  In Wiltshire, nearly 6 per cent of front line police officers have been cut and there has been a 5% rise in burglaries. In Gloucestershire the Chief Constable said he feared budget cuts mean they are about to go over a “cliff edge” in police services in the County. Labour introduced Neighbourhood Policing Teams and we increased police numbers by 17,000 and created 16,000 new PCSOs.  However HMIC estimate that over 16,000 police officers will be lost by 2015 as a result of the Tories 20 per cent cuts – 8,000 police officers have already been lost since the election.  Tories plans are to cut police numbers rather than cut crime.

Regeneration of our towns and communities is vitally important.  The successful regeneration of Cabots Circus, Gloucester Docks, Bath Southgate and Plymouth are inspirational – and are hugely important in rebuilding the economy and restoring community.  However after a decade or urban transformation, regeneration is stalled. The RDA’s have been abolished and programmes such as the Pathfinder programme have been cut.  In Swindon 8 years of Tory control have failed to deliver regeneration: the town is blighted by waste land, derelict buildings and eyesores.  Regeneration has turned into degeneration.

People want action on regeneration – and that’s what we have delivered in my ward in Swindon.  Cavendish Square had been abandoned with half left as a derelict building site.  After a failed Tory regeneration project, locals likened it to a bombsite.  However I worked in partnership with the community and after numerous meetings the Square has been resurfaced.  It has been a long wait but we think that the resurfacing has made a huge difference to the look of the Square; and shows that we can make a difference to our communities.

The latest unemployment figures are deeply worrying.  UK unemployment rose by 48,000 to 2.67 million in the three months to December.   Youth unemployment is the highest since records began.  There is a real danger we create a lost generation. We need a plan for growth and a long term vision for rebuilding our economy.

The Conservative- austerity plan is hurting, but not working.  They should be taxing the bankers’ bonuses and using the money to help young people back to work.  However we also need a long term plan for rebuilding the economy.  The root cause of the current economic crisis is the overreliance of our economy on the banks.  We need a plan for rebuilding our manufacturing base and growing the green economy.   Employment in the environmental sector has been growing at 7% since the year 2000, whilst the wind energy sector has seen a 91% leap in employment over the last three years, and now employs more people than the coal industry.    This is a long term vision to rebuild our economy and create the new businesses and new jobs of the future.

My overall conclusion from the experience is how after the Tories in Swindon have nothing to offer on the key issues of the economy and jobs.  The Tories have left a legacy of failure, debt and waste.  They have failed to deliver regeneration, there is no economic plan for growth and they have racked up debts of £80m.  Labour has a clear vision for the future of the town – to create the new jobs and businesses of the future; to kick start regeneration and to create a new masterplan to shape the future of the town; and to tackle youth unemployment.  Labour has the clear plan to take Swindon forwards and is ready to take power if we win the local elections in May.

You can watch the whole programme on iPlayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01c156q/Sunday_Politics_West_19_02_2012/