RETURNING POWER TO THE PEOPLE

Greening Hammersmith & Fulham

Protecting Hammersmith & Fulham

Listening to Hammersmith & Fulham

H&F LIBERAL DEMOCRATS MANIFESTO

POLICIES FOR H&F BOROUGH COUNCIL ELECTIONS, MAY 2006

  1 Introduction  

  2 Helping our Environment

  3 Crime and Policing  

  4 Consultation 

  5 Transport

  6 Leisure and Sport

  7 Housing 

  8 Health 

  9 Disability Issues

10 Planning and Economic Development

11 Equal Opportunities for Local Communities

12 Organisation and Finance

13 Education  

14   Human Rights and Equality  

Sir Ming Campbell MP, the new Liberal Democrat Leader, has called for a DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION  combating an unelected quango state and an unaccountable Central Government that have been introduced by both the Conservative and Labour parties.

The Liberal Democrats are opposed to Labour's excessive centralisation of financial control through Mr. Brown's Treasury.  Local council funds are now 75% centrally controlled and only 25% locally controlled.  This is a big �turn off' for voters because it leaves local governments very little room for manoeuvre on issues that affect residents.   Whitehall certainly does NOT always know best.

The Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham is, compared to some areas of London, a pleasant place to live and work.  However, it could be so much better. 

We believe that the Council must become more open, transparent and accountable so that everyone who lives or works in the Borough can see why things happen and get more involved in local decision-making. Many changes are needed.  To make it so, Liberal Democrat Councillors will follow the priorities outlined in this manifesto.

We are ambitious for the Borough and we ask you to read and reflect on what we stand for.  If you like what you see, vote for the Liberal Democrats on 4 May 2006 to make a difference.

2   Helping our environment

Introduction

Liberal Democrats believe that improving the environment in which we live and positive action on green issues, are top priorities for any well-run Council.

We want to see our streets cleaned properly and frequently. We want to see the rubbish collected on time and more items recycled in the Borough. We want to see our air less polluted.

Successive Councils have neglected proper and regular street cleaning in Hammersmith & Fulham, and have not adequately promoted recycling. Liberal Democrat-run Councils in London, such as Sutton, have good track records in these areas.

A greener Council

Liberal Democrat councillors once elected will focus first on the Council itself. We will seek to reduce the amount of paper that the Council generates and get the Council recycling more in order to set a positive example to other organisations in the Borough.

We would like to see a full and regular Environmental Audit of all the Council's activities. This would enable residents to monitor our progress on green issues. An environment management system with independent auditors visiting the Council on a regular basis would ensure that the Council itself upholds high standards of environmental management. This type of system is already in place in Liberal Democrat run Sutton Council.

More recycling

The majority of waste in Hammersmith & Fulham is sent to landfill sites. This is costly and harmful to our environment. We oppose the building of incinerators as a means to deal with waste � the solution is to support and extend all efforts to increase recycling.

The Labour-run Council has sought to trumpet its record on recycling, but in fact the Council has been slow to improve recycling rates. In 2004/05 19.6% of household waste from Hammersmith & Fulham was recycled or composted. The Council may therefore struggle to achieve its modest target of 24% for 2005/06. London in general is failing to meet national recycling targets. It can be done though - Lib-Dem run Sutton Council in contrast recycled 28% of household waste in 2004/05.

We want to see a step change in the levels of recycling in Hammersmith and Fulham. Liberal Democrat Councillors will actively campaign to promote recycling, seeking to recycle a wider range of items, looking at ways to encourage residents and businesses to recycle more, and encouraging the use fewer plastics.

To encourage recycling of household waste in the Borough, we will seek to:

1 offer incentives to residents who recycle their household waste;

2   provide residents of blocks of flats with better recycling facilities more large bins (Smart Banks) and/or a green box service if needed;

3 ensure that all households, businesses and schools in the Borough have access to a kitchen waste collection scheme if wanted;

4 collect more plastics and cardboard from doorsteps and local recycling centres;

5 ensure that residents when they move into the Borough are properly informed of  collection dates, where the nearest recycling facilities are, and how to obtain orange sacks;

6 ensure the Council fulfils its commitment to putting collection bins outside all tube and rail stations;

7 actively encourage more home composting � fully promote the scheme offering subsidised composters.

We believe that the Council should be far more active in educating children about the importance of recycling, offering a schools' programme encouraging active in-school recycling and school recycling centre excursions. The Recycle Western Riverside campaign is a start but more can be done.

We believe the Council should commit more fully to the garden waste collection scheme by improving access to sacks and extending the service by another month to better match residents' needs (at present it only operates for 6 months of the year).

Cleaner Streets

Residents all over the Borough have complained to us that in spite of the Hammersmith & Fulham �Smarter Borough� initiative our streets are dirtier then ever. This must urgently be remedied. 

Liberal Democrat Councillors will ensure that street cleaning and washing takes place on a regular and frequent basis and, where possible, after the household rubbish has been collected in order to avoid spilt litter in our streets. There should be proper co-ordination between rubbish collection and street cleaning.

There are many simple means of reducing the amount of street litter which are currently under-used. Liberal Democrat councillors will seek to ensure that there are more bins and more on-the-spot fines handed out to those who litter.

Dealing with fly-tipping and graffiti

We believe that graffiti and fly-tipping incidents should be dealt with much faster than they are at present. We would like to see the appointment of more "green inspectors" whose role will be to check our streets for missed rubbish collections, broken pavements, graffiti and damaged street signs. They will report their findings for immediate action.

Investing in our streets

We will remove unnecessary street furniture, including out-of-date signs, and ensure that when new ones are installed they are useful, well designed and do not block the path of pedestrians. Often new items of furniture have been installed without thought to the streetscape and the possibility of combing functions on single poles.

Investing in our parks

We believe that parks and open spaces are of vital importance to residents and to those working in Borough. South Park in Sands End is an excellent example of enlightened

Victorian planning, with a school on either side.  Liberal Democrat Councillors will work to ensure that our parks are enjoyable and safe places to walk in and spend time.

We welcome further additions to the Borough's public open space planned at Norland North, Imperial Wharf and Hammersmith Embankment. Improvements planned for Shepherds Bush Green are much needed.

We will seek to protect existing allotments in the Borough and restore run-down ones so that they can be brought back into use.

Air Pollution

In 2000 the whole Borough was designated an Air Quality Management Area. Road traffic is the main source of air pollution in the Borough - the A40 and the A4 in particular are highly polluting roads. Levels of nitrogen dioxide and small particles continue to provide huge cause for concern, with serious health implications for people in the Borough.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will ensure that there is a renewed focus on air pollution in the Borough. It is vital that there is a revised action plan on air pollution for the borough and greater agreement on how these issues are to be dealt with across London as a whole.

3   Crime and policing

Introduction

Ensuring that people feel secure in their homes and communities is at the heart of what we stand for as Liberal Democrats. Crime affects our ability to live full and fulfilling lives. It is a vital function of local as well as of national government to take action to reduce crime and the fear of crime.

Local residents believe that crime is increasing while police and independent figures show that most types of crime are steady or falling. This current trend is meaningless however, if people continue to feel unsafe in their communities. Many people also feel they do not have equality of treatment in the enforcement of law and in access to justice.  The state should offer all its citizens, particularly the most vulnerable, equal and adequate protection from crime. 

More visible policing

Liberal Democrat Councillors will campaign for improved public access to local police stations and for the Safer Neighbourhood teams to be located in or as near as possible to the wards they serve. More resources should be allocated to reduce the administrative burden on police officers, in order to free up their time to fight crime and get them back on the beat.

We will encourage the local police to retain retired police officers in a back-up role. Their experience will have a positive impact.  We will also encourage greater public involvement with policing by encouraging residents to become Police Community Support Officers.

We will also promote the Met Volunteer Programme, where volunteers from the public tackle administrative matters in police stations, so that police officers are released to patrol our streets, where they are needed most. 

Safer Neighbourhoods

Liberal Democrats will continue to campaign for the highest priority to be given to the Safer Neighbourhood Scheme. We want all the teams now being introduced in the Borough to be brought fully up to strength within six months, without diverting resources from elsewhere. 

The teams must be properly staffed with experienced officers, and fully equipped for the task of dealing with 21st century crime. This means using the latest technology both to catch criminals and to free police from some of the huge amount of paperwork and bureaucracy that takes up so much of their time. This would enable them to be back out in the community.  Crime levels are relatively low in the borough.  But wild claims have been made about crime levels so the fear of crime is greater than actual crime.  Increasing the visibility of the Safer Neighbourhood teams will help reduce this fear as well as actual crime.

We will seek to boost the Neighbourhood Watch scheme in the Borough (which is currently very patchy) under an independent, publicly accountable representative body, properly resourced by the Council to enable it to support local committees.

Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour

Anti-social behaviour leads to a reduced enjoyment of an area and too many people feeling threatened in their own homes. We believe the causes of anti-social behaviour are complex and must be dealt with accordingly. Young people are too often treated as a problem but it is their problems that should be treated.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will campaign for the use of Liberal Democrat-pioneered Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs). These contracts have been successfully introduced and used in Liberal Democrat-run Islington to reduce bad behaviour on estates. They are more successful, cheaper and easier to introduce than legalistic programmes like Antisocial Behaviour Orders.

We will support the use of Antisocial Behaviour Injunction Orders, Antiocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs), and the related Individual Support Orders, when they concentrate on targeting the reasons for antisocial activity. 

Cut nuisance crime

Nuisance crimes like graffiti, fly tipping and abandoned vehicles remain common in the Borough and make people feel unsafe.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will work for improved enforcement and allocate increased resources to graffiti removal and the removal of fly-tipping and abandoned vehicles throughout the Borough. We will also ban the sale of aerosol paint cans to children under the age of 16 years.

Community payback

Too many non-violent criminals are given short custodial sentences, which are counter-productive. We believe the objective of sentencing policy should be to protect communities against further offences through deterrence and reform.

Non-violent criminals, particularly young first offenders, should be required to learn new skills and pay back their debt to society through work on community projects. Offenders should be given more socially useful penalties, such as cleaning up graffiti or clearing away dumped refuse and litter.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will play their full part in �Community Payback� schemes aimed at rehabilitating offenders serving community orders, within the Safer Neighbourhoods programme.

Cut re-offending rates

Prison is the right place for violent criminals. Almost two-thirds of released prisoners re-offend. We want better education, training and rehabilitation programmes in and out of prison to cut recidivism, with early release linked to ensuring that prisoners have developed basic skills.

More crime deterrents

Liberal Democrat Councillors will support better crime prevention in the Borough, including the appropriate installation of more CCTV cameras and better street-lighting in town centres, tube and bus stops and other crime "hotspots". These measures will restore public confidence, reduce the threat and incidence of crime and improve public safety.  However, these are not substitutes for widespread visible policing without which crime will simply move to other parts of the Borough.

Greater accountability

We want to see the police and council officers holding more public meetings where residents and businesses can raise their concerns about crime in their area. We will give more support to the Community and Police Consultative Committee. 

We would like to see crime statistics published more widely so that residents can see whether actions by the police and the Council are having a positive effect.

Traffic offences

We welcome the freeing of the police from the responsibility for enforcing certain minor traffic regulations. However, Liberal Democrat Councillors will ensure that enforcement by the Council of its traffic regulation powers is objectively operated and monitored, and with a proper independent appeals procedure set in place.

Drugs

We want to see realistic and responsible reform of drugs legislation. We will encourage police use of roadside sobriety tests on suspected drug-affected drivers combined with a publicity campaign on the effects of drugs on driving ability, and increased resources for drugs treatment, education and counselling programmes. Liberal Democrat Councillors will also encourage police use of powers allowing them to obtain �crack house� closure orders and to encourage allocation of sufficient resources to ensure their closure within the shortest possible time.  

 4 Consultation

Introduction

We believe that consulting residents and informing them about decisions taken are two sides of the same democratic coin. We want to return power to the people.

The current Labour-run Council's record of involving interested local residents, or those with expert knowledge of issues, to attend and take part in the decision-making process has been poor. We aim to redress this.

Better consultation of residents

We believe that residents should be consulted and informed more often and in more ways.

Liberal Democrats Councillors would campaign for the use of email opt-in lists for consultation and information about Council Services for local residents. For example, a form could be enclosed with Council Tax bills providing a chance for residents to register their email addresses with the Council in order to express an interest in being consulted on various aspects of Council services.

We would like new residents to the Borough to be sent a welcome pack including details of recycling points, local transport information and useful Council-related information.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will also ensure that the Council encourages residents to become more involved in their local residents' associations or tenant groups.

Labour introduced a new constitution, which reduced Council meetings and restricted the ability of residents to question council decisions directly.  We would work to change this and open up Council proceedings to residents.

Better consultation of businesses and interest groups

We are concerned that local businesses are often excluded from consultation processes. We will compile and maintain records of residents' associations, local amenity groups, local business groups and any other groups in order that all interested parties may be consulted on such issues as affect them. This list would be published widely.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will ensure that all interested parties are informed about how any consultation will proceed, and how the consultation process will inform the decision-making process.

 5   Transport

Introduction

Liberal Democrat Councillors will promote more environmentally sustainable transport around the Borough by promoting and improving public transport, reducing traffic and congestion, and providing better facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

Walking

We will encourage walking. All street refurbishment in the Borough should be designed to be more accessible and pedestrian-friendly.

In this regard, we will work to:

• improve the quality and width of pavements and support a programme of improvement of street lighting in the Borough. This will make it easier and safer for residents to walk around the Borough, especially at night;

• install new puffin pedestrian crossings (easier to use and with detectors responsive to pedestrian movement) and convert more pelican pedestrian crossings into puffin pedestrian crossings;

• signpost more roads and footpaths and replace all damaged signposts in the Borough;  

• compel utility companies to maintain their street furniture to a high standard.

Cycling

Liberal Democrat Councillors will work to:

• improve cycle lanes and introduce more off-road cycle paths to protect cyclists from the traffic and ensure that they can travel safely throughout the Borough;

• encourage cyclists in the Borough, especially young or new cyclists, to take cycling proficiency tests, and encourage cyclists not to cycle on footpaths or on pavements;

• ensure that there is sufficient space and racks for bicycles and that suitable crime prevention measures are in place for cyclists confidently to secure their cycles at tube and train stations;  

• work closely with local schools to develop �Safer Routes to Schools' initiatives which increase the number of children who can cycle and walk to school.

Cars

London's air quality is the worst in the UK and 70% of particulate emissions are caused by road traffic. Air pollution causes 1,600 deaths and 1,500 hospital admissions due to breathing problems each year in London.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will work to have the Council:

• continue to support the principle of congestion charging in central London but oppose any new extension of the congestion charge zone into West London;

• encourage more residents to use public transport;

• regularly provide timetables and information to residents on the availability of public transport in their area so they can avoid making short unnecessary journeys around the Borough by car;

• introduce more dedicated parking areas for scooters and motorcycles to encourage their use instead of cars;

• support European Car-free Day initiatives across the Borough;

• introduce a Green Travel plan for Council employees and work closely with other businesses in the area to encourage their employees to travel to and from work in a more sustainable way.

Parking management

We support controlled parking zones (CPZs) where local residents want them. However, we believe a proper consultation process should be carried out in areas where a new CPZ is proposed. It is vital that the Council works closely with residents to ensure that CPZs operate at hours that suit local conditions.

We also believe that it is important that parking is patrolled effectively to ensure that motorists comply with regulations. However, all traffic wardens should be properly trained to ensure that they do not issue tickets unfairly or inappropriately. Only vehicles that cause an obstruction should be liable to be towed away.

At present the Council does not operate visitor parking schemes. We believe that where residents want them, visitor parking schemes should be implemented.

Road safety

We will campaign against current national Government transport policy, which sets a threshold of at least four crashes causing death or serious injury before speed limits can be enforced using fixed speed cameras.

This �body count� approach to traffic law enforcement means that thousands of communities across Britain who want protection from speeding drivers must wait until their worst fears are realised before speed cameras are introduced in that area.  This policy affects all residents in the Borough and must be changed.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will work to have the Council:

• install more 20 mph zones in residential areas across the Borough;

• encourage more home zone projects to be introduced in the Borough;

• install more CCTV cameras at accident black spots and penalise drivers making illegal or dangerous road manoeuvres;

• install speed cameras at accident black spots in consultation with ward councillors and residents.

The Tube

Liberal Democrats have consistently opposed the Government's Tube part privatisation plans (PPP) and are concerned about safety on the underground network since the PPP was introduced.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will:

• work to make sure that all Hammersmith & Fulham's Tube stations become accredited with a �secure station� charter mark. This scheme was introduced in 1998, but very few local stations currently meet the criteria;

• work to ensure that more Tube stations have toilet facilities;

Rail

We are concerned about the reliability and level of service which local train operators currently offer to passengers along the West London Line. The Liberal Democrats support service continuing beyond Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction.   We also support more stations along the line to relieve traffic problems in the south of the borough.

Buses

Liberal Democrat Councillors will:

• advocate returning the buses removed from the 266 route, a vital north-south link for the Borough;

• encourage more local night bus routes from outside Hammersmith & Fulham;

• extend bus lanes when there is no adverse impact on local traffic management. We have campaigned against bus lanes in Wandsworth Bridge Road where this has been the case;

• support more environmentally friendly buses and use solar-powered lighting in bus shelters;

• improve travelers' sense of security across the network by the introduction of appropriate measures.

Air travel

We will continue to campaign against a third runway at Heathrow.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will:

• campaign to phase out and then ban night flights;

• campaign to phase out noisy aircraft;

• campaign against any plans for a Terminal 6 at Heathrow Airport;

• campaign for a tax on aviation fuel so that airlines pay the real environmental cost of air travel.

West London Tram

We have vigorously opposed the West London Tram. The current proposal will force traffic into neighbouring roads and clog up our suburbs.

We do not believe the Mayor of London has made the case for a tram along the Uxbridge Road and we believe that he has deliberately ignored the views of residents in West London.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will investigate alternative public transport options, including more buses along the Uxbridge Road and the provision of a zero emission trolley bus network.

Improving access to travel for the disabled and those with young families

We will campaign to ensure that that there are adequate disabled parking facilities within the Borough and that disabled parking spaces are strictly enforced. We will encourage the provision of facilities for those with young families.

We will campaign for all train and tube stations in the Borough to be made accessible to the elderly, disabled and infirm and to those with young families by installing lifts and ramps.

We will campaign for all public transport to be accessible to disabled passengers and those with young families.

Green travel

Liberal Democrats support improvement to transport infrastructure in order to increase choice of means of travel. However, planning policy can also contribute to sustainable travel by maintaining job opportunities close to home. Liberal Democrats want to see flexible working to allow existing infrastructure to be used better, so improving the quality of life in the Borough.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will extend the concept of �green travel plans� which should accompany new development which affects transport in the Borough.

In this regard, we will encourage creative green travel solutions, for example, considering whether large developers should provide free travel cards for occupiers of their properties so as to increase the chance of those who never use public transport shifting to more sustainable modes of travel.

6   Leisure and culture

Introduction

We believe that leisure and culture are of vital importance to the local economy and to the well-being of the community.

The borough is home to a number of wonderful tourist attractions and leisure facilities, including the Lyric Theatre, the Thames river front, Bishop's Park, the shopping and restaurants of Kings Road and Fulham Road and the rich multicultural heritage of Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush.

Access to the Arts

Our Borough has a fine tradition of supporting the arts and it is vital that this is built upon.

We believe everyone should have the opportunity to explore their creativity through access to the arts and that this should begin in schools. Arts education in the Borough has been allowed to dwindle by the Labour-run Council. We will encourage schools, particularly primary schools, to recruit more specialist arts teachers and give all children exposure to an arts education, including notably, those with learning and behavioural difficulties.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will also increase funding for music tuition so that all children in the Borough have the chance to learn to play a musical instrument.

Libraries

Liberal Democrat Councillors will support increased funding for libraries. We will seek to see the extension of library open hours during the week and at weekends. Liberal Democrats believe libraries are a key service and the Council is not doing enough to promote their full use.

Local events

We will also continue to support the many existing local events and we will support the establishment of more events that celebrate our local culture, always bearing in mind residents' views.

Above all, we will encourage greater involvement by residents, and more forums in which residents can develop and express their talents and abilities.

Access to sports facilities

Liberal Democrats welcome the opening this year of the Janet Adegoke swimming pool in White City � a facility which was much needed in the North of the Borough.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will work to ensure that schools and local communities have good sports facilities. In the 1980s and 1990s many school sports fields were sold off to make money or to release space for new buildings. This has coincided with the decline in health of children and British children are now amongst some of the unhealthiest in the western world. This trend urgently needs to be reversed.

We want to see more investment in community sports facilities to ensure that they are pleasant and safe places in which to enjoy the benefits of exercise. We will also campaign to increase sports facilities in schools and the amount of time devoted to sport in our schools.

Promoting sport in schools and getting children to take up sport outside school is the best way to encourage healthy lifestyles from a young age. Schools cannot do this on their own; we will encourage the Council, local schools, including private schools, and sports clubs to share facilities.

We will also give residents greater choice in which sporting activities they can participate in and include provisions to support all sports. We will encourage sports sessions, courses, holiday activities and events catering for all residents in the Borough, whatever their age or their interest.

Every school child in the Borough should be given the opportunity to learn to swim.   However, Hammersmith & Fulham swimming facilities are still inadequate compared with other Inner London Boroughs, and this reduces the level of achievement.  We welcome the re-opening of the Janet Adegoke pool in the Phoenix High School, Sports and Fitness Centre, but note that less than 50% of pool time will be available for public swimming and local club use. The public/private operation of Fulham Pools with Holmes Place has also presented problems of public swimming access.   The Borough needs funding for at least one more swimming pool to meet the norm in Inner London.  This at a time when many older pools are under threat across the capital.

7   Housing

Introduction

Hammersmith & Fulham's housing stock dates mostly from the late 19^th Century. Large older Council estates have significant problems and poor environments. Some post-war blocks are of poor design and are in urgent need of repair. What is less obvious is the number of public-sector houses outside estates which are not regularly inspected and where standards have continued to fall behind those in the private sector.

Homelessness is a key issue in the borough, with high numbers in bed and breakfast and other temporary accommodation. There continues to be a shortfall in housing, which is very much linked to issues of affordability in the local housing market. Hammersmith & Fulham now has the third highest average residential property prices of any London Borough. According to the Hammersmith and Fulham Unitary Development Plan, the borough faces a shortage of over 10,000 homes.

Hammersmith & Fulham Housing Management Services (HFHMS) is now responsible for the day to day management of all council homes. Like all local authorities across the country, Hammersmith & Fulham must bring all its housing stock up to the Decent Homes Standard by the 2010 deadline.

An Audit Commission inspection team reported that HFHMS was performing reasonably well but pointed out a serious weakness in the responsiveness of its repair service.

Liberal Democrat councillors would seek to work with HFHMS swiftly to produce a detailed assessment of the needs of all council estates, to ensure that long-standing defects are dealt with as soon as funds become available.

We would like to see an improved repairs hotline for residents of all estates and a system that ensures that repair works are genuinely prioritised according to urgency of need and according to the type of repair needed. This means that, for example, a faulty central heating system reported during the winter months would enjoy priority status.

We would like to see roving supervisors working across all council accommodation, with a rigorous inspection regime for the monitoring of repair work carried out. This would also include spot checks of repair work carried out.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will carry out an extensive performance-related review of the Council's current repair contracts with its service providers. We will also initiate an urgent review of these contractors' service contracts with a view to ensuring that these contracts contain appropriate penalty clauses punishing them for poor repair work. We would also not hesitate to replace the service contracts of companies who perform poorly.

We will ensure that utilities companies maintain all boxes and equipment located in council estates to a high standard and that faulty installations (eg doors not working, wires exposed) are dealt with promptly.

We will ensure that maintaining the lighting, removing abandoned cars, removal of graffiti and other activities are conducted by only one Council department. This will speed matters as often there is a lack of clarity about who is responsible for fixing a given problem which results in delays. Estate wardens will be given single named contacts at the Council to whom all environmental and maintenance matters may be referred for immediate processing and action.

We will seek to increase the number of units available for large families in Hammersmith & Fulham in order to reduce overcrowding.

We will appoint more concierges and estate wardens to live on larger estates in the Borough in order to control access and improve safety. They will focus on the needs of residents and help give the community greater control over behaviour on the estates.  There presence would help reduce vandalism and prevent small problems turning into costly crises.

A lack of quality affordable housing in Hammersmith & Fulham poses a serious challenge to both economic competitiveness and social equity. The inability of key workers to find affordable accommodation in the Borough is also having a significant impact on vital services such as health, transport, policing and education. It is vital that there is sufficient affordable housing for those who are not wealthy enough to arrange their own housing in the private sector.

We will work with developers to encourage the redevelopment of brownfield sites for those employed in essential services who would otherwise not be able to afford to live in Hammersmith & Fulham.

We will lead the call for the piloting of �empty homes management orders� across London. These orders would give councils powers to bring empty properties back into use.

In addition, Liberal Democrat Councillors will press national Government to reduce VAT on property refurbishment costs and repairs, making it more affordable for owners to bring empty or unfit homes into use and cheaper for all residents to upgrade or repair their homes. We will press for the removal of VAT on all repairs to listed or old buildings.

Sustainable housing offers many benefits to the environment. We will ensure that the council informs Hammersmith & Fulham residents about how they can improve sustainability in the home at little or no cost, reducing the amount of energy and water consumed in their homes.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will seek to enforce rigorously the Borough's Unitary Development Plan (UDP) so that developers supply more sustainable housing. We will oppose over-development in our area.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will embark on a better, wider and more transparent consultation with residents to assess their needs and aspirations on housing matters.

We will encourage residents to express their views on issues of concern to them � and then have regard to these views when making housing policy.

We will actively support existing residents' associations and encourage the establishment of a Borough-wide network of associations.  

Liberal Democrats believe that local residents deserve better and more easily accessible health care services. We want to see quicker diagnosis for serious conditions, fewer charges, less red tape and targets set by government, and more local decision-making. We want a greater emphasis on helping people stay healthy, health checks and tests. We also believe that good financial management is vital in all areas of the healthcare system.

Within the borough the Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust is facing a substantial deficit by the end of 2005/06 financial year. The Healthcare Commission has flagged financial management as an area of significant underachievement for the Trust and the Trust has recently been investigated by KPMG for poor financial management. In January a BBC Survey revealed that Hammersmith Hospitals had the largest single reported debt for any one health trust in the country - £35.3m. Some of this is due to the mismanagement of the Ravenscourt Park hospital, bought from the private sector as a specialist centre for joint replacements and now £19.1m in debt.

This is of considerable concern to us. Liberal Democrat councillors will closely monitor progress in the crisis and seek to reduce the impact on service provision of steps to reduce the debt.

With continuing uncertainty and rumours circulating about the future of our local hospitals there is a need for more openness and consultation regarding local health and social service provision.

The future of Ravenscourt Park Hospital for example is in question. There are proposals to offer private companies an opportunity to take over the publicly financed surgical units. Liberal Democrat Councillors will want to see a full consultation of local residents and health professionals about the future of Ravenscourt Park Hospital.

In principle we believe more healthcare-related decision-making should be at a local level so that patients and councils can see where money allocated for health matters is being spent, and what services are being provided for that money.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will urgently investigate and then press for new powers to be given to Councils to scrutinise and investigate local health matters more effectively.

Liberal Democrat councillors will review the provision of doctors' and dental surgeries in the Borough to ensure that there is sufficient provision.

We will work closely with the NHS to look at ways to reduce the number of occasions when patient discharges from local hospitals get delayed.

Where private sub-contractors give poor service to NHS patients, we will be harsh in enforcing contracts or replacing ineffective operators with service providers able to meet their obligations.

We will promote intermediate care to reduce the number of unnecessary hospital admissions to acute beds.

We want to free up local hospitals and clinics so that health care professionals can concentrate on health care instead of spending so much of their time dealing with administration.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will campaign to reduce the number of targets that are set by national Government, and imposed on local doctors.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will campaign for free personal health care for the elderly.  No one should be forced to sell his or her home to pay for health care, as is currently the case.

We believe that the present system is unfair. It is not acceptable that dementia sufferers are forced to pay for personal healthcare, including paying for washing and bathing, while cancer patients are treated without charge. Increasing fees and closure of homes makes it even more important to support people in their own homes.

The West London Mental Health NHS Trust provides support for people in the borough who have mental health problems in conjunction with Hammersmith & Fulham social services.

The Borough is still experiencing the consequences of the previous Conservative Government's �Care in the Community� scheme, a cost-cutting exercise in which patients were moved out of secure accommodation. Insufficient resources were provided to support patients then living within the community and many were left to fend for themselves.

The present Labour Government has struggled to resolve the current crisis in the provision of mental health services and the recent scrapping of the mental health bill demonstrates this.

It is very welcome news that the Government's draconian plans to lock up people with mental health problems have finally been dropped, but scrapping the whole bill means a lost opportunity. Patients in the community often enjoy a poor quality of life with inadequate medical supervision. The situation is made worse once patients are discharged from secure accommodation, when only about 45% continue with proper medication.

It is tragic but predictable that some discharged patients are involved in violent and occasionally lethal incidents.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will campaign for improved access to mental health services in the Borough and look at ways in which we can encourage more patients to use local mental health care services. This will give more help and supervision for patients and provide reassurance to local residents.

Staff at West London Mental Health NHS Trust are among the most dissatisfied in the country according to official survey figures. Liberal Democrat Councillors will seek to explore with the Trust why this is the case and what can be done about it.

The Liberal Democrats have campaigned for healthier and more nutritious school meals in the Borough. We will encourage all schools to plan to bring catering in-house, and to plan to use local, seasonal and organic food where possible. Where in-house catering is not an option in the short term, we will ensure that as schools come up for modernisation and redevelopment, provision is made for appropriate kitchen and dining facilities to be included to allow in-house catering.

We will support the establishment of a Food Hub for west London and will research and support a council-wide buying group to enable in-house catered schools to benefit from the lower prices available now only to contract caterers.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will make improving school and hospital meals a priority as an effective means to improved health.  

10 Disability Issues

Liberal Democrats believe in supporting a voice for disabled people by removing the barriers to communication and political participation. 

Despite progress in recent years, disabled people continue to feel that their views are marginalised in our society.  This has led to a feeling of distrust of political parties and a subsequent low turnout in elections among the disabled.

We will:

· ensure that as much public information is available as possible in formats for visually impaired people and for people with physical disabilities and learning difficulties, and neurodiverse and autistic people.  For instance Makaton as well as BSL forms an essential part of disability access needs. As well as making sure that all services are available in BSL, we will make sure that they are available in Makaton, and impose this as part of our planning requirements where possible;

· work to make online information fully accessible to people with disabilities. The Internet can provide a vital link to the outside world for many disabled people.  Too little of the Borough's website meets basic accessibility criteria, and we are greatly concerned that it will fall short of the legally binding higher European Union standards coming into force in December 2006;

· represent the views and concerns of disabled people and encourage access to advocacy when needed. Existing advocacy and information and advice networks, both voluntary and statutory, need to be actively promoted.  The Borough's Parent Partnership scheme for example needs to be extended and promoted so that all parents are offered help with Statementing and finding the right school for their child.

10 Planning and Economic Development

Introduction

The local planning system is the means by which communities collectively shape the quality of life in an area.

Proper planning cannot guarantee appropriate development, but it can set an appropriate framework for incentives to secure sustainable urban change. The Council does not make full use of current planning powers to improve the Borough - it is letting down local residents. It seems more concerned with huge office and retail developments than the provision of much needed homes for residents.

Planning policy should support crucial areas of the local economy, for example through making provision for sites in sustainable locations and protecting commercial centres. The urban environment must continue to reflect the diversity of the Borough's history and communities.

Liberal Democrats take seriously the protection and enhancement of the environment. Conservation and sustainable development are the philosophies that should underpin all future development of the Borough.

We believe that planning policy should be drawn up with the full participation of local residents and businesses, tapping the experience and knowledge of local residents' associations and other community groups. We also believe that the value of comments by residents on individual applications should be better recognised and valued.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will encourage increased participation by interested parties in the planning and decision-making process above and beyond current levels.

In accordance with the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the Council has recently produced a Statement of Community Involvement explaining how local participation will in future be incorporated in both the formulation of policy and the determination of planning applications.

While we welcome this document, we are concerned that Statement does not adequately set out how the Council will reach out to all residents' associations and other local community groups and allow them sufficient time to comment.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will undertake a review of the Statement policy document with a view to further considering how to improve the involvement of local residents in planning-related decision making.

The White City Opportunity Area offers a rare development opportunity in the Borough. It a substantial site, which, with proposed transport improvements will be very well connected to the transport system.

As discussed earlier, according to the Hammersmith and Fulham Unitary Development Plan, the borough faces a shortage of over 10,000 homes and with rapidly increasing property prices in the borough over recent years, many residents are finding that they are no longer able to afford to live in their own borough. The Liberal Democrats believe the area most urgently needs homes, not offices.

Whilst Council Planning Department literature talks about balancing the need for homes and jobs (and more local jobs are indeed very welcome), we believe that current proposals for the White City Opportunity Area get the balance wrong. Huge office developments are currently under construction within easy travel distances at Paddington and King's Cross.

The Labour approved Framework document talks about using sustainable principles to build a massive development with large office blocks. Liberal Democrats believe a proper sustainable development would comprise a mix of buildings for homes, small businesses, social enterprise units and not-for-profit organisations that together meet local needs. Small businesses are more likely to hire local people and offer services that local residents can support. 

Thriving local centres are vital to the economic and social life of the Borough. Liberal Democrat Councillors will examine the need for targeted improvement projects, increase monitoring of shop representation, and increase the planning protection for local retail centres. We will also take advantage of new planning powers to prevent an over-saturation of retail uses such as takeaways, whilst finding more sensitive ways to prevent long-term vacancies in local retail centres in the Borough.

We will seek to ensure an appropriate mix of uses in popular local centres. By doing so, local Post Offices and small independent retailers, which often meet the specialist needs of certain groups, are protected. Action is needed to address decline (for example in traditional shops, such as butchers, bakers, fruiterers and greengrocers and pharmacies) in order to continue a diversity of services, sufficient competition/consumer choice, and to encourage opportunities for local enterprise.

Liberal Democrat councillors will support and enable farmers' markets and street markets that provide opportunities for a diverse range of local, fresh, traditional and authentic foods to be sold that otherwise would not be available in the borough.

We are committed to increasing energy efficiency and improving the sustainability of energy production. All local planning policy should encourage careful design of buildings to maximise natural solar light and heating and natural ventilation.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will seek to enhance measures to encourage the installation of energy saving technologies in existing properties in the Borough.

We believe that parks and public open spaces are important to local residents and need to be enhanced and protected. Parks and public open spaces are places of exercise and leisure, as well as meeting points.

We have campaigned to improve the quality of major open spaces and the network of town and district parks, local leisure gardens, nature reserves and child play spaces, and Liberal Democrat Councillors will protect and enhance existing parks and public open spaces from the threat of encroaching development.  

We seek to gradually convert all Borough park management to organic, self-sustaining systems, with minimum bought in inputs and maximum reliance on locally propagated and harvested inputs. 

Liberal Democrat Councillors will work to ensure that the Council's responsibility for important crime prevention and fear of crime reduction measures do not conflict with the right of the many to enjoy full access to parks and open spaces.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will create one Borough-wide strategy for the installation of telephone masts. We will consult with local residents on this strategy and then widely publicise our policy to all residents.

We are concerned about the possible health risks associated with phone masts. We will consult with all interested parties, particularly with affected residents, before implementing our strategy. 

11   Equal opportunities for local communities

Introduction

Hammersmith & Fulham is home to one of the most diverse, multicultural communities in London. Liberal Democrats believe it is vital to strive to foster and promote good working relationships between all local communities in the Borough, so that greater understanding and respect for each other's histories and cultures can be gained and all communities in the Borough brought together.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will seek to ensure that equal opportunity employment and recruitment policies are thoroughly followed to ensure that Council staffing better reflects the gender balance and ethnic makeup of the Borough.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will support internal equality audits and work to improve those areas where weaknesses are identified.

We will ensure that council services are provided to residents regardless of race, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion.

We will develop Borough-wide social inclusion and anti-poverty strategies and will consult widely before seeking to implement them.

We will monitor and campaign to reduce incidences of bullying, harassment and discrimination amongst council staff, especially staff working in the Borough's schools.

We will also campaign to reduce incidents of bullying and harassment of school pupils and of other residents in the Borough, including the elderly. It will be the clear policy of the Liberal Democrats to monitor and stamp out bullying and harassment wherever it may occur in the Borough.

We will ensure that the Council fully complies with provisions on access for the disabled as required by the Disability and Discrimination Act.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will establish a timetable for conversion of all council buildings so that disabled access is possible. We will also encourage the private sector in the Borough and organisations such as Transport for London to convert their facilities into wheelchair and disabled-friendly zones.

Local democracy has reached a sorry state in this country. Successive Conservative and Labour governments have stripped power from local communities. The current structure of local government is dependent financially and politically on central Government funding, with approximately 75% of funding provided from Whitehall.

We believe that the Council must become more open, transparent and accountable so that everyone who lives or works in the Borough can see why things happen and get more involved in local decision-making. Many changes are needed.

More local decision making

Liberal Democrat Councillors alongside our parliamentary colleagues will campaign to ensure that we have broader powers at Borough level, so that we can genuinely address local problems and concerns.

Scrap the unfair Council Tax

Council Tax is not currently based on the ability to pay and hits those on low or fixed incomes the hardest.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will campaign to scrap the unfair Council Tax and replace it with a local income tax, which will be applied by the Inland Revenue alongside existing arrangements through PAYE. We will seek in the medium to long term to restore local tax raising capacity, with concomitant reduction in central taxation, so that we can address local problems and concerns with a larger proportion of locally raised funds.

Fairer elections

Liberal Democrats will campaign to change the method by which our local councillors are elected. We want to see councillors elected proportionally to the number of votes they receive. This will mean that more voters will find their views represented on the Council.

In turn, this will increase political stability and improve co-operative working between parties represented on the Council. Liberal Democrats participate successfully in shared councils all over Britain.

We believe that the formal scrutiny by councillors of decisions by the Hammersmith & Fulham Council Cabinet should take place before they are finalised, instead of after the event.

Liberal Democrat councillors on scrutiny committees would not be ordered to make certain decisions (�Whipping�), unlike councillors from other political parties, and we will retain this freedom. 

Liberal Democrat Councillors want scrutiny committees to have a broader scope and allow a wider range of people to give evidence, to help councillors make decisions correctly.

Liberal Democrats will ensure that Council members face up to their responsibilities as decision making representatives of the local community and do not shirk this responsibility by employing consultants when the going gets tough. We will not shrink from tough decisions.

We will also seek to ensure that all scrutiny committees are chaired by councillors from opposition parties in order to ensure transparency and accountable governance.

Improved performance  

We believe it is vital that local residents get value for money from the services provided by the council.  

Liberal Democrat Councillors will immediately review all contracts with existing service providers, with a view to ending term contracts and re-negotiating performance clauses in agreements with the Council's service providers who have been performing poorly and failing residents. We would oppose 50 year contracts, such as Labour have granted for the operation of Fulham Pools. These contracts reduce accountability and prevent local control of local services.

We will ensure that Environmental Cost Benefit Analysis is introduced to all council contract negotiations as an essential part of our sustainability programme. We will ensure that systems commissioned by the council specifically prohibit any life-shortening measures or built-in obsolescence.

Liberal Democrats will review the effectiveness of Job Centre Plus in the Borough and ensure that where it is failing, proper support is given to assisting jobseekers and employers to communicate effectively.

Better information

We will create �one-stop� shops throughout the Borough� where local residents can ask questions and get answers and information about Council-related issues.

The help offered will include advice on legal questions, job-seeking, electoral registration, utilities (gas, electricity etc), housing, benefits, transport and information on sporting facilities available in the Borough.

We will ensure that literature at these �one-stop� shops will be available in all major languages spoken in the Borough, and we will ensure that �one-stop� shop staff are able to communicate with residents in the language of their choice. 

13 Education

Introduction

Successive governments in Westminster have ruthlessly cut down the involvement of local education authorities in education. In particular, the scope for increasing or reducing the funding for education is closely circumscribed by Whitehall. However, within these constraints, there is much that Liberal Democrat councillors can seek to achieve.

Reduce class sizes

We believe that class sizes in schools in the Borough are too large for teachers to do their job effectively. Liberal Democrat councillors will campaign to reduce class sizes for all age groups to a maximum of 25 pupils per class.

In order to achieve this we will campaign to recruit more staff and raise teachers' pay to aid retention.

Reduce the administrative burden

We are particularly concerned that large numbers of qualified teachers in the Borough are no longer teaching. Nationally, Liberal Democrats continue to call for the end to the endless paperwork, surveillance and bureaucracy imposed on teachers from Whitehall, which has caused them to leave the profession in large numbers.

Liberal Democrat councillors will campaign to reduce the administrative burden placed upon teachers, in order to allow them to spend more time in classrooms.

Priority to Hammersmith & Fulham residents

We will campaign for schools in Hammersmith and Fulham to give priority to pupils from within the Borough.

Abolish league tables

We do not support the principle of central targets and league tables, as they are the main excessive administrative burdens that schools and teachers suffer from. Instead, we will support targets for each school predicated on local circumstances and in conjunction with parents, school governors and OFSTED.

More business involvement

We will develop training partnerships with local businesses to give pupils the chance to learn through "on the job" experience, including encouraging local business people to visit schools to explain the work they do to pupils.  

Children with special needs

We believe that more can be done in the Borough to address the needs of students with special needs.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will ensure that all schools provide proper access to children and staff as stipulated by the Disability and Discrimination Act.

In addition, the ageing stock of school property in the Borough needs to modernised to allow disabled access or replaced by modern buildings in accordance with a coherent works programme coordinated by the Council, rather than on an ad hoc basis, as is currently the case.

Specialist Schools provide a new opportunity for focussed centres of excellence and specialisation to emerge in the community. However, where a school has been, or expects to be awarded, Specialist School status, essential additional funding is not always available. Liberal Democrat Councillors will help to ensure the delivery of such additional long-term funding as is required successfully to implement Specialist Status to all secondary schools by 2008.

Discipline in schools 

Liberal Democrats recognise that poor discipline can have numerous causes and so requires various solutions.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will be more supportive of Head Teachers when dealing with disciplinary problems at school. But we also want programmes that support children and help them learn alternatives to bad behaviour.

It is essential that disruptive and anti-social behaviour in our schools is identified at an early stage, with immediate additional appropriate measures introduced and enforced. 

Sport in our schools

Liberal Democrat Councillors will encourage schools to retain and invest in their sports fields. In advance of the London Olympics more students need to be encouraged to take up sport and we will campaign for schools to be given larger grants to encourage this.

Under-used playing fields will be brought back in to the service of the community wherever the means are available to do so.

Central Government has reduced funding for adult education. This is wrong. We will work with the Borough's education partners to optimise use of existing community centres in the Borough as well as school facilities for adult education.

14 Human rights and equality

Introduction

The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham has always been a home to many different and diverse communities, and to people from different backgrounds. Despite this, some groups which might be identified as ethnic or racial minorities face very real issues and challenges in the Borough.

The problems

Some communities in the Borough occasionally come in for harsh treatment by both the police and members of the wider community, including other minority groups. Sometimes this is racially motivated.

We believe that other issues and challenges include:

1. an historic lack of interest in the needs of members of the Borough's minority communities by successive Council administrations;

2. a lack of interest in integration among members of minority communities with the wider community of Hammersmith & Fulham as a whole. This occurs at all levels and includes sport, culture and community affairs. In particular, there is a low level of participation by representatives of most minority groups in the routine democratic processes of the Borough;

3. a corresponding lack of interest for the histories and culture of the Borough's minorities by majority communities;

4. a continued relatively low level of educational achievement leading to higher youth unemployment and social alienation amongst young black males.

Our approach

At the national level, we are the only party whose primary mission is to protect and promote human rights in the United Kingdom. We believe that minority groups in Britain do not look for special favours, but for equality of opportunity.

At the local level, Liberal Democrat Councillors will strive to foster and promote good working relationships between the local community and the police. In the wake of the Stephen Lawrence report the relationship between minorities and the police has been strained, and needs to be fostered. 

irm but fair asylum system

The Borough has benefited greatly from an enriched culture and economy because of asylum. In recent years the system has been shown to be unfair by not giving people proper treatment when they have suffered persecution. 

We will campaign to make the procedure fairer for those seeking asylum, but also to make sure that the system is not open to abuse. We will speed up the processing of asylum applications and allow asylum seekers to work pending a decision.Hate crimes

Police figures show that people from minority ethnic backgrounds suffer a much higher incidence of violent assault, and levels of violence and harassment against lesbians, gay men and bisexuals also continue to be high.

The present Labour-run Council does not do enough to support ethnic minorities and gay, lesbian and bisexual people in the Borough and existing hate crimes legislation is not implemented adequately.

Liberal Democrat Councillors will aim to build confidence in the police and other judicial institutions among all communities, to enable the police to do their job more effectively and to make it easier for members of minority communities who are victims of crime to report such incidents.

Police forces must be more representative of, and effective within, the communities they serve through more active recruitment from all communities.

Complaints procedures

We have proposed the reforming of the police hate crimes investigations unit to co-ordinate information and action against racist and other hate crimes. 

Liberal Democrat Councillors will work with the local police to reform the independent police complaints system, so that complaints by the public, especially by members of minority groups, are dealt with speedily and efficiently.

We welcome the establishment of a local police stop and search monitoring group. We will play an active part in the activities of this group.