2024 Local Election Manifesto

22 Mar 2024

Liberal Democrat Manifesto 2024

Working with people, for people to ensure a fairer, safer, cleaner Milton Keynes for everyone.

On the 2nd May this year we have the opportunity to continue working towards a brighter future for Milton Keynes.

We are the party of local government, we keep in touch with residents all year round, whether it’s through our Focus leaflets, or out on the doorstep finding out what local issues people care about and how we can help to bring about positive change in our communities.

As Liberal Democrats, we pride ourselves in being community champions and have a proven track record of working for the people of Milton Keynes.

Whilst the Government continues to starve local councils across the country of much needed funding, we have maintained weekly bin collections, made no major cuts to services, and have sought to keep council tax down.

This year we have extended our offer of winter support to the most vulnerable struggling through the cost-of-living crisis, whether it be help with food costs, rent arrears, or energy and housing costs, we have ensured we are on the side of local people.

Whilst its clear the Conservatives can’t be trusted with finances and refuse to act on issues affecting our communities, we have taken a proactive approach and have invested in preventative services to benefit the people of Milton Keynes.

The Liberal Democrats want to ensure a fairer, safer, cleaner MK for everyone and here’s how we’ll do it.

We’ll continue to support struggling households during the cost-of-living crisis, whilst attracting new businesses to the city to ensure better jobs and opportunities for local people.

We will fill more potholes and work to reduce flooding of our homes, streets, and roads by campaigning for a new balancing lake.

We’ll expand our crime prevention programme to divert more young people away from knife crime and work with Thames Valley to reduce anti-social behaviour and fight for more police on the streets.

We will campaign for improved access to GP services and NHS dentists whilst increasing mental health support for our children and young people.

Liberal Democrat councillors are empowered to speak up for the wards they serve, so by choosing one of us we will ensure you are properly represented.

If you want a Council that continues working with people, for people, vote for your local Liberal Democrat councillor on 2nd May 2024 and ensure a fairer, safer, cleaner Milton Keynes for everyone.

Providing support through the cost-of-living crisis

We’ll invest in preventative help to support families and those on low incomes during the cost-of-living crisis.

Introduce a benefits advice programme to help hardworking families maximise household income and ensure they claim all the financial support they are entitled to.
Funding for local parishes, town councils, and communities to expand our Library of Things offer and to open more community food larders to ease financial pressures for residents.
Continue to reduce child poverty by ensuring children have access to healthy meals during the holidays.

Create neighbourhoods we can be proud of

We want to continue doing the essentials well to ensure clean, tidy, and welcoming neighbourhoods for everyone.

Fix more potholes and resurface roads, redways, and footpaths.
Reduce flooding of our homes, streets, and roads by campaigning for a new balancing lake whilst working with local partners to improve our waterways, drains, and sewers.
Continue weekly bin collections and ensure garden waste collection is free.
Crack down on litter and fly tipping.

Keeping our local economy strong

Milton Keynes is already one of the biggest city economies in the country, we want to continue to invest in our local high streets and businesses to ensure better jobs and opportunities for local people.

Invest in our high streets to support small businesses and to fund community events to help to regenerate our older towns by increased footfall.
Support more tech start-ups to ensure Milton Keynes continues to attract even more cutting-edge companies, so that our developing tech sector continues to grow meaning better jobs and opportunities for local people.
Supporting small and medium sized businesses to embrace a greener future by investing in energy experts to help more companies save money by achieving the zero emissions target.
Maintain inward investment to our city by working with the City Council’s Economic team to attract more businesses to locate and grow in Milton Keynes.

Protecting our communities

We’ll expand our crime prevention programme to help more young people at risk from becoming involved with criminal activity and knife crime, work with Thames Valley to reduce anti-social behaviour, fight for more police on the streets and continue to support women from abusive and violent behaviour.

Expand our crime prevention programme to divert more young people away from knife crime and criminal activity.
Reduce anti-social behaviour and fight for more police on our streets by working with Thames Valley Police to meet the needs of a growing city.
Continue to protect and support women and girls from abusive and violent behaviour by men and boys.

Support our children and young people

We are committed to ensuring every child has the best possible start in life. We want to improve our local play areas, be the best corporate parent we can be by supporting our care leavers and increasing the number of foster carers, as well as increasing the number of SEND places for local children.

Improve our local play areas to ensure children and families have a safe place to play and enjoy.
Increase the number of SEND places for local children.
Support care leavers and increase the number of foster carers in Milton Keynes.

Supporting elderly and most vulnerable residents

By investing in preventative help through local organisations we will promote age friendly communities and will ensure better services for our elderly and most vulnerable residents.

Increase mental health support by working with local partners to expand mental health services for children and young people.
Invest in our grassroots community and voluntary organisations to take the pressure off social care services and improve public health.
Improved community transport to make trips easier and more accessible for those who need extra support.

Building healthier communities

The NHS is in crisis and the Conservatives have no plan to fix it, we’ll fight for better access to GP services and NHS dentists whilst working to reduce health inequalities across the city.

Campaign for improved access to GP services and NHS dentists through the Local Health Partnership Board and local agencies.
Reduce health inequalities across the city by working with local partners to continue to implement projects to tackle excess weight and type 2 diabetes, whilst helping businesses to ensure healthier workplaces for local people.
Support sheltered living for our older residents to ensure they have access to good quality care.

Sustainable housing for the future

We are committed to providing as many homes as possible so that our children and grandchildren have an opportunity to live and thrive in their home city.

Work with social housing providers to provide more affordable homes.
Campaign to end no fault evictions to prevent homelessness.
Reduce levels of damp and mould in Council owned properties.

Striving towards a greener Milton Keynes

We are committed to tackling the climate crisis and ensuring Milton Keynes is carbon neutral by 2030. We will continue to improve the city’s public transport network, increase biodiversity of our green spaces, and ensure we’re on track to deliver the City Council’s Sustainability Strategy Action Plan for a greener Milton Keynes.

Empower local people to make greener choices by improving the city’s public transport network, promoting active transport, and by increasing the number of cycle journeys made by women.
Protect our environment and wildlife by creating more wildlife verges to help increase biodiversity.
Continue to deliver the Sustainability Strategy Action Plan by reducing water usage, tackling fuel poverty, and improving energy efficiency of housing across the city.

Milton Keynes, ambitious for the future

Milton Keynes is already at the forefront of global growth in emerging technologies and AI, we want to continue to build on our success as the city continues to grow.

Continue to champion AI and embrace innovative ideas to improve service delivery, whilst ensuring our city upholds its reputation as a world-renowned smart city and real-life test bed for new technologies.
Advance our New City Plan to 2050 to deliver new health centres, schools, and roads before growth and better transport links to get around the city, all whilst ensuring our local residents live healthier lives.
Work with investors to seed fund and start up more technical and smart businesses by helping to organise events to create more opportunities for the business community.

_{Published and promoted by R Cave, on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, all at 81 Pattison Lane, Woolstone, Milton Keynes, MK15 0AY.}

A picture of a group of Liberal Democrat activists, some of who are holding Lib Dem diamonds

Lib Dem MK City Candidates for 2024

The Liberal Democrats have a full slate of candidates in Milton Keynes, so people can vote for the party wherever they live across the local authority.

8 Apr 2024

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