We campaigned during the 2010 elections on our local Labour manifesto and we have been busy putting it into action. This hasn’t been easy – all of local government is facing funding cutbacks, and we are having to take £65 million out of our budget every year. However, below are the key promises from our manifesto for Waltham Forest. As you can see, we’re making good progress!

In 2010, we promised to:

Safer and cleaner streets

• Invest £1 million in cleaner streets with more street sweepers. We have increased the sweeping schedules for streets in Hoe Street. For more details, click here.
• Provide for free collection of any domestic rubbish and increase action on fly tipping. We have done this – you can now arrange for a free collection of any bulky household waste by calling 020 8496 3000.
• Fund more police on the beat to tackle anti-social behaviour - we will continue to call for 120 more police officers in Waltham Forest and will increase Safer Neighbourhood Teams’ operational hours. We are continuing the 120 Campaign for more police officers. Click here to sign the petition. We have also funded more police officers, while the government has reduced police officers in Waltham Forest.
• Clean up filthy front gardens and make offenders foot the bill. Our filthy front gardens campaign has focussed on cleaning front gardens and billing the house owners for the costs. Click here for more details.
• Provide £200,000 extra investment to tackle dangerous dogs. We have done this.

Cheaper and fairer parking

• Cut first car parking permits from £45 to £30. We have done this.
• Provide free visitor permits for residents. We will be doing this for vulnerable residents.

Lower and better value council tax

• Freeze council tax for 2010-11. We did this for 2010-11, and have continued it in 2011-12.
• Continue to keep council tax low. We will continue to keep council tax as low as possible. See above!
• Protect front-line services. Despite the cuts imposed by the coalition government, we will continue to protect front-line services for all our residents, especially vulnerable children and adults.

Excellence and opportunity for our children

• Open schools for four weeks every summer for activities. We did this – 14 schools opened last summer, with 12,800 children taking advantage. This summer, more than double that number took part.
• Fund free GCSE preparation classes. We are looking to increase our Summer University offer, allowing even more young people to take advantage.
• Set up a university access sponsorship fund with the educational and business community. We will be working with London Higher to deliver increased access to higher education, despite the government trebling tuition fees.
• Provide free and low-cost Olympic tickets for local people and schools. We will be offering tickets to school children in 2012 – watch this space!

Cleaner and greener environment

• Make parks and play areas more attractive. We have been working to improve Wingfield Park in our ward. Lloyd Park has been entirely refurbished.
• Plant more trees in the borough. We have set up a new tree planting budget.
• Ensure that new developments meet minimum carbon offsetting criteria. They do!
• Support energy micro-generation technologies in residential, commercial and public sector developments. We are installing solar panels on council and Ascham Homes properties, reducing energy bills and saving carbon.
• Make it easier to recycle, allow recycling of all plastics and make our borough plastic bag-free. Comingling recycling started in October 2011. Last year, we recycled more than had ever previously happened in Waltham Forest.
• Continue to reduce Waltham Forest’s carbon emissions, cutting them by 10% in 2010. Carbon emissions continue to drop in Waltham Forest.
• Work with the local community to improve Walthamstow town centre, regenerating the Arcade site and delivering a cinema. Work on the Arcade site will begin in 2012, and we have been working with the Waltham Forest Cinema Trust to bring the EMD back into use. We spoke against the UCKG’s planning application in May 2011 and the council has funded a £15,000 study into bringing the much-loved building back into use.

Happier and healthier community

• Fund more arts festivals and sports events for people of all ages. The Big 6 festivals will mark the Olympic year and will be open to everyone in the borough.
• Rehouse at least 50% of those currently living in seriously overcrowded accommodation. We have changed the housing allocation system to give priority to residents currently living in overcrowded accommodation and to those in low income employment.
• Start building council housing again and require 50% of new housing to be for people in housing need. For the first time in over 20 years, we have started to build new, good quality, social housing.
• Bring in an accreditation scheme for private landlords to ensure good quality accommodation. We are bringing in a system of accreditation for private sector landlords, to improve the standard of private rental accommodation. If the landlord is not accredited, then we will not use them to house our residents.
• Provide individual budgets for adult social care. We have done this.
• Create a redundancy response team. We are working closely with Work Programme providers, Worknet, Jobcentre Plus and CLaSS to help residents who find themselves out of work.