A Labour Council will:

A LABOUR COUNCIL WILL

work with the public sector and local businesses to create local jobs, tackle inequality, generate wealth for the community and keep it circulating locally.

Shift all CCC procurement of goods, services and materials to local suppliers, businesses and tradespeople wherever possible and encourage our largest local employers, including the NHS and the universities, to do the same.
Start a community energy scheme to reduce fuel poverty and generate savings for all.
Bring in the real living wage, end zero hour contracts and eliminate the gender pay gap directly through CCC employment, procurement and our business development role.
Develop a five-year innovation and regeneration plan to invest in the knowledge economy, by developing themed business parks around our universities and regenerate our high streets to become the best commercial and cultural centres in Kent.
Seek to introduce a tourist tax and use the money initially to ensure there is free wi-fi in our town centres.

Establish a Co-operative Development Team to help new and existing local businesses and schemes owned equally by individual community members
Balance the economic and social needs of our fishingcommunities with protection of the marine environment
Encourage prudent local investment of pension funds in local businesses, charities, Community Interest Companies, local cultural institutions and events
Promote community-run Kent Savers’ Credit Union to reduce local debt and encourage saving
Campaign nationally for the prompt introduction of annual Business Rate reviews helping local business manage costs during start-up and in difficult times
Extend the council’s collaborative approach to economic development in Herne Bay to Whitstable and Canterbury; placing council staff at the centre of a partnership between community groups and local businesses
Work with the community to actively pursue Labour’s vision for Canterbury district to achieve City of Culture in 2025 to provide a significant boost to our local economy (as in Liverpool and Hull)
Draw-up a district-wide Cultural Plan, to encourage collaboration between the institutions we own or fund that’srooted in the needs of all our residents and builds a People’s History of Kent
Establish an events and festivals protocol to ensure their impact on local people, the local economy, environment and employment is positive