Hastings Borough Council Leader: if government plans for devolution go ahead, we'll be seeking your views
By the time you read this there will have been a no doubt heated and passionate debate at Wednesday’s full council, addressing the future of Hastings council, in response to the decision by the Labour government to abolish the remaining district and borough councils as well as county councils in favour of large single tier or unitary councils. This rehash includes the election of a mayor for the whole of Sussex and the loss of Hastings Council as it currently exists.
If the government’s plans go ahead, we will be seeking views from Hastings residents on the creation of a town council for Hastings. We must secure council-owned and -managed assets, such as our precious parks, green spaces, leisure centres, museums and community centres, so that they remain under the control of the community they serve, and a new town council may be the best way to do so.
While there has been debate between political parties about the geography and population size for the new council (the government has suggested 500,000), there is consensus on what should be the most important issue: the purpose of this new council and how it can work with residents to maintain and improve local public services.
We need a clear focus on tackling inequalities and must increase citizen engagement in the democratic process and decision making to create empowered, thriving communities. We know there are huge opportunities to come up with a better design for the delivery of public services, and we need to take the proper time to determine, together with interested residents, what that might look like.
On Saturday the 22ndof March at 12.00 pm in the town centre, Hastings Assembles will be holding the first of what I hope will be a number of public meetings by different groups across the town to discuss how a new council might work best for our town. Over the coming months we will be ensuring that there are many opportunities for all our communities to influence the purpose and structure of a new council.
While the government has encouraged councils to use this as an opportunity to improve people’s lives, Kier Starmer seems to be going full steam ahead with cuts to disability benefits, hitting the most vulnerable, particularly in Hastings, where many people are living with multiple long-term health conditions.
It is nothing short of astonishing that the first act of a Labour government desperately searching for new sources of income is to make life harder on those already at the bottom of the income ladder. What we desperately need in these times of scarcity is a government brave enough to bring in a tax on the wealthiest.
Greens consider it morally indefensible to cut funding to the most vulnerable in society. We have long called for a wealth tax of two percent on incomes above ten million pounds, which would bring in billions in income to the treasury.