ENFIELD LOCAL ELECTION GUIDE 2018

Why Voting is so Important

On 3rd May 2018 all London Borough Councillor Seats are up or election, the last vote was held in 2014.  The current party in charge of the Enfield council is Labour and they have overseen the areas services since 2010. Councillors are selected for small geographic areas so that individual residents can have their voices and concerns heard more easily than an MP who has to represent hundreds of thousands of people in the House of Commons. Voters tend to overlook the importance of local elections. The turnouts are very low, often less than 40% on average.  However the Councillors are your voice and due to the small area they represent they are easily contactable, can listen to your complaints and can champion your cause. These elections are also important as councillors are in charge of our local governance. These are vital services and Councils can impact the living standards of people living in the area. They take care of most of the services that we use such as:

·         Council housing

·         Education services

·         Electoral registration

·         Environmental health

·         Leisure and recreation facilities

·         Libraries

·         Local planning

·         Local transport

·         Parks and public places

·         Regulation of local business

·         Roads and footpaths

·         Social services

·         Waste and recycling

Many people vote in local elections to improve their services which councillors preside over. However some will use it as a protest vote about Brexit or the incumbent government. What must be remembered is that your vote is important in dictating the quality of life for you, your family and all those around you for the next four years. Making the right choice is important to ensure you get the services you want and deserve as you pay for them with your rates.

How To Vote

To be able to vote you must be registered to vote by midnight on Tuesday 17th April 2018 , be at least 18 on polling day, be resident in Britain and be British or a Commonwealth or a European Union citizen. Those who cannot vote are convicted prisoners, anybody found guilty of election corruption within the past five years and anyone subject to any legal incapacity to vote. On polling day in Enfield you will not need photo ID to be able to cast your ballot. However please note if you live in Bromley, Gosport, Swindon, Watford and Woking you will be asked for ID as part of area trials.

·         You can easily register at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

The hours to vote at all elections are 7am - 10pm.  All polling stations are open throughout this period. You can consult this map to see where your nearest polling station is but it should be printed on your voting card.

·         Polling Station Locations: https://new.enfield.gov.uk/services/councillors-and-democracy/electoral-services/polling-stations/

If you're unable to get to a polling station on election day, you can apply to vote by post. The deadline for postal vote applications is 5pm on Wednesday 18 April 2018. You can also appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf. The deadline for proxy vote applications is 5pm on Wednesday 25 April 2018.You must be registered to vote before you can apply to vote by post or proxy.

Who To Vote For?

This section is intended as a guide and is not intended to sway your vote. Indeed it is written with the purpose to show the possible options for your vote and to highlight the ways in which the prospective party's intend to better the area of Enfield.  Each of the major party’s pledges in their manifestos will be condensed down to make the decision easier for you. However you can always use the links provided to look at the manifestos in more depth. To show no bias I will go through the list starting with the current council holders of Labour, the rest of the list will then be alphabetical. Due to the fact that Enfield has been a Labour council there will be criticism of what they have done whilst in power. Their time in charge has made them accountable for their past actions and shows how they run the council currently.

Labour Party:

·         The party has been in power since 2010 and has overseen a period where the local Enfield area has had a lot of funding cuts. The councillors have therefore tried their best to work in a difficult period of austerity.

·         The area is also overseen by three Labour MP’s: Bambos Charalambous (Enfield Southgate), Kate Osamor (Edmonton) and Joan Ryan (Enfield North)

·         They are currently running two petition backed campaigns of: “More Police Officers for Enfield” and “More GPs for Enfield Town”.

The Labour Party of Enfield do not have a manifesto on their website. Instead they have a “Promises to You” leaflet that has been handed out and specifies these as the parties commitments to the people of Enfield:

1.      The first promise of their manifesto is to “keep Council Tax as low as possible... whilst protecting our communities essential services”.

2.      They wish to “fight crime and anti-social behaviour” through neighbourhood policing schemes and trying to acquire more police officers.

3.      The council has committed itself to “build upon the success” of their education improvements.

4.      Fly tipping will be combated with a “clean up squad and installing more CCTV in fly tipping hotspots”, this will also be complimented by a “brand new fleet of vehicles to boost street cleaning”. They also promise to be tough on people caught dumping rubbish.

5.      Councillors will try and secure better health and social care services through the aforementioned campaign “More GPs for Enfield Town”, trying to fund more nurses and investing in new care homes.

6.      A commitment to building new affordable homes and “cracking down on rogue landlords”

These promises are appealing and have targeted some of the wants and needs of the people of Enfield. However the party has overseen the imposition of the controversial and unpopular cycle lane scheme through Enfield. Their “Promises to You” leaflet makes no mention of the topic that many Enfieldians are discussing and are worried about. On top of this the “Promises” in the leaflet have no specific targets set by the Councillors, they are just vague plans. Set figures along with target dates would increase accountability and give a way for the people of Enfield to measure the success of those in charge.

A review of the councillors works

Although the Labour Council has said it will try to “keep council tax as low as possible” the area has overseen an incremental rise in council tax rates, with 2017/18 having a rise of 4.3% for all residents. This however must be taken in the context that per head Enfield has been underfunded by £50 million by the central government. In this respect one should applaud the work of the Labour councillors for trying to provide in very constrained circumstances. In this time the council has overseen improvements in the area:

·         The improvement of local parks and green spaces meaning that Enfield now has 10 of the best nationally recognised recreational areas.

·          There has been the opening of a new library on Hertford Road and the refurbishment of Edmonton Green and Palmers Green libraries.

·         Schools have overseen improvements with Enfield now being one of the top performing councils in the country for education.

·         The council has overseen the first new social housing project in Enfield for over 40 years and has secured 400 new affordable private rented properties.

The Labour council has also been criticised on areas, a shortened list highlighting some of the biggest problems are:

• The imposition of the unpopular cycle lane. This council led project was campaigned against heavily and many of the business owners that have had lanes put in by them have seen huge drops in customers.

·         On top of the unwanted cycle lanes there have been many accidents due to unsafe designs.

·        The creation of the confusing “shared space” area for driving in Ponders End. This has made lives difficult for commuters and shoppers alike, especially those with special needs.  

·         A cut of over 200 police officers on the streets of Enfield. However this is also due to Metropolitan Police funding. The Council have secured funding to bring back 37 new police officers.

·         Criticism surrounding the pace of developments such as the Meridian Water regeneration scheme and the council’s small sites programme.

·         The failure of the council to control the “River of Rubbish” in Edmonton.

·         Failure to stay on top of pot holes and the declining quality of local roads when money was spent on unwanted cycle lanes.

 The Conservative Party

The Conservatives have offered an in depth and more accessible manifesto with it being easily found on their website. https://www.enfieldnorthconservatives.org.uk/sites/www.enfieldnorthconservatives.org.uk/files/2018-04/2018%20Conservative%20Manifesto.pdf

They list these as their “Key Priorities”:

1.      Listen and respond to residents’ concerns

2.       Deliver a value for money, low tax council focussed on front line services

3.      Keep our streets clean and tidy – fly tipping will not be tolerated

4.      Protect and enhance our Borough’s open spaces and the Green Belt

5.       Deliver a school place for every child by supporting new secondary schools and expanding existing ones

6.      Deliver new affordable homes for sale and rent

7.      Invest in our high streets and town centres to reduce empty shops

8.      Work with the Police to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour

9.      Deliver a Borough of opportunity for all by encouraging inward investment and creating new jobs

The party expands upon these points highlighting its commitment to give:

·         Value for money: promising low tax, focus on “front line services”, try to obtain a “fair deal for Enfield”, a tough stance on benefit fraud and to increase council accountability.

·         An Accessible Council: to have a dedicated phone service for vulnerable and elderly people, an overhaul of the call centre, improve response times and an expanded Enfield Council social media presence to get handle enquiries and complains more easily.

·         Environment: Weekly rubbish and recycling collection, halting the new cycle lanes whilst review the current ones for health and safety, Review the Quieter Neighbourhood Scheme and continue with projects only where there is clear public support for them, improve street cleaning, zero tolerance on fly tipping, plant 2018 trees, introduce pocket park schemes, increase electric charge points and commit to improving standards of roads and pavements.

·         Children and Young: raise educational standards, support for new academies, deliver a school place for every child and prepare for the shortfall in secondary school places, provide high quality care for young people in care and with special needs, improve mental health services support families staying together meaning putting children in care as a last resort introduce a panel for young children.

·         Community and Leisure Services: Re-open the historic Enfield Highway library and obtain better premises for Southgate Library, maintain and support our existing libraries, enhance the range and quality of events at Forty Hall, Millfield Theatre and the Dugdale Centre, deliver improved, high class facilities at our leisure centres, bring back the community festivals programme, reintroduce the Town Park Fireworks display and support the St Georges’s Day event, tackle obesity and diabetes by providing opportunities for young people and adults to take more exercise.

·         Keeping People Safe: Double the number of council funded Police Officers on the street, campaign to re-open Enfield and Southgate Police Stations, urge the Police to use body cameras for stop and search to reduce knife crime and keep young people safe, Oppose the Labour Mayor of London’s plan for Enfield to share a borough commander with Haringey and merge both forces , Tackle gang related crime and anti-social behaviour by effective joint working between the Police, the Council and other agencies.

·         High Streets and Town Centres: Create an empty shops task force to secure more investment in our high streets, Provide 30 minutes pop & shop parking bays in all shopping areas, support and assist small businesses to grow and celebrate the Small Business Saturday initiative each year,  run campaigns to encourage residents to shop locally, facilitate investment in our commercial and industrial estates along the Lee valley, provide Christmas lighting in key high street locations in Edmonton, Enfield, Palmers Green and Southgate.

·         A Borough of Opportunity for All: Work with businesses for further job creation, support regular jobs fairs, increase the number of apprenticeship and graduate places at Enfield Council and other large employers locally, create an Enterprise Zone/Business Development Districts in the eastern part of the Borough to kick start regeneration, campaign to upgrade and improve the Borough’s train and Tube services, support Crossrail 2 coming to Enfield

·         Housing: Prohibit residential development in the Green Belt, accelerate the delivery of new affordable housing for sale and rent on council estates and brownfield sites, make starting the construction of new homes at Meridian Water in Edmonton a priority, generate additional grant for a second housing zone in Edmonton, deliver new affordable homes on the vacant sites at Forty Hill and Holtwhites Hill, prioritise the completion of the stalled residential sites at Parsonage Lane, Lavender Hill, Tudor Rd and Jasper Close, stop the purchase of private housing by the Council.

·         Adult Social Care: The safeguarding of vulnerable adults will be our top priority, help elderly residents who wish to remain in their own homes, invest in good quality care homes across the Borough and ensure they are delivered on time, provide support and respite for those caring for the elderly, work with the Over 50’s Forum and Age UK to ensure the Council responds to the concerns of Enfield’s older residents, support the local voluntary sector to provide high quality care for Enfield’s vulnerable elderly residents, work with the local NHS to ensure that hospital discharges for the elderly are managed effectively with proper care and support

·         A Healthier Enfield: Reduce obesity in adults and children by encouraging the use of our leisure centres and healthy eating, deliver a targeted communications campaign to reduce the number of people smoking and provide support services to those who give up smoking, support our NHS partners in promoting appropriate vaccinations for children and adults, commission comprehensive sexual health services including contraceptive advice, reduce health inequalities across the Borough, work with partners to ensure the commissioning and provision of public health care is of high quality, appropriate to the needs of the community and gives good value for money.

The Conservatives have offered a more comprehensive and in depth plan for their plans for the future of the Enfield area.  As they have not been in power since 2010 it is hard to critique the Conservative Party’s past actions in being councillors of Enfield. The Conservative government has come under criticism for under-funding Enfield, but this is a decision by the governing Conservative Party rather than local Conservative Councillor representatives. The current Conservative councillors have promised to campaign for more funding to the area. The Conservative Party has also made more concrete promises than Labour but some of their promises fall short of measurable targets. The Conservative Party has offered solutions to many of the problems that are of the biggest concern for the people of Enfield such as the cycle lane problems, fly tipping, public safety and affordable housing. This therefore seems to show that the Conservative Party are listening to the wants and needs of the people of Enfield and have plans to better develop the town. Questions need to be asked about funding for some of their new ideas and also where the promises of removing inefficiencies can be fulfilled.  The current Enfield Council has had their budget cut and constrained since 2010 thus removing "unnecessary" spending would be good to fund some of the proposed new schemes. 

The Green Party

The Green Party have offered a in depth and accessible manifesto with it being easily found on their website. 

https://www.enfieldgreens.org.uk/may-2018-council-elections/election-manifesto

·         Enfield Greens are committed to restoring the necessary level of funding for youth services in the borough - in order to improve the health and happiness of future generations (not to mention improving the lives of their parents).

·         They will require all new Council-funded buildings to use Passivhaus.

·         The party will work with local developers and building professionals to ensure that they understand the new standards and how to achieve them. It may, in order to encourage the Greening of the local construction industry, be appropriate to subsidise some professional training.

·         The party believes that Energy is not the only resource that is likely to become scarce. New housing should also conserve water by capturing rainwater and reusing grey water.

·         Enfield Green Party has been  surveying residents to find out what you think of local services. They feel litter, fly-tipping and waste collections are a priority. They have promised to improve waste services to make it easier for people to recycle, particularly in flats and shared housing. We will introduce more recycling bins in public places and encourage local businesses to adopt greener waste strategies.

·         Enfield Green Party wholeheartedly endorse and support the Better Streets for Enfield 2018 Council Election campaign pledges: “Better Streets for Enfield calls on all local parties to commit to supporting the health and happiness of all residents by creating people-friendly streets in Enfield – where traffic is reduced, where people have priority over traffic, and where walking, cycling and public transport are safe, attractive options for everyone".

·         Enfield Green Party will fight to reverse council funding cuts, ensuring more youth centres and services to keep children and young people safe. They will seek to tackle the causes and culture of knife crime, as has been done successfully in Scotland

·         Enfield Green Party believes that streets are for people, not traffic. The space has to be shared but on residential streets residents should come first. Across Enfield, they are campaigning for measures which cut traffic, reduce air pollution, and which make our streets safer, cleaner and greener. They support the use of innovative traffic calming measures, which stop streets becoming ‘rat runs’. The party is also in favour of a low speed limit.

·         The party is campaigning for Western Bowes to become a Low Traffic Neighbourhood. New road features would allow cyclists and pedestrians, but not cars and other motor vehicles, to pass through these residential streets. This approach has been used very successfully in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, where it has civilised the streets and reduced total traffic.

The Green Party has an environmental focused plan for the future of Enfield. It has committed to more expansion of cycle lanes and shared space or no-car zones which may be unpopular with businesses and commuters. The party has offered a real alternative to the status quo  and breaks the mould of traditional party’s by installing a plan that they have researched to be what they feel is the best for the area rather than what the people of Enfield want. This alternative is with the future and the environment in mind. This environmental manifesto maybe of benefit to the enviroment but the costs of new schemes need to be figured out in conjunction with the budget so that ideas can become concrete plans. The overall cost could be higher but could also secure a better future for Enfield which we cannot put a price on. 

Liberal Democrats

Since the advent of the Local Government Act of 1963 Enfield has never had a Liberal lead council. The council has always bounced between Conservative or Labour.  This year the party believes that it has seen a “resurgence” in the Enfield area and is working hard to offer a “real change” for voters. The core party messages from the central control of the party have a heavy anti-Brexit stance in the local elections even though councillors cannot play a part in the negotiation process. However as aforementioned some will use it as a protest vote.  The Party has focused on the problems of Enfield and has proposed overarching solutions and also offers more in depth explanations to their plans much like the Conservatives. Again, much like the Conservative Party and unlike Labour, the party has offered a more accessible way to view their manifesto and promises for the area. The Liberal Party has said that it wishes to focus on:

1.      Transport

2.      Housing

3.      Environment

4.      Education

5.      Health and Social Care

6.      Police, Justice and Rights

7.      Local government and Political Reform

8.      Brexit

The more in depth details are on their website but are also described here: https://enfield.nationbuilder.com/our_manifesto

·         Transport: A change towards useful and  safer cycle lanes, reduce burden to local businesses suffering because of the cycle lanes by implementing more parking and trying to ease congestion, an audit into the overspending on the unwanted cycle lane and regeneration programmes across Enfield, improve transport links with London, improve disabled access, reduce congestion and pollution, improve bus services across the area, address the neglected roads of Enfield and get them back to a proper standard, adequate parking across the borough.

·         Housing: Expanded house building programmes, increase in affordable housing, prevent land banking campaign for councils to reform or end ‘right to buy’, find or borrow funds for more social housing, rights of tenants, a trial to help end homelessness across the area with a ‘Housing First ‘plan for vulnerable and often scapegoated  individuals.

·         Environment: Continue the success of improving Enfield’s parks and making them as accessible as possible, promote renewable power, energy efficiency, recycling, reduce wastage,  improve air quality in Enfield, tackle fly-tipping  by removing Labour’s exorbitant charges for large item removal , remove the bureaucratic reporting system that stops waste from being cleared up.

·         Education: protect schools from cuts, give more control of schools back to local authorities, more schools not just academies, increase the capacity and diversity of childcare on offer, the expansion of breakfast clubs, mental health training for staff and anti-bullying strategies, improve existing facilities for disabled children and make sure new services provided are disabled and disadvantaged friendly, create safe learning environments where no form of discrimination is accepted.

·         Health and Social Care: fair funding arrangements for those providing social care, tackle social reasons for social care problems, investing in and prioritising mental health schemes, prioritising prevention strategies to promote well being, new housing developments leave openings for new GP surgeries, promote and consult with Enfield’s social workers to help support them.

·         Police, Justice and Rights: expand Enfield’s PCSO sponsorship programme, will implement a borough wide pilot scheme of the Glasgow Initiative treating knife crime as a public health problem, Social workers on call at every A&E department to help victims of stabbings, help teachers, parents and students identify potential attacks before they happen, focus on rehabilitative and restorative justice and we would look to work with communities to promote these project, additional equipment for policing in Enfield, including extra police cars and body cameras, supporting disadvantaged minorities in Enfield, ensure the council is a leader in providing fair workplaces and promoting diversity in the workplace, tackle period poverty, by providing free sanitary products in schools and will support local, national, and international campaigns for human rights.

·         Local government and Political Reform: Increase the transparency of council spending, Make sure consultations are community led and offer genuine choice, no more “take it or leave it” strategies like the forced cycle lanes, make it easier to get in touch with Enfield council and navigate the council website,  to work closely with Enfield’s outstanding charitable sector, making our politics engaging and relevant to our younger residents one way would be to expand the profile and influence of Enfield’s Youth Parliament, an initiative to find ways to reform the way business rates work, fewer cumbersome regulations including a ‘General Power of Competence’.

·         Brexit: The Liberal Party has been campaigning locally to: Remain in the customs union and the single market, protect the freedoms to travel and work that come with our membership of the European Union. The Party also believes that there needs to be a frank and honest debate about Brexit’s impact on Enfield.

The Liberals too have offered an in depth view for the running of Enfield’s vital services. They offer differing ideas to solve problems than the other parties and introduce a lot of unique ideas to help the area. They too fall short of some concrete targets but also give strong messages on some initiatives they want to implement. They too also offer to solve the issues of the cycle lanes and are very scathing about the Labour council ignoring the wishes of the people of Enfield. They have hit upon and expanded on lots of the ideas that are a worry to the people of Enfield at the moment and are offering a expansive plan about how o improve the town in the future. More questions need to be asked about funding for some of their new ideas due to the struggles of the current Enfield Council who has had their budget cut and constrined since 2010.

UK Independence Party
UKIP have fielded candidates once again in Enfield and offer an alternative to the historical three party system. Like the aforementioned Green Party they break the political norms of the traditional tri-party dominance of the political discussions. Unfortunately UKIP Enfield does not have a dedicated website or social media channels for Enfield alone, their message for the local elections is on a national level. However their national local election manifesto is easily accessible on their website. 

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/ukipdev/pages/6487/attachments/original/1524150373/44118701-5755-4BEA-8B90-C5C576FC54D3.pdf?1524150373

The temporary leader Gerard Batten has made promises to his potential voters. In his opening statement he explains his main wishes to:

1. "more power for local people": Batten explains that he was democracy to return to local government so that people can have direct control over their area and their futures.
2. A review of the council budgets so that UKIP can protect "the services that you and the most vulnerable people rely on". 
3. They want to put local people "first" in opposition to the what Batten describes as the stretching of public services due to "open door immigration policy". 
4. UKIP promises to "keep the National health Service free at the point of delivery" and oppose "attempts to privatise it".
5. Batten and the Party summarise their opening points by explaining "You can be confident that if you vote UKIP, you'll get UKIP. We are the only party being honest about immigration, jobs and housing"

Later on in the manifesto pamphlet the 6 UKIP "Priorities" are explained. They list them as:

1. "Prioritising services for local people": focusing on ending "benefit and health tourism" with local people coming first for "housing, education, health and social services". Local people's opinions should be "respected and not overruled". 
2. "Moving government closer to the people": The party wants to provide "incentives" and attract job to reinvigorate town centres. UKIP also pledges to "save our countrysides" whilst also ensuring "local people and veterans are prioritised for local housing". They believe that the government needs to reform the power of local governments to devolve power and "empower" local communities" 
3. "Fighting crime": The party explains that "Britain's communities suffer from an unacceptable level of crime" and so their solution is to "overhaul the system" by making prison sentences "meaningful". they also believe in deterring re-offending, "deport foreign criminals", remove excessive bureaucracy and "form filling" plus tackle anti-social behaviour. 
4. "Spending money at home": UKIP promises to reverse the foreign aid policy and the money sent to the EU daily by instead investing this money at home. They explain that "£55 million per day" is given to the EU whilst "£13.4 billion" per year is sent in foreign aid. they believe that this money could be better spent on social betterment issues such as "care for the elderly and the most vulnerable", health, policing and roads. 
5. "Regain control over development": UKIP wants sustainable house building where developers profits are not the main inspiration for more homes. They believe that new services and infrastructure has to be built to go with any new housing.
6. "Local referenda": Major decisions should be subject to the areas viewpoint and a local vote. 

The party then goes into more details that can be seen on their website or in the images down below: 

UKIP offers a more general plan for governance in local areas. they have not made a Enfield specific manifesto but have made promises that are applicable to the people of Enfield. The last point made in Promise 1 and Promise 6 will particularly resonate with Enfieldians as there is a particular feeling within the community that the current council has ignored their feelings on unpopular schemes. The short comings of this alternative form of governance is that is has not been catered to the local needs of the people of Enfield and reads more as General Election manifesto. But UKIP, like the Greens, have provided an alternative vision for local governance.

Here is a list of all candidates in Enfield:

https://new.enfield.gov.uk/services/councillors-and-democracy/councillors-and-democracy-information-notice-of-election-agents.pdf