Medway Asks 2023

We ask some of the smaller parties fighting the local elections to answer our debate questions

On April 19, we held our Battle for Gun Wharf leaders debate at MidKent College. We invited representatives of the two potential parties that could take control of Medway Council – Cllr Jarrett of Medway Conservatives and Cllr Vince Maple of Medway Labour – to answer questions about the future of Medway. We may have mentioned it before in casual passing. If you weren’t one of the people lucky enough to be in the audience, you can listen to the full event back in full here.

Following the debate, we invited representatives of the smaller parties, who did not meet the eligibility criteria for the debate itself, to answer some of the questions asked on the night. Their answers are published below, entirely unedited.

We also invited the independent group currently consisting of Cllr Crozer and Cllr Sands to take part, but they were unable to respond in the time given. We were also unable to make contact with candidates from Reform UK, the Christian People’s Alliance, or the Heritage Party.

We should note that by its nature, this piece is fairly long, but that’s democracy for you. Speaking of which…

Democracy

What do you think of the current state of democracy in Medway?

Green Party: Democracy in Medway is very damaged. Many residents are telling us that they have lost trust in politicians and the system itself. Many people view politicians as self-serving and not public serving, and this creates a worrying situation in which the social contract that citizens have with their local government is broken.
Many residents also feel that they are not listened to and that their views and concerns are disregarded. We have heard this time and time again on the doorstep, when people have raised various issues but have felt ignored or that the matter has not been dealt with properly.
Of huge concern for us is the disregard of meaningful consultation and that decisions are made before consultations take place. This is particularly true when it comes to planning, the Council decides something that will have a huge impact on an area and then undertakes a mandatory consultation which is really about telling the community about what is going to happen, these plans are generally imposed on residents, regardless of the views of the residents living there or indeed the wider community.
We should consider how all political parties come across to the public. There has been example after example of publicly viewable toxic behaviour from one party to another and incidences of bullying from activists of one party to another. We should take pride in what we do and how we help ensure democracy is upheld.

Social Democrat Party (SDP): The SDP supports the implementation of Proportional Representation (PR) in local as well as national government, as all voices matter and voters deserve the best possible representation.
Events like the recent hustings go a long way to showing the benefits of transparency and provide an opportunity for council leaders and members to convey their strategy, policies, and delivery face to face.
The SDP will continue to encourage, promote, and deliver this.

Liberal Democrats: Democracy in Medway, like the rest of the UK, is at a critical stage. Engagement with the political system is dropping as more and more people lose faith with the whole thing. The Tory administration on Medway Council hasn’t helped the situation by repeatedly distancing itself from the voters and from healthy scrutiny. It restricted the amount of time for public questions and disallowed follow-up questions. The cabinet meeting is also scheduled during regular working hours. Meanwhile local Tory councillors have strutted around their wards, ignoring or even shutting down local community groups. This all adds up to people being frustrated with the local political system and turning away from democracy. We have met so many people on the doorstep who tell us they don’t bother voting because none of the politicians listen to them.
There is no easy fix to the problem, and will take many years to reverse, but we believe that the first step is to reverse the Tory attitude to public engagement. We will change the rules on public questions back to what they were and also introduce a council roadshow, where the council leadership will tour different parts of Medway and the public can ask as many questions as they want.

How can you get across to voters that local elections are important?

Green: There are several systemic things that could support this, such as increased political education in schools, the adoption of proportional representation that means that every vote counts.
As individual Green candidates the best way we can get the message that ‘it is important to vote’ across is through our literature and conversations on the doorstep. Challenging the ‘they’re all the same’ comments, when they have never voted differently or indeed never voted themselves should be highlighted. Imagine if all those registered to vote actually did vote.

SDP: Voters have busy lives, and the bottom line for many is how their vote affects the money in their pocket and their ability to live the life they want to lead.
Our priorities as a party are Family, Community, Nation, and local elections are an opportunity for voters to make a real difference to how those things are affected by policy at a local level.
Candidates need to encourage voters to read the party manifestos and campaign literature, engage with them as much as possible, and suggest they always find the time to vote on the day.
Local politicians are there as public servants; local elections shape who is in local government and what they do.
Once elected, it is critically important that the trust placed upon that member is upheld, and that residents are regularly and meaningfully​ consulted and involved in the decision make process.

LibDem: When we talk to people who are disengaged with local elections, the most common response we get about why they don’t vote is ‘why bother voting as nothing ever changes.’ It’s very difficult to argue to against that in Medway, where we have had the same terrible Tory administration in charge for the last two decades. However, when you start focusing single issues that are important to them, potholes and fly-tipping for example, you can begin to point to examples how a good local councillor can make a difference to them. It’s very easy for local politicians and activists to get distracted by abstract concepts that the most voters don’t care about or don’t see how you can change it. We think to best way to people to get excited about local elections is to get back to basics of why they are important. They are needed to ensure we have good local leaders who truly care about their community.

Economy

Medway is in serious financial difficulties, how can we revive the local economy?

Green: Medway has historically been tied to industry and manual labour, but we find ourselves at risk of losing what remains of our industries. We believe there is a huge amount of work available and with the correct focus, creation of 1000s of jobs in the retrofitting and sustainable energy industries, more than the 1000 jobs promised by Labour over the next 4 years. In fact, in addition to encouraging local businesses to provide these services we also feel that the commercial arm of Medway Council could create jobs directly by employing and training residents to undertake this mammoth challenge.
To increase physical investment, we need to ensure Medway has a broad range of facilities to encourage investment. A circular employment network of good schools, specialist colleges and country-leading universities would allow businesses to settle in the towns and offer core infrastructure and services investment whilst providing jobs for local people. A successful local plan to deliver this is essential and will highlight all necessary steps to achieve this.
And we cannot ignore the move to automation which puts at threat hundreds of lower skilled jobs which younger people and indeed older generations are reliant on. The move away from human interfaces to electronic interfaces needs to be discussed with franchise owners & large FTSEf100 companies based here in Medway. Profit should not be put before people, it’s a fool errand which will ultimately backfire.
Although a national issue we also feel that the current threshold for VAT is negatively impacting many self-employed people and small SMEs across Medway, who have seen their material costs increase due to inflation. This has obviously increased their turn-over but not their profit margins, so having to charge VAT when your turnover hits £86k but your profit remains sub £40k is putting a great deal of increased pressure on not just their business running costs but also on their ability to be competitive within their industry.

SDP: People and place are important to us in the SDP.
The encouragement of local businesses, not just at start-up level, but with a firm commitment to ongoing support must be substantive and consistent.
Rising business rates and inflation, high rents, and parking problems, are just some of the reasons small businesses leave the high street. Though this issue is nationwide, we believe Medway could lead the way in encouraging and keeping a wide variety of businesses and industries in the area. Medway has a glorious heritage of industry and commerce; there is no reason we cannot lead the way again. We will always approach this collaboratively, with other parties, and with those in business who have experience of building successful enterprises.
We also need to create conditions so that local people don’t go elsewhere to create their start-ups, to encourage existing businesses which may wish to expand, and to attract businesses seeking to relocate from elsewhere in the country.

LibDem: The first step in reviving the local economy is recognising that there’s a problem. The Tory administration has for too long ignored the problem in an attempt to avoid admitting that their party has ruined the economy locally and nationally. The second step is to start trusting the people and businesses and listening to them. There are many economic success stories in Medway, we need to sit down with these people and listen to experiences, learn from them, and find out what their needs are. We won’t repeat the Tories mistake of being so arrogant that they think they know what businesses need. Finally, we need to revitalise our retail businesses in our high streets, looking at ways how we can support them. Since the pandemic, people have appreciated the convenience of shops just a short walk away. We need to keep this love affair with local shops alive to breath life back into our high streets.

How has leaving the European Union benefitted the Medway economy?

Green: We are not aware of any ways that is has. We could argue that we were misled and that we were hoodwinked but we are where we are. Listening to Rishi describing the economic benefits that Northern Ireland now has, is entertaining to say the least, or that multiple new trade agreements have been made when the reality is that only a couple of them were in fact new agreements, it’s insulting to the British public, we deserve more.

SDP: The SDP supports the decision to leave the European Union.
The economic impact of Brexit, specifically on Medway, is difficult to assess right now, as both the Covid-19 response and war in Ukraine have had a disastrous effect on the economy nationally. However, there is cause to believe that in the long-term, Medway will benefit from the decision, for the following reasons:
- High immigration, whether from free movement in the EU or the levels we are experiencing currently, suppresses wages, distorts the labour market, and places strains on local community resources, such as schools and GPs. Nationally, the SDP is committed to limiting net immigration to a more manageable level, to alleviate these pressures and re-incentivize training for our own citizens.
- As international trade deals are secured and we obtain a wider range of trading partners, opportunities for new commerce will improve, both nationally and in Medway.

LibDem: It hasn't. We truly wish we were wrong and Brexit is working, but the reality cannot be ignored and it’s insulting to every business that is struggling that anyone should be still selling the lie that it is working. It is also insulting that the Tory council continues to peddle these lies even though council projects have been directly impacted by the failure of Brexit. We have seen the cost of the Splashes rebuild repeatedly increased and by millions and millions of pounds all thanks to the increased construction costs. These costs have been directly linked to Brexit, whether due to the lack of construction workers from EU countries or the increased cost of importing raw materials. It’s these costs that have meant that Medway residents will be paying millions of pounds in interest payments to pay for Splashes. Then only last month we saw the Tory council halt the Hoo train station build because they can no longer afford the massive construction costs.
This alongside the other impacts like the queues at the Port of Dover, the disruption of food on our supermarket shelves and the lack of workers across so many sectors, disproves the promise of an improved Britain anyone who still thinks there are any benefits of Brexit is treating the public as fools.

Education

How can we increase the number of young people studying technical qualifications and apprenticeships?

Green: We are enduring a skilled trade shortage across the county, and if we do not act it will have a massive impact on our day-to-day undertakings. We are currently led purely on business need and not on the country’s need. The answer is 2-fold, one is to ensure that we have a good offer of relevant opportunities with clear pathways to employment / self-employment and the other is to ensure that the young people who are considering their options and those that support them are aware of the different pathways and how to access them.
Government has over the years reduced vocational qualifications that schools offered or bought in; they have introduced T-levels although it seems there are only a handful available locally and not all universities have them listed as an acceptable qualification. More investment to support our local providers of technical education would help provide the right opportunities for our young people.
There is lots of marketing around apprenticeships, but they are very limited in terms of the actual number and type available and there are few at the higher level. We are aware Government funding for apprenticeships has been used by large organisations to support high level management development of existing staff which does not in any way support our young people. A review of how the system is working with local SMEs as well as our bigger organisations, will help to make sure the right support is going to the right place so that more apprenticeships are available for our young people.
There can be a steer from schools for students to complete A-levels rather than technical qualifications/apprenticeships and it has been reported that there can sometimes be a lack of understanding within some schools around technical and vocational routes. In addition, it can be difficult for parents/carers to remain up to date with the changing pathways, qualification types and labour market information.
Good careers education within schools and good personal careers guidance for students can help to address this imbalance. Supporting the Medway Careers Hub and investment to and from schools to ensure good careers education is required. Career fairs and information hubs with local training providers of technical education would also support awareness amongst students, parents and careers educators.
We also need to acknowledge that self-employment is great way for people to live and work, meeting the knowledge gap of how to ‘work for yourself’ as opposed to a large conglomerate shouldn’t be ignored.

SDP: The declaration of the future of the United Kingdom as a ‘knowledge economy’ led to some poor decisions in our education system. The push under previous governments to have as many students in tertiary education as possible has not only deprived our nation of many indigenous tradespeople but has diminished the value of our top-tier education. The admission thresholds for university must be set higher, not to discourage potential students, but to ensure they are the best suited to such academic rigor. Likewise, secondary schools must be able to identify students’ abilities and inclinations and be able to stream them accordingly. Showing young people that university is not the only path to achievement in technical subjects is essential and this should start long before an A level is taken.
Although the number of colleges and universities in Medway has never been greater, the study of technical subjects will be more attractive if there are local opportunities for direct employment. BAE and others offer this, but spaces are limited. Schools should also reach out to local technical businesses and give them the opportunity to demonstrate their work to young students.

LibDem: Incentives for technical qualifications needs to be driven nationally and need resources to be effective. Classrooms are not the way to deliver such qualifications, they need to be centred around developing practical skills and applying learning through doing. It also requires local employers to value technical qualification and maybe this is where the Council can help to encourage apprenticeships and placements with local businesses. The Lib Dem policy of a Skills Wallet allowing greater flexibility for students would go some way to avoid getting stuck on a course or unwilling to start in the first place. We would take specific action to improve support centres, and especially develop how Job Centres provide such a service and link it to regional economic circumstances. Expanding the apprenticeship levy into a wider skills and training levy would help prepare for economic challenges ahead. A Training Tax Credit would also incentivise training in the private sector.

How can we increase support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities?

Green: We need more investment into NEFLT and CAMHS so that waiting lists to even just get a diagnosis are reduced, we are aware of totally unacceptable situations in Medway of children waiting up to 5 years to just receive a diagnosis let alone have the appropriate support put in place.  It is a desperate situation that our children are not receiving the support they need which is not only making things difficult for them in the short term but also having a longer-term negative impact on their futures. Supporting transition is also key, particularly into employment, more needs to be done to work with employers to provide supported internships as there are very little places in internships compared to those who need the roles. We also need to ensure that all learning resources are accessible by design and that educators and support workers are aware of all the IT platforms (often freely available) that can support children and young people with their learning experience and outcomes.
Ongoing engagement with parents/carers, children and young people, education and service providers will be crucial to ensure that support is as relevant and impactful as it can be.

SDP (this is a personal answer from candidate Steve Tanner): My daughter has learning difficulties and was let down by her junior school’s under-developed SEND service. We had to take our own action with the council to get her transferred to a specialist school, Dane Court in Gillingham. Since then, she has thrived, and continues to thrive at Bradfields Academy.
SEND services must be enhanced at both junior and secondary school levels, to identify cases like my daughter’s more quickly.
I would support every junior and secondary school having a dedicated and suitably funded SEND department which would be able to keep students like my daughter in mainstream education.
Obviously, this would require significantly more funding, which would be a major challenge for a cash-strapped council. It may go against my own party’s inclination, and many others, but I would be supportive of the private sector being involved in funding this.

LibDem: Currently there is a postcode lottery with regard to SEND support and this cannot be right and fair. Ensuring access to all for quality SEND support is vital. Early identification of issues is important to getting the right support and help in place as quickly as possible. Ongoing support for parents and children is very much needed. Ensuring the stability of the workforce to avoid having to repeat the same process multiple times would improve the service and reduce frustration for children and families. Good quality training for all staff to avoid leaving SEND provision to a small specialised group is the best way forward. Higher-level teaching assistants can be key to improving services, but avoiding leaving everything to a small, isolated group of individuals. We agree with integrating SEND pupils into mainstream education, but allowing greater flexibility in the timetables to allow the best possible support to be given. However, there are some circumstances where special educational schools are needed and we support their training and funding.

How can we support people who home-school their children?

Green: Ensure we have a team of efficient and funded Home-Schooling Officers who help individual parents and guardians to offer the best education for their children as well as engage with existing home-schooling families to understand their needs and learn from their experiences. These Officers should facilitate Home Schooling community groups for parents to meet, discuss and for their children to socialise together and safely. We need to encourage Home Schooling parents to feel confident to partner with a local school so their children can take part in activities and trips they may otherwise miss out on and can't be provided at home. We respect the decision to home-school and are committed to making sure those who want to, are fully supported. Having a strict ‘in school or out of school’ system lets children and their families down.

SDP: Schools are important not only for educating our children, but for socialising them, therefore home-schooling should be a last resort for parents, and we should set the threshold for allowing it very high.
It is understandable that mental health and bullying issues are pushing more families towards educating their children at home. There are also cases where parents disagree with schools’ teaching methods or the curriculum in general.
In such cases parents should be fully supported, including the provision of specialist advice and training, and even incentives for employers to allow flexible working practices. Although this comes at a cost, it could be argued that not supporting such parents would come at a greater cost to society.

LibDem: Home-schooling is a perfectly valid way to educate some children depending on the specific needs of the child or the parents. We trust parents to know what’s in the best interest of their family. Speaking to many parents who home school their child, we can understand some of the difficulties that they face. We know that there are many home-schooling support groups, that not only allow parents to come together to support each other and share ideas, but also allow children to come together and undertake specific activities that are is hard to replicate in your home. These can be anything from professional science teachers coming in and doing experiments with the children to nature walks and forest schools. However, it’s unclear whether all parents that are home-schooling there are even aware of these groups. Therefore, we would ensure that the council would act as simple of point of contact for parents, directing to other third-party groups that can be used to help their child’s education.

Environment

What should the Council do to address the climate crisis?

Green: Medway Council has called a climate emergency and has some very good officers working within the Council, however, much more needs to be done.
When addressing the climate crisis Medway Council needs to consider mitigation (reducing the severity by reducing carbon emissions to net zero) and also adaptation (ensuring that we are prepared for the changes that are already happening and which will only be exacerbated in the future (droughts, floods, sea level rise, heatwaves, food shortages and price rises).
Our current climate change plan for Medway lacks a clear vision, is unambitious in its net zero target for 2050 (leading councils are working towards 2030), does not have a clear roadmap of how we will reach net-zero for 2050 across Medway and has very little on planning for adaptation to a changing climate. We strongly believe the follow needs to take place:
- A citizen's assembly to bring people together to find out what we want Medway to look like in a low carbon world and work out how to get there recognising that we will need change needs to be embedded at all levels and in all sectors
- A clear plan to get to net zero before 2050 that is integrated and reflected within all Council departments plans (e.g. planning, transport and health)
- The Local Plan that is currently being developed should be a net-zero Local Plan
- We need to have a strong plan for adaptation e.g.  we should not be building on agricultural land given food shortages we will experience
- We need to make sure those that will be most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are being included in the solutions and adaptation plans

SDP: The earth’s climate is undergoing change, some natural, some due to human activity. There is very little (if anything) Medway Council can do to address this globally. Our local environment though, certainly is affected by our activity. A few examples:
- Privately-owned water utilities have been responsible for numerous sewage leaks in recent years. The SDP would support Medway Council – along with other local authorities – in working constructively with these utilities to prevent such recurrences, and to stem the general wastage of potable water due to aging infrastructure.
- The Medway towns have sprawling suburban and rural areas, which can only be served by bus. If we want to reduce car use, public transport must be affordable, effective, and efficient, yet many of our operators’ buses are quite old and significantly pollute our local atmosphere. These fleets need updating urgently, to use the cleanest modern powerplants available.
- Existing green spaces, especially our woodlands, must be protected from over-development, and tree-planting in other viable areas should be encouraged.
Finally, renewable energy sources should be considered for all public buildings and new-build housing where practical, affordable, effective, and aesthetically suitable.

LibDem: The simple answer is a lot more and faster. The climate emergency is just that: an emergency. Yet this council’s response has been painfully slow whilst trying to greenwash themselves with the public. The climate emergency plan is good, and the work done on it by the council officers should be applauded, but it is just a plan and the fact that those same council staff are leaving because of the lack of the commitment by the council leadership should be a matter of great concern. The Medway Lib Dems have a 5-point plan on how we would protect the environment in Medway, but fundamental to its implementation is the understanding that the climate emergency should be at front of people’s attention in most decisions that are taken. This is something you are just not seeing from the Tory council and is the fault of its leadership. The fact that Cllr Jarret went onto GBNews and proudly announced that he does the minimum he can get away with to fight the climate emergency just sums up their attitude completely.

Covid highlighted the importance of parks within walking distance, what can we do to improve their quality?

Green: We need to improve the quality of these parks from their ground surfaces to making them accessible for all and to ensure we have sufficient tree coverage, diverse and native planting where suitable, quality native mix grass and other park amenities like benches, recycling bins and play areas.
We need to ensure that they are well-used but also taken care of and respected.  This includes informing residents of the parks, their purpose and facilities and ensur by-laws are understood and respected.
We are very aware of (and part of!) the many community groups who volunteer their time to look after our parks and green spaces such as all the “Friends groups” that are overseen by the Medway Urban Green Spaces Forum. It is important to continue to support these groups and engage new people to ensure they have the resources they need to continue their work of community engagement and stewardship.
We would also commit to continuing to provide community funds for each ‘Friends of’ group where communities can organise their own events to celebrate the space and encourage more interaction.

SDP: The Medway region already has an abundance of open spaces for its residents to enjoy. Rather than spending money on establishing new parks, this could be spent on the following:
- Improving access to them by adding wheelchair ramps and hard surfaces to perimeter pathways.
- Regular maintenance of the greenery, with consideration of wildlife.
- Adding more rubbish and dog waste bins and regularly emptying them.
- Adding open-air gym equipment.
- Prompt removal of graffiti and repairs to vandalism.
- Prompt removal of hazardous items such as glass and drug-use paraphernalia.
Appointing volunteer park wardens to oversee the above.

LibDem: There is no easy fix on how we can improve our vital parks and green spaces in Medway, not without reversing the years of underfunding they have had to endure. However, you can do some improvement by firstly trusting the people who use the parks and the community that have sprung up across Medway over the years. These community or ‘friends of’ groups are filled with dedicated and caring volunteers, willing to give up their free time and get their hands dirty to improve their local park. Whether through litter picking, bulb planting or even cutting back overgrown shrubs. Yet these have received only little support from the council, and in some instances have received hostile attack from Tory councillors, scared of giving up the power they so much crave. We would support these groups, promote them, and encourage more to form. This allows our parks to improve without the extra funds, but also the local community takes a greater level of ownership and pride in their greenspaces.
The second area that needs to be looked at is the council’s relationship with the company that is contracted to maintain our parks, Medway Norse. Now normally you would expect the customer to be in control of the quality of work that is carried out, not the contractor. At present it is Medway Norse that determines whether it has done a good job by simply submitting a regular report to the council. They grade their own homework and Medway Council cannot punish them for poor quality of work. We would completely change this when the contract comes up for renewal and put Medway Council back into control on how our parks are maintained.

Housing

What can be done to ensure that all new builds are required to have some form of renewable energy system fitted as part of their conditions in the planning stages?

Green: The current Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill that has passed the committee stage in the House of Lords, includes a reformed National Planning Policy Framework. The new NPPF will give more weight to the concerns and aspirations of local communities, such that Neighbourhood Plans will now be a critical and formidable part of a Local Authority’s Local Plan.
The Government has made binding commitments for the United Kingdom to become net zero in carbon emissions by 2050. Many scientists believe that present legislation won’t allow us to achieve this and that we are consequently not on course to fulfil our promise.
We have the technology to build houses that are carbon negative and if we decide to use this technology, every new building will become a mini-power station. The owners of the buildings would be free of energy bills at the same time as being paid for what they generate but don’t use.
The money raised would off-set the cost of purchasing the building and the building sector’s contribution to carbon emissions, currently 25%, would be drastically reduced.
Local Communities can ensure that Neighbourhood Plans and Local Plans have clauses in them that require all new buildings to be carbon negative. It will be up to the Courts to decide whether the promises that the Government makes are worth the paper they are written on, when challenged by Local Communities to be true to their word.

SDP: New-build housing should not only be designed to provide adequate living space, storage, refuse management, and parking, but also to be as thermodynamically efficient as possible, keeping heat transfer to an absolute minimum.
These attributes should be prerequisite for any planning application, but in the absence of a current local plan, each submission will have to be judged on its own merits.
Nationally, the SDP supports expenditure on heat pumps, insulation, household solar panel systems and double/triple glazing by registered suppliers being tax deductible.

LibDem: This is one is quite easy; we would put it into the desperately needed Local Plan. Medway has not had an up-to-date local plan for many years, which means we have had developers in the driving seat of house building. Why would developers add costly renewable energy systems on to new builds when they don’t have too. What is worrying is that when we came closest to have a new local plan last year, the draft that came out made no mention of developers being made to consider these systems on to their plans. This being another example of the Medway Tories playing lip service to the climate emergency they claim is important to them.

How can we clean up houses that are vacant and put residents in them?

Green: Local Authorities have the necessary powers to compulsory purchase properties, having followed the correct procedure to do so. Such houses have the potential to become much needed social rent accommodation.
We also need to address the number of homes which are currently being occupied by just 1 person, often in their retirement. Can we help the older generation transition into more suitable accommodation, releasing a family home for use by a family? This could mean that we build more retirement style villages where we can not only free up housing but help with reduce loneliness and create more cohesive communities, this would also have a lesser impact on our NHS provisions in Medway by helping individuals live a more fulfilling life with a better wellbeing.

SDP: We respect the sanctity of private property and would never force a property owner to relinquish their rights.
However, in the situation we have now, there is a good argument for the state to encourage the owners of vacant properties to either improve such dwellings to allow occupation, or to release them to the retail property market.
The SDP would back both major parties in lobbying the national government to give Medway Council expanded powers in this regard.

LibDem: It is possible to clean empty houses, however it requires more than that for empty houses to be occupied.  Some homes remain unfinished because people cannot afford them and builders cannot afford to pay council tax on empty, completed homes.
Consequently, rented homes are lying empty because mortgage rates and energy costs have forced landlords to raise rents beyond what people can afford.  The main issue is affordability, and not - as the government insists - housing numbers or even homes being fit for occupation.  In fairness landlords have to cover their costs otherwise they risk repossession due to mortgage arrears. A solution is to bring back old fashioned council houses and for the government to enable local authorities to bear the cost of this.

What can we do to provide more social housing with affordable rents?

Green: Social Housing is a fascinating, involved topic made ever-more so by the failure of successive governments to address it.
One part of the equation are the communities that reside in the Social Housing. There needs to be a sense of ownership, responsibility and commitment within each community together with every attempt to not repeat the mistakes of the past.
Previously, vast swathes of houses and flats have been built without any reference to the people who will occupy them. Whole communities have been decimated by re-development of run-down areas with concomitant social issues arising in its wake.
How to build affordably is the second part of the equation. One example: in the early nineteen sixties, an Architect, Walter Segal devised a construction method for house building that was made entirely from standard ‘off the shelf components’ that were not cut or shaped in anyway. Moving to modular construction brings with it efficiency, quality control and speed which can be implemented to bring social housing to those who need it as quickly as possible. Utilising brownfield sites which are on public transport routes would meet Medway’s social housing needs, but the whole time we’re building luxury ‘second homes or investment properties we will never meet this need.

SDP: The SDP has as one of its core missions, the expansion of state house building capacity. This is obviously a national objective so our ability to implement this at a local authority level is very limited.
We would certainly encourage housing associations such as MHS and Moat to purchase private properties in Medway off the open market to return them to the social housing system, although we appreciate this is difficult right now due to the high cost of property.

LibDem: Affordable renting would be improved by increasing the building specification to improve insulation and either adopting passivhaus standards, or moving much closer to that standard. This would both reduce bills and reduce carbon emissions. Another means of building more affordable homes is to reinvest profits from Medway Development Company into building social homes.

Miscellaneous

How can we improve the bus services?

Green: For the past twenty years public transport in Medway has mirrored that of a sleepy suburb rather than the aspiring City state the current administration has failed to deliver on multiple occasions. You only have to ask the public what they want of public transport to hear, regular and reliable and hopefully value for money. Instead, they have received irregular, unreliable and uncomfortable, due to the reducing budget, unattained but available grant funding, and lack of interest this pro-motorist administration has delivered.
Beyond these basics, the administration is culpable in failing to use its significant influence to demand from operators a cleaner, less polluting public transport service through the very streets bedecked with air quality management areas that our children are demanded to actively travel.
In this past year, whilst Arriva have finally got the message that retaining the largest fleet of its oldest, most polluting buses in Medway, this area, with Maidstone is still ranked the worst of its 13 districts in England by a very long way. Beyond the age of the buses, which increases the risk of breakdown and adds to service infrequency, Medway and Maidstone have seen the largest fleet reduction anywhere in the country. Less buses in the fleet, means reduced frequency of buses on many of Medway’s routes.
So what would we do? We would recognise that clean, reliable, affordable public transport, given greater priority across Medway’s streets, will do much to reduce the appalling air quality recognised by Friends of the Earth and help further encourage greater levels of active travel. The current tender process underway for supported bus services for the next 5 years provides the ideal opportunity to ensure we continue to reduce emissions and provide the lifeblood of public transport our school children and non-car owners desperately need.

SDP: In an ideal world, bus services for Medway would be owned and operated by a statutory corporation, answerable to Medway Council.
We believe it is obscene that bus services in Medway are operated by a company wholly-owned by a German government corporation (Deutsche Bahn) and profits from its operations, underpinned by UK taxpayer contributions, are returned to this foreign body.
As mentioned before, the Medway region is a sprawling metropolis which cannot sustain expanded rail operations, so relies heavily on public bus transport.
Services in recent years have diminished, and it’s understandable that reduced recruitment and retention of staff has played its part largely due to our Covid-19 response and the economic malaise that has followed.
However, public transport is an essential service for many in our community and must be provided to ensure continuity of our business and retail sectors, not to mention the wider social needs of our residents.
Public transport is an investment in our community and must be treated as such, rather than a profit-and-loss statement for foreign companies.

LibDem: Medway should move away from fossil fuels in buses and switch to hydrogen fuel cells. This would improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions. A Young Person’s travelcard would be beneficial to allow more people to travel with confidence. The bus service from the Peninsula does not allow access to the towns in the evening without needing to make alternative arrangements for return travel. These are specific issues we would be looking to address.

What can we do to increase the inclusion of disabled residents in Medway?

Green: We would ensure that every path in Medway is accessible for all, be it for pram users, wheelchair users or those with visual impairment. Not only are our roads full of potholes but our paths are in an horrendous state. Using a wheelchair in Medway is bone shuddering!
Shop/facility access – there are many shops, pubs and restaurants across Medway which are still not accessible, we would like to see grants made available to help make these accessible.
Promotion of the Snowball App and working with the numerous groups and non-profits across Medway who work with and support people with all levels of access needs would strengthen the trust of those with additional needs, they should feel welcome across all of Medway.

SDP: Chatham Train Station is a prime example of this lack of inclusion. It has side gates and ramps, but these must often be arranged beforehand. A self-service lift will give the disabled the mobility they require; with the dignity they deserve.
Inclusion of assistance animals is another issue that will require continuous and vigorous enforcement, necessitating the education of retail and other establishments as to their rights and responsibilities.

LibDem: Green and open spaces should be accessible for disabled people. The details of how this is done is specific to each individual area, but parking facilities and good walking paths with ramps to avoid steps is one area that should be considered. Parking on pavements is a specific issue that has been raised several times, particularly when it forces mobility scooters into the road. There are measure that could be put into housing policy to ensure that houses can be easily adapted to accommodate disabled people. There are other areas that we would be keen to engage with disability groups so we can hear directly about issues that are faced in the Medway Towns and then we can develop policies to address those needs and concerns.

Given the multiple failed city status bids and associated costs, should the council pursue a future bid and if successful, what tangible benefits to residents would there be?

Green: When Medway ceases to have a social housing list then we can re-consider the benefits of applying for City status. The reality is that Medway residents are being failed, and any future application should take place after consultation with them, as well as a public enquiry into past applications, their costs, failures, promising elements. Only then we can clearly define the benefits or any re-application.

SDP: As stated by the current administration, we are already a city in all but name, and the Medway SDP is fully behind the bid to establish city status for Medway.
The costs incurred in previous bids have been relatively small, compared to the potential benefits, so this is a non-issue for us.
Most importantly, we need to provide a compelling argument for this status which cannot be refuted in isolation.

LibDem: Most of the land in Medway is rural, the idea that Medway becomes a city as a whole is not tenable. Any future bid needs to be realistically winnable. The historic city of Rochester lost its city status due to an administrative error. Since city status is awarded on the basis of electoral boundaries, a solution would be to establish a Town Council and use its boundaries to restore Rochester to the city status it deserves. Any future bid for city status for Medway is a waste of time and money.

Everyone has priorities for service improvements. What isn’t a priority?

Green: The current priority that the local authority ‘must build 30k houses across Medway‘, should be taken off the priority list. It should be replaced with identifying local housing need and addressing that instead, people before profit.

SDP: Medway Council will be under substantial financial stress over the next few years. Clearing itself of debt should be the paramount objective, which will allow it to have discretionary spending ability in the future.
There is probably very little a modern unitary authority can sheer itself of as ‘unessential’. From fixing potholes to funding special education services, nothing can be described as a luxury.
Where we can cut costs could be in the arts, sports or culture, or other areas where the private sector could or should be involved, although we recognize that this would be unpopular in some quarters.

LibDem: It's not a priority for water companies to make huge profits while polluting our rivers and seas

Footnotes

We’re currently crowdfunding! We hit our initial goal but would love to do more, so if you like what we do and would like to support us in exchange for some awesome rewards, take a look here.

This is the latest in a series of Medway election-based pieces. Also check out The 186 people who want to run Medway, A Few Good Men, Medway Tories have a women problem, and The man who wants to run Medway, even if you’ve read them before!

If you want to suggest ideas or send tips for articles, email Steven where he will protect sources and welcome whistleblowers.

Steven Keevil is excited about following up the successful leaders debate with further live shows after #MedwayElects23. He is currently recuperating from refreshing the Crowdfunder page every 5 mins. He co-founded The Political Medway and still manages to watch hundreds of films a year. He highly recommends The Plains.

Steven listened to no music whilst writing this, but recommends reading Fangs by Sarah Anderson.