Cambridge Liberal Democrat Manifesto 1998 Jobs, Prosperity and Education

One of the most important functions of district councils is encouraging local economic development. We believe that Cambridge City Council could do much more to build a strong local economy, and to do so in partnership with local business.

Our overriding principles are the same as those that Liberal Democrats apply to national economic policy. First, we believe that the economy and the environment have to be considered together, but that a commitment to environmental sustainability can, if properly handled, lead to economic opportunities and higher levels of prosperity. Secondly, we believe that economic success requires a commitment to innovation and the development of new ideas and products. Thirdly, we believe that very high standards in education are crucial for economic success. Lastly, we believe that the best generators of new ideas and new jobs will be small and medium sized businesses.

Cambridge’s Labour council is unremittingly hostile to the twin sources of Cambridge’s economic success - high tech industry and the higher education sector from which it springs. We will build a new positive relationship with both.

Our policies are designed to use the powers of local government, which are broader in the field of economic development than in virtually any other field, to anticipate the challenges of the next century and to build on Cambridge's existing advantages.

Supporting education
The main responsibility for education, of course, rests with the County Council. The County Council is among the lowest spenders per head on education in the country, but even if the Conservative-controlled council wanted to increase spending, it would be frustrated by the Labour government’s spending controls.

We believe that the City Council has a role in supplementing the County Council’s education programme, especially in tough financial times. The reasons are not only economic. Youth work and education, even at under-five level, also have an eventual pay-off in terms of crime rates and public order.

We have long advocated a City Education Fund, aimed primarily at under-fives, youth work and community education. In 1996, we succeeded for the first time in getting part of our proposal into the City Council’s budget in the form of a youth development budget. We intend to expand that budget and to direct it towards supporting both educational and youth work projects.

We also created a Children’s Arts Festival, which supported the work of local schools. Labour has cut the Festival precisely because it helped schools. We will restore it at the earliest opportunity.

Working with small and medium size business Small businesses are a major engine of innovation and new jobs. We believe that local government can help in the difficult transition that successful businesses have to make from struggling start-up to flourishing established business. We will consult widely with business and others on the sort of help the City Council might provide or ensure that other agencies provide.

We will also explore the idea of bringing together local financial interests, local government and the universities and colleges to look for ways of helping local people to invest in local companies.

Planning for Employment
We support the present emphasis in the local plan on encouraging the high tech sector. We also recognise that unrestricted job growth in the city centre before adequate public transport is provided would add to the city's serious environmental problems. We support a very great improvement in public transport in the city but we recognise that planning policies should try to reduce the need for commuting of all types. We are in favour of planning policies to encourage people to live closer to where they work and policies that encourage more flexible patterns of work, including working from home. In most cases, this will mean planning for housing in the city. But where it means allowing more employment growth in the city, we believe that the Council should not stand in its way.

Supporting Innovation
The City Council lacks the powers and the money to become a major backer of research and development, but it can encourage innovation in other ways. It can publicise innovation by award schemes. It can assist in technology transfer by helping to sponsor seminars and conferences. And it can follow a policy of the early adoption of innovation in its own purchasing.

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