New Year Greetings for 2020

Thank you all for your support in working together to make life better in our communities. I wish you the best of health and happiness through 2020.

This is the decade for getting our communities right, working well together for the good of all, living well in our communities with a clean, green and safe environment. 

Last year we celebrated anniversaries that give us hope in the ability of humanity and our communities. A hundred years ago, more equal access to democracy began in this country for both men and women. Seventy years ago, we gave equal access for all to health care in the NHS. Fifty years ago, people stepped on the moon and came back safely.

Now we face another challenge. As we have suffered floods, Australia is ablaze with catastrophic fires.  Recently, I met the scientists and heard the evidence on climate change, as presented to the United Nations, demonstrating that more challenging targets were needed, to avert massive migration as land becomes uninhabitable because of more extreme weather events. This is the decade to change our impact on the environment, and we’re up for it.

It is time to do what we can locally and nationally, to strive for stronger communities to create a good quality of life without cost to others.

I successfully called for international support at the World Congress of Local Government and to the UK Forum in November and nationally to the Local Government Association in July.

At North Kesteven District Council, with terrific local support in May, we have more Independent Councillors than anything else and Lincolnshire Independents are working hard for our communities. Together we called for a clear plan to better tackle our impact on the environment. We are jointly rewriting our business plans to focus on being a listening and responsive Council, with a commitment to our communities, and to the environment on which we rely, now and in the long term.

We also called for better support of the vulnerable, passing the UN initiative for women against violence and supported a motion against anti-semitism.

I met cross party with UK government ministers to make the case clearly for better funding for local services, to good effect. We calculated a shortfall of £2.6bn this year and were given £3.5bn, albeit including a Council tax rise.  

We are now working to get cross party agreement at local level at least, making it possible to fund adult care in the long term.

For almost four years, we have worked jointly with ministers on arrangements that would need to be in place for a smooth exit from the EU. We also call for powers and money to be brought back to us locally.

It is more important than ever that we press for a listening government, who genuinely cares about our communities and is doing everything possible to help us all thrive.

I look forward to working with you to help create a happy and successful future. We ae at the heart of it, standing up for our communities.