The manifesto has only been briefly referred to in the local media but copies do not seem to have been made publically available on the internet or published in leaflets.

Matthew Holmes, Deputy Leader of Derby City Conservatives said, “The last I heard the Labour leader say about his group’s manifesto was that he accepted it was missing a lot of detail and that he expected the public to put their faith in Labour policies but wasn’t willing to say what many of their policies were. I found that incredible coming from someone who has ambitions to lead the Council.”

He continued, “The conclusion to draw is that they have something to hide and they don’t want to tell the public what they have planned. For me and many others I have spoken to across the City, any party looking to take control of the City must have a viable and robust plan that is publically available to help voters make up their minds about who should run the City.

In my opinion, the complete lack of promotion of their pledges and plans just proves that Labour are worried they will be exposed for what they are, which is opportunistic political lightweights without a vision, or with policies they know will be unpopular such as hiking up council tax or a work place parking levy.

They are simply taking the public for granted and yet they continue to make arrogant predictions that they believe they’ve already won the election. We think that confidence is backfiring and the Conservative campaign team know from doorsteps across the City that Labour’s support is not as strong as they think it is. The bottom line is that no one actually knows what Labour in Derby stand for or what they are promising to do.

The Conservatives are putting forward a positive agenda for the City and are fighting as hard as we can to ensure that Labour don’t do to the Council what they did to the Country.”

Derby Conservatives are heavily promoting our 2012 local manifesto in letters, leaflets and on the doorstep and have made it available for download via our website, www.derbyconservatives.com

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Conservative Leader, Philip Hickson said, “We’ve got very clear ambitions to create almost 6000 new jobs over the next five years and have a proven track record in bringing in investment to the City. Our first pledge in our 2012 manifesto is that there will be no council tax increase for a third year running if the Conservatives continue to lead the council following the elections on May 3rd.”

He continued, “This is in stark contrast to Labour who have already confirmed that they will increase council tax year-on-year for the next four or five years at least. The Conservative manifesto offers a very clear vision for Derby. It brings to the table a fair deal for motorists, for the tax payer, offers solid policy to protect the most venerable in our society and to support young people, families and pensioners.

We are putting forward a very clear and balanced set of policies that will continue to take Derby forward whilst we tackle the unpredicted financial pressures inherited from the last Labour government.”

The full manifesto is available online by clicking here.

Our key pledges to the residents of Derby include:

A Council Tax Freeze for a third year – No increase in your Council Tax in 2013/14.
The Conservatives have already frozen Council Tax for two years and our pledge of no rise again in 2013/14 will continue to help Derby households at a time when they most need it.

Safeguarding Children.
We will continue to safeguard Derby children as a top priority & raise educational attainment in Derby Schools.

Social Care – No decision about you, without you.
Wherever possible to offer personal budgets so that you can choose the care that suits you. You will get more choice and control so that the services the Council provides are more responsive to you and designed around your needs, rather than you having to fit around services.

A Fair Deal for Motorists.
We will not impose a Workplace Parking Levy. We will not impose congestion charging or road pricing. Fixed speed cameras will continue to be removed and replaced by other road safety measures.

Tough Approach on Enforcement & Licensing.
A zero tolerance approach towards the control and enforcement of Licensing Law to include the implementation of ‘Fast Track’ reviews of licences if found to have sold counterfeit / illicit goods or made underage sales of alcohol, cigarettes, knives, gas refills etc.

Libraries for all.
No library will be closed, and Chaddesden’s new library will be delivered in 2012.

Protecting our green spaces & sustainable housing growth.
Bringing empty homes back into use & brownfield regeneration remains a priority. We will oppose inappropriate developments and ‘garden grabbing’. Housing developments / new settlements will be supported that deliver local infrastructure, facilities and schools. Unsustainable development of our City boundary by neighbouring authorities will be resisted.

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A City-wide flyer campaign has also begun to promote their pledges whilst also putting forward what they believe could be in store for the Derby motorist and local businesses if Labour were to take control of City.

On May 3rd, every motorist in Derby deserves a fair deal.

Once again, Derby Conservatives believe they are the only local political party that is supporting the motorist and ensuring a fair balance is struck on local transport policy. We also believe that we can continue to make road safety a priority without penalising the motorist.

The Conservatives pledge that;

• We will never introduce congestion charging or local road pricing.

• We will never introduce a workplace parking levy.

• We will continue to remove fixed speed cameras and replace with alternative road safety measures including speed indication signs and traffic calming where there is local support.

Will Labour be declaring war on the Derby motorist?

Derby Conservative Deputy Leader, Matthew Holmes said, “Derby just can’t afford Labour and there’s a real chance that they’ll declare war on the motorist if they take control of the council.

Our view is that that a workplace parking levy could be imposed in Derby just as Labour have done in Nottingham this week. That would be a hammer blow to local business and their employees who could be charged hundreds of pounds a year to park at their place of work. That is why the Conservatives are ruling it out.

We also believe that Labour’s City congestion charge proposals, brought forward the last time they ran the council could be put back on the agenda.”

He continued, “We think that Labour have a hidden agenda that you won’t find on their manifesto. For example, we know that they’ve put forward the idea of installing average speed enforcement cameras along stretches of Derby roads. We also know they’re committed to fixed speed cameras and it would seem very likely they would re-install the one’s that have been removed over the last two years if they take control.”

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