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Darlington

 

Name: Jenny Chapman

Party: Labour

Contact details: chapmanj@btopenworld.com


This candidate has not yet responded please complete the e-action form and ask them to reply to our 5 pledges.
 

Name: Edward Legard

Party: Conservative

Contact details: darlington@tory.org


As David Cameron has explained: “instead of using public servants as scapegoats we should acknowledge their successes. Instead of constantly beating up on the public sector and telling it to be more like the private sector, let’s be more reasonable and constructive” (Speech to the National Consumer Council, 6 June 2006).

 
Conservatives have always focused, rightly, on giving taxpayers value for money. But we also recognise the important role played by the dedicated public sector professionals who work hard to improve the quality of people’s lives. Conservatives value that commitment, and trust their professional responsibility.
 
1.   I pledge to work to ensure that public services are properly resourced and delivered by the public sector and that there are no further local office closures, public sector job cuts or privatisations.
 
Of course we plan to ensure that public services are properly resourced. However, due to the strains on the public finances, whichever party wins the next election, public spending will have to be cut.
 
We have set out several examples of specific savings that should be made in addition to the tens of billions of pounds of efficiency savings and productivity improvements that the Conservatives would deliver throughout the public sector over the next Parliament in order to reduce waste, deliver more for less, and protect frontline public services.
 
For example, we are calling for a pay freeze in 2011 for the entire public sector barring the million lowest paid employees. This will generate savings equivalent to protecting 100,000 public sector jobs.
 
2.   I pledge to support measures aimed at closing the UK tax gap, including recruiting HMRC staff and ensuring tax loopholes are closed.
 
People and businesses should pay the taxes which are properly due.  HMRC has faced a number of significant challenges in recent years and we want to ensure that it becomes a more effective tax collecting agency.  We want to work with management and staff at HMRC to ensure that taxpayers pay the right amount of tax and receive a high quality service
 
3.   I pledge to support civil service national pay bargaining and to press the government to offer pay increases to public sector workers at least in line with inflation.
 
I would like to assure you that modern Conservatives have a huge respect for the many committed public servants. But it is because we treat people with respect that we are being straight about the choices we face.  The truth is that at a time of crisis there is an inevitable and difficult trade-off between securing jobs and restraining pay.
 
Conservatives are calling for a pay freeze in 2011 for the entire public sector barring the million lowest paid employees. We should not include public servants earning less than £18,000, because we do not believe in balancing the budget on the backs of the poorest. We will respect pay deals which have already been announced.
 
Freezing pay will help to protect public sector jobs.  This pay freeze would generate annual savings of more than £3 billion. This will generate savings equivalent to protecting 100,000 public sector jobs. I note that local government pay is a devolved issue for local councils.
 
4.   I pledge to urge the government to honour the 2005 commitment on public sector pensions and to defend the rights of existing members of the civil service compensation scheme.
 
We believe that the Government should find ways to cap the biggest government pensions, including those for senior civil servants, local council executives and quango managers.
 
Indeed, as the Labour Chairman of the Commons Committee on Work and Pensions said, ‘Some people who are earning £200-£250,000 a year can see a pension in the range of £150,000. I think most people would think that that was excessive. Perhaps there should be a cap of, say, somewhere around £50,000.’
 
This cap should prevent any taxpayer-funded increase in senior government pensions already worth over £50,000 a year, and stop all taxpayer-funded pensions for these groups in future exceeding £50,000 a year. This would reduce the growth of public sector pension liabilities by hundreds of millions of pounds over the next decade. We also believe in greater transparency over the pay and perks of senior public officials.
 
It is important to stress that any change should reflect the principle that existing benefits accrued by staff must be protected. The Government should also consider the appropriate process for working with the relevant representative groups to implement this policy.
 
5.   I pledge to campaign to ensure any changes to public services are only made after proper equality impact assessments have been conducted and their findings implemented.
 
I am committed to ensuring everyone is treated equally and with respect and of course it is important that public services are delivered in a fair, non-discriminatory way. There is already guidance to ensure that key policies are assessed for their impact on equality, as well as potential impact on rural areas, privacy, the voluntary sector and small firms. We need to ensure that this is implemented whilst at the same time ensuring that we do not add unnecessary extra red tape which could ultimately undermine public services by directing resources away from the front line.


 

Name: Michael Braker

Party: Lib Dem

Contact details: mikebarker@cix.co.uk


This candidate has not yet responded please complete the e-action form and ask them to reply to our 5 pledges.
 

Name: Charlotte Bull (UKIP)

Party: Labour

Contact details: gzwoocock@gmail.com


This candidate has not yet responded please complete the e-action form and ask them to reply to our 5 pledges.