This final local elections post is arguably the most important of all – a summary of what the main parties and groups standing in Bridgend are pledging to do if elected.
All of the following relate to Bridgend County Borough Council. There’s absolutely no way in hell I’m going to do anything like this for the 20 separate town and community councils.
I’ve selected up to 10 stand-out policies/pledges from the manifestos or policy statements published by the parties and main groups standing in the county council elections.
Postal votes will have already gone out, but if you’re living in one of the wards taking part in early voting pilots, you’ll be able to vote from tomorrow (3rd May). For everyone else, polling day is Thursday 5th May between 7 am – 10 pm.
As for the results, by the looks of things the count is taking place on Friday and the final results aren’t expected until late in the afternoon. I expect to have a post on the county council results out by Saturday afternoon and the community and town council results by Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.
Finally, I’d like to wish all candidates standing for the county council and/or the town and community councils the best of luck. It takes guts and commitment to stick your neck out and run for office regardless of whether you’re successful or not. Be proud that you’re doing your bit.
By the looks of it only Plaid Cymru – of the other three parties (along with the Lib Dems and Greens) standing at county level – have published a local election manifesto/policy statement of some kind. It’s a national manifesto, which you can read here (pdf).
- Commit to extending free school meals for all primary school pupils to all secondary school pupils by 2027.
- Reform council tax “to make it fairer”.
- Increase the proportion of public procurement with Welsh-based companies to 75%.
- Backs “town centre first” economic development policies.
- Supports continued investment in walking and cycling routes.
- Invest in youth services and youth centres.
- Extend free child care to 2-year-olds.
- Supports community-owned renewable energy projects.
- Bring empty housing back into use by demanding owners make improvements; provide grants to first-time buyers to bring empty properties back into use.
- Support the publication of information on where high-risk coal tips are located (Bridgend county has 42 deemed “high-risk”) and a national action plan to make them safe.
As mentioned with the Conservatives, national manifestos for local elections end up coming across as a bit vague as you need to make the same commitments everywhere without being specific to a particular area.
Plaid’s manifesto is largely a reframing of their 2021 Senedd election manifesto more towards local government – some policies being more relevant to Bridgend (empty properties, town centre first development) than others (second homes).
The commitment to extend free school meals to secondary school pupils is one of the few standout policy pledges in the local elections. Securing a deal for free meals for primary school pupils is something Plaid has trumpeted for the last six months and now something Labour is taking credit for (as listed earlier and as expected).
Proposals for council tax reforms so far have come across as a bit vague. It seems the proposed property revaluation will be the reform for the time being, which could end up costing some households more. Council tax probably needs replacing – whether that’s a local income tax, local sales tax or land value tax – but most of all councils need certainty with their budgets so they know in advance what tax rates they’ll need to set.
