From the campaign trail - Prue Bray - The importance of being accurate and realistic
Over the past few weeks the Lib Dems have been campaigning hard across the Borough for the local elections. And as part of that we have been talking to a lot of people about what the Lib Dems have been doing since we took charge of the council, and about what we will do in the future.
When we have those conversations, we Lib Dems believe it is really important that we are accurate and realistic. People are heartily sick of politicians talking themselves up, and making promises they cannot possibly deliver. They are also sick of negative campaigning, and have the impression from national media that all politicians are the same, just out for themselves. If we are going to give people hope that things can get better, we can only do it by being honest and earning their trust.
So how does that manifest itself on the door-step? Well, it has meant talking in depth about what the council can actually do with the resources it has. It has meant explaining that the council spends two-thirds of its money on vulnerable adults and children and that costs and demand for those services are both rising fast. This leaves only one-third for everything else, which are all the services that most people see. But it has also meant explaining that the Lib Dems believe that we should be looking after the most vulnerable in our community, although we do our best to keep all the other services running that people expect.
And it has meant explaining that we are planning for the long term, to ensure that the council’s finances are stable and we don’t waste money on short term ideas that cannot hold in the longer term. And it has meant being honest about where the money would have to be taken from to meet any extra spending that people might want to see.
Focusing on the long term is rarely the easy option, but it is always the right one. In the area I have been responsible for, Children’s Services, this has meant that we are shifting the whole focus of our special educational needs service towards more early intervention, while also expanding the number of special educational needs places locally. This kind of change can be unsettling for parents, who are used to battling for their children in an underfunded system. We have to show them that things can improve and that we are on their side. But we also have to be clear that we don’t have a magic wand, and that we cannot simply conjure up the perfect provision for every child. We must not give the impression that we can solve a national problem with our limited local resources, whether it’s special educational needs, adult social care, the state of the roads, or rent and mortgage costs.
On the door-steps, our message is going down well. Of course we won’t win everyone over, but people appreciate the honesty and sense of responsibility. They can see our commitment to doing the right thing. And – remarkably in some ways – they are thanking us for what we have done so far and what we are aiming to do in the future.
We will be continuing to have those conversations right up to election day. If we haven’t appeared on your door-step yet, there is every chance we will before 2nd May!