Labour - working hard for the people of Nottingham
Labour is working hard for local communities, delivering more jobs, safer streets and high quality public services available to all. Britain has the lowest interest and mortgage rates for forty years, the lowest inflation for forty years and the lowest employment since the 1970s. The Tories are pledged to an agenda of cuts, charges and privatisation that is more extreme than ever. They are committed to an immediate cut of £20 billion to public services and would return Britain to recession.
More nurses, more doctors
Since Labour came to office in 1997, waiting lists are down, investment is up, and there are 3,688 more nurses and 441 more doctors caring for patients in Trent Strategic Health Authority. The Tory agenda for cuts, charges and privatisation would mean deep cuts for local hospitals and fewer doctors and nurses.
More teachers
Since 1997, standards in our schools have risen across the board and there are now 230 more teachers helping children in Nottingham Local Education Authority. The Tories' commitment to an immediate £20 billion cut in public services would mean painful cuts to local schools and fewer teachers.
More police
Our streets are safer, crime is down and there are now 161 more police officers fighting crime in Nottinghamshire Police Force than in 1997. The Tories are committed to an immediate cut of £1.6 billlion from the Home Office and criminal justice. The scale of Tory cuts would mean severe cuts in the numbers of local police.
Record number of people in work
Unemployment is down by 52 per cent in Nottingham and around 8510 people have got jobs thanks to Labour's New Deal in Nottingham since 1997. The Tories are pledged to axe the New Deal and would return Britain to mass unemployment.
More for pensioners
In Nottingham, the winter fuel allowance warmed the homes of 45240 pensioners in February 2004 and Labour is helping all pensioners to enjoy a decent and secure retirement. 14668 pensioner households in Nottingham are now benefiting from Pension Credit, with a local average award of £43.59 a week. The Tories have opposed every measure Labour has taken to boost pensioner prosperity. They would let Labour's Pension Credit 'die' and penalise Britain's poorest pensioners.
More for families
In 1997 there was no child care guarantee for parents. Now every three and four year old is entitled to one of the 6,400 free part-time nursery education places available in Nottingham Local Education Authority. The Tories are committed to cuts in Sure Start and have opposed all Labour's tax credits for hard working families with children.
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Labour - working hard for Nottingham
More nurses and doctors, shorter waiting lists, a better NHS across Britain
In 1948 it was Labour that created the National Health Service and it is Labour in government today that is investing in and reforming the NHS to create a health service fit for the needs of 21st century Britain. Our starting point for all that we want to achieve is our belief in a publicly funded NHS, free at the point of need and accessible to all, irrespective of their ability to pay.
Labour is committed to boosting the numbers of nurses and doctors working in the NHS to deliver a faster, more convenient service for patients. In England alone, between 1997 and March 2004 there are 77,500 more nurses and over 19,000 more doctors working in the NHS.
Nottingham is in Trent Strategic Health Authority, where the number of nurses increased by 3,688 and the number of doctors by 441 between 1997 and 2003. The number of NHS consultants rose by 282 in the same period.
More teachers, higher standards, better schools
Since 1997 there has been remarkable progress in education. There are now more teachers in schools than at any point in the last 20 years - around 28,000 more than in 1997. In Nottingham Local Education Authority alone, the number of full-time equivalent regular teachers in maintained schools increased by 230 between 1997 and 2003. In September 2003 the total number of teachers in Nottingham Local Education Authority stood at 2,240.
Throughout England, standards are up with real improvements at every age level. We are working with parents and teachers to provide the best start for every child; with free, part-time early education for every three and four year-old whose parents want it; and in disadvantaged neighbourhoods we are bringing children's services together within the Sure Start programme.
In our primary schools, the Literacy and Numeracy Strategies have dramatically improved the quality of teaching and raised standards across the board; and schools in the most deprived areas have seen the greatest improvement in performance. Our secondary schools are better too: around 50 per cent of 15 year old pupils now achieve five or more good GCSEs (grade A*-C).
More police, lower crime, safer communities
People have a right to feel safe in their homes and in their communities. At the heart of Labour's approach is the drive for stability and security. Individual liberty, civil society and economic enterprise can only flourish in stable, orderly and strong communities and that is why civil renewal is at the heart of Labour's approach.
Labour is the first government in 50 years with crime lower at the end of its first term than when it took office. Crime is down 30 per cent since 1997 and the chance of being a victim of crime is at its lowest for 20 years. Burglaries are down by 42 per cent, car theft by 40 per cent and violent crime by 26 per cent.
Latest figures show record police numbers in England and Wales of 139,728 at September 2004 - up over 12,500 since Labour came to office in 1997. And we've introduced over 4,000 police Community Support Officers to help in tackling low-level crime and anti-social behaviour.
In Nottinghamshire police force area the number of police officers increased by 161 since 1997. The total number of police officers in Nottinghamshire police force area now stands at 2,484.
Record number of people in work
Our aim is to have, by the end of the decade, a higher proportion of people in work than ever before, as we move towards our goal of full employment in every region. Since 1997, unemployment has been reduced sharply in every region of the UK to a near 30 year low. More people are in work than ever before, that's over 1.9 million more than when Labour came to office. For the first time ever, Britain now enjoys the lowest unemployment rate of any of the major industrialised countries.
In Nottingham unemployment (measured by claimant count) fell by 52 per cent between 1997 and 2004. Since its inception the New Deal has helped many people into work in Nottingham:
4460 young people had been helped into work by the New Deal for Young People (by March 2004);
1710 people by the New Deal for Over-25s (by March 2004);
550 people by the New Deal for Over-50s (by March 2003); and
1790 by the New Deal for Lone Parents (by March 2004).
The number of people unemployed for more than one year also fell by 4770 - 76 per cent between 1997 and 2004.
More for pensioners, tackling poverty, sharing in prosperity
Labour wants all pensioners to have a decent and secure income in retirement. Our first priority was to provide a boost in the incomes of the poorest pensioners and make sure that people who have worked hard share in the country's rising prosperity. In Nottingham, 41560 pensioners receive the basic state pension worth £79.60 for singles or £127.25 for couples (2004). 45240 pensioners benefit from the Winter Fuel Allowance, worth at least £200, plus £100 for those over 80. In addition, Labour introduced free TV licenses for over 75s, free eye tests and reduced the Tories' VAT on fuel from eight per cent to five per cent. The poorest pensioners are now significantly better off.
Our next challenge is to address the group of pensioners who've managed to save something for their retirement but who - until now - have found that it is knocked straight off their benefit entitlement, leaving them no better off than those who have not saved at all. We introduced the Pension Credit to reward saving. 14678 pensioner households in Nottinghamare now benefiting from Pension Credit, with a local average award of £43.59 a week.
More for families, free nursery places, abolishing child poverty
Labour is helping all hard working families and our goal is to end child poverty.
We are making work pay, even for those families in low income jobs. In Nottingham, the Child and Working Tax Credit awards are helping 18900 hard working families (figures from January 2004).
We have also boosted support for families with young children. In 1997, there was no guarantee of early years child care for parents. Since then, 450,000 more child-care places have been created. Now every three and four year-old is now guaranteed a free part-time nursery place - in Nottingham Local Education Authority alone there were 6,400 free nursery education places for three and four year-olds in 2003. In addition, in the poorest fifth of places, new Sure Start children centres are providing high quality early education, childcare, health, family support and help into employment for poorer families.
We are committed to halving child poverty within ten years on the way to abolishing it in a generation. In 1997, Labour inherited one of the highest rates of child poverty in Europe - with one in three children living in poverty. Our mission to abolish child poverty is grounded both in our determination to secure social justice, and to tackle the problems that the social exclusion of children builds up for the long term.
This information is from publicly available sources.
[Last updated 2005-01-11]
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