Our vision for Sutton's future
We believe that everyone should have the security to live a good life, and the opportunity to live their best life.
Everything we do is centred around one key idea: that Sutton must remain a place where everyone can get a great job, set up and run a great business, and count on a strong safety net when times are tough - as they are right now. We believe that everyone should have the security to live a good life, and the opportunity to live their best life.
In recent years we’ve delivered major investment in Sutton High Street, attracted brilliant employers across a range of sectors to set up shop across our borough, and made sure Sutton will be the home of the world-leading London Cancer Hub which will create thousands of great local jobs.
At the same time, we’ve been supporting households through the cost of living crisis. We’ve made sure families can access free school meals over half-terms, helped local people make ends meet with the Household Support Fund, and made sure Sutton Council pays living wage to all of its staff. We’re building affordable homes for local families, using new powers to stop unaffordable rent hikes and making sure HMOs in our borough meet the highest standards.
To keep Sutton moving forward we will make our borough an even more attractive place to do business, attracting external investment to create fair economic growth which will ultimately benefit everyone. We will do our bit to keep making life more affordable and easier, whilst continuing to provide targeted support for those that need it most.
Healthy, thriving communities.
Local people can’t be truly free to live their best lives if they’re worried that they can’t get the right treatment when they are sick. We can’t step forward into a brighter future unless we fix the crisis in our healthcare system.
We know that being able to rely on strong, decent local healthcare is your number one priority - which is why it’s ours too. After years of Conservative failure that left our NHS decimated and shook the foundations of social care, the task of fixing and modernising healthcare for the 21st century is an enormous one. The Labour government are moving incredibly slowly - and it’s our job in Sutton to get on with the job and do what we can to make access to great healthcare the norm for everyone again.
We’ve been fighting for years to tackle air pollution so that our children can grow up with healthy lungs. We’ve worked with local groups to promote prevention across a range of serious diseases. Most importantly of all, we’ve challenged successive governments over their outrageous delays to the vital repair works St Helier Hospital needs.
As we step forward, we will keep up the fight on all these fronts, and accelerate the shift towards preventive healthcare by recognising and using all the main drivers of prevention, including healthy lifestyle (diet and exercise) and tackling loneliness.
Safer Neighbourhoods
We believe nobody can be truly free to live their best life if they don’t feel safe. We’re proud of our record on delivering that safety; our years of working with local police and others culminated last year in TimeOut magazine naming our borough the safest place to live in Britain.
Crime is low in our borough, but we know that the work of keeping it low never stops, and that there are still far too many everyday crimes from antisocial behaviour to reckless driving that make everybody’s days just that bit worse.
Going forward, a Liberal Democrat council will work with police to keep Sutton a safe borough, and take a firmer line on all nuisances, through more robust policy and innovation.
Homes for all
Tackling the housing crisis helps us unlock Sutton’s potential, secures Sutton’s finances and gives the thousands of local families in temporary accommodation the security they deserve.
It’s not just about having a roof over your head, but about being able to stay under that roof for as long as you like. We know that our borough is green and pleasant, with great parks and superb historic communities. That is why we’re building the homes Sutton’s families need close to town centres, making sure we deliver on tackling the crisis whilst protecting Sutton’s suburban character.
Even if you already own your own property, you will benefit from a council that tackles the crisis head on through stronger communities, less pressure on council finances, and the economic opportunities that the new amenities the housing attracts.
Perhaps most importantly of all, if you have children, you will have the confidence that they will finally be able to get onto the property ladder themselves with a property in the community they grew up in.
We have already built hundreds of high-quality, eco-friendly, affordable new homes that have helped local families move out of temporary accommodation. We are turning a corner on the crisis - but we have to finish the job. To drive us over the line on delivering the homes we need - we will use every innovation and measure available to us, continuing our excellent record of house-building by concentrating development in our town centres while retaining our unique suburban character.
A Greener Borough
We are unapologetically committed to making Sutton the green, clean and well-connected borough it needs to be to make sure local people can live their best lives.
As we all get to grips with the climate emergency, we’re dedicating ourselves to doing our bit to secure a liveable future for Sutton’s children, making sure the green transition is fair for everyone, and ensuring Sutton reaps the benefits in the form of better homes, enhanced green spaces and better public transport.
A place we are all proud of
The Liberal Democrats in Sutton have always been a community-first party.
We believe in working with you, involving local people in the decisions that matter most to them. We think that nobody can live their best life without having the right and opportunity to get involved in the work of improving our area.
In these new and chaotic political times, we’re holding fast to that principle. To keep driving Sutton’s great communities forward into a bright future, we will take a number of steps to ensure that all residents can play an active role in making Sutton a great place to live, through community and civic participation. Sutton’s charity, faith and community sector will be integral to this.
The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.
Preamble to the Liberal Democrat Constitution
