My ideas for the future (Buckinghamshire Council)

Both as a town councillor and community activist, I watch what happens at Buckinghamshire Council (formerly the County Council and district councils | AVDC) closely. I am often a critic, I should say. But I also praise decisions that I think are helping our community to become even better. And certainly, there are several local Buckinghamshire Councillors who diligently serve their local communities, taking up the concerns of their constituents and addressing local matters (such as flooding and road surface quality).  And I thank them for this. Like them, I hope soon to be able to do this as both a Town and Shire councillor. 

If you elect me, what can you expect me to work on? Here are some of the broad ideas that I am keen to take into the Buckinghamshire Council:

• Revising the organisations procurement / commissioning / purchasing policies so that the Council spends much more of your taxpayers' monies on local suppliers. I think the least that a Council can do, when exhorting us all to 'shop local', is to do it too! It makes sense!
• Currently the Council does not routinely publish all of its Freedom of Information inquiries and their answers in one accessible place. (I know - I was surprised too!) This needs changing and the Council needs to become far more open and transparent.
• We need a new way of fixing potholes in the County. If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, then the approach taken by Transport for Bucks needs medical attention! I think the whole system could be radically improved by introducing a warranty based insurance scheme. This would mean those who dig up our roads (telecoms, utilities, developers etc) would have to insure against problems occurring years later. I think such a scheme would stimulate the road diggers to do better repairs (because it would cost them if they didn't)
• We need a new approach to the relationship between parish/town councils and the Buckinghamshire Council. We need far greater respect and recognition on both sides towards each other. 
• For starters the whole planning process needs revision so that parish/town councils are guaranteed a voice and an opportunity to object to planning applications that they deem unsatisfactory. 
• The finances of the Buckinghamshire Council are probably an object lesson in 'smoke and mirror' accountancy. As above, we need more transparency, more honesty and more scrutiny of just how the Council is spending taxpayers' money. The Council also needs a new way of approaching the business investments it makes. Did you know that the Council owns a riding stable for example?
• I will be pressing for every Council building to have a plan to use more clean/green energy in order to reduce costs and tackle the climate emergency. Moreover, I think there are ways in which the Council can use its influence to enable more local businesses and organisations to do likewise. My impression is the Council is approaching the climate emergency as something of a PR exercise and only introducing cosmetic changes. It needs to be far, far more bold and committed. 
• The pandemic and lockdowns have served to magnify the inequalities in our society, especially in our schools. I fear that the gap between the highest achievers and those pupils who struggle will only have widened in recent months (and it was widening before too!). We need a robust strategy designed to address the underlying causes of this and put in place actions to narrow this educational gap. 
• The same can probably be said for health and social care. We need a plan to properly understand and address the reasons why poverty is increasing in our towns and villages - and what can be done to ensure that everyone gets a chance to live a decent, healthy and happy life. 

I could go on, but that is probably enough for now. The fact is that while the officers and staff of the Buckinghamshire Council are working hard on many of these matters, what they lack is the political will from the members of the Council. The Council needs more councillors who are prepared to challenge, investigate and speak up for local communities - and not simply accept the way things have been. 

It is time for change!

An indication of what Buckinghamshire Council thinks about poverty...

My politics: what I stand for

All I want is a sustainable world, in which everyone can have dreams and ambitions and the wherewithal to achieve these. That is my politics in a nutshell.

Expanding on this:

• Sustainability: we cannot go on burning up the world, it is the only one we have. We must address climate change with urgency and determination. We must produce less waste, recycle what we have, repair things when they go wrong. Generally, our footprints have been too heavy on the Earth. We need to tread more lightly and delight in the wondrous nature around us.  
• Everyone: without exception, and without discrimination, everyone deserves a wholesome life on this planet. In current times, some people get left behind, even in our local town and nearby villages which are rich in community spirit and much material wealth. We have lonely people, some who have very little, and some for whom daily life is a real struggle. Everyone deserves a chance to live a fulfilling life. 
• Dreams: hope is fundamental to human life. We all need dreams but there are some who lead dreamless lives without ever feeling that they could have or be more. Politics should be about helping people tap into their creativity and think what else | what more | what could be...?!
• Ambitions: there is so much more we can make happen, if we give ourselves permission to set goals for ourselves and encourage, support others to do so as well. Ambitions come in all shapes and sizes from wanting to send a woman to Mars to deciding today is the day to shake off the fears and visit the shops. Ambitions make life worth living!
• Wherewithal: to achieve our dreams and ambitions we need skills, we need confidence, we need to be free from fear, we need support, we need to be healthy, we need a secure place to live, we need friends and family who have our backs, we need warmth, we need so many things... Some people have these in abundance, and some don't. And this is why we have the public services like the police, like the NHS, like the schools and so on: in different ways they all help us to have the wherewithal we need. And this is why we need an economy and a business environment that rewards innovation, ingenuity, sweat and tears. 

I see the role of government - locally and nationally - as seeking to make all this happen. I think it is also something we can all do for ourselves, for our neighbours and for our communities. 

And I know we cannot achieve all this without more fairness, more justice, more equality, more peace and indeed more love in the world. I describe myself as socialist because I want all this for everyone!

You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I am not the only one. I am also very tenacious, pragmatic and phlegmatic: always looking for the most elegant way to make things happen, never giving up and letting any negativity just roll of my back.  

If my politics sounds like yours, I hope you will feel able to support me. Even if we may not agree on everything, I am willing to bet that there are many things on which we do agree. As Jo Cox said, we always have far more in common than anything which divides us. 

Why I am standing for the Town Council (again)

I was co-opted onto the Town Council back in June 2011. I joined a diverse team of great councillors and brilliant staff. We work together and make valuable contributions to the lives of everyone here in Buckingham including:

• Events that build community and bring people together 
• Parks, play areas and green spaces that add beauty and enjoyment to our town
• Scrutiny of planning applications so that the town grows and changes carefully, without losing our heritage
• and much more that goes on to keep the town in good balance

Over nearly ten years, I have helped the Town Council become more strategic and more focused on delivering outcomes for the town. My particular contributions include:

• persisting with getting solar energy into our buildings (we are nearly there!)
• celebrating the birth of community nursing here in Buckingham more than 125 years ago by initiating a health festival in the town
• building stronger links between the Town Council and the University of Buckingham by working closely with the Vice Chancellor
• initiating the country's first ever 'Good Endings Fair' designed to help people plan for the future when they will no longer be around, overcoming some of the fear of death, wills and funerals
• campaigning on road safety in our town including the (then) infamous London Road roundabout and continuing to press for 20mph speed limits on roads where there are lots of children
• working with and for young people to get a new and well designed skate park in place and other activities for children

As reward and acknowledgement of my contributions to the Town Council, my councillor colleagues elected me to become Town Mayor for two years running. It was a tremendous privilege and honour to do this for the Town - and my wife and I hugely enjoyed those two years.

I made a point of being the most accessible and transparent Town Mayor Buckingham has ever had: my blog about my journeys as Town Mayor was downloaded more than a 1/4 million times over those two years. You can read it still here: themayorofbuckingham.blogspot.com

I know I have more to contribute to the Town and the Town Council. I seek your vote to enable me to do this. Thank you. 

Why I am standing for the new Buckinghamshire Council

The future is very uncertain: we do not know the long term impact of the pandemic and associated lockdowns. Business and government will never be the same again. 

I know I can really help the new Buckinghamshire Council wrestle with these challenges. I know that I have the skills, the creativity and the insights to do this. And so I am asking you to give me chance to do this and help all our local communities recover from Covid19 - and recover even better that when all this started. 

By nature, I am an optimist. I think there will be more opportunities in the future and I know I can help the new Council spot these and make the most of them - for the benefit of all. 

Over my years both as a Town Councillor and as an professional adviser to government, I have learnt many things. I know how local authorities can use their resources and power to deliver the best outcomes for local people, be those outcomes jobs, community well-being, good education and great care for vulnerable people and so forth. 

I just need one of your three votes to give me the chance to do this. Thanks.

Time to consider your vote in May for both Buckingham Town Council and Buckinghamshire Council

 

May 6th, 2021 is election day in Buckinghamshire

Once elected, Jon will always

• Be your independent voice on these two councils,

• Listen to you and 

• Put our local community first 

Jon is standing for both

Buckingham Town Council (in the ward of Buckingham South)

and the new unitary 

Buckinghamshire Council (in the ward of Buckingham East)