Thank you to every Labour Group that nominated me to be on the ballot. I am so incredibly grateful to have this opportunity to put myself forward to my fellow councillors to represent you on the NEC.
As an experienced councillor, I know that it is a serious commitment and the time and effort that we put in to the role affects every part of our lives. For many, being a councillor is the main source of income. That is why I am keen to campaign on the NEC for the restoration of Councillor Pensions. This will ensure that those giving up work time and career opportunities to give back to their communities are still supported.
But I know that so many of us got into this for selfless reasons and even though the above is important, our council services must be better funded as a priority and ensure that private sector costs are controlled. This is especially important for adult and child social care services, which have become a huge burden on local authority budgets and are causing dangerous consequences for our residents. That is why I will campaign for increased funding for essential council services and caps on private sector service costs for local authorities.
A fairer funding approach for councils is incredibly important across our country, but especially for those authorities that don't have a devolution deal. While our new government is committed to working with authorities and regions across the country towards devolution deals that work for them, I want to make sure that no area is left behind while these deals are being worked through. That is why I will make sure to speak up for undevolved areas, so that no one is left behind and push for new powers to be devolved directly to local authorities so that they can get on with the work that matters to residents.
These are just some of the issues that matter to me and so many of my fellow councillors I have spoken to throughout this process, but I want to hear more from as many of you as possible so that I can hit the ground running and get to work if I am elected. Please get in touch at Elizabeth.Dennis4NEC@gmail.com to let me know about the issues you care about or to help with my campaign.
As a reminder, my first set of pledges are:
The restoration of Councillor Pensions
Increased funding for essential council services and caps on private sector service costs for local authorities
Speaking up for undevolved areas, so that no one is left behind
Pushing for new powers to be devolved directly to local authorities
If you lend me your support then I promise that I will work hard to support all of you!
