Manifesto for Southampton & District Green Party 2025

After the local elections in May 2024 

Candidates for the General Election are Katherine Barbour (seated on the left) and Neil Kelly (seated 3rd from left).

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The Natural Environment

Background

Southampton supports a variety of habitats including coast, mudflats, rivers, wet and dry meadows, heathland, woodland and parkland. A number of these areas are designated as sites of national and international nature conservation importance, including:

Aims

(From the Green Party of England and Wales, see https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/ec.html)

CY400 The Green Party aims to:

• Legislate to reform land tenure and access to land;
• Legislate to stop further destruction of wildlife habitats, the soil, the landscape, ancient monuments and our countryside heritage;
• Enact policies that will make the whole countryside more hospitable to wildlife, entailing increased protection for wildlife and habitats and delivery of meaningful landscape-scale conservation and restoration;
• Increase the area and quality of woods, orchards, agroforestry, hedges and other tree cover;
• Ensure food security, integrating human health and wellbeing, environmental protection, animal welfare and decent livelihoods for farmers, farm workers and growers.

Principles

(From the Green Party of England and Wales)

CY201 The countryside is a living ecosystem that is essential for the survival of human communities both rural and urban. It has an innate value that cannot be assessed in solely monetary terms.

CY202 The Green Party believes that we all have an obligation to live within the natural limits of our environment and to adopt lifestyles that will not irrevocably damage the environment for future generations.    

Strategies and policies

Wildlife, Habitat and Species Protection

CY500 Maintaining a healthy environment necessitates the maintenance of species diversity and the vigorous protection of wild habitats. The Green Party’s policies to increase self-reliance and address our consumer-based lifestyle will help to ensure that we do not make environmentally damaging demands on the countryside or the rest of the world.

Environmentally Sensitive Areas 

CY560 The Green Party will provide adequate funding for the management of designated sites, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), National Nature Reserves (NNRs), Special Area of Conservation (SACs) and Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs).

Woodlands, Forests and Trees

CY571 The Green Party will ensure that woods are considered as an integral part of Local Development Frameworks. Planning authorities will be required to liaise with the Forestry Commission and other bodies when dealing with the establishment of new woods and the management of existing ones. The public ownership of woods and plantations that are currently in public ownership, such as those managed by the Forestry Commission, will be rigorously protected. Public rights of access to such woods and plantations will also be rigorously protected whenever this is compatible with wildlife protection and good management.

CY573 The Green Party will prohibit destruction of ancient woodland.

Access to the Countryside

1. Restoration and conservation of rare and declining habitats – Management of ancient woodlands, grassland, coastal and aquatic habitats to improve quality and reverse the decline in locally native species diversity and numbers; Monitor wildlife diversity to ensure management techniques are effective; Expand and strengthen the existing parks service, ensuring ecological issues are at the forefront of decisions and properly funded.

2. Living landscapes; green and blue infrastructure – Significantly increase the extent and quality of Southampton’s green and blue infrastructure, reducing the fragmentation of habitats by connecting existing habitats and creating new links; Where there is no public land available to improve green links, work with local residents and private landowners to encourage them to enhance their gardens and green spaces to help connect wildlife corridors; In urban areas, support the creation of green walls and roofs.

3. River and estuary protection – support the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s Wilder Solent campaign to improve river and estuary habitat quality and work towards nitrate neutrality, reducing pollution within the Solent.

4. Trees and woodland – Plant new trees, including fruit trees, where appropriate in suitable habitats so that the city sees an overall increase in tree canopy; Not fell any existing trees unless, in the opinion of a qualified tree surgeon, this is unavoidable for safety reasons, or is necessary for habitat management; Review tree preservation orders to provide protection for existing trees and deliver effective enforcement; Ensure effective management of ancient woodlands.

5. Active green travel routes – Establish a network of travel corridors providing green and healthy routes for people and wildlife across the city to encourage active travel and increase walking and cycling. Ensure routes connect people with green spaces in and around the city, working with neighbouring councils to link up country parks and countryside areas such as the New Forest.  

6. Community involvement in green space management – Support local green space volunteer groups, including the creation of a local green space forum where local park associations can meet directly with relevant Cabinet Members and council staff.

7. Environmental education – Deliver a rolling programme of educational campaigns through a Community Learning and Engagement Team, leading outdoor learning sessions within the city’s green spaces; Support schools to create biodiversity areas within their grounds; Deliver a variety of adult learning sessions to make wildlife conservation accessible and important to all. 

8. Grassland and verge management – Create a grassland and verge management policy for council land, improving the quality of grassland habitat and vastly increasing species diversity; Work with Plantlife to establish a road verge management programme that increases biodiversity and adds to green infrastructure, helping to connect wildlife sites; Creation of new meadow habitats in areas of low quality amenity grassland, ensuring space for recreation alongside. 

9. Protect and maintain the city’s allotments – Recognise that allotments add to green infrastructure and provide habitats for wildlife, as well as having a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of residents; Hold regular meetings with the allotment associations; Encourage the creation of community gardens and orchards.

10. Development – There will be a general presumption against development in green space between the city boundaries, and those of neighbouring towns and villages, including Eastleigh, Bursledon and Hamble; Seek to enhance the natural environment and deliver a net gain to the city’s biodiversity as part of all major infrastructure projects; Commitment to give a greater emphasis to biodiversity and ecology in domestic planning and to prevent the loss of private gardens. 

Medium term goals

1. An increase in the extent and quality of land managed for biodiversity; a net improvement in biodiversity index across the city and a reduction in the isolation index. 

2. Better connectivity for people and wildlife through well managed green and blue infrastructure.

3. Healthier rivers and estuaries.  SCC to implement the recommendations of the scrutiny inquiry on the River Itchen (2023)

4. Increased engagement of local people in wildlife conservation and outdoor learning. 

Long term goal

The Green City Charter becomes the ‘people’s charter’, ensuring Southampton is a city that shares its space with wildlife, through high quality and varied habitats, well-managed, well-connected green and blue infrastructure and communities invested in looking after their local green spaces. The impacts of climate change will be locally mitigated and reduced through exemplary management of habitats and residents will be happier and healthier thanks to improved provision for active travel and better access to nature. 

The Green Party will bring to Parliament a Nature Act to protect all aspects of nature and to strengthen the environmental legislation that underpins this.

The Local Economy

Background

There are national macroeconomic policies that affect different localities differently and there are microeconomic measures that can be implemented locally.  Southampton and district have particular issues such as:

• The port
• The cruise industry
• The airport 
• Brexit and trade with Europe
• Loss of manufacturing jobs over time
• Areas of deprivation, particularly in the city 

On the other hand, Southampton has quite a diverse range of businesses, including marine, tech, leisure and education and is a hub for transport links, shopping and office-based work.

Aims

(from the Green Party of England and Wales, see https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/ec.html)

Ecological sustainability

EC200 To conserve natural planetary resources and to maintain the integrity of natural life-sustaining cycles; to regenerate areas made waste and take steps to avoid further ecological disaster; to reduce demand for energy and raw materials; to favour low energy non-polluting processes based on renewable resources.

EC201 To this end, Universal Basic Income will allow the current dependence on economic growth to cease, and allow zero or negative growth to be feasible without individual hardship should this be necessary on the grounds of sustainability. 

Equity & social justice

EC202 To achieve an equitable distribution of resources, wealth, opportunity and power which ensures access for all to the means of sustenance and of personal and social development.

Decentralisation & devolution

EC203 To devolve economic power to the lowest appropriate level, thereby rendering participants in the economy at all levels less vulnerable to the damaging effects of economic decisions made elsewhere and over which they have no control; to support the ‘informal’ sector (notably by provision of Universal Basic Income for all) thus reducing the impact of the formal economy.

Self-reliance with interdependence

EC204 To liberate and empower all sections of society to meet their needs as far as possible from their own resources through activities which are socially enhancing; to encourage all to contribute to society according to their abilities, recognising as they do so, responsibility for themselves, for others, for future generations and for the planet.

Principles

(From the Green Party of England and Wales)

EC310 Conventional economic policy uses economic growth, inflation, balance of payments and unemployment as ‘economic indicators’, the normal criteria against which progress is measured. Although it is the most usually quoted indicator, gross national product (GNP) is a poor indicator of true progress and does not adequately measure people’s sense of well-being. It measures only the activity in the formal sector, regardless of what that activity is. In consequence, current economic theory fails adequately to reflect the real effects of human activity within a finite ecosystem, and is used to ‘validate’ economic activities which are ecologically unsustainable and/or socially unjust.

EC311 The Green Party would therefore replace the conventional indicators with those that measure progress towards sustainability, equity and devolution.

Strategies and policies

1. Produce and shop locally – Aim to be self-sufficient where possible and sourcing goods and services locally for local people. The target should be to source at least 50% of food and goods from within the local area within five years as replacements for remotely sourced foods and goods.  This will be more important with Brexit.

2. Housing – Have a major scheme to improve insulation and living conditions for Council owned property and encourage this for privately owned houses, including green retrofits.

3. Plan for sea level rises – This must include flood defences

4. The Cruise industry – There is no point in Southampton going it alone and cracking down on the cruise industry as they will simply move to another port. Therefore, the aim needs to be to lobby nationally for national green measures and to change the cruise industry locally to support more sustainable cruising, such as smaller wind and solar powered vessels.

5. Southampton Airport – is surplus to requirements both in the UK and the southern region. Flying must be cut down substantially. The jobs lost need to be replaced by new green jobs such as in carbon capture, renewable energy schemes, insulation, organic local agriculture, green housing, low pollution transport and the like.

6. Areas of deprivation – will be enormously helped by the Universal Basic Income scheme whereby everyone is guaranteed a basic level of income.  This will also help tide people over times of unemployment and to support the transition to flexible working.

7. Increase recycling – whilst encouraging the production of durable goods and the reuse of equipment.

8. Encourage flexible working – such as a four-day week and the national implementation of a basic income for all to replace the benefits system.

9. No public money for old ‘dirty’ commerce – Instead invest in a local Green New Deal, encouraging new Green jobs locally.

10. Annual reports to be produced – using all available data on the above to highlight areas for further action.

Medium term goals

1. Develop new ‘green’ jobs to replace the old dying or damaging industries.  Every year there should be more new ‘green’ jobs than jobs lost by the older traditional industries.

2. Ensure that everyone in Southampton and District has a decent living income by 2025.

Long term goal

Aim for a carbon neutral and fully sustainable Southampton and district by 2030 based on using modern alternative technologies.

Lobby for better infrastructure such as the electricity grid so that cruise liners can plug in when in port.

Air Quality and Pollution

Background

There are several types of air pollution that affect cities in the UK.  However, for Southampton, the main problem areas are:

• Particulates, particularly the tiny particulate matter known as PM2.5 from such things as fumes, smoke and vehicles
• Nitrogen oxides, mainly from vehicle exhausts
• Volatile organic compounds, inside the house and from burning including from Fawley
• Sulphur oxides from power stations and fossil fuel burning
• Lead from places like aviation and incinerators
• Carbon oxides from vehicles

Approximately three million die every year worldwide due to ambient air pollution, and over four million attributed to household air pollution (source – World Health Organisation 2016).

Manmade air pollution results in at least 28,000 to 36,000 premature deaths each year in the UK, with more than 110 in Southampton.  Many more have serious illnesses due to air pollution.

Cruise ships are a particular problem area for Southampton.  One cruise ship can emit as much particulate matter as one million cars (source – Transport and Environment lobby group 2024).

When air pollutants enter the body, they can have effects on various different organs and systems.  These include:

• The eyes, nose and throat
• The lungs and respiratory system
• Heart and blood vessel disease 
• The brain with dementia and cognitive decline 
• Low birth weight and early childhood development.

Aims

(From the Green Party of England and Wales)

School Streets – Closing the streets in front of schools to traffic at the opening and closing times to make the school environment safer and less polluted.

Safe routes so every child who is able to walk or cycle to school has the opportunity to do so. The Green Party will press the Government to quadruple spending per person annually on walking and cycling from £6.50 to £30.

Greens will warn that children are playing in poisoned playgrounds, with many schools in Southampton in areas with illegally dirty air.  Air pollution is linked to stunted lung growth in children and teenagers, with air pollution inside cars 9 to12 times higher than air outside.

Clean air needs to be seen as a human right and we will support people taking legal action to enforce that right, and ensure that the ‘polluter pays principle’ underpins all regulations and charges.
Clean air needs to be of top importance for Southampton and must be prioritised as part of Southampton’s Green City initiative.

Principles

(From the Green Party of England and Wales)

Development and maintenance of sustainable systems:

• Pollution reduces our ability to manage resources and natural systems in a sustainable and ecological way.
• Pollution damages natural restorative systems.

PL201 Resource Conservation a) The efficient use of resources, the recycling of materials and the establishment of binding timetables to reduce the use of toxic chemicals and the production of waste, wherever it is feasible to do so, will minimise environmental pollution and reduce absolute cost.

PL202 Global Rights a) Environmental pollution reduces the range of choice for future generations. b) Environmental pollution directly damages health and reduces potential lifespan. c) Environmental pollution directly and indirectly damages natural communities of plants and animals. d) Environmental pollution transgresses national boundaries both in space and through time. 

It is a global responsibility for all countries to accept full economic and environmental responsibility for their own pollution.

Strategies and policies

Support the Clean Air Manifesto for Southampton – to reduce air pollution rapidly in the City in a measurable way: 

1. A 25% reduction in cars and vans entering Southampton to reduce particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, inline with the Council’s target of 25ug/m3 NO_2, by 2025 and the WHO guideline for PM2.5 of 10ug/m3.

2. Work to create ‘Low emission zones’ around all schools, hospitals and GP surgeries in the city.

3. Introduce a workplace parking levy to generate income for investment in public transport.

4. Establish low-cost park and ride schemes, using existing bus services and available land/existing car parks.

5. Establish secure parking spaces for manual and electric bicycles and the ability to charge the electric bikes while parked.

6. Establish at least one car-free Sunday a week in the city centre as has been done in Bogota.

7. Impose Euro VI standard as a minimum for all delivery vehicles in the City Centre. Work with local businesses to encourage last mile deliveries.

8. Ensure that travelling by bus is the cheapest option for a family.

9. Increase walking and cycling investment by allocating at least 15% of total transport infrastructure spending, as recommended by the Government.

Annual reports to be produced, using all available data on transport and air quality, to measure progress on the above targets and to highlight areas for further action.

Medium term goals

1. 50% reduction in air pollution (particularly NO₂ and particulates).

2. Create an Ultra Clean Air Zone.  Charges for ANY significantly polluting vehicle that comes into the City.  

3. Cruise ships to turn off their massive engines whilst in port and use installed shore-based power supplies.

Long term goal

We will work to end the environmental and social injustices of air pollution.

Housing and Homelessness

Background

The Green Party believes that nobody should be left homeless, and nobody should sleep rough on the streets, in the 21st century. In Southampton things have not improved since 2016, a time when the city started to see the long term effects of austerity. 

In the Spring of 2016, Southampton City Council announced the intention to introduce Public Space Protection Orders mainly to curb obsessive begging. The orders were in place up until March 2019 when the Council finally conceded that only one £100 fine of the 32 £100 fixed penalty notices had ever been paid. Today there are protection orders in place but they cover street drinking or “loitering for the purpose of consuming alcohol”.

From the start, the local Green Party were against the PSPOs and campaigned to steer the council in a friendlier direction and to encourage them to implement policies which would help people keep their homes and take more vulnerable people off the streets by housing them in appropriate accommodation. 

• Permanently ring fence funding for local authorities to provide shelter for every rough sleeper who wants it.
• Local authorities to have power to control local rents.
• A one year visa extension for all migrants, not just NHS workers.
• Forgiveness for rent arrears, with appropriate compensation for landlords, with no impact on tenants’ credit ratings.
• Permanent end to no fault evictions and temporarily suspend Section 8 as grounds for eviction.
• An increase in Housing Benefit to at least levels of average rent.
• Students to be allowed to give 7 days’ notice to leave PBSA tenancy agreements with no penalty.
• Emergency funding to be released to local authorities to provide safe housing for all currently in crowded or unsafe conditions, from families in hostels, to detainees in detention centres, along with all victims of domestic abuse.

Aims

The intention is to create a society where everyone can feel safe and secure, not just from natural elements (e.g. temperature extremes, wind and rain) but also from the random and unnecessary intrusion of other individuals into the lives of those who are especially struggling to establish themselves into society. Things like sleep deprivation, drugs and alcohol need to be considered when helping the homeless to become motivated to help themselves more. 

Principles

Society must act compassionately and understand homeless people so that their needs can be tackled; in the same way society supports a working population when they fall sick or suffer from medical issues that affect the stability of their lives.

Strategies and policies

1. No one should have to wait longer than a week to be settled into a safe refuge where they have the option to see their friends and family. 

2. The travelling community must be firmly included in the strategy which will also focus on transient people and those being released from prisons.

3. To greater understand the causes of homelessness with the help of any experts or members of the public who have experience of it. 

4. The experience of charities like Crisis are crucial to understanding the best policies to end homelessness. By working with local and national charities there is a greater hope of achieving our goals. 

5. The need for affordable housing is always key as to whether everyone can be homed. 

Medium term goals

1. We will publish monthly figures from a non-intrusive survey on the numbers of homeless in Southampton. Numbers can then be challenged by other agencies who are working towards a homeless free city. 

2. Publish quarterly reports on empty housing stock and commercial buildings (there may be cause for change of use).

3. Ensure there is enough temporary accommodation for all homeless people while planning further long term accommodation. 

4. Paid local authority officers must have a file on every homeless person they are failing to find accommodation for in the hope that other appropriate services like the NHS might be able to step in and give that person the chance to sort themselves out be it for what reason. 

5. Ensure that there are plenty of sites where rewarding activities and catering can be reached by those on and off the streets. 

6. Partners working in mental health need to be given more resources as more of us will be vulnerable mentally and financially.

Long term goals

1. Make being part of Southampton’s residential community easier to be part of and more appealing than street begging and hustling. 

2. Provide better lines of communication with those vulnerable people who fail to keep a roof over their heads due to crises. 

3. Drug and alcohol services need to be easy to tap into so earlier intervention protects more residents before a downward spiral of misuse destabilises any individual.  Work with current and former users to ensure the service is actively meeting their needs.

4. Where individuals do not enjoy or thrive in conventional housing, travellers sites, house boats, communal communities, and even relocation to rural communities are all options which should be explored. 

Transport

The past decades have seen a dramatic rise in the distances generally being travelled and a shift towards the use of less equitable and unsustainable methods of transport, with a decrease in walking, cycling and the use of buses and an increase in trips by car and air. As the amount of traffic has increased, so have the negative consequences. Air and road traffic are major and increasing sources of many of the worst pollutants, including carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide, carcinogenic particles and noise. The increasing dependence on the private car also disadvantages those who do not have access to a car; almost a third of Southampton’s residents.

Aims

 (From the Green Party of England and Wales https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/tr.html)

We believe that traffic must be substantially reduced as a matter of urgency. A coherent traffic reduction strategy should simultaneously deter unnecessary car use and make alternative forms of transport safer and more convenient, whilst reducing the need to travel through sensible land-use planning.

(TR010) The principle aims of the transport policy are:

• Accessibility rather than mobility. 
• Transport to be equitably accessible to all people irrespective of their age, wealth or disability, with local needs given priority over travelling greater distances. 
• Where mobility is desired or needed, to satisfy this through sustainable modes of transport. 
• Transport and its infrastructure to have the minimum impact on the environment. 
• Transport means should make use of sustainable and replaceable resources. 
• Degradation of community life by inappropriate transport modes, especially excessive car use, to be reduced and reversed wherever possible. 
• Transport should not endanger users or others and, where possible, should play a role in bringing about a more healthy population.

Principles

(From the Green Party of England and Wales)

Our vision is for local transport links that meet the needs of the public whilst minimising danger and the environmental impacts.

Strategies and policies

We will place pedestrians and disabled people at the top of the agenda by making public transport cheap and more accessible. We will ensure that all provisions for pedestrians and bicycles are safe and user-friendly, and that it is possible to make journeys across the city safely by bicycle.

We will work to reduce the air pollution caused by buses by encouraging the bus operators to 

replace buses, as they reach the end of their working lives, with vehicles that utilise greener technologies, ideally electric buses. 
As people switch from petrol and diesel vehicles to hybrid and electric vehicles the Green Party recognises that the infrastructure for electric vehicles needs to be supported. Electric transport is zero emission at point of use. If the electricity used is from renewable sources then electric transport can be emission free and zero carbon in use.  Given the levels of air pollution in Southampton it is urgent to support more people to switch to hybrid and electric vehicles alongside mass transport and personal transport systems such as walking and cycling.

Medium term goals

1. Set a target of 20% peak volume traffic reduction (on 2019 levels) in Southampton by 2030.

2. Reduce traffic speeds to 20mph in urban and residential areas to reduce road danger.  Don’t put them back up to 30 mph the day before a local election in a cynical attempt to buy votes

3. Reallocate road space and introduce other priority measures for pedestrians, cyclists and buses.  Cycle routes should be separate from the motorised traffic wherever this is practical.

4. Support local delivery schemes, such as decentralised distribution networks, electric vans, bike trailers and supermarket delivery schemes, to reduce reliance on HGVs and private cars. 

5. Improve the quality and frequency of local bus services, e.g. invest in new low-floor, low-emission vehicles and ensure that all stops have shelter, seating, lighting and information on routes and bus times. 

6. Progressively reduce the number of town centre car parks in line with reductions in traffic levels, and replace them with public green spaces and homes. 

7. Encourage local employers (particularly large institutions such as the University, the Hospitals and the City Council itself) to formulate travel-to-work plans which minimise car journeys. 
8. Expand the “school streets” programme, which promotes walking and cycling rather than car travel to and from school.

9. Set up a Southampton-wide ticketing system to cover all modes of public transport 

10. Implement the recommendations of the Citizens climate assembly on transport (2024)

11. Re-introduce bus lanes across the city to improve the speed and reliability of the bus service.

Long term goals

1. Ensure all new developments support use of sustainable transport and do not increase incentives to use private cars.

2. Transform the port to become non-polluting and to support sustainable transport – Goods will always need to be imported and exported for a crowded country like the UK. The aim therefore must be to do it ‘treading lightly on the Earth’, reducing pollution by 10% pa

3. Complete the Southampton Cycle Network, ensuring that wherever possible shared space with pedestrians is avoided.

4. Reduce the need to travel by ensuring that all residential areas have good local facilities such as schools, shops, health centres, youth clubs, pubs, workplaces, public transport, etc. 

5. Enable communities to be involved in local planning to create safe, pleasant living environments (e.g. traffic-free home zones, traffic calmed areas, safe routes to schools).

Social Welfare

Background

Local authority funds have been savagely cut over the past ten years by a series of central Government policies that have seen the budget slashed by 10% per year. This has meant that local authorities have had to look at every service they provide and see what can be cut, reduced, recommissioned and in every way removed from the population of each city and area across England and Wales.  These austerity cuts have resulted in a reduction in the services that social care provides. The eligibility criteria has gone up and the budget has gone down. The burden of care has shifted from the state to the family and voluntary/church sector.

Aims

(From the Green Party of England and Wales https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/sw.html)

Social care is the umbrella that we keep in the cupboard for a rainy day; it protects us when adversity happens and is a fundamental right of a humane society.  It delivers meals on wheels, it supports people living with health and other disabilities, it steps in when families are struggling to bring up the next generation and it keeps people safe. For each and every one of us it is a crucial part of the contract we make as we pay our taxes each month and live in a society that values everyone, regardless of their material contribution to the economy. 

Principles

People with disabilities – The Green Party has endorsed the social model of disability where there is a recognition that society has put up barriers which prevents disabled people with differing impairments from becoming and being full and active members of society.

Children – All children should be treated with respect and given full opportunity with whatever support may be required to live in a caring and nurturing environment. 

SW300 All services for children need to be holistic and integrated, recognising both the needs of the child and their families and carers.

Older people – Ageism is rife in our society. To those over 50 our society seems to be designed and organised for the needs and benefit of youth.

Carers – Unpaid carers play a vital role in supporting disabled people, older people and people suffering from ill health. Their contribution must be recognised and they must be properly supported, otherwise their own health and the health of the people they are caring for will suffer.

Strategies and policies

1. Reverse the privatisation of services for the population of the city.  

2. Work more closely with Hampshire County Council and Portsmouth City Council to enable economies of scale for the services provided. 

3. To remove charges for residential and day care services for all residents in the city. 

4. To ensure Carers in Southampton and any companies providing support to carers are sufficiently funded to do the role expected of them.

5. Challenge any further budget cuts to social welfare services.  

6. Ensure all providers follow sustainable policies in their working practices.

Medium term goals

To review contracts awarded to providers to ensure they:  

1. Provide value for money.

2. Have the help and support they need to deliver in the city.

3. Have underpinning green goals to enable them to operate in a non-polluting way in the city.

Long term goal

For all services to be carbon neutral and to see Universal Basic Income for all residents.

Health and Wellbeing

Background

Health care in Southampton is commissioned by the Integrated Care Board who tender services from primary, secondary and tertiary care. This consists of dentistry, GPs and community services currently provided by Southern Health and Solent NHS Trusts, University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust and a number of voluntary and private providers, such as Society of St James and Care UK.  

These organisations are commissioned to provide services to the population of the city and public health is provided through the local authority which collects data and supports planners to make strategic decisions about priorities for the city.  For example, the high number of teenage pregnancies has been an issue in the city for a number of years.

Aims

(From the Green Party of England and Wales)

To promote public health through policies designed to secure a healthy urban and rural environment, healthy work, healthy agriculture and food, healthy education, a healthy transport system and healthy local economic development. (FD300s)

HE201 To devise new economic models using quality of life and health indicators as the target variables to be optimised. Policies to achieve these targets will be integrated into 

overall economic strategy. Health-promoting policies will be mediated by social investment at national, regional and community levels.

HE202 To develop a new public health consciousness, which, through individual and collective action, will challenge vested interests and promote the personal, social and political changes needed to achieve improved states of health.

HE203 To develop health services which place as much emphasis on illness prevention, health promotion and the development of individual and community self-reliance as on the treatment and cure of disease. Such services will of necessity be empowering, participatory and democratic and their development will be guided by users’ own perceptions of their health needs.

HE204 To ensure that health care services are delivered with compassion, taking into 

consideration patients’ full range of needs, health care will be delivered in an environment that promotes healing and care. This includes single sex wards in hospitals, ensuring that maternity care is of the highest quality, ensuring that care reflects people’s needs and that care promotes the dignity of all patients.

HE205 The Green Party supports the continued development of national minimum standards of care across the entire range of health services. Local people should decide what and how services are provided and should have complete flexibility to meet local needs as long as services at least meet minimum standards.

HE206 All healthcare whether intended to promote wellbeing or treat illness will be provided equally to all people to all regardless of economic, social or cultural status. Organisations providing health services will be expected to monitor and improve any inequality in delivery of services. This will apply to levels of income as well as other equality and diversity strands including gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or cultural background, faith, disability including learning difficulties, trans people or age.

HE207 The Green Party recognises that the Health Service, and all public services, influence the life of the community and the country. It is important that there is no discrimination in employment and that the NHS is a leader in challenging racism, homophobia, transphobia, and prejudice and discrimination based on disabilities or faith.

HE 208 The health service should be managed as a “learning organisation” in which there is a clear responsibility for continual improvement and in which all staff are encouraged to comment on the systems in which they work and share learning in an open and fearless way.

Principles

(From the Green Party of England and Wales)

Health is the condition in which individuals and communities achieve their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potential. Health for individuals is only possible in the context of a healthy environment and society. The healthy society is one which guarantees a safe and clean environment; material security for all its citizens; good work; adequate housing; a balanced and unpolluted diet and clean water; appropriate education; a safe transport system; accessible and sensitive public services; equality of opportunity; and a secure present and hope for the future. 

All Green Party policies are designed to promote the health of individuals, communities and society. The Green Party supports the full implementation of the World Health Organization’s Health2020 approach to health and we subscribe to the EU’s ‘Health in All Policies’ approach, encouraging them to be adopted at all levels of government.

Strategies and policies

1. The Green Party would repeal the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. On reviewing Southampton’s data published by Public Health, it is clear there are a large number of areas where the city is failing its citizens. Air quality is one of the key issues, covered in a separate section.

2. Health equating to the absence of disease is not the rationale of what the health service should be doing.  It needs to look at policies that will keep people experiencing good mental and physical health through a set of programmes and guidance that encompass the life cycle. One example of this is the walking and cycling to school policy that My Journey Southampton is promoting. This is a policy that the Green Party fully endorses and would seek to build on if elected. 

3. The provision of cycle ways is another policy that the Green Party endorses and would seek to build on.

• The data on physically inactive adults shows that 24.5% of all adults in the city are physically inactive, this is lower in Portsmouth, where it is 21.5%.  This means that approximately a quarter of the residents in the city are not doing enough exercise. The Green Party would campaign to get more people walking, cycling and exercising as a priority.

• Two thirds of people in the city are overweight or obese; this is an indictment of our city, but is broadly similar to the rest of the country and needs to be addressed in the medium term. The policies for addressing physical inactivity would also address obesity but there is also a need for targeted help to lose weight. The Green Party would reinstate the health trainers service which was disbanded two years ago by the City Council.

• Four children in every 100 have social, emotional and mental health issues in our city, double the national average. This equates to 419 children in Southampton.  (2018 data) JSNA. Schools would implement policies to teach children the law of emotional responsibility and other guidance that would address this.  

• The number of children in care in Southampton is still higher than the national average. There were 440 children in Southampton compared to 360 in Portsmouth, a city with similar population and demography. This warrants further investigation with the director of children services to try to understand the patterns and find solutions for support.

Medium term goals

1. Address physically inactive members of the society – promote exercise, walking and cycling.

2. Better support for children with emotional, social and mental health issues, to get numbers halved to closer to the England average.

3. Meet with the director of children’s services to understand high numbers of children in care.

4. There are at least 1500 people living with dementia in the city, but few are in contact with services that can support them.   The Green Party will collect data on how many are in contact with services such as Alzheimer Society, Admiral Nurses, Carers in Southampton, Hampshire and IOW Healthcare Foundation Trust and GPs. 

Long term goal

Ensure all policies are looked at through the lens of climate, sustainable development and both mental and physical health. 

Education

Background

The primary purpose of education should be to support people to become emotionally well grounded. The second purpose should be to help people to develop communication skills. The third should be to understand the world we inhabit, how we impact it through our behaviours and how we can live sustainably. The fourth purpose should then be to introduce people to academic subjects and vocational careers, supporting people to gain the skills they desire to live a happy and fulfilled life.

Aims

(From the Green Party of England and Wales https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/ed.html )

ED010 The Green Party believes that education should provide everyone with the knowledge and full range of skills they require to participate fully in society and lead a fulfilled life. The Green Party rejects market driven models of education that see its role only in terms of international economic competitiveness and preparation for work.

ED011 We want to develop an education system that will nurture a desire to learn throughout life. We will do this through a child-centred approach to learning which builds on the skills and interests of each individual child. We will therefore end the current testing regimes and rigid age related benchmarking.

ED012 Education should be at the heart of communities and for communities, and should promote equality, inclusivity, social and emotional well-being and responsibility and be democratically accountable to them.

ED013 Education is a right and an entitlement and should be free at the point of delivery to people of all ages. Education is social rather than market provision and we oppose any attempt to privatise state-funded schools or to enable them to become profit-making.

ED014 Free Schools and Academies, although publicly funded, currently lack local democratic accountability and oversight. We will integrate them into the Local Authority school system.

ED015 The Green Party recognises the key role of Local Authorities in the planning and provision of new school places, establishment of fair admissions policies, ensuring equality of access for Looked After Children and those with disabilities and special needs, and the provision of School Support Services. We will therefore strengthen Local Authorities through adequate

Principles

(From the Green Party of England and Wales https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/ed.html )

ED010 The Green Party believes that education should provide everyone with the knowledge and full range of skills they require to participate fully in society and lead a fulfilled life. The Green Party rejects market driven models of education that see its role only in terms of international economic competitiveness and preparation for work.

funding and seek to enhance their local democratic accountability. We will review and reduce the powers of the Secretary of State.

ED011 We want to develop an education system that will nurture a desire to learn throughout life. We will do this through a child-centred approach to learning which builds on the skills and interests of each individual child. We will therefore end the current testing regimes and rigid age related benchmarking.

ED012 Education should be at the heart of communities and for communities, and should promote equality, inclusivity, social and emotional well-being and responsibility and be democratically accountable to them.

ED013 Education is a right and an entitlement and should be free at the point of delivery to people of all ages. Education is social rather than market provision and we oppose any attempt to privatise state-funded schools or to enable them to become profit-making.

ED014 Free Schools and Academies, although publicly funded, currently lack local democratic accountability and oversight. We will integrate them into the Local Authority school system.

ED015 The Green Party recognises the key role of Local Authorities in the planning and provision of new school places, establishment of fair admissions policies, ensuring equality of access for Looked After Children and those with disabilities and special needs, and the provision of School Support Services. We will therefore strengthen Local Authorities through adequate funding and seek to enhance their local democratic accountability. We will review and reduce the powers of the Secretary of State.

EDO16 All teachers in state funded education will be employed through Local Authorities and have QTS (Qualified Teacher Status).

ED133 The Free Schools programme initiated is similarly democratically unaccountable with even more power handed to the Free School providers to decide the curriculum, admissions policy and whether to employ unqualified teachers or head teachers/principals with no formal teaching experience or qualifications.

Medium term goals

1. To meet with the director of education and to explore the issues of educational attainment, exclusion policies, future strategy and other issues relating to this city.

2. To reduce the CO2 footprint of education and set targets for year-by-year reductions, for example pupils travelling to school on foot or bicycle

Long term goals

1. To work with the national Green Party to return academies to the control of local authorities.

2. To work with the national Green Party to address class size and to give students more one to one time with teachers, teaching assistants and mentors. 

3. To work with the national Green Party to address the chronic underfunding of state schools. 

4. To work with the national Green Party to remove testing and the national curriculum.

5. To work with the national Green Party on an overhaul of education to an approach that enables people to live fulfilled and happy lives with a love of learning.

6. To present motions and policies that enable people to engage in lifelong learning.

Students

Background

Southampton is home to two Universities – The University of Southampton and Southampton Solent. Between the two institutions, the student population of Southampton is over 30,000, making up approximately 12% of the overall population of the city. While the universities operate independently from Southampton City Council, student life in Southampton has a considerable impact on the culture of the city and its local residents. Southampton and District Green Party aims to help bridge the gap between students and local Southampton residents in order to work towards a more cohesive community for all residents. The University of Southampton plans to increase student numbers by 30,000 in the next 5 years.  This will have a big impact on the city services and will need to be factored in when planning future services.

Aims

(From the Green Party of England and Wales)

The Green Party is committed to widening access to free higher education for all through the provision of funding for all students and the scrapping of undergraduate tuition fees. Furthermore, the Green Party promises to wipe out all existing UK debt once these changes are in place. 

The Green Party promises to facilitate remote access to higher education in order to support mature students and students with families as well as to restore local adult education programs across England and Wales. 

The Green Party’s commitment to genuine localism will help restore the power back into the hands of Southampton City Council in order to implement the policies and strategies which will best support the unification of Southampton’s student and local communities.

Principles

(From the Green Party of England and Wales)

The Green Party is committed to the principle of free, local and accessible higher education for all adults. The Green Party political program states:

For other parties supporting creativity is an afterthought – for us it is a priority. Creativity is key to building an economy that works for individuals and communities, not just huge corporations. 

Restoring access to higher education and supporting students is a vital part of upholding this core principle in order to build a new, innovative future for our country.

Strategies and policies

Scrap all undergraduate tuition fees, fully fund every student in higher education and write off all existing Student Debt. These policies will be funded by the income generated by the Green New Deal which aims to shift the UK economy away from fossil fuels and the development of GDP towards sustainable and locally run industries in order to provide the local economic support and welfare services our country sorely needs. 

Restore remote access to higher education as well as local adult education programs. 

Medium term goals

Long term goal

Ensure all UK adults have equal and sustainable access to higher education. 

Culture, Media and Sport

Background

Aims

(From the Green Party of England and Wales) 

CMS100 Culture Media & Sport (CMS) are three important elements through which social identity and a sense of community can be fostered in larger social groupings than those which can be sustained by personal relationships.

CMS101 In all areas of CMS there are two ways in which people can engage with the activity – through participation as performer or producer, or through reception as audience or spectator. Both forms of engagement with the particular activity are important; the major social value of CMS activities is the dialogue between participant and observer.

CMS102 The rise of new media at the beginning of the 21st century can be seen as a public expression of a need for better access and improved participation. Similarly the continuing existence of grass roots activity in sport and culture, despite the large-scale withdrawal of public sector support, shows the continuing need and value of these activities to citizens.

Strategies and policies

CMS200 The central Green principle in Culture Media and Sport (CMS) shall be that of promoting participation over passive consumption.

CMS201 Green policies should seek to democratise access to culture, media and sporting activities, ensuring that individuals are not excluded by reason of age, gender, social, ethnic, economic or geographical factors. Greens believe that culture, media and sport all have a role to play in challenging stereotyping and discrimination.

CMS203 We believe, as across all our policy, in democratising and localising where possible. Regulatory structures need to be effective and accountable, and applied and controlled at the most local practicable level.

CMS204 Support should be given to ensure that there are adequate resources available to allow activities to flourish at a local level of participation. Where the private sector is unable to provide accessible local media, local sporting activity or local cultural support then it is the role of government to ensure that adequate provision is available to meet the needs of the community.

CMS205 Where an activity makes use of limited resources (for example media bandwidth, land for sporting activity, venues for cultural activities) then it is the role of government to reserve a proportion of the resource for ‘public’ access (e.g. public service channels, public playing fields, support for local theatre infrastructure)

Medium term goals

1. Encourage the setting-up of community centres in all areas that do not currently have them. These centres could provide facilities for community meetings and other activities, sports and games, arts and music events, equipment hire, pre-school child care, information and exhibitions. 

2. Improve outdoor recreational facilities in all areas, by increasing provision of and access to parks, informal urban green spaces, sports pitches, bowling greens, tennis courts, skating areas and children’s play areas. 

3. Improve access to local countryside (e.g. the New Forest) by public transport, foot or bike. 

4. Open up leisure facilities at schools and colleges to local communities wherever possible. 

5. Safeguard local cultural centres against closure.

Long term goals

Seek to establish a local TV station, and encourage community participation and the development of film-making ideas and skills. Promote a more diverse nightlife in local towns by encouraging alternative music and dance venues, late night cafés, and open air events.