Norwich Labour wants a fairer, more equal city. Our vision is one where the wealth and opportunities of Norwich’s economy are shared more widely, where everyone can rely on help when they’re struggling, where basic services are prioritised and where we care for everyone. Everyone within the community should be able have their voice heard, including those with the quietest voices or the smallest pockets. We are committed to making this happen.

A Labour City Council will:

1. Ensure Council policies and delivery of services have an improved focus on the needs of people who experience inequality, including for people who are isolated, or experience significant mental health issues. We will strengthen our partnership relationship with the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust and third sector providers.

2. Work to increase gender equality in Norwich, working with women’s and LGBTQ+ groups in the city, and promoting equality within the Council. We will strive to make more places in the city safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people and will continue to work towards Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance accreditation for our housing service.

3. Continue to prioritise the prevention of domestic abuse, sexual exploitation, and tackle victim-blaming myths, working with partner organisations, in line with Norwich’s status as a ‘White Ribbon’ city, to ensure that everyone has a voice.

4. Support homeless refugees, working with the Home Office and the network of other councils. Work with Norwich partner organisations, including NASREF, to implement a quality advice service for refugees, and support wider initiatives helping refugees. We will continue to refuse co-operation with the Home Office’s prejudicial ‘hostile environment’ policy.

5. Continue to engage young people in forums so they can have a say about services they care about, and on the future of their city. Through our wider community engagement as a council, we will make sure our work with children and young people supports those in greatest need.

6. Continue to lead the Norwich Health and Wellbeing Partnership, prioritising prevention, tackling the broader socio-economic determinants of ill health, reducing health inequalities, and integrating services with health partners. We will work with partners to implement and deliver the Partnership’s new strategy and will continue to represent Norwich residents on the Health and Wellbeing Board, and Integrated Care Partnership.

7. Labour will continue funding a Financial Inclusion Consortium of voluntary sector advice agencies, which has helped thousands of resident’s access bank accounts, get online, and receive budgeting advice. We will ensure that the council’s money advice team and the voluntary sector agencies that we support continue to provide high quality debt and money advice. The City Council’s debt policy will recognise and work proactively with vulnerable people with non-commercial debt.

8. Continue to attempt to protect against the worst impacts of Tory government cuts on people with low or modest incomes and tackle all forms of rising inequality within the resources we have available.

9. Campaign to ensure all citizens are aware of their entitlements to benefits and other services such as winter fuel payments and TV licences.

10. Continue to protect against the worst impacts of the Tory government localisation of council tax on those with low incomes in Norwich by preserving our 100% council tax reduction for our poorest residents. Continue to retain our council tax local discounts for care leavers, those taking in a refugee, and second home discounts for those forced to flee their home due to domestic violence. Continue to use our discretion, while retained, to disregard housing costs and the two-child benefit cap for the calculation of income for those Council Tax Reduction Scheme claimants in receipt of legacy Housing Benefit.

11. Work towards eradicating fuel poverty in Norwich by 2040 at the latest, by offering energy efficiency advice and upgrades and helping residents to access cheap, clean energy.

12. Continue to work closely with veterans and ex-service personnel associations to ensure that organisations in the city are doing all they can to support those people who have put their lives on the line for our country.

13. Continue to provide training for council staff advising on welfare changes such as migration to Universal Credit.

14. Work with partners, as a Healthy City, to improve the physical and mental well-being of people living in Norwich.

15. Continue to join up services and partners as part of our early intervention / early help approach, to support families and individuals at risk, and to help reduce the resultant higher cost interventions and deeper social damage later. We will pioneer food justice work as a whole community and become a Right to Food City while we continue to work with partners to reduce food waste, reduce food poverty and increase food security. Champion the work of the Norwich Food Hub, and other food networks which do so much to reduce food poverty in our city and deliver upon our new Food Waste Strategy.

16. We will continue to build upon the successful launch of multiple new social supermarkets across Norwich, as an alternative to food banks, using seed funding provided by the City Council via Norfolk Community Foundation, as a form of supermarket aimed at families affected by low income.

17. Continue to address the digital divide through our digital inclusion work to empower residents to have access to online services.