News from Croydon Labour

Croydon Labour: Council should stimulate local economy too

Croydon’s Labour Councillors are calling on the Conservative Council to follow the example shown by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, during the current global banking and credit crisis; they believe that similar measures to those being taken by the Government are needed to support the local economy in Croydon.

This should be achieved by introducing an immediate and dramatic change in the priorities of the local multi million pound LEGI (local enterprise growth initiative) programme. Funding of £28 million was awarded to the borough in early 2006 to promote and support businesses in the Borough.

Councillor George Ayres, Labour Spokesperson for Planning and Regeneration outlined Labour’s proposals for Croydon and said:

“Economic priorities have changed radically over the last few days. The emphasis must be to support our existing businesses and employers and to help them through this difficult time.”

“Rather than using the bulk of this multi million pound pot to speculate on potential new ideas we believe, at this time, the LEGI programme should be directed at supporting existing businesses and protecting the jobs of Croydon residents”

“This LEGI money is after all taxpayers money that has already been given to Croydon, so we are announcing this three point plan that puts Croydon first and which calls on the Conservative Administration in Croydon to listen to what we, and local employers, are telling them.

The three point plan proposes:

1. An emergency, short term, credit line supported by the LEGI fund is offered to small businesses who are trading profitably but whose viability may be threatened by credit problems in their local banks.

2. Priority funding is given to support schemes where existing employers are looking to create new jobs.

3. A reserve is set up to support our major employers in Croydon to ensure that they are able to take the long term decisions necessary to secure their base in Croydon.”

Labour Group Leader Councillor Tony Newman added:

“These are extraordinary times and call for imaginative solutions. For those of us who remember the early 1990’s, Croydon saw more job losses, more businesses go bust and more housing repossessions than most other areas, so this proposal by our Labour Group is designed to put Croydon first and I urge the Conservative Council to waste no more time and act with us now to support jobs in Croydon”

Other news from Croydon Labour

• Tories clap and cheer as Croydon slashes services - 8 March 2011
• "Black History Month is a left wing vanity project" claims Croydon Tory - 18 November 2010
• Croydon Conservatives target Timebridge Youth Centre for closure - 11 November 2010