Kingston's 2009 Proposals
In 2009 we received 37 proposals , which is a great response, and we got some fantastic ideas about making the borough a better place to live. After considering each proposal we shortened the list down to 14 of the most viable to present to the residents' panel. The panel was formed of a random selection of 31 Kingston residents who were asked to consider each proposal and rank them according to which they thought would most improve the borough as a place to live. The panel’s discussions were moderated by ispsos MORI, an independent research company.
The ranked list of proposals was then taken to the Council's Executive Committee meeting in June. The members then selected three of the most popular to submit to the Local Government Association (LGA). The LGA will be negotiating with central government on behalf of all councils taking part in the Act to reach agreement on which proposal(s) will be implemented.
Kingston’s Proposals
The most popular proposal we received related to overturning the Greenwich Judgement. This judgement stops authorities from giving preference over school places to children in their borough. Kingston has excellent schools, some of which are heavily oversubscribed and many local children miss out on places because they go to children from outside the borough. We are proposing that the Greenwich Judgment should be overturned so that more places are available for local children at Kingston’s schools.
Our second proposal relates to business rates in Kingston. Because of the size of its shopping and industrial areas, Kingston contributes millions of pounds a year in business rates to central government, but we see very little in return for reinvestment. We received three proposals relating to this issue, all of which were very popular with the residents' panel. For simplicity we have combined these proposals into one, which states that the Council should be able to keep a proportion of business rates collected which would be ring-fenced for investment in programmes that contribute to local economic, environmental and social sustainability in Kingston.
The third proposal we submitted to the LGA is about increasing levels of welfare for dogs sold in pet shops. Many of these dogs are imported from puppy farms outside of the UK were our high standards of animal welfare do not apply. They are often raised in appalling conditions and many suffer from ill health and genetic illnesses caused by inbreeding. We are proposing new licensing conditions for pet shops that would raise standards of care for dogs imported to the UK and which would also enable authorities to track where puppies have come from and ensure that they are from reputable breeders.
120 local authorities have taken part in the Act this year and the negotiation process between the LGA and the government could take some time, but we anticipate that the successful proposals should be announced by the end of autumn.
The Sustainable Communities Act programme is likely to run again next year and we would welcome any further proposals you may have. We will keep these pages updated with any developments.