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Keep Suffolk Safe

• Protecting vulnerable people

Keep Suffolk Skilled

• Improving education and skills

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• Making ours the greenest county

OUR ON-GOING COMMITMENT WHAT HAVE WE ACHIEVED OUR NEXT STEPS

Continuing The Work - Our Next Steps

Keeping Council Tax Down

Over the next four years, we will continue to keep council tax levels as low as possible.

Support For Recession-hit Families

With more and more people facing potential hardship over the coming months, we will look to support the organisations that provide effective, practical help to those in need. For example : -

1. Citizens. Advice Bureaux (CABs). For many, these are a vital lifeline. We believe CABs do an excellent job for people who often have nowhere else to turn. Therefore we have taken the decision to invest an extra £150,000 in CABs over two years to help support people in need.
2. Credit Unions. In desperate times, it is important that people have ethical money lenders they can turn to. Credit Unions are an excellent example of this, and we have decided to provide £500,000 over two years to Credit Unions across Suffolk, so that people can find safe and repable financial help. Thus keeping the loan sharks at bay.
3. Suffolk Community Foundation . We are working with the Suffolk Community Foundation to set up a - lifeline grants programme - amounting to up to £125,000. This will be aimed at providing help to the most vulnerable people affected by the economic downturn.

Nurturing New Businesses

At every opportunity, we will seek to foster and encourage the entrepreneurial spirit and skills that will create the jobs and wealth in our towns and villages. It is also vital that we capture the imagination of our schools and build on their excellent work to ensure this spirit is developed among young people.

To do this, we will look into the possibility of setting up a small number of new business incubation units working alongside schools. In return for high-quality, low-cost accommodation, host businesses will contribute to the schools. work-related learning programmes, including giving talks and providing work placements.

It is also intended that school pupils might support business through activities such as market research and website design. As well as the support to community regeneration, the centres will give students an opportunity to gain real-world business experience.

Providing Advice And Support For People Claiming Benefits

Claiming benefits can often be a nightmare, working your way through very complex forms and difficult procedures. We are taking additional action now to help guide people through the process, by increasing the council's benefit team. These advisors will be able to help people claim the benefits to which they are entitled, advising on what they can claim, and how to go about it, turning an ordeal into a simple task.

In this way, we have been able to unlock the door to additional money for people in Suffolk, amounting to a total of £8 million. This could increase to £10 million over the next 12 months.

Maximising The Opportunities Of The 2012 Olympics

The Olympics offer real opportunity for Suffolk to benefit socially, economically and environmentally from Great Britain hosting the event. It has been estimated that the Games could bring in £70 million to Suffolk alone (Source: EEDA Economic Impact Study 2006).

With our proximity to London, there is the chance for Suffolk not only to capitalise on the financial benefits from the Games, but also to use them as a catalyst to drive forward economic and social development throughout the county.

Our aim is to help create a lasting legacy for Suffolk from the 2012 Games that extends from sport to economic development, regeneration, skills, employment, culture and tourism.

So What Have We Achieved In Our First Four Years

1. We have kept council tax increases down. Since 2005 council tax has risen just 1% annually in real terms, in spite of Government grants not keeping pace with demand.
2. Suffolk County Council is now working towards paying its invoices within 20 days of receipt, as opposed to the traditional 30 days.
3. The Conservative led County Council own the OrbisEnergy Centre in Lowestoft. This firmly places Lowestoft at the heart of the Renewable Energy sector, as well as bringing jobs and businesses to the area and acting as a catalyst to other new developments.
4. We have set up, together with Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, the Suffolk Business to Business Network.. This network means that any Suffolk business registering on the website (www.suffolkb2b.co.uk) will be able to see tenders and opportunities for business with other Suffolk businesses. It will also enable a company to place their business needs on the system to encourage trading between those based in the county.
5. £2 million has been allocated through the council's Corporate Regeneration Fund which provides support to a variety of economic and community investment projects. This, in turn, has helped bring at least £8 million of additional funding into the county.
6. We helped develop the Realise Project (4th Angle). This project has looked at ways to improve/provide real work opportunities for people with disabilities.
7. Conservative led Suffolk County Council, with other local partners, helped launch the 1st East Urban Regeneration Company in Lowestoft in 2006. This company is working to transform the economic landscape in Lowestoft.

Suffolk Conservatives - Our On-Going Commitment

We are now living in the most uncertain and worrying economic climate in living memory. Suffolk County Council has a duty to play a central role in leading the county through these difficult times and helping build a more prosperous future for the area. There is much that we can do to lead Suffolk through the recession.

Firstly, Suffolk Conservatives believe we can help everyone by keeping our council tax increases down. In 2005, we sought to end the years of high increases, and so, over our first four years we did just that, keeping increases to a minimum. We will continue to do this for our next four years.

As well as managing our resources so that we can protect the most vulnerable, we are providing more money to support other organisations, such as Citizens. Advice Bureaux, that have a track record of success in supporting people struggling to make ends meet.

We recognise and value the role of businesses, both large and small, in driving the economy forward and have invested time and money in nurturing their success and working with them to help develop new opportunities.

Our work with schools and colleges, as mentioned in another section, will help give people the skills to prosper.

Finally, not only do we talk about leading, we are prepared to act. We have held an Economic Summit, involving all the leading businesses and other organisations in Suffolk, to find ways that we can work together to help the people of this county through the recession. This meeting came up with over 40 ideas, which were worked up into 10 clear proposals. Conservative led Suffolk County Council is already putting some of these into practice :-

1. Suffolk County Council is paying invoices more quickly to help local businesses' cash flow.
2. The Council is putting extra money into Citizens. Advice Bureaux to pay for more money advisers to meet growing demand.
3. The Council is providing more money to the Credit Unions to enable them to give loans to local people, thus keeping loan sharks at bay.
4. The Council is helping people to get the benefits to which they are entitled.

It is during the difficult times that people look to organisations like Suffolk County Council for a lead. We have provided that leadership over the last four years, and we will continue to lead for the next four.