Slough Labour Councillors have released their manifesto ahead of the 2019 local elections.

On top of the release, the group confirmed that Labour will be fielding a full suite of candidates in all 14 wards that are up for election. Joining the group at the launch of the event was Shadow Housing Minister John Healey.

Slough Labour have claimed that the manifesto will ‘turn Slough into a place of opportunity and ambition’. Amongst the pledges, some of the key ambitions laid out are:

• Investing £8m to provide affordable homes for Slough residents

• Building 120 new Council homes and planning for 250 more

• A £26m investment to improve and expand schools in Slough, including £14m to improve special needs education

• Investing £2m in highways repairs

• Starting a £15m Community Hubs programme designed at bringing Slough’s customer services and IT back in house

• Opening more free-to-use green gyms across Slough

Councillor James Swindlehurst, Leader of the Slough Borough Council and its Labour Group, said:

“Today we set out Labour’s promises for the people of Slough and for the year ahead. If re-elected in May Labour councillors will once again deliver an ambitious, transformational agenda for Slough.

“We have not held back on our aspirations for Slough and because of our continued ambition, and the work we have done in the Council to invest wisely and drive out efficiencies, we are well placed to push our town forward and create a place of opportunity and ambition for all our residents.

“We currently hold 10 seats (that are up for election in 2019) in Labour Party’s hand and we hope to retain all of those and are working hard to make a couple more gains at the coming election.”

Reacting to the launch of the manifesto, Chairman of the Slough Conservative Association Lee Pettman said: “The reality is that over their ten years in charge of town hall, Labour have wasted millions of hard-earned council tax money on vanity projects.

“Meanwhile, residents suffer from their neglect in delivering services that impact residents’ lives day in day out – they have killed the High Street, congestion continues to build on our roads, parking is a nightmare for most and litter accumulates on our streets.

“All a result of them taking their eye off the ball on what really matters to the people of Slough, driving down quality of life and putting our town under increasing pressure from unsustainable development.”