Local Policies for Rural Britain

Britain needs a change. Conservative policies will give people back the power they need and the responsibility they deserve to help make that change happen.

Staffordshire Moorlands is a unique part of the world with its rural character and vibrant small towns and villages but Labour's one-size fits all policies designed in Whitehall have hit the Moorlands hard. Living here with my family I understand local priorities and needs. That's why as your MP I pledge to:

• - be a strong, clear, local voice for everyone in the Moorlands

• - campaign for the highest school standards and keep our schools open

• - work for more police and tougher penalties

• - defend our farms and green spaces threatened by Labour's planning laws

• - fight for more jobs and investment across the Moorlands.

Protecting our unique Moorlands character

New policy proposals to protect rural services and help the rural economy...

Staffordshire Moorlands has a unique rural character. It's the most beautiful part of Britain and our small towns and villages have are a strong heritage and a vibrant life all their own. But Labour has presided over a "decade of disrespect" for rural communities and that has had its effect in the Moorlands too.

We need a new approach to reverse Labour's centralisation and interference from Whitehall bureaucrats, so that rural communities, and our way of life across the Moorlands, are fully respected. 

I've been campaigning for four years for a fair deal for farmers, small businesses and our local schools and services. The Conservatives will devolve funding to the right level to ensure a fairer deal. 

We would remove distant regional quangos that treat hundreds of miles as the same and we'll allocate the funding to districts, towns and villages who spend it with care.

The Conservatives have a set of policies to improve life for all of us in the Moorlands.

Supporting Local Schools

I would vote to scrap limits on surplus places so that good schools in villages and small towns can thrive and new ones can open where parents, not Whitehall, want them.  Even the government admits that eight schools have closed just in this county under Labour.

It's not just school places we need to give people the access to the schools they need - and that's not easy in our rural areas. 

If you live in an outlying village you don't have the choice you deserve. If it's not the closest school, transport to school won't be paid for. I will continue to campaign to give the common sense policies at a local level so that funding decisions take account of parental choice and not arbitrary rules on distance.

If parents really want to make a change, Conservatives will help them start a  school. We'll help parents open schools near their homes where they, not Whitehall, want them. We will encourage parents, charities and others to start new schools by cutting red tape from planning laws to building regulations. We'll give the parents control of the taxpayers' money that the government spends on each pupil.

Support for Local Businesses

I would vote to give councils new powers to use local business rates as they see fit. Instead of paying business rates straight to the central government, councils could decide to use the money to encourage new business or support local successes.

They could give discounts to support local shops or use the money to put empty buildings in rural areas back into use. Whatever they choose, responsibility would be at a local, accountable level.

Revitalise our Post Offices

Post Offices are vital services to small villages. Labour's hostile policy has destroyed many of them. Despite the strong campaign Karen fought with local Conservative councillors in the Moorlands to save our Post Offices, local Labour MPs voted to close them. 

If elected I will help the Conservatives bring in their policy to give Post Offices the freedom to offer a wider range of business services.

They need the ability to make their businesses viable.  But we also need to be flexible.  That means allowing Post Offices in different places. We'd encourage pubs in villages and in local authority offices to open council counters. 

And not only Post Offices will benefit from cutting red tape. We will let councils cut the red tape that makes it too hard for charities, sports clubs and other local groups to put on fetes and other social events - unless of course there is strong local objection.

Affordable housing

One of the major problems we face in the Moorlands is finding enough affordable housing to keep families together in our villages.

House prices have risen so much that young families cannot afford to buy in the villages they grew up in and they have to move away. Part of the reason for lack of housing is that control over building is not with local communities.

In many cases the housing association have built the houses and - reasonably enough - they want to decide on who lives there.  That means unfortunately that if they build a three bedroom house, they won't allow a young couple yet to have a family to take it. Instead they might find people from miles away to take the house and the local couple will have to move away. I've seen this happen in the Moorlands and that's why I'm campaigning to give responsibility to local bodies to decide on who can build houses and if they are social housing, to decide who can live in them.

Conservatives will encourage the creation of new bodies - Local Housing Trusts - for those villages that wish to develop new housing to benefit their community. They will have power to develop new homes and other space for community use, provided there is strong local support.

We will also relax the rules that prevent thousands of habitable empty properties being used to house those on local authority waiting lists. But we'll also allow rural councils to revise their current local plans to protect Green Belt land.

A fair deal for farmers

I've been campaigning campaigned for a fair deal for local farmers. We've debated the issues in the Moorlands and I've lobbied hard for fair milk prices. Conservatives - like the farmers want a fair price for their produce not a subsidy.

There are many other issues facing our farmers who are some of our most important employers and of course the custodians of our beautiful environment.

In particular I urge a balanced understanding of bovine TB. We don't need an arbitrary cull but we do need to protect cattle from unnecessary illness and the farmers from financial hardship.