A greener and fairer local economy
The pandemic has exposed the shortcomings of an economy built on the pursuit of endless growth and hoarding of private wealth. It is only by building and redistributing public wealth that we can make sure everyone has what is essential for a good life, whilst living in a society that respects planetary boundaries.
Putting people before profit
We will:
- Move away from a narrow focus on GDP, instead valuing what we put into society, and its effect on our wellbeing, not just the output of our paid labour.
- Pilot transformational policies such as Universal Basic Income, subject to necessary support from national governments.
- Use the Council’s influence to ensure more businesses pay a Living Wage and respect workers’ rights, including making financial support conditional on meeting Fair Work and other ethical standards.
- Oppose any plans to create a Free Port in the Glasgow region. This scheme would allow for widespread deregulation and tax avoidance and is likely to simply displace existing economic activity instead of creating new jobs.
- Support the community and voluntary sector, social enterprises, credit unions, and cooperatives, to build wealth and empowerment in our communities.
- Focus economic support on what the city already does well - technology, culture, design and education.
- Support tourism and events that prioritise sustainability and create diverse and affordable experiences for visitors, while ensuring this does not come at the expense of residents or communities.
- Support the creation of new co-operative businesses by cultivating the value of the co-operative and social enterprise community within the existing business support ecosystem.
- Develop a Hospitality Action Plan, which supports recovery, addresses skills gaps, promotes sustainability, and improves pay and conditions for workers, in line with the Fair Hospitality charter.
A new future for the city centre
We will:
- Champion a genuinely distinctive, vibrant, mixed use, family-friendly, accessible city centre and take the radical steps needed to make it happen.
- Implement a city centre recovery plan which tackles structural problems, such as fragmented land ownership and reliance on a market-led approach which results in too much unsuitable development.
- Consider a package of measures designed to reduce rents and other fixed costs for smaller, local businesses in the city centre.
- Complete the Avenues project with input from disabled people at each stage, and create new city centre greenspaces.
- Support a majority car-free area covering the city centre, complemented by a free, fully-accessible, zero carbon shuttle bus.
- Continue to support work to celebrate the historic heart of the city and make it better for tourists, local residents and local business owners.
Thriving local high streets
We will:
- Ensure all local regeneration schemes provide clear social and sustainability benefits.
- Use empty shops on local high streets to encourage business start-ups, and align City Property - the council’s property managers - with strategic regeneration priorities.
- Deliver key local regeneration projects, including restoration of the Govan Graving Docks for community use, restoration of Albert Cross in Pollokshields following major fires, and completion of the Meat Market development.
- Support Business Improvement Districts and encourage local businesses , post offices, and local services,over chain stores or out-of-town developments.