Lots of young people will be voting for the first time in the local elections on May 5th 2022. The cost of living crisis is hitting young people hard and nationally the Young Greens are campaigning hard to get young people to register to vote and to come forward as candidates. From Colchester Green Party’s Local Manifesto, here are some of our pledges to you:

1) To lobby central government to end tuition fees for students and to replace loans with grants. Students leaving Essex University now face an average debt of £45,000. We will campaign for increased funding for schools and colleges.
2) The national living wage is discriminatory to those under the age of 25. This section of the population are most prone to insecure zero-hours contracts. We will push for employers in the borough to pay their staff at least the national living wage, regardless of age.
3) For many younger people, renting a home can be expensive and unattractive. We will lobby central government to fund the provision of new council housing and for an end to blocking local councils from increasing their stock. We will push for housing associations to be democratised and for improved protections for private tenants. We will work to ensure that private landlords maintain their properties to a very high standard.
4) We will lobby the government to bring in a policy of free bus travel for under 25s.
5) The council can influence the design and provision of youth and leisure activities. We will push for improvements to both and for a Youth Zone in Colchester.
6) Young people are the generation that will be most affected by the climate emergency. We call for more stringent targets for reduction of global, national and local emissions and for the establishment of effective enforcement mechanisms. All our decisions on transport and planning will be influenced by climate emergency considerations.