I knock on doors every week across Norreys ward, not only to listen to residents’ concerns and help with local issues, but also to understand views on local and national politics, and to ensure those voices are fed back into the local and national political sphere. The nature of the news cycle means a handful of themes can dominate public attention, while the details that really affect people’s daily lives in Wokingham can be lost along the way.
The recent consultation on the government’s local authority Fair Funding Review is a prime example. Both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have spread misinformation, claiming that council tax raised here in Wokingham will be redistributed to other areas. This is simply untrue – the consultation makes it crystal clear that council tax is, and will remain, a local tax, not one to be shared elsewhere. When this kind of scaremongering is repeated often enough, it can leave residents struggling to tell fact from fiction.
Wokingham Borough is among the wealthiest areas in the country, yet headline figures often conceal the inequalities beneath the surface. Labour’s policies are designed to tackle deprivation at its roots, while addressing other pressing issues that often go unnoticed.
At the heart of Labour’s mission is making improvements to the lives of ordinary people. The government has abolished non-dom status, closing loopholes that allowed a privileged few to dodge tax, and ended VAT exemptions for private schools, using that money to boost funding for state schools.
Education reform is already underway. The single headline Ofsted grade has been scrapped – a long-overdue change prompted by the tragic death of a local headteacher in Caversham. In its place, schools will get a fairer, more transparent assessment.
When we knock on doors, parents tell us that Labour’s changes to childcare have been life changing. Labour’s new expansion of 30 hours of free childcare saves working families around £7,500 per child, per year – a policy already helping parents in my ward to stay in work. The roll-out of free breakfast clubs in all primary schools will save another £450 per child, and a new push for school-based nurseries will bring even more positive change.
Labour is also reviving the spirit of Sure Start, putting family services back at the heart of our communities with Best Start Family Hubs.
Wokingham received £313,700 this year from the Holiday Activity Fund, supporting children’s wellbeing through sports, arts, and cooking. In addition, Labour will cut the cost of schoolwear by around £50 per child, limiting branded items, a cause championed by local Wokingham charities for years. From September 2026, an additional 500,000 children will become eligible for free school meals.
On the doorstep, the NHS comes up regularly – and it’s no wonder after 14 years of decline under the Tories. Residents struggle to see their local GP and get caught in the 8am scramble for appointments. Labour are committed to ending this – from this month you can now request an appointment online during working hours. Nationally, Labour has provided an extra £29bn a year for the NHS, which has already delivered 4.2mn additional operations and appointments in England. Waiting lists are falling.
As Chair of the Neighbourhood Action Group for Norreys and Wescott, I hear first-hand residents’ frustrations about anti-social behaviour, including shoplifting. Labour is taking action here too. Part of the ‘Fighting Retail Crime’ initiative will bring a new offence for assaults on shop workers, and the ‘low value’ threshold for shop theft will be removed, so all shop theft is treated seriously.
I know from talking to residents just how much everyday issues matter. Many residents join our local litterpicks and share concerns about waste and recycling. Labour’s fantastic new deposit return scheme will encourage residents to return their empty plastic bottles/cans to collection points which will help keep litter off our streets.
Labour has also delivered where the Tories failed over public services. After local outrage over Thames Water, the government is penalising water company bosses who pollute our rivers. Starting with our local South Western Railway, the railways are being brought back into public ownership. Train strikes have ended.
So if you feel that “nothing’s changed,” and the headlines are depressing, remember that there are many positive changes that affect Wokingham, in the NHS, supporting working families, restoring trust in our public services and tackling deprivation at its roots.
By Cllr Rachel Burgess
