By Louise Timlin
As a child living in a single-parent family, I vividly remember doing the weekly food shop with my mum, adding up every item as we went around the shop to ensure we didn’t overspend our limited budget.
New shoes had to be bought from the catalogue so that they could be paid for weekly. Despite this we managed.
How we would survive today is not something I want to think about. And yet 40 years on, this is still the reality for too many families, and an issue the government is completely failing to address.
Current political distractions in Westminster, such as the confidence vote in Prime Minister Boris Johnson, are detracting from the real role of politicians at a time when they should be focusing their attention on creating and implementing policies which will support those in need.
We are facing a cost-of-living crisis which is impacting local families hard, but especially women, who are already paid less than men and make up 90% of single parents.
Collaborative politics and focusing on solutions to issues can create positive change locally. It’s why I was so pleased to see that in the most recent local elections, the Liberal Democrats have formed a partnership with the Labour and independent Councillors to take control of Wokingham Borough Council – for the first time in 20 years.
I lead the Reading and Wokingham branch of the Women’s Equality Party, a national political party dedicated to working collaboratively to unite people of different genders, races, backgrounds, beliefs and experiences in order to see women achieve the same rights and opportunities as men.
I am, therefore, very much looking forward to a new collaborative working ethos, where residents and local groups’ views are consulted and used to inform policies which will benefit local people.
This is the kind of local action that generates positive change and engages our communities.
And here’s a tangible example: poor management from Wokingham Borough Council has resulted in fundamental gaps in domestic abuse services, including provision of refuge space.
Berkshire Women’s Aid stepped in and continued to run the local refuge from its charitable funds.
It is unacceptable that Wokingham Borough Council decided to change providers for domestic abuse services in the middle of a pandemic when rates of domestic abuse were sky-rocketing and service providers were struggling to cope.
These types of specialist services cannot change hands at the drop of a hat.
But this is an issue where a collaborative approach was needed to push for change. The Women’s Equality Party worked with Wokingham Liberal Democrats and Cllr Clive Jones (now Leader of the Wokingham Borough Council), advocated for the adoption of our Party policies and secured an agreement from the Lib Dems – and therefore, the Council – to review how specialist services are commissioned by the council.
We very much look forward to seeing the results of that review and hearing what changes will be implemented as a result.
An end to gender-based violence is one of the core objectives for the Women’s Equality party, and our policies will ensure local needs are identified and met, as well as providing stable funding of these types of services over time.
Putting party politics aside and collaborating on issues which will bring great benefits to local residents is the way I believe local government should operate.
We can only hope that those in Westminster take note of what can be achieved when politicians across the political spectrum collaborate with the purpose of improving the lives of real people.
Louise Timlin is the Leader of Women’s Equality Party, Reading and Wokingham
