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Oxford is a city that is built on its diversity. Around a third of residents are born outside of the UK. We have a proud track record of welcoming refugees. A plethora of faith and non-faith groups live side by side.
The Green Party is incredibly proud of this diversity – and we are committed to deepening it. At a time when those on the far-right of politics are seeking to spread hate and division, it has never been more important to build communities rooted in care, solidarity and belonging.
A Green Party run city council would:
● Support key events that celebrate Oxford’s diversity including Oxford Pride and the Cowley Road Carnival, as well as faith-based events such as the Broad Street Menorah Lighting and community Iftars during Ramadan. Celebrate and actively work on Oxford’s status as a City of Sanctuary, ensuring the city council does more to welcome refugees.
● Ensure Oxford’s community centres are responsive to the needs of the community groups that rely on them and the residents that use them.
● Lobby national government to establish a fairer and more humane asylum system – including by introducing safe routes to claim asylum, allowing asylum seekers to work while their claims are processed and housing asylum seekers in the community rather than in hotels.
● Continue to call for Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre to be closed down and for the government to end its use of detention centres.
● Ensure that trans and non-binary people are protected in the provision of council services in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on the Equality Act.
● Take rapid action to address the city council’s substantial pay gaps – in gender, ethnicity and disability – and begin monitoring and addressing the LGBT pay gap.
● Adopt the principles of feminist urban planning, to ensure that our city is built around women’s safety and empowerment.
● Build towards a city that works for people of all ages – by working towards the principles of Age Friendly Communities and ensuring that families and children have access to safe areas to play.
● Invest in infrastructure for walking and wheeling so that Oxford becomes a truly accessible city to get around.
● Seek to ensure that amenities are well distributed across the city so that all residents have basic services within a short walk or cycle ride.
● Retain Oxford’s place as a city with a deep internationalist outlook, maintaining good relations with our twin towns and playing what role we can in standing up for human rights across the globe. This includes through tightening up city council policies on procurement and investment to ensure that council money isn’t going into violations of human rights.
● Enhance the council’s approach to community wealth building, by increasing the number of local organisations the council contracts – particularly cooperatives and unionised workplaces.
● Provide funding and support to enable local and district centres to flourish with good local facilities – including through backing community-led initiatives like Magdalen Road Village.
● Ensure Oxford’s leisure services are accessible to the widest range of people to help all of Oxford’s residents live healthier, happier lives and reduce health inequalities.
● Introduce dedicated city council officers within communities for social prescribing so that residents can get the support they need.
● Ensure that council communications are accessible to all residents – including through broadening the number of languages communications are available in and avoiding using inaccessible language.
● Provide additional funding for community groups which are the heart of our communities.
● Support the establishment of a new community space for the African Caribbean community.
● Take a health-led approach to drug addiction and use in order to reduce the impact on local communities, including through providing more resource to support services and seeking to establish a drug consumption room in the city.
● Strengthen the council’s support for local live music venues, arts and cultural spaces, and pubs.
● Establish a fund for the development of new ‘pocket parks’ in the city, small areas of outdoor space that improve the public realm.
● Work to introduce a playground in Oxford City Centre