“Profits should find their way into the public purse and be dispersed for the benefit of the public” (Keir Hardie, 1907)

Our strategy to build wealth for Hackney will be long-term and rooted in the community. We are inspired by socialist pioneers, like Keir Hardie. Community Wealth Building means using public assets, like land, buildings, tax and services, to strengthen the local economy. It is the most effective way to reduce inequality, and give people a real stake in the places they live. It builds a fairer, greener, and more resilient economy from the ground up.

The economic approach this Labour Council has chosen is not delivering for our communities.  Corporate inward investment has not created shared prosperity. Small businesses and independent traders are being pushed out by rising rents, while developers deliver too little genuinely affordable housing.

So we must work together to build an alternative growth model, a whole-system approach, rooted in the community. It will bring a cultural shift to Hackney Council. 

Spending our money locally

We want a circular economy where the prosperity generated here is spent  locally for everyone’s benefit. We are committed to creating an economy where microbusinesses and cooperatives can thrive. It involves reinvestment to build positive social outcomes, like developing skills, creating career opportunities and boosting local manufacture and production.

A Gascoyne Estate model for all

At a very local level, the residents at Gascoyne Estate, including our council candidate Alana Heaney, took over the management of their community centre. Now the revenue from external bookings and ‘pay what you can’ classes, is ploughed back into fitness groups, craft sessions, homework sessions and a free weekly community lunch. Together we can expand on this model across the borough.

We’ve also been involved in campaigning to keep small local businesses housed under railway arches in Hackney. Sadly, the takeover of the arches by a large conglomerate has seen rents rise and many small firms priced out of the area. Argun Printers and Stationers is the latest example of long established local businesses under threat, resulting in reduced training opportunities and jobs. 

What we’ll do if we run the council with the Greens after May

We will prioritise forming Community Hubs to offer gathering spaces, create local enterprise and provide social support. They will be the powerhouses for the new Hackney and will re-energise community halls which are scandalously underused. Each Hub will receive Council support to help residents run them with a mixture of funded and voluntary effort. This  will include fresh approaches to generating income so residents learn about funding streams, setting up a small charity or company, and developing microbusinesses and cooperatives. 

We see the Hubs as helping to forge a new political vision, ditching the myth that wealth-generation and social compassion are opposing forces. We want to harness the spirit of enterprise for the common good, and as such these multi-functional Hubs will offer:  

• Information centres to help residents plan personal development, with careers, education and  volunteering opportunities. 
• Classes offering exercise, craft and creative activities, with pay-what-you-can access.
• Self-help groups tackling isolation and providing support with accessing healthcare.
• Regular drop-in sessions for council services with face-to-face help on things like housing, social services, education and money advice. 
• Community cafes and lunch clubs. 
• Courses on business start-ups, the development of cooperatives and how to grow small and medium enterprises. 
• Free work and study space to ease domestic overcrowding in the current ‘work-from-home’ economy.
• Community meetings and a place for younger and older people to engage in cultural activities.

We will work with local businesses, unions and community organisations and economists to develop a Hackney Industrial Strategy. This Strategy will clearly identify the borough’s economic resources and its social, economic and cultural needs. It will identify Hackney’s economic strengths and how these might be built on. The strategy will guide implementation of procurement and land use. It will suggest priorities for different sectors and neighbourhoods.

Depending on the outcome of the Industrial Strategy Review we also intend to :

• Set an example, by simplifying Council procurement, reducing bureaucracy and emphasising localised contracts. We will seek to extend this model to other large local organisations such as Homerton Hospital.
• Fund research into the development of cooperatives.
• Ensure contractors add economic, social and environmental value for communities beyond service delivery, including targeting Hackney’s unemployed for recruitment.
• Seek to invest some of the Council’s pension funds locally to create community resources.
• Explore ways to take on predatory private loan sharks.