The Kingston and Surbiton Labour party has launched its manifesto ahead of next month's local elections. 

Front and centre of the party's pledges is a commitment to introduce Your Money, Your Choice, a scheme, which allows residents to have a direct say in how council tax is spent in their neighbourhoods.

According to Tom Wingfield, who is representing the party in the Norbiton ward, the proposal is "designed to think about the problem of people feeling disenfranchised". 

He said: "We've got to go beyond business as usual and think much more innovatively about how we engage people in decision making.

 "This policy was introduced in Newham, it was introduced in Canada and it's been run in local governments in Scotland for more than a decade, and it's proven to be incredibly successful because people feel like they have a voice." 

The manifesto also promises to do more to "unlock opportunities for children and young people", with Kezia Coleman, Labour candidate for Kingston Town, claiming such measures are needed after years of Tory austerity. 

She said: "After relentless cuts over the last decade we're seeing more and more that young people are missing out. "Our focus is on bringing youth centres back, and we feel the council should be taking responsibility to bring more to the local area." 

Coleman also wants more parks to be made teenager-friendly, in order to ensure secondary school pupils have a shared space they feel able to go.

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She said: "Parks and playgrounds are really important, there's government funding coming up for that and we want to make sure Kingston Council takes that opportunity. 

"At the moment the focus tends to be in the playground area around smaller children, but over time tweens and teens have been designed out of our local parks.

 "I've got a little girl and I'd love to make sure that as she grows, parks feel like a space for her." 

And according to Keegaan Hillier, who is also standing in Kingston Town, a commitment to put more money into the pockets of local families is also central to Labour's campaign. 

He said: "We have the highest council tax in London, and the second or third highest in the entirety of England. It doesn't have to be that way.

 "Our main focus is making sure that can either be lowered or made worth it." 

Kingston's local elections take place on 7 May. If you would like to vote but are not currently registered, you must do so by 23 April.