THE ruling Labour city council says it will focus spending on supporting small and medium-sized businesses, co-operatives and social enterprises that pay council tax and employ local people.

The party says it is in response to the austerity policies of the Government.

It is aiming to keep the council’s multi-million pound expenditure within the Brighton and Hove economy rather than benefiting companies based outside the city who do not pay taxes.

The party is pledging to “take a leadership role in bringing together the purchasing power” of Brighton’s other institutions, such as schools, universities and hospitals.

The party’s Local Campaigns Forum (LCF) is also promising action to address a range of other issues, including insecure employment and low wages, outsourcing, and barriers to entry for marginalised communities.

Brighton and Hove Labour’s manifesto “economy and tourism” pledges are intended to shape the council’s economic policy for the next four years if it retains power in May’s local elections.

They state that Labour in Brighton and Hove will work to make the city a “leading UK city for ethical employment practices”.

The party promises to end all outsourcing contracts that do not “achieve a higher level of social value”.

The party has promised to put forward a programme to remove “barriers” faced by women, black and Asian minority ethnic residents, the disabled and other marginalised groups.

It goes on to say that it will “explore the potential for a voluntary tourist tax or a combined discount card for tourist attractions, local businesses and public transport”, using the proceeds to “clean up the city and fund facilities for homeless people”.

The party plans to outline the details of their pledges in other policy areas over the next two weeks in order to give residents a chance to properly scrutinise the policies.

Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council Daniel Yates said: “Our city needs a strong economy to deliver the jobs and lives that our residents deserve.

“We are committed to ensuring that where public money is spent, that it helps to build a stronger local economy and not fund private company shareholders.

“We want this strong economy to benefit all communities and to be able to work with smaller businesses and our strong community sector to ensure that local advantage is maximised for the many and not the few.”

Juan Baeza, Labour candidate for Preston Park, said: “One of the key principles is that we will always back workers and not the large corporations and their shareholders.

“We want to transform the way our city purchases good services and works in partnership with other large city institutions, such as our universities, hospitals and schools to purchase goods and services from our city’s small and medium size enterprises.”