Olivio Barreto: 'I know what matters to this town'

What’s your connection to Bracknell, or why do you want to represent Bracknell? I have lived in Bracknell continuously for close to 25 years and I have been a parish councillor for most of that time. As a long-term resident, I understand the important local issues our town faces as it’s growing.

I have seen the change it has gone through from a quiet small town into a commuter belt urban area. A lot of it has been for the better and much of the credit goes to previous governments and MPs. It’s time to work with the council, businesses and the government to transform Bracknell into a place the community can be proud of.

It’s not easy to be optimistic especially after we have come through so much in the last few years. People have different challenges and priorities but we can change things.

The opportunity to collaborate, influence and convince parliament and government that the reason we were elected is to serve the country and to make life worth living.

What are the four biggest challenges facing Bracknell? The Access to NHS services/ GPs/ Dentists especially for Social Care.

Affordable Housing (Owning and Rental) - for graduates who start on their first jobs with the burden of student loans/ service charges and new families looking for their first homes to bring their children up

Career opportunities that pay well towards the basic cost of living – energy bills, water/ sewerage bills, transport (car/train/ fuel costs), food, clothing.

Schools – special educational needs, teachers, crumbling buildings.

The environment - a new smarter policy to address sewerage treatment, flooding, fire and where to install renewable energy infrastructure without affecting green field farming lands.

What issues are you campaigning on, and what causes will you be championing if elected?

Transform our NHS: Expand services at Heatherwood & Brants Bridge. Proposals to build a NEW Frimley Park Hospital in Bracknell or close proximity with rail and road links. Expand Heatherwood with specialist hubs in Crowthorne and Sandhurst.

Specialist Diagnostic Hubs: Add capacity to major hospitals (prescribed by a GP) and with spare capacity sold to neighbouring NHS hospitals. A dedicated NHS arm focusing solely on Elderly Social Care between home and hospital in collaboration with local councils.

Blood Testing Hubs: Set up in major towns run by universities or diagnostic businesses. A paying service (without GP) or free (with GP) referral reducing pressure on GPs/hospitals. Results emailed (with patient consent) to both patient and GP highlighting concerns or an “all clear”. Proposals to equip vacant council commercial/school space (rent free) for GPs, dentists and dental hygienists.

Train & Fund Dental Hygienists into the NHS: To provide a treatment service in schools to ease pressure on dentists. Dental hygiene ensures healthy teeth, better nutritional options and mitigates corrective dental surgery from unregistered UK dental and foreign cosmetic practices. It is easier and cheaper to fund hygienists. No increase in tax needed.

Starter Homes: One-bedroom flat/semi-detached for 21 to 27-year-olds starting careers (max of 5 yr. or min of 1 yr) on a reduced rent (+£0 service charge) while they save for a mortgage deposit. New planning laws committing new developments to 10 per cent of affordable 2 bed and 10 per cent 1-bed homes paid for by local councils.

Childcare/Schools: Increase hours & connect childcare nurseries to local schools with existing vacant classrooms to make synergies from existing facilities maintenance costs & safeguarding processes. Allowing parents more hours at work. Upgrading buildings.

Sewage Treatment: Nationalise water treatment plants & ensure increasing rainfall (clean water) can be captured or used before draining, reducing pressure on sewage plants. Review environmental legislation with higher fines for untreated sewage discharge.

Strengthen Employment Legislation & Workers’ Rights: Tax multinational online businesses using apps to conduct their business to pay better and incentivise companies that make full tax contributions. Review teaching assistant/teacher pay and work life balance.

Taxation: An increase in NI of 2% for earnings >£100k. A 1% tax on wealth over £100m. Levy an additional tax for online multinational retailers and social media companies who get significant revenue without paying a fair share of taxes on that revenue. Tax exemptions for Non-Doms on investments >100 million invested in British registered businesses with a fixed 30% capital gains tax on foreign direct investment.

Managed Migration by Support for a Border Security Command Unit: Remove/deny public services to individuals with no right to work & live in the UK. Work with European signatories to update the European Human Rights Convention to protect genuine asylum migration. Recent European elections show uncontrolled migration is a concern.

Supporting Local Businesses: Create a subsidised market counter space on council owned high street premises for local businesses/ farmers. Proposals for a single admin. & logistics office to reduce EU/Global customs paperwork, testing and fees. A single set of paperwork managed by this office for multiple farms or businesses. This allows businesses to focus on their product development and innovation.

A New Business Model for Public Service delivery:

The current Economy does not support our cost of living. Most public services are owned by pension fund shareholding/private equity/foreign governments that make exorbitant profits. In some cases, they increase the costs and do not treat wastewater or invest in public service infrastructure - e.g. railways yet extract a dividend and take significant debt at the cost of taxpayers

Nationalise: The Railways, Water Companies, National Grid using a Public – Private (Retail) UK Shareholding model. Once nationalised, additional investment raised from retail shareholders - not Private Equity or Foreign ownership. A guarantee of 2% above nominal value for each year that on holdings. This will avoid tax rises and allow regulation by Govt. and shareholders. Holding the management accountable with profits reinvested.

British retail shareholders will increase GDP and wealth as the dividends and share profits they earn is spent in the UK supporting local services and the economy – as opposed to being sent to foreign shareholders.

Oil and Gas path to Net Zero: Create a Public Oil and Gas Energy Company with 55% Govt. ownership. Partnering with Energy companies with <15% equity each to extract oil that can only be used in the UK. This will enable plant, equipment & expertise from existing Oil and Gas companies, without a tax increase to bear the set-up cost. Profits go towards the public renewables energy company. Keeping energy prices steady. Moving the ban on sale of petrol/diesel cars and gas boilers to 2035 (and not 2030) to ensure families can afford to keep jobs/cars & transition to net zero.

Renewables: Create a public - private renewable energy company – a special investment vehicle – with a 22.5% Govt. stake, 57.5% retail shareholding and 20% from Private Equity, Foreign Pension or investment funds. No foreign governments. This will ensure that taxpayers who invest can increase their wealth while subsidising energy costs and no tax increases

How will you help struggling high streets and town centres?

Supporting Local Businesses:

Create a subsidised market permanent counter space inside buildings with adequate refrigeration and storage/ permanent fixtures inside  council or other commercial owned high street premises for local businesses/ farmers.

Proposals for a single business expert  admin and logistics office to reduce EU/Global customs paperwork, testing and fees. A single set of paperwork managed by this office for multiple farms or businesses. This allows businesses to focus on their product development and innovation.

A new business model is required: The high street businesses that resell goods made in China and other online retailers will not be sustainable unless the online retailers have a tax to level the retail industry.

New models and businesses that are unique and sustainable without being undercut by the big retailers. Businesses where the customers need access to high quality products that are visible before purchase.

How can you help make sure people can afford to live here while protecting our green spaces and countryside from development?

Building Smarter:

Build affordable homes within housing developments on brownfield sites with almost no service charges.

Build better designed homes/insulated against noise/ temperature fluctuations and durable and greener models in away.

Attract businesses so that residents in Bracknell can work in Bracknell and from those earnings support the public services in Bracknell as well as local businesses.

Access to good public services at the point of need.

How will you help councils struggling with their finances? Can you help them to deal with the special educational needs crisis? Will you want the government to continue the Household Support Grant? Bracknell is one of the councils that has a really good Chief Executive, and Executive (Labour) in place. BFC is in a much better Financial Position than other councils through prudent financial planning over the years and sensible decision making -  that is why Bracknell has seen a lot of regeneration and growth of new professionals who have made this their home. That does not mean that public service pressures do not exist. What we need is good financial planning. What is also needed is genuine collaboration between Central Govt. Local Councillors and its residents to understand the priorities and realistic and affordable resources required to fund them.

SEN has had an additional funding of £4Million allocation along with youth and helping the vulnerable with the cost of living funding from the current Conservative government to the current Labour council showing that Central Govt and local government can work cross party.

Most SEN polices should be introduced as standard into mainstream councils to give parents the confidence that current  SEN children can make the transition/ integrate into mainstream schooling or they will not be able to integrate into future society. Where that transition is not possible - additional specific resource can be made for those children that have the highest SEN needs.

What will you do to make sure residents don’t lose easy access to NHS services when Frimley Park hospital moves? I campaigned to keep Heatherwood hospital and now is time to transform and build on that to increase capacity for other services as Frimley park goes through its own regeneration and will be built on a new site. Having the new “Frimley Park” in Bracknell would enable better cooperation with other neighbouring areas and savings to the NHS with synergies with specialists.

What car do you drive (do you drive)? I drive, but don’t have access to a car. It’s very expensive to go electric and going petrol for a new one not only is bad for the environment but will not be sustainable with the ban of gas boilers and petrol/diesel cars by 2030. I cycle at least 30 miles a week and that helps with exercise and wellbeing – seeing the community on their evening walks and nature (the geese and local community know me well).

I am thinking of holding off and getting a petrol car by 2028/9 that will last for 10 years to avoid high electricity costs and switch to electric. We don’t do more than 2000 miles a year.

What's your favourite film, TV show? There isn’t one fortunately.

BBC Earth - David Attenborough & especially on whales and Orcas

Sound of Music, Mission Impossible, Top Gun, Game of Thrones, Dune, Mad Max, Mincemeat (D-Day) musical, Tell Them You Love Me, Hitman, The Gentleman.

Gardeners World, Click, Travel Show, The Context, The Repair Shop, The Gilded Age (Downton Abbey producer), Football and Formula 1, Countryfile, All creatures great and small, Panorama.

When was the last time you cried? I don’t often but I’m sure I have at some point, I just don’t remember. I do get really sad when facing difficult life challenges or hearing about the suffering of others.

Have you ever taken illegal drugs? No. Happy to have the occasional Guinness, lager or a single malt.