ROMA MILLS – A TRULY LOCAL CHOICE

Roma Mills has lived in the Clarence area of St Albans with her family for 30 years and now works in the voluntary sector. Her four children have all grown up in St Albans and still live locally. She began her political life in the town, joining the local Labour Party soon after moving here. In 2007 she was selected to fight the seat for the party at the forthcoming General Election. Before settling in St Albans with her family, Roma worked in social care in Essex, having graduated from Bristol University with an Honours degree in English, Philosophy and Politics. Her working life in social care, advocacy and with a variety of voluntary groups has brought her into contact with a wide range of people and given her extensive knowledge of the issues that affect people at all levels of society. Her personal life as a mother of four children, two of whom live with disability, her divorce and the sudden loss of her second partner have made her self-reliant and given her a keen understanding of the problems many families face when life does not go smoothly.

Roma has represented Batchwood ward on the District Council from 1988 to the present day, and she represented the North Division on the County Council from 1997-2005. Roma's extensive experience of local government is matched by her involvement in a range of other groups, such as school governing bodies, advocacy groups for people with learning disabilities and hearing impairment. She has extensive knowledge of health provision in St Albans through her work as a lay member of the former Community Health Council and also chaired the Health and Social Care Scrutiny committee at County Hall whilst a member there. She was a magistrate on the St Albans bench for 15 years and Mayor of St Albans from 2000-2001.

She says "My political and community work in St Albans has given me a unique insight into the needs and aspirations of the people of the town. St Albans is my home town and I understand that people want to see services maintained that will be appropriate for an expanding population and preserve the quality of life that we all enjoy."

Roma is acutely aware of the pressures on the infrastructure of the town because of development pressures and the need to preserve the best whilst making provision for the future. She says, "I have vigorously opposed the Rail Freight Interchange application in Park Street because of my concern about the impact of such a development on local road and rail travel. I would like to see part of the site used for housing, which would be far more appropriate in the area and which is so desperately needed locally."

Roma is aware that transport and travel will always be an issue for St Albans people with so many relying on travel to London for their livelihood.
She says, "About one in five of local workers commute daily by train – most into London at the hefty cost of £2500 a year. At this price, people should be able to expect a decent, reliable service – not the dirty trains, overcrowding and haphazard service they have been complaining about. We expect to see better from First Capital Connect before their contract is up again".

As leader of the Labour Group on St Albans Council, Roma has been very concerned about the effects of the recession on local traders and the effect on the town centre. Over the last two years, Roma has led the District Council's strategy to support the retail and pub trade in St Albans through the Retailer of the Year and Festive Pub 2009 competitions which have given much needed boosts to local businesses during the recession.

Roma has been the Portfolio Holder for Housing at the District Council and she has considerable expertise in housing policy at both local and national level. Her work as a local councillor has brought her into contact with the realities of housing need and the problems faced by the less well off in our community. She says, "We have lots of hidden households – adult children in their late twenties and early thirties still living with Mum and Dad, families cramped in overcrowded accommodation – no surprise when you need an income of £35,000 p.a. to get a toehold on the local property ladder! People on low incomes have very limited choices given the acute shortage of social housing to rent and the cost of renting privately. I am committed to the provision of affordable housing- both for rent and purchase - in St Albans to give all these families a chance. I strongly oppose the Liberal Democrats decision to take six million pounds of housing money to fund the new leisure centre planned at Westminster Lodge."