'Opening Nando's doesn't give kids things to do'

Postman Liam Lathbury said he wants to see Chippenham "thrive" again

Failure of public services, young people being forgotten and a crumbling town centre.

These are some of the complaints from a Chippenham resident who wants to hear "no false promises" from politicians in the run up to the election.

Liam Lathbury, a postman who runs a not-for-profit boxing club in the town, told the BBC a lack of investment is bringing the Wiltshire town "to its knees".

He is one of many people who got in touch with the BBC via Your Voice, Your Vote to tell us about what they think are the most important issues in this election.

Mr Lathbury, who has lived in Chippenham his whole life, said: "Public services are not working, but then public services aren't working anywhere."

He said young people had been "forgotten", citing a youth centre that used to be in the town that was pulled down to be turned into a car park.

"If you constantly don't invest in the youth, you constantly have problems," he added.

"Building a Nando's doesn't resolve kids having something to do."

Mr Lathbury says he wants to know "where all the money has gone" in local government

The postman said rent for buildings is currently "astronomical", ensuring "nothing can thrive".

"For me, [councils should] make everything affordable, make it so a young people can open a business here and run a business from here," he said.

Mr Lathbury said if paying bills was "achievable" people could make an "honest living".

He believes the "whole country's in turmoil", adding: "We're about to burst.

"I want whoever gets in to do whatever they say they're going to do and make a difference.

"I want them to hold local council to more account - you've had this amount of money, where's it gone?"

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) senior research economist, Kate Ogden, told the BBC Today programme all of the main party's manifestos are "almost silent" on council funding.

She said: “We saw really huge austerity for councils during the 2010s and even though they’ve had funding increasing faster than inflations since about 2019, they’ve still not made up for those really big cuts to services.

“So across things like youth services, leisure and culture, libraries, transport, lots of those services are still having more than 40% less spent on them, than they were per person in 2010.

“So the effects of those cuts are very much still evident in the way councils are spending.”

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How will different parties tackle the problems in local government?

The Conservatives have said they will further strengthen communities by providing 105 towns with a £20m endowment fund for local people to change their town's future. They will extend their Community Ownership Fund and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and continue backing Investment Zones across the country, giving areas £160m for local growth and investment.

Labour has said it will transfer power out of Westminster and into communities with landmark devolution legislation. Towns and cities will be able to take hold of the tools they need to pursue growth, create jobs, and improve living standards. The party said it will provide capacity and support to councils, and will overhaul the local audit system, so taxpayers get better value for money.

The Liberal Democrats said they will tackle the funding crisis facing local authorities, including by providing multi-year settlements, boosting the supply of social housing, and forging a long-term, cross-party agreement on social care. They said they will end the top-down reorganisation of councils and the imposition of elected mayors on communities who do not want them.

The Green Party has said it will propose an uplift of 3.5bn a year plus an additional 1bn a year for local grassroots sport and culture. In addition they are proposing an uplift in both education and social care spending which will also go some way to lift some of the wider challenges to local authority finances.

Reform UK don't have anything specific in their manifesto on local councils and have been contacted for comment.