Agenda item

The Leader presented the Vision 2032 Partnership Annual Review which set out a ten-year vision for the borough.

The report set out the progress that had been made to date by the Council’s strategic partners and the ambition and direction of travel for the borough.  It recognised the key challenges and identified the aspirations and outcomes for achievement up to 2032 and sought to build a more inclusive borough.

Delivery of the vision would be through partnership working with key strategic organisations which were set out in the report and they would meet regularly to evaluate progress and identify new or emerging challenges and opportunities.  Partnership working was essential to deliver the vision as this could not be achieved by the Council working alone.

Following the annual review it was noted that the a Community Diagnostic Centre was now offering services to patients, with almost 57,000 patients being offered appointments, a Town Centre Policing Team had been created to tackle shoplifting, the ‘Work Express’ Council-run bus service had been introduced with 5,500 trips per week, further community action teams and volunteers had been recruited, the Council’s street champions had increased to over 1,500 and were working to keep the area clean and tidy.  Investments of over £65m had been secured to develop Oakengates and Wellington Town Centres and The Quad a state of the art skills and innovation hub had started to thrive. An investment of over £45m had been allocated for improvements and modernisation of local schools together with an increase in school places.  Antisocial behaviour had dropped by over 30% following investment through safer & stronger communities and nearly 500 people per year had been supported through the monthly Telford Autism Hub.

The Council would continue to lobby for investment to help address challenges, particularly in South Telford and around housing tenure and connectivity but that this could not be done alone.  The government was receptive and open to discussion in relation to investment that would change and transform our local communities. 

Cabinet Members welcomed the report and considered that the Vision was a great roadmap for the future of development, economic growth, community pride, environmental sustainability, health and wellbeing and the skills agenda, which were all needed for future prosperity.  The police, fire service, NHS, voluntary sector and the education sector were all helping to deliver the Vision up to 2032.  By building confidence, trust and cooperation this would create strong and effective partnership and stakeholder working in all key areas and would continue to build a brighter future for the borough.  This would continue to ensure that Telford & Wrekin remained a wonderful place to live, work and thrive and help to create a better borough which was cleaner, greener and safer.

The Leader of the Conservative Group commented that the Council should be

ambitious for the borough, talking it up rather than down as it is where we all live and would want the best for all residents. To tackle the big issues facing the borough, the Council had 18 or 20 of the most deprived areas in the country, and the vision should have aimed to reduce that number to a more attainable figure.   The borough's design was very road-centric, with roads like the A41, A518, and M54 becoming increasingly full and there was mention of walking and cycling becoming more popular, which was good news, but he considered the Council should have included a mass transit system within the vision.  Public health issues in the borough were significant and needed addressing, in particular, the performance of the healthy lifestyle service, particularly quitting smoking, was important to track. The report set out a 30% reduction in safeguarding referrals, but it was unclear what that meant. Good education remained key, with school attendance and secondary school performance being crucial. He felt the Vision was weak on secondary education, but this was an opportunity for improvement.  The borough worked hard to protect and enhance green spaces and building 8,000 houses on farmland was not good for the environment.  Tackling intergenerational worklessness was essential, with work being the route out of welfare and this was founded on skills and infrastructure, particularly secondary school attainment.

RESOLVED – that the progress made by the Vision 2032 strategic partnership delivering “Vision 2032”, the ten-year vision for the borough be acknowledged.