Friday 1 March 2013

Today is St David’s day and officially it’s the first day of spring so let’s hope we start to get some spring like weather soon and some sun!

This week the main event was full council, where the budget for next year (2013/14) was discussed and agreed.  There will be no increase in council tax and we will be investing more than £17 million revenue budget to support key frontline services including older people and children’s services and £143.6 million into capital schemes including the campus programme. To pay for this, and to manage the reduction of almost £10 million from our central government funding, we will need to save £27 million. Whilst this will be a challenge, I am confident that by working more efficiently and renegotiating with suppliers and contractors we will deliver these savings.

 You can read my full budget speech on the website which details the investments and savings. It also links to a video that was shown at full council that reflects on our achievements in the first four years as a new unitary council. I hope you find the video uplifting and feel the same sense of pride that I did at just how much we have delivered. This is a tribute to your hard work and it clearly highlights that even in difficult and tough times just what can be done to improve the lives of people in our local communities. 

The first four years have gone by so fast and we have made a lot of changes and we will continue to change and look at new and innovative ways to deliver improvements and save money. My aim has always been to protect our frontline services and focus on doing what we believe is best for the people of Wiltshire. Our business plan set out that we would;

• invest in key frontline services
• protect the most vulnerable in our communities, and;
• save money to enable us to do this

And, we have done what we said we would. £85 million has been invested in frontline services, there has been no increase in council tax and we have protected key services including our libraries, youth centres and leisure centres and we have delivered £100 million of savings and managed the 22 per cent cut in central government funding.

However, we also recognise that there is work still to be done to improve our children’s services and ensure that children and young people are safeguarded. Much has been done since last year’s Ofsted inspection, but there is still more to do and that work will continue as a top priority.

In the first four years as a new unitary, I believe we have laid strong foundations that will be ready for the new council to continue to build upon.

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of meeting an eight year old boy called Joe Milton (a regional tennis player in the under 9’s), his parents and tennis coach, Ron (pictured with me).  Joe wrote to me recently setting out his plans and a design for the ultimate tennis centre for Wiltshire. He did this piece of work following last year’s Olympic Games. His motivation is that if we want to support potential national and international tennis players for the future, we need to look at the provision of indoor tennis courts in the county. The nearest indoor courts are in Swindon or Bath, which prohibits regular practice and coaching sessions during winter months for aspiring young tennis players living in Wiltshire. Joe’s enthusiasm and dedication, even at such a young age, was inspirational, and I have asked that we look at the potential usage and a business case for indoor provision as part of our campus programme. In the meantime, however, following Joe’s suggestion we are looking at hosting a soft tennis competition in the Atrium. Well we did say it was a flexible space for community use! And, there are great viewing galleries...

On Wednesday evening we held last of four community evening events to discuss creating a legacy for Wiltshire. These evenings have highlighted the enthusiasm in our local communities to continue to build on the success of last year. There are lots of community events planned and we will publish these in one events plan for Wiltshire. This will help us to provide support, if it’s needed, and share ideas and promote what’s happening this year. We know that communities that come together are stronger. People like to feel part of something and last year and the response to the community evenings has shown that people want to assist and be involved. We will also use the Our Matters community blog sites to promote local events and activities. All 18 blog sites are now live and whilst we need to raise awareness and increase the number of users they are proving to be extremely popular.

This evening I’m looking forward to seeing a production of West Side Story at Erlestoke Prison. The prison has been working in collaboration with Pimlico Opera and the cast is largely made up of prisoners who are trained over a five week period. Prisoners who volunteer to take part are given a role; whether it’s performing on stage, stage management, wardrobe, lighting or building the set. It’s a real challenge, but the outcome builds self-esteem, confidence, teamwork and positive thinking for those involved.  Maybe we could look at delivering a musical if we need some team building in the future – just joking!

I would love to hear from you and welcome your comments on my blog content, or any questions that you may have.

More next week…

Jane