• Council Tax is frozen….again.
There will be no increase in council tax this year. This is the third year in a row that the county council has frozen its share of council tax. These three years of 0% increases follow on from two years which saw record-low increases.
This compares with Labour and the Lib Dems, who ran the county council up to 2005. They increased council tax by 40% in their last four years, including their infamous 18.5% increase in 2003.
• Front-line services protected in budget savings
Alongside the freeze in council tax, the council voted through a budget for the next 12 months that will achieve savings of £25million – the second part of a plan to save over £50million over two years. We are doing this as a result of reductions to our grant from the government, together with on-going increases in the demands on our services, and the costs of providing them.
The savings will be achieved by reducing management and back-office costs, cutting bureaucracy and working in new, innovative and more efficient ways.
• No increase in council tax for the next four years
If the Conservatives are re-elected to run the county council in May this year, there will be no increase in council tax for the next four years.
During this year’s budget debate, Conservative leader Mark Bee announced that the number one Conservative pledge at the forthcoming county elections would be a four-year freeze in council tax.
• A secure future for Suffolk’s libraries
Responsibility for the day-to-day running of the county’s library services was transferred to Suffolk’s Libraries Industrial and Provident Society (IPS) at the beginning of August last year.
All Suffolk’s 44 libraries and the mobile, school and prison services now come under the direct control of the IPS – a first in the country – which works in partnership with local library groups to support and expand the service.
• ‘Raising the Bar’ in education
SCC has launched an ambitious project to drive up educational standards across the county and help ensure young people in Suffolk have the best possible start in life.
‘Raising the Bar’ was launched last summer with a conference involving secondary school head teachers, colleges and business leaders, aimed at focusing our collective energy into driving up attainment and employability of young people in Suffolk.
At present, in Suffolk, there are 1,600 young people aged between 16 and 18 who are not involved in any form of education, training or work, while over 4,000 18-24 year-olds are unemployed.
At the same time, new and emerging industries are creating a demand for new technical skills, on top of a strong foundation of academic achievement.
‘Raising the Bar’ will aim to develop a collective understanding of the key priorities for Suffolk with regard to student attainment; raise awareness of employment opportunities in the Suffolk economy; and provide an opportunity for employers and educationalists to discuss the challenges and develop a clear plan for raising the bar for attainment in Suffolk.
• Positive early signs for SOR
Schools in areas which were re-organised as part of our Schools Organisation Review saw huge gains last year in SATS results at key stage 2, with up to 19% improvement in some subjects.
Those in Haverhill and Lowestoft, which were in the first phase of the move from three to two tiers, which started in 2007, witnessed a 12% improvement in writing and 6% maths – which, in each instance, represents double the improvement rate seen across the rest of Suffolk.
• Suffolk’s Residential care homes to benefit from £60m investment
Proposals developed together with Care UK will see SCC’s existing16 council-run residential homes replaced by ten new state-of-the-art homes. These will deliver the very latest in design and technology, with the aim of providing the best possible care for Suffolk people.
The 16 existing council-run homes were built up to 50 years ago, and the cost to the county council of bringing these up to modern standards would be simply prohibitive.
At the same time, the number of older people in the county aged 75 and over is expected to increase by 85% by 2030 and the number of older people with dementia is expected to increase by 100% in the same period.
As a result, the new facilities, which will see the number of specialist dementia beds increase to 680, represent the best possible way we can continue to support vulnerable older people in the years ahead.
• A Growth Strategy for Suffolk
In February this year, SCC, together with partners from around the county, launched the Suffolk Growth Strategy. The strategy is designed to create the fertile environment in which the private sector can develop the economic growth, jobs and increased prosperity that Suffolk needs.
The county council has been working with borough and district councils, as well as local businesses from sectors across the Suffolk economy, to produce the strategy, which will now have a detailed delivery timetable for the coming years. At the same time, a new, official, ‘Invest in Suffolk’ website was launched – an easily-accessible site for businesses looking to invest in the county – http://www.investinsuffolk.com. A new ‘Inward Investment Service’ – made up of a team of professionals to provide a single point of contact for investors was also announced.
• Broadband for everyone in Suffolk is on its way
By 2015, every property in Suffolk will be guaranteed broadband speeds of at least 2 megabits per second (Mbps), with 85% receiving superfast coverage.
At a special meeting of the cabinet in September, it was announced that the county council would be working in partnership with BT to deliver the Better Broadband for Suffolk programme. By 2015, 9 out of 10 Suffolk properties will be connected to fibre-based broadband, with speeds of at least 10Mbps. Also, the entire Waveney Local Enterprise Zone will have superfast speeds (24Mbps or more) by the end of next year.
• Saving Suffolk’s libraries for the future
Suffolk’s libraries have been set on a secure footing for the future, following the decision of the council to move the management of the library network to a new operating model.
The Industrial and Provident Society (IPS) is now established, and will enable us to retain our library network, working in partnership with local communities, while reducing the budget by around 30% over three years, from approximately £9m to £6m.
These changes will mean that, while the council faces continuing pressure on its resources, the county’s much-valued library service will have the scope to survive and potentially grow in the years ahead.
• Official Start of construction of Suffolk’s energy-from waste facility
In May last year, the official construction got underway of an energy-from-waste facility for Suffolk.
After many years in the planning, the site will open in December 2014, diverting 252,000 tonnes of waste a year from environmentally-damaging landfill sites. The waste will be used to create enough electricity for 30,000 homes. Not only will this help towards our mission to make Suffolk the Greenest County, it will also save Suffolk council tax-payers around £350million over the next 25 years.
• Suffolk shows its appreciation of our armed forces
In October, the county council, together with the district and borough councils, community and armed forces leaders signed a Community Covenant – pledging support for all the armed forces and their families who are based in Suffolk.
Part of a national scheme to strengthen the ties between our armed forces and the local communities in which they are based, the Community Covenant re-enforces the strong bonds between the people of Suffolk and the military personnel and their families who live here.
In practical terms, each organisation will look to provide support for the armed forces across a whole range of local services and aspects of their lives, as well as raising public awareness of the issues faced by those who have entered service life.
A Riverside View 