Essex County Council Annual Report 2019/20
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Essex County Council Annual Report 2019/20 1 | Essex Annual Report 2019/20 Contents 3 Foreword 5 Strategic Aims and Priorities 6 2019/20 achievements at a glance 10 Resources 12 2019/20 Activity and Performance 13 Aim 1 - Enable inclusive economic growth 21 Aim 2 - Help people get the best start in life and age well 29 Aim 3 - Help create great places to grow up, live and work 35 Aim 4 - Transform the council to achieve more with less 2 | Essex Annual Report 2019/20 Foreword From the Leader I write the foreword to this Annual Report in circumstances that are the most extraordinary in modern memory. In the Spring, I described the Coronavirus pandemic as the great challenge facing our nation since the second world war. I still believe that was an accurate statement. In the first half of this year, we have – and we are still yet to see or even experienced dramatic changes to the way experience the full impacts of this we live our lives as a response to a health pandemic. crisis that has swept across the globe. It is the job of the County Council Where and how we work; how we walk to secure the economic, social, down our streets; who we can meet and environmental, and latterly the physical Cllr David Finch how we shop; every thread of the fabric of and emotional well-being of our Leader, Essex County Council everyday life was affected. communities. I have led a Council that No one could have predicted the scale has always taken those responsibilities of the challenge that we are now facing. extremely seriously and considered it of It will have profound impacts not only the utmost importance to plan for stormy on us as individuals, but also on our weather ahead – even if we can’t be sure communities and on our businesses what form those storms will take. That 3 | Essex Annual Report 2019/20 Foreword is why we have focused on efficiencies While we applaud these achievements, to protect front line services and we must also recognise the profound transformation of our business models challenges that are in front of us. Like – because an efficient well-run Council other parts of the public, voluntary, and which delivers the best possible value to business sectors we will need to redouble our residents means that we can spend our efforts to think creatively about how the money where it is needed most – we can best serve the people of this great particularly in times of crisis. county. We will need to dig deeper, try harder, work smarter than ever before So, while the current circumstances throw to secure the outcomes that Essex’s up challenges, the Council is as well- residents deserve. What I take from this placed as anywhere else in the country report is pride in what we have delivered to weather the storm. The Annual Report and perhaps more importantly a sense sets out the progress that we have made of confidence and a belief in our can-do in the last twelve months to deliver the attitude to address the challenges that lie aims set out in our Organisation Strategy. in front of us – that has always been the It sets out our key achievements and Essex way. So, whilst we are conscious the positive impact we have created of the scale of the task we face, we are for residents and communities. We are undaunted, and confident that we will justifiably proud of the progress we have bounce back stronger than ever before. made in the last year. Together, for Essex. 4 | Essex Annual Report 2019/20 Strategic Aims and Priorities Our Strategic Aims Our Strategic Priorities Equality Objectives • Help people in Essex prosper by increasing their skills We will tackle the causes of disadvantage, Enable inclusive • Enable Essex to attract and grow large firms in high ensuring that all Essex residents can economic growth growth industries access good jobs and an excellent • Target economic development to areas of opportunity education, regardless of their background. • Help keep vulnerable children safer and enable them We will remove the obstacles that hold Help people get to fulfil their potential Essex residents back, tackling inequalities • Enable more vulnerable adults to live independent of the best start and between children and supporting older social care age well people to live independently with dignity. • Improve the health of people in Essex • Help to secure stronger, safer and more neighbourly We will help make it easier for people to Help create great communities travel across Essex, bringing communities places to grow up, • Help secure sustainable development and protect the together and connecting people to live and work environment services, employment and learning • Facilitate growing communities and new homes opportunities. • Limit cost and drive growth in revenue We will employ a diverse workforce, Transform the • Develop the capability, performance and engagement drawing on the different values and of our people council to achieve experiences that reflect the communities Re-imagine how residents’ needs can be met in a more with less • we serve. digital world 5 | Essex Annual Report 2019/20 2019/20 achievements at a glance • Construction of M11 J7a has • Our Invest Essex service supported Enable commenced, funding for the 25 Essex inward investment improvement to the A12 is included projects, leading to the relocation inclusive within the Government’s RIS2 (Road of 10 new businesses into Essex, Investment Strategy 2) programme. including one large employer, and economic We continue to make the case for the creation of 707 new jobs. investment in the A120 and A127 with Invest Essex also supported 28 partners. • growth Department for International Trade • In 2019/20, Superfast Essex (DIT) Foreign Direct Investment enabled a further 14,975 homes opportunities. and businesses to access superfast The ‘Harlow Works’ programme broadband, many of these via full-fibre • supported 151 individuals to infrastructures. To date this investment increase their skills and to access has reached more than 17% of all higher quality employment premises. opportunities. • A new business-led Success Essex The new University of Essex Board for Essex has supported the • Knowledge Gateway Innovation growth of large companies. Centre in Colchester opened in the summer of 2019. 6 | Essex Annual Report 2019/20 2019/20 achievements at a glance • We created circa 3,500 new school • Collaborate Essex set up Local Help people places through school expansions, learning Disability peer support including two new secondary schools - groups to enable people to live more get the best Beaulieu Park School and the Paxman independently. Academy created 1,200 and 900 school We have supported over 250 Essex places respectively. • start in life businesses to improve the health of • The Essex Fostering Service continues their workforce and have delivered and age well to successfully recruit carers, consistently over 4,500 Mental Health courses. adding over 30 new carers a year. There In response to the start of the Covid are now over 520 carers providing • 19 epidemic, we mobilised significant placements for over 580 children. support for the adult social care • The summer 2019 Holiday Hunger pilot sector, moved frontline teams to 7 successfully delivered activity clubs for day working, secured extra capacity, over 200 low-income families across moved to new models for discharge Essex. from NHS facilities and started developing new models for working The Sport England funded Local • with care homes and supporting Delivery Pilot (LDP) used a micro- and connecting people through grants programme to develop over technology. Social workers continued 50 community-led projects to improve to visit children and their families, as physical activity. 17 large projects were well as developing new, online ways started, totalling investment of £625k and of working, to improve their lives. attracting match funding of £1.029m. 7 | Essex Annual Report 2019/20 2019/20 achievements at a glance • We secured over £317m of central • We have made significant steps Help create government Housing Infrastructure towards greener living through our Fund (HIF) investment to develop commitment to planting 375,000 great places a new rail station and bypass in new trees over the next 5 years. Chelmsford and a rapid transit system Our Essex Energy Switch campaign and link road in Colchester to enable • to grow up, encouraged 1,644 residents to the delivery of 20,000 new homes. switch to energy suppliers with live and work • Our flood protection schemes reduced 100% renewable electricity tariffs. the risk of flooding to 196 residential Working with local Facebook properties. Over 1,200 properties • groups has helped us to reach have seen a reduction in surface around 222,200 people a month water flood risk since the beginning with information and advice. of our Floods Capital Programme five years ago. • Our Community Campaign Model launched the United in • We continue to invest in our country Kind campaign to address Social parks infrastructure, as well as Isolation through kindness and the developing new outdoor events. In Never Too Late Mate campaign to 2019, we were successfully granted tackle Male Suicide. seven Green Flag awards for our parks. 8 | Essex Annual Report 2019/20 2019/20 achievements at a glance • Essex County Council has already • We have increased the number of Transform delivered £300million of savings in the apprentices working for us to 229 last 4 years. We have kept council tax from 147 last year. We’ve also seen the council to as low as possible for residents, with a reduction of our gender pay gap by bills amongst the lowest of county 1.7% since we started reporting and achieve more councils in England.