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North Lincolnshire CouncilSiteDocumentsYour councilCouncil Plan 2022-25

Council Plan 2022-25

Contents

 

Foreword

Welcome to your Council Plan for 2022-2025 which sets out our ambition for North Lincolnshire and highlights the priorities for the next three years. We are proud of our place, communities and people and are committed to work hard to achieve our ambition for North Lincolnshire to be the best place for our residents.

Throughout the pandemic we saw the absolute best of North Lincolnshire, with individuals, partners, communities, businesses and voluntary groups joining forces with the council to protect, reassure and support the most vulnerable.

As we look to the future, we will continue to lead by example and promote positive behaviours. Our priorities ensure that people remain at the heart of everything we do and working with our partners, we aim to maximise our impact by enabling and encouraging our residents, communities and businesses to achieve their full potential.

Cllr Rob Waltham MBE
Leader, North Lincolnshire Council

Pete Thorpe
Chief Executive, North Lincolnshire Council

About North Lincolnshire

North Lincolnshire is a fantastic place and is home to just under 173,000 people, with the population expected to grow by a further 4,000 over the next 20 years.

The area is home to around 39,000 children and young people, who benefit from above average quality early years and school settings.

People can enjoy extensive footpaths, cycleways, open spaces and 66 public gardens and parks, five of which have Green Flag status. There are a wide range of sport, leisure and cultural venues that promote local history and heritage.

Across North Lincolnshire, there are just under 77,000 homes situated across 86 settlements, ranging from the busy urban centre of Scunthorpe to tranquil rural hamlets. The average house price is lower than the national average.

There are around 5,700 active enterprises based in North Lincolnshire and employment levels are good, with 40% of local jobs classed as highly skilled. North Lincolnshire is benefiting from Towns Fund investment which has already delivered improved access to gigabit broadband for many people and businesses.

Life expectancy is improving, and our older population is growing faster than the national average. Over the next 20 years, we expect a 72 percent rise in the number of residents aged 85 and over. Our older residents that need care and support can expect high quality care provision across both residential and home care.

 

About your council

We are a public body elected to serve the whole of North Lincolnshire. Currently the council consists of:

  • 43 elected members, representing 17 electoral wards across North Lincolnshire
  •  Conservatives 28 seats
  •  Labour 14 seats
  •  Independent 1 seat.

Elections are next due to be held in May 2023

The role of North Lincolnshire Council is to work with you and our partners to:

  • Lead the place of North Lincolnshire
  • Promote prosperity and wellbeing
  • Prevent harm
  • Protect the most vulnerable.

From social care to education, highways to waste collection and planning to trading standards, the work of the council touches the lives of everybody, every day.

To achieve better outcomes for the people and place of North Lincolnshire we:

  • Directly provide hundreds of essential local services
  • Jointly provide services with our partners
  • Buy support from organisations that have the right skills to provide on our behalf.

 

Strong Partnerships, Better Outcomes

As a leader of place, the council works alongside our partners to ensure we achieve our ambition, these include:

  • Housing providers, including Ongo
  • Guinness Homes and Riverside Housing
  • Emergency services, including Humberside Fire & Rescue, Humberside Police and East Midlands Ambulance Service
  • Voluntary and community organisations, town and parish councils, and leisure and sporting organisations
  • Schools and colleges
  • National health services.

The council is also represented on regional partnerships and boards to promote North Lincolnshire for investment and other opportunities.

Our Values and Culture

We maximise our impact by staying true to our values:

  • Equality of opportunity so everyone can have a good quality of life
  • Striving for excellence and high standards
  • Using our resources wisely and with integrity
  • Promoting self-responsibility and people having choice and control over their own lives.

Our organisational goals are to be:

  • Progressive and enabling in our approach
  • Financially and environmentally sustainable

Priorities and Outcomes

Priority 1 - Keeping people safe and well

Keeping people safe and well – to achieve a longer and better quality of life for our residents

Our intention

  1. Safeguard and support everyone to live safely and independently within their families and communities
  2. Ensure the care sector is of high quality and care leavers receive the on-going support they need
  3. Reduce health inequalities and promote wellbeing.

Priority 2 - Enabling resilient and flourishing communities

Enabling resilient and flourishing communities – to develop greater resilience and community spirit and enable people to identify and meet their ambitions.

Our intention

  1. Maintain a safe, clean and green local environment
  2. Support our volunteers and create stronger communities with access to a range of leisure, culture and other facilities
  3. Make it easier and safer to travel sustainably.

Priority 3 - Enabling economic growth and renewal

Enabling economic growth and renewal – to ensure there are highly skilled jobs and opportunities for a highly skilled workforce and the local economy supports efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

Our intention

  1. Encourage personal ambition through access to life-long, high quality education, guidance, training and opportunities to upskill and gain experience through volunteering
  2. Regenerate town centres and expand the local economy to secure more highly skilled jobs and encourage the business sector to transition to a net-zero carbon position
  3. Work with home builders to develop high quality and environmentally sustainable homes.

Priority 4 - Providing value for money for local taxpayers

Providing value for money for local taxpayers – to ensure high quality services are provided for residents and the council is well-led.

Our intention

  1. Get it right for our customers, first time
  2. Meet our environmental responsibilities
  3. Maintain our position as a well-managed and well-governed council and remain financially sustainable.

Our priorities will enable the council and our partners to achieve these outcomes for the people and place of North Lincolnshire.

Strategies

The Council Plan provides a strong frame that guides activity across the council. This is supported and achieved through several key strategies.

Keeping people safe and well       

  • Safeguarding Plans for Adults & Children
  • Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy
  • North Lincolnshire Health and Care Integration Plan

Enabling resilient and Flourishing communities

  • Integrated Transport Strategy
  • Community Safety Partnership Plan
  • A Green Future

Enabling economic growth and renewal

  • Local Plan
  • Economic Growth Plan
  • Skills and Employability Plan

Providing value for money for local taxpayers

  • Medium Term Financial Plan
  • Organisational Development Plan
  • Asset Management Plan.

 

How the council is funded

The budget to run the council in 2022/23 is £170m. Your Council Tax helps to fund our work to improve outcomes for the people of North Lincolnshire. Council Tax provides approximately half of the total cost of the services we provide.

Business rates, government grants and fees for specific activities are also used to fund the work of the council.

What your Council Tax is spent on and what we do with it

Council Tax figures are based on a Band A property in 2022/23, which equates to an annual Council Tax charge of £1,076 (this excludes the contribution to support local police and fire services). These achievements relate to the year 2021/22.

Safe adults and children

£596

  • Handled over 80,000 calls via the Care Call personal alarm service
  • 91 percent of people who used adult social care services said that those services made them feel safe and secure
  • 99 percent stated that local children’s services make children feel safer
  • 100percent of care leavers aged 17-18 were in suitable accommodation
  • Prevented over 830 potential cases of homelessness

Clean, green and safe places to live

£111

  • Managed 66 parks and gardens, with five awarded Green Flag status
  • Responded to 2,495 fly tipping incidents
  • Made over 7.5 million waste and recycling collections, 99.9% completed on time
  • Planted over 92,000 trees with the help of volunteers
  • 98 percent of the population lived in an area not requiring improvement to air quality
  • The vast majority of food establishments graded good or better for hygiene
  • 98 percent of street lights requiring repair were fixed in seven days

Safe and accessible transport

£77

  • Established ‘Just Go’ service with over 14,000 users
  • Filled over 14,000 potholes
  • During winter 2021/22, gritter lorries were out 58 times, travelling 22,500 miles and using 3,000 tonnes of salt
  • Invested in cycle pathways to promote cycling for leisure and travel

Good health and wellbeing

£60

  • Work to reduce the prevalence of adult smoking has had positive results
  • During the second lockdown, 400 fitness classes were live streamed to over 5,600 people
  • Worked with NHS partners to deliver the Covid-19 vaccination programme, including hosting outreach sessions for hard-to-reach groups
  • Health and Wellbeing Activators helped over 1,400 people to keep active The ‘Walking for Health’ scheme attracted over 2,250 participants and organised almost 160 walks

Excellent education, childcare and skills

£36

  • 9 out of 10 of children attended good or outstanding schools
  • 94 percent of children received their first choice of school
  • Over 70 percent of pupils passed both their English and Maths GCSE, and
  • 49 percent achieved a strong pass, obtaining grade 5 or above.
  • North Lincolnshire Youth Hub launched to help young people improve their skills, acquire knowledge and find work.
  • Local adult education service received a judgment of Good in its Ofsted inspection report

Leisure and culture

£35

  • Provided a comprehensive community wellbeing offer, including leisure centres, library facilities, sports grounds and cultural venues
  • Organised a varied events programme, making the most of community assets such as Normanby Hall Country Park, The Baths Hall and The Plowright Theatre
  • Welcomed 80,000 visits each month to our leisure and culture facilities
  • Helped to attract 3.3 million visitors to North Lincolnshire
  • Delivered over 90,000 books to children through the Imagination Library scheme

Thriving Communities (Customer Access, Taxation and Benefits)

£35

  • Awarded £400,000 in community grants to support local initiatives
  • Promoted the Volunteer Hub to signpost volunteers to organisations needing help
  • 97% of households received superfast or better broadband coverage
  • £82m of Business Rates and £94m of Council Tax collected
  • Responded to around 85,000 calls. 100 percent of Contact Centre customers said their query was resolved first time
  • Held 196 Council meetings, with 143 members of the public taking part

Growing business, skills and children

£16

  • Made 17,000 contacts with local businesses to promote local prosperity
  • Saw a 33% reduction in people claiming unemployment benefit
  • Over 700 jobseekers and 40 businesses attended the North Lincolnshire Jobs Expo
  • Applied for funding to transform the local economy and environment, receiving £10.7m from the Future High Street Fund, £20.9m from the Towns Fund and £1.3m from the UK Community Renewal Fund

Quality housing

£11

  • Enabled the completion of 352 homes
  • Made 218 planning approvals for domestic residences, with 87 percent of household planning applications determined within the target of eight weeks
  • 42 private sector homes made free from hazards
  • Supported over 150 households to improve the energy efficiency of their homes
  • Launched a new ‘scores on the doors’ style accreditation scheme for landlords in order to protect renters

Capital Financing

£67

  • Supported the development of 25 apartments to enable more people with dementia to live independently with their families.
  • Developed Community Hubs in Crowle, Brigg and Ashby, with Epworth Hub on the way. This will bring the total number to 8.
  • Delivered 5 units of accommodation for rough sleepers, with a further 4 to follow.
  • Created a new northern junction for the M181 and invested £5m to resurface the A15 between the Humber Bridge and Barnetby Top.

Inflation

£32

 

Keeping on Track

To achieve the outcomes we want for the people and place of North Lincolnshire, the council regularly analyses data and information and consults with residents to ensure we make good decisions and can identify emerging priorities and new opportunities. We also review and report on our progress and achievements. Some recent achievements include:

  • 100 percent of adult care provided by the council is rated good or outstanding
  • 9 out of 10 schools are rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding
  • 100 percent of contact centre customers said they had their issue resolved first time
  • Adult education and community learning was rated good in the most recent Ofsted inspection
  • Increased the number of our parks and green spaces that have the internationally recognised Green Flag Award to five
  • We rank 4th nationally for satisfaction with ease of access to community transport
  • Woodlands Memorial Gardens and Kingsway Gardens were awarded the judges’ distinction for excellence by the Royal Horticultural Society
  • Awarded the highest national Gold Standard in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme regarding the Council’s commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant
  • Due to the recent full digitisation of the Local Land Charges Service, 99.5 percent of land registry searches are now completed within 10 days
  • Installation of energy efficiency upgrades at Waters’ Edge Visitors Centre has reduced the energy costs and the carbon footprint of the facility
  • Launched ‘Live Well North Lincolnshire’, a onestop service for residents to stay informed and connected to community organisations, support, and activities to improve health and wellbeing.

Work in Progress

Over the next three years, the Council has plans to invest £100m in North Lincolnshire. Future developments include:

  • Scunthorpe town centre works including the urban park and the Enterprise and Innovation Hub
  • Improving the environment – planting one tree for every person in North Lincolnshire
  • Continued roll-out of full-fibre broadband
  • Electric vehicle charging points installed in council owned car parks
  • Cameras installed in fly-tipping hotspots
  • Developments on the Humber (Able Marine Energy Park and Humber Freeport)

A Listening Council

The Council encourages and welcomes feedback from residents on where improvements could be made. Some recent examples include:

You Said, We Did

You Said

  • There should be more options for people with dementia to live with their families for longer

We Did

  • Supported the development of 25 two-bed apartments to enable more people with dementia to live independently with their families

You Said

  • There is often litter in lay-bys on local roads

We Did

  • Installed 75 new extra-capacity bins in lay-bys that will be emptied at least once a week

You Said

  • I want to be reassured that my rented home is well-maintained

We Did

  • Launching a new ‘scores on the doors’ style accreditation scheme for landlords

You Said

  • It is difficult to get around more rural parts of North Lincolnshire by public transport

We Did

  • Launched JustGo North Lincs, an on-demand bus service operating in areas where there are no existing regular bus services

You Said

  • Fly tipping is a problem in my area

We Did

  • Introduced a new way of collecting waste in parts of Scunthorpe

You Said

  • Can I receive my Council Tax Bill on-line?

We Did

  • Council Tax e-billing introduced for 2022-2023

You Said

  • The council needs to do more about anti-social behaviour

We Did

  • Implemented a Public Space Protection Order

Playing Your Part

We welcome the contribution you make and encourage more people to get involved by:

  • Providing feedback to the council on the matters that most concern you and completing the Council’s Community Survey
  • Joining the Council’s Residents Panel
  • Getting involved in your community or considering volunteering
  • Using our on-line services
  • Taking care of yourselves and others
  • Protecting and taking pride in your environment
  • Registering to vote in elections.