A NEW council plan for County Durham will be discussed by councillors when they meet next week.
Durham County Council’s new administration set out a series of priorities following the local elections in May, before developing a new plan for 2025-2030. Thousands of residents responded to a consultation around five ambitions, which make clear the council’s new approach and direction and focus on the immediate needs of County Durham residents. These are:
- Reforming the council
- Supercharging the economy
- Building better communities
- Caring for our people
- A practical environmental stewardship
Cllr Andrew Husband, Leader of the council, said: “We would like to thank everyone who took the time to respond to the consultation.
“We received more than 3,600 responses on our online engagement platform, Let’s Talk County Durham. The responses were overwhelmingly positive, with the majority of people agreeing with our high-level ambitions to deliver efficient and effective services to residents across County Durham.
“We want to make sure taxpayers’ money is being spent wisely and well whilst meeting the immediate, tangible needs of residents, and the comprehensive feedback and support received in the consultation will be used to underpin our ambitious transformation and efficiency plans.”
Having considered feedback from residents, councillors, staff, services and partners, some of the objectives and priorities that underpin these ambitions have been reviewed.
This includes a strengthened focus on environmental stewardship, work to tackle anti-social behaviour, improvements to public transport and transport infrastructure, planning controls around Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and to prevent over development.
There is also greater focus on improved efficiency and accountability, development of youth services and support for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Cllr Husband added: “We are already moving at pace to ensure the best value for residents in County Durham.
“In our first five months alone, we have reviewed the council’s capital programme and reserves position, taken steps to reduce the number of HMOs, replaced the climate emergency with a care emergency to target support towards those most in need, and set new a new ambitious plan for the council.
“We now look forward to working with our residents and partners alike to shape the future of the county over the next five years as we work towards meeting the ambitions, objectives and priorities set out in the plan.”
Cabinet is recommended to agree to the new council plan when it meets on Wednesday 15 October. The plan will then go to Full Council for approval.
