Council plan to shape Swindon’s future to be shared with public

Swindon people will have the opportunity to influence a plan which will shape the future of Swindon over the next decade.

The draft Swindon Plan will be discussed by Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet on Wednesday 13 December and is based on the current Labour administration’s three main priority missions for the town. 

These are to:

- Combat Inequality – make Swindon a fairer place, reduce disadvantage and eliminate big disparities in life expectancy, education levels and social justice.

- Build a Better Swindon – create a town ready for the challenges of the coming decades. Where possible, lead town centre improvement and create more affordable housing in partnership with the private sector.

- Achieve Net Zero – fully play our part as a council and a town in combatting climate change. Work with communities to find new ways of doing things that help, not hinder, the natural environment.

A major focus of the Swindon Plan will be on engagement with the local community and local residents, over 3,000 of whom have already contributed to the draft plan through the council’s Annual Resident Survey.

During January, the council plans to build on this resident feedback by holding a number of engagement events to share the results of the survey with residents and community groups and get their views on the initial draft Swindon Plan.

Cllr Jim Robbins, Leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: “I’m really excited we are bringing this paper to Cabinet which sets out how we intend to take forward the three big priority missions we believe are important for Swindon’s future.

“Without doubt the missions aim to tackle some big, tricky challenges. There are no quick fixes. But we believe that these are the three most important priorities that demand the Council’s focus and effort, working alongside residents and our partners, in the coming years. 

“Undeniably, public finances will remain extremely tight for the foreseeable future, but we must remain ambitious for the Borough. The plan makes clear where progress is dependent on securing additional funding from central government or external partners.

“The draft plan being discussed by Cabinet is just the start of the process. We really want to involve and seek input from residents and partners to help evolve it.”

Details of the public engagement events, which will help inform the final Swindon Plan will be made public over the coming weeks.

The three missions will underpin the work of the council and drive everything it does. Each mission will be addressed through themes and objectives with progress monitored through performance measures and against deliverables.

To achieve the Combat Inequality mission, the council has committed to improving areas such as educational outcomes, reducing falls in older people, tackling obesity and children’s oral health, improving public transport and active travel, as well as working with partners to make Swindon a safer place for adults and young people.

In delivering the Build a Better Swindon mission there will be a focus on protecting the Borough’s heritage, improving civic engagement and residents’ pride, supporting the growth of businesses and meet the housing and infrastructure needs of the local population.

By delivering on the Achieve Net Zero mission, the council says it will reduce waste and increase recycling, plant trees and create large scale habitats, produce road maps to ensure the Council and borough get to net zero by 2030 and 2050 respectively, and enable zero carbon developments and improve the energy performance ratings in homes.

Councillors will discuss how delivering the Swindon Plan will depend on managing the council’s finances against the backdrop of reduced government funding, ongoing inflation and demand pressures in children’s and adults’ social care.

In order to deliver the missions, councillors will hear how the council will have to be increasingly inventive in the use of its resources, by working with partners and residents, in order to achieve the priority areas for transformation.

 

 

Swindon Children’s Services transformation plan to be presented to council’s Cabinet

 

Councillors will be asked to endorse a plan to improve Swindon Borough Council’s Children’s Services after it was judged to be inadequate by Ofsted earlier this year.

The council’s Cabinet will be presented with the draft transformation plan at its meeting on Wednesday 13 December and, if supported, the plan will then be signed off by the Department for Education Improvement Board.

Swindon’s Children’s Services is subject to a Statutory Improvement Notice which sets out what it must do and who it is to work with to ensure improvement in the areas identified by Ofsted following its inspection in July.

In its report, Ofsted noted “...a significant deterioration in the quality and impact of services for children in Swindon” since the last inspection in 2019 where services were given an overall grading of ‘Good’.

Cllr Paul Dixon, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, said: “This transformation plan is an important priority for the council and I will be encouraging my fellow Cabinet Members to give it their full backing when we meet next week.

“We have included Ofsted’s recommendations within our existing plan and are fully committed to driving improvement throughout our Children’s Services department.

“Council officers are working tirelessly to ensure children, young people and their families achieve better outcomes at all stages of their lives and our partners have also played an important role in contributing to the plan and the wider transformation work.

“I look forward to seeing the robust corporate partnership approach we now have in place deliver real change for those who rely on our support.”

 

Although the Ofsted inspectors highlighted areas of strong practice in services for disabled children, those on the edge of care, those who are privately fostered and children who receive services from the virtual school, there were a number of weaknesses identified.

The report said that “...too many children are left with unassessed needs and risks and plans that drift, and they experience too many changes of social worker” and that “...children are not matched with permanent carers quickly enough."

Inspectors recognised the work which was already underway to improve services and that the new Corporate Director of Children’s Services had led a more rigorous and accurate appraisal of the quality of service provision.

Although Ofsted recognised this as a positive, inspectors said improvements had been largely very recent and so had not, at the time of the inspection, had a significant impact.

Following the inspection, the council has continued to build on its existing transformation plan to ensure that it fully captures the recommendations contained within the Ofsted report.

The actions outlined in the plan when completed will, with partner agencies, ensure that children, young people and their families in Swindon benefit from high quality services leading to good outcomes for all.

The plan also focuses on managing demand for services and reducing the reliance on expensive care placements. In a recent Finance Peer Challenge, the Local Government Association highlighted how the council needs to bring its Children’s Services budget under control if it is going to succeed in achieving long-term financial stability.

The draft improvement plan focuses on four key foundations:

- Practice: Improve the quality of practice with children and families to enable improved outcomes at every level of need.

- People: Ensure a stable, experienced workforce who are well supported with opportunities to learn and develop their careers.

- Place: Ensure the council is able to provide excellent homes for children and young people within the local area that meet their identified and future needs.

- Process: Improve the quality of management and data systems so evidence can be used to drive improvement.

The council says action has already been taken to ensure the council’s ‘front door’ is safe so that families get the right support at the right time, from the council and its partners.

It also says work to recruit committed, permanent social workers and managers has continued to improve outcomes for children and young people, while there has been a drive to recruit more foster carers in Swindon so children have the chance to maintain their family networks, friendships, and links to their wider communities.

The Children’s Services Improvement Board, which met for the first time on Tuesday, 5 December, is being overseen by an independent chair and tasked with providing effective governance, oversight and challenge of the improvement plan and programme of work. This, the council says, will ensure that all the recommendations outlined in the Ofsted report are responded to and the plan improves outcomes for children and young people in Swindon.

The Board includes council officers, the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care and strategic leaders from multi-agency partners, as well as the Local Government Association, a sector lead improvement partner, and the Department for Education Improvement Advisor.

The Board is meeting every six weeks. A Delivery Board, chaired by the Director of Children’s Services, will continue to sit below the Improvement Board, and will monitor the priority workstreams that make up the Improvement and Transformation plan. The Improvement Plan will continue to receive regular oversight from councillors through Cabinet and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Regular meetings will also be held with the DfE and the council’s Sector Led Improvement Partner to evaluate progress and impact.

Ofsted will return for a monitoring visit in February or March, and will return to Swindon every three to four months to track the progress of improvement.