Council Plan 2023 to 2026

We want the Borough to be:

• a place where people are healthy, safe and protected from harm
• a place that is clean, vibrant and attractive
• a place with a thriving economy where everyone has opportunities to succeed

The plan describes how we are going to do this and what we hope to achieve in 2023 to 2026.

The Council Plan sets out our vision and hopes for the Borough looking forward to 2025 and it explains the priorities we will be working on in the coming year to bring the vision to life. This plan is again developed in a difficult financial context, where our long-term funding from Government is not clear.

Who is the Council plan for?

The Council Plan is for everyone who lives and works in the Borough. The Council is here to serve and support you, and we take that responsibility very seriously. That's why we've created this Plan: to set out in one place what we aim to achieve and what we will be focussing on in the coming year

Who is involved in it?

We are an ambitious Council, we have big plans for the Borough, and we recognise that we can't achieve them on our own. So, whilst this Council Plan focuses on what we plan to do as a Council, we also have a number of partnership plans that set out the exciting work we're doing with our partners, to bring the vision to life.

Find out more by reading the following strategy documents on the Our Plans page:

• the Community Safety Strategy
• the Health and Wellbeing Strategy
• the Inclusive Growth Strategy
• the Children's and Young People's Strategy
• the Adult Social Care Strategy
• the Communities Strategy
• the Environmental Sustainability and Carbon Reduction Strategy
• the Fairer Stockton-on-Tees Framework

We have an instinct to collaborate and we work hard to be an effective partner. You can be sure that we are co-ordinating and driving all the benefits from these closely related plans to make sure that they deliver the greatest possible benefit to the Borough.

Our Borough

The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees has something for everyone. It's no wonder our population is growing, business is booming, and you tell us you're happy to be here. Here are some things you might like to know about our Borough.

A place people are proud to live

200,000 people call the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees home. They live in our thriving towns - Billingham, Ingleby Barwick, Norton, Stockton, Thornaby and Yarm - and our rural villages. Our population is increasing, with a 2.8% rise over the last seven years, and we're committed to serving this growing community, supported by a thriving and active voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. We're delighted to know people are proud of living here.

Going places and getting further

Business is booming in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, where 5,500 businesses generate £4 billion for the local economy. We account for a third of the Tees Valley economy overall and our towns provide work for people from across the Borough. Our excellent road and rail connections with London and key northern cities make the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees a great place to do business. Whilst Teesside International Airport, on the Borough's boundary, provides international connections for our globally ambitious businesses.

Alive with events, leisure and culture

There's always something to do in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. Whether that is enjoying our beautiful parks, the river and open spaces, or visiting our distinctive towns. We will continue to promote a year-round festival and events programme, to ensure we can all enjoy the wide range of activities, events and facilities that put our Borough on the map. Our Plan will maintain the Borough's reputation as
a thriving and vibrant place to be.

Fighting inequality

Inequality is a challenge in the Borough. We have affluent areas alongside areas of deprivation. Nine of our 26 wards are in the 10% most deprived wards in the country and there is a gap of 21 years in average life expectancy amongst men between the most and least deprived wards. We're committed to fighting this discrepancy and making sure more people enjoy a healthy and happy life here.

The climate change challenge

The effects of climate change are becoming ever more apparent. We know that we all need to radically change our transport, homes, industry, diet and lifestyle. The Council is working with a sense of urgency to develop plans in partnership with businesses and other agencies to drive down carbon emissions and reduce consumption of energy and raw materials. You can read more in the Environmental Sustainability and Carbon Reduction Strategy. Everyone in the Borough can make a difference.

You can read more in the Environmental Sustainability and Carbon Reduction Strategy (PDF) [1MB] . 

Elected by you

We are a unitary authority elected to serve the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. We are the largest of the five local unitary Councils that make up the Tees Valley region. We have 26 wards, represented by 56 councillors. Following the May 2019 local elections, no political party has overall control of the Council. We have a Leader and Cabinet style administration. That means the Council appoints the Leader, and the Leader appoints the Cabinet.

Planning our financial future

Our medium-term financial planning approach has allowed us to continually balance our budget through delivering savings and efficiencies but also to plan ahead and deliver invest-to-save schemes and innovative changes to service delivery models.

The current financial climate is extremely challenging and there will be a need to deliver budget savings in the future. Our approach will allow time to embark on a series of reviews, which will not only deliver savings but also improve outcomes for our residents.

Our people, our services, our commitment

Our teams continue to rise to the many challenges we face, continuing to deliver high quality, value for money services, and by working with key partners in the public, business and voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.

Our adult and children's social care services, support teams and education support teams work all year round to protect our residents from abuse and exploitation, working alongside the teams in public health, community safety, licensing, trading standards, welfare support, housing, catering, registrars, bereavement service, community engagement and environmental health work to make sure that the Borough is a place where people are healthy, safe and protected from harm.

Our refuse and recycling, street cleaning, groundworks, parks and maintenance teams all work alongside the teams in heritage, libraries, museums, events and countryside and green space to make sure that the Borough is clean, vibrant and attractive. The planning, building control and housing teams make sure that the Borough has great places to live.

Our business support, inward investment, learning and skills and town centre development teams are working hard to support businesses in the Borough to ensure we have a thriving economy where everyone has opportunities to succeed. Our transport teams continue to manage and improve our highways networks to ensure that residents and businesses can move freely around the Borough.

And all of our teams, whether on the front line or working in the vital support functions that are needed to make it all happen, are ambitious, effective and proud to serve.

We're proud to deliver all of these services, however when we look at the situation in the Borough in 2023/24 and weigh up all of the challenges and opportunities that we face right now, we have identified the following key priorities for the coming year.

We want the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees to be:

A place where people are healthy, safe and protected from harm

This means the Borough will be a place where:

• people live in cohesive and safe communities
• people are supported and protected from harm
• people live healthy lives

A place that is clean, vibrant and attractive

This means we will enjoy:

• great places to live and visit
• clean and green spaces
• rich cultural experiences

A place with a thriving economy where everyone has opportunities to succeed

This means that the Borough will have:

• a growing economy
• improved education and skills development
• job creation and increased employment

We will play our part in bringing about this vision for the Borough by being:

A Council that is ambitious, effective and proud to serve

This means that we will make sure that we provide:

• financial sustainability and value for money
• dedicated and resourceful employees
• strong leadership and governance

We have identified these key priorities for 2023 to 2024 to help us achieve this vision. This year we will:

• support achievement for all pupils including a focus on narrowing the gap in outcomes
• deliver improvement programme focusing on workforce, practice and partnerships for children and families in need
• continue to develop and enhance provision and support for children and young people with additional needs or accessing alternative provision
• implement the investment proposals for children in our care, including new provision and new models of delivery
• maximise the effectiveness of the additional investment made in our community safety related services in order to protect residents
• consider and develop a new serious violence reduction strategy in partnership with other responsible authorities
• give due consideration to the new Protect Duty placed on local authorities as part of the wider national counter-terrorism strategy
• support people to live healthy lives and address health inequalities through a focus on early prevention, long term conditions, substance misuse, smoking, obesity, physical activity and mental health
• continue to lead the public health response to Covid and support the approach to recovery and addressing the impact of Covid, working with partners on the Health and Wellbeing Board
• support the Arson Reduction Strategy in partnership with Cleveland Fire Brigade
• support people to remain safely and independently in their homes for as long as possible and offer help to people who are feeling lonely
• continue to work with adult residential care and care at home providers to improve quality of care and to continue to support them as they respond to the challenges arising from COVID-19
• engage with individuals, families, carers and communities when developing adult social care support and continue to collaborate with the NHS to ensure health and care services work effectively together
• review out of area placements and day options provision for adults
• develop a new model for the health and wellbeing of children and young people 0-19 (25 for SEND), working across key partners and including service commissioning
• work with our communities and partners to develop our approach to healthy places, in the context of regeneration plans and the Health and Wellbeing Strategy
• work with our partners in the VCSE sector and the Community Partnerships to tackle food poverty in the Borough
• continue to prevent and relieve homelessness

We have identified these key priorities for 2023 to 2024 to help us achieve this vision. This year we will:

• continue to develop the Invest Stockton-on-Tees branding campaign and attract inward investment into the Borough
• develop options to bring forward development on vacant employment land
• continue to deliver the objectives in the Inclusive Growth Strategy and using an agreed Action Plan
• continue to develop the successful Employment and Training Hub Model
• develop a procurement charter with partners to promote social value and identify potential areas of development of supply chains in order to support local business
• advance our major transport-related projects including the Portrack Relief Road, Billingham and Eaglescliffe Station improvements, Elton Interchange, and improvements along the A689 corridor

We have identified these key priorities for 2023 to 2024 to help us achieve this vision. This year we will:

• continue the redevelopment of Stockton Town Centre including demolition of the Castlegate Centre and development of the Urban Park, new leisure centre, library, customer services and registry office
• deliver interventions for a Town Deal in Thornaby
• finalise the plans for improvements in Yarm, Preston Hall Museum & Grounds and cycleway infrastructure in line with the Levelling Up fund allocation
• conclude the continued redevelopment of The Sycamores
• development of a business case to actively accelerate the provision of affordable and specialist housing provision within the Borough
• develop blueprints for before phases of redevelopment of town centres
• develop structures and models for future development of Stockton and Billingham town centres
• continue the programme of road/pavement maintenance and repairs and deliver our City Regions Sustainable Transport programme schemes
• continue implementation of the Carbon Reduction and Environmental Sustainability Strategy action plan which includes coalitions with residents, businesses, and partners
• develop and implement the 2023 borough-wide events programme, incorporating celebrations for the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III and ongoing preparations for Stockton & Darlington Railway Bicentenary
• support the Combined Authority and Bus Operators in delivering the agreed outcomes set out in the Tees Valley Enhanced Bus Partnership Plan and Scheme

We have identified these key priorities for 2023 to 2024 to help us achieve this vision. This year we will:

• review of Medium Term Financial Plan including delivery and funding
• develop a Corporate Debt Strategy
• respond to and implement Government's review of Business Rates and Revaluation
• develop and deliver a transformation programme across all services to support the Medium Term Financial Plan
• deliver proposals for the redevelopment of Dunedin House to support flexible working arrangements and the re-location of staff from current buildings
• review the Council's land and assets and develop plans for disposal or for any potential development
• add new features and functions to the Council website and improve online services for customers
• launch a new Council Volunteering Strategy to support our employees to volunteer in the community and to provide additional volunteering opportunities at the Council
• implement the new flexible working arrangements to capitalise and build on the technological advancements and new working practices developed during the pandemic
• continue to develop the Bright Minds Big Futures (BMBF) initiative to ensure that the voice of young people is heard and valued in the development and delivery of Council policies and services
• respond to and implement the Local Government and Parliamentary Boundary Reviews
• continued implementation of the Fairer Stockton-on-Tees Framework to address poverty and inequality in the Borough
• continue the development and roll out of the Cost-of-Living Hub to support the Borough's residents