Hello,
The budget proposals, published just over a week ago, are currently being considered by members. Yesterday Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee discussed the proposals and will re-convene this week on Friday (9 February) to consider amendments put forward by opposition groups. Cabinet met this morning and the proposed budget and new Commercial Strategy were the main items discussed. Having taken into account the feedback from yesterday’s overview and scrutiny meeting, cabinet agreed that the proposals go forward to Full Council for its consideration on Tuesday, 20 February. The announcement from Government on the Revenue Support Grant and what we will be allocated is expected this week. We can then assess the impact, if there is any, on the budget proposals for next year.
Thank you to everyone who assisted with the joint Ofsted and Care Quality Commission inspection of Wiltshire’s special education needs and / or disability (SEND) arrangements last week. Our thanks again to all of you who demonstrated your responsiveness and commitment to work together to deliver what was needed.
Well done to everyone who was involved in our bid for more than £8.5m from the Government to support the construction of the Yarnbrook West Ashton Relief Road which will help deliver 2,600 new homes in the area. Last week we found out we’d been successful in securing this funding, which will pay for the additional ecological protection, design and construction costs. This includes improvements to the A350 road layout adjacent to the site. The funding will enable the delivery of the strategic housing allocation in this area.
This week consultation on proposals for the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down (Stonehenge Scheme) will be launched. This is a major milestone and another step closer to a scheme which aims to protect the World Heritage Site and alleviate the traffic issues on this major arterial route and in local communities. We are working closely with Highways England and our partners to deliver this major project.
On the theme of partners, our strategic partnership with the police is a really important one, particularly given our close working and shared space. Last week we met with the police senior management team to discuss how we can further develop our joint working. It was a very wide ranging meeting which included discussion about high frequency contacts, our transformation programmes, shared space, safeguarding, budgets, future plans, and also how we can collectively celebrate our success as we move forwards.
It’s always good to get recognition for a job well done. We heard at the end of last week that our community hubs programme has been shortlisted for a Public Finance Innovation Award in the community engagement category. Well done to the team involved – we’ll find out whether we win towards the end of April. And, later this week we’re a finalist at the Keep Britain Tidy Awards following our successful community litter picks as part of the Great British Spring Clean. Fingers crossed…
Next week phase 2 of our Clean up Wilts campaign launches with roadshows in Tidworth, Salisbury (two roadshows), Trowbridge, Chippenham and Devizes.
This phase focuses on encouraging people to stop dropping litter; particularly from their vehicle, to switch to reusable materials, to recycle more, and to sign up to join this year’s community litter picks as part of the Great British Spring Clean. The campaign aims to reduce the cost to collect this litter – currently we spend £2.5 million picking up rubbish. Given the pressures and demands on our budget this money could be better allocated to support vital services. The campaign is currently supported by Landmarc, Spire FM, McDonald's and Salisbury City Council and Idverde. It is hoped more businesses will get involved and help us to combat this issue that has a detrimental impact on the environment and wildlife, and our budget.
Alistair, Carlton and Terence
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