Nottinghamshire County Council leader Cllr Mick Barton writes an update for the community.
Budget
We have some good news coming shortly from the budget setting over the next week. We have been working hard to ensure we get the best results for residents, and I am sure you will be pleased with the result.
Council Plan 2025–29
We have a new Council Plan being put into place. The plan has been carefully thought out over the last seven months of our administration. Members and officers have been working hard to ensure all of Reform’s ideas for community and families have been laid out in one document, which is easily understood and covers all we want to achieve.
Highways
There is still a lot of work to do regarding the condition of the roads. We do have a plan, which includes new ways of working. A right-first-time approach has now been introduced and implemented. In a few weeks, we are going to view some new equipment that promises to be more cost-effective and quicker with repairs. We do have further finance in the highways budget—more than ever before—to ensure that you see a huge difference in highways maintenance.
As you can appreciate, this will not happen overnight; we are putting right years of neglect, but be totally assured roads are at the very top of our list. We are now in the winter months; the weak spots in the road system are more evident.
We are doing our best to do quick fixes during the winter months and permanent ones where we can. As soon as the weather changes in spring, we will continue our resurfacing works. We have introduced a system that will cost between £6 and £8 per square metre, compared to the previous administration’s system, which cost between £60 and £80 per square metre. This means we will be able to surface many miles of road for less money. I want you all to be assured that the highways are at the forefront of our priorities, but please bear with us—you will see the difference under our leadership.
Children and Families
Our aim is to encourage more people to become foster or kinship carers, along with promoting adoption. This will help to ensure that children in care have the best chance of being cared for by a loving family. We will do this by offering support avenues in every way we can. We will also be promoting assistance for anyone interested in helping children into a home, in various high-profile sporting grounds within the county, along with the newly situated advertising banners around the area.
Armed Forces Representative
The leading group and council are committed to our Armed Forces and veterans’ community. The year ahead will see council breakfast clubs welcoming those who have served and their families and providing an informal focus and support group.
The flagship event, Boots and Berets, acknowledging the support given to the Armed Forces community by organisations, will be held again following its second successful year last year. The council will also be hosting a recruitment day as part of its Gold Defence Employer award recognition, supporting local regiments and squadrons.
One of the most exciting areas will be our engagement with Op VALOUR, a one-stop support shop for veterans, and our work with external organisations such as fellow Gold Award holders, Nottingham Forest FC.
Adult Social Care
Adult social care remains the council’s biggest budgetary spend. As the population ages and medicine extends survival, the demands are higher than ever.
The key priority of Adult Social Care (ASC) is to ensure people have a place to call home and their own front door for as long as possible. Key schemes such as growth in Shared Lives and Extra Care are all vital to this. Shared Lives is best thought of as adult fostering and involves a person welcoming into their home someone with social care needs. Extra Care is all about providing people with additional help to maintain independence and reduce the need for residential care, particularly at an early age. All of these will continue, and indeed we hope they will expand, as they are the best methods of promoting independence and well-being.
We will continue to acknowledge all the hard work by providers in events such as Proud to Care. Joined-up thinking and working with those at the sharp end of ASC continues to be key, and events such as the Big Conversation really help to formulate our strategy.
Maintaining standards in residential and nursing care are vital elements going forward, and both the Cabinet Member and Deputy will continue to visit a variety of services with the team of highly dedicated officers.
Efficiencies and Finance
An efficiencies programme was completed at the end of November last year, where we identified £45 million of savings. These savings have been carefully programmed over the next three years to deliver savings to the budgets. The efficiency programme will not end here; it will be carefully monitored on a regular basis by Cabinet, and further meetings to oversee its progress are in place.
Thriving Communities
We are committed to health and well-being by being at the forefront of guidance and support before situations worsen. Whether this is help with stopping smoking, quitting alcohol, weight loss, increasing exercise, or socialising to boost your mental health, we can also help with housing, employment, and education needs. These early interventions can have a positive effect on health and well-being and have a real impact on residents’ lives.
Getting into Communities
Currently, I hold weekly informal Cabinet meetings where all aspects of my Cabinet’s portfolios are discussed. However, from now on we will be coming out to the community to hold our meetings biweekly. The reason for this is to hear directly from you about what you think we need to know about your business or the community you operate in. No business is too big or too small for us to visit; we are interested in all aspects and venues of the business community. This also includes schools, charities, community hubs, and churches—any venue where you think our assistance will be valued.
