St Helens Borough Council Labour Cabinet yesterday agreed a new Borough Strategy, setting out the vision and priorities for the council and our borough for the next ten years. Titled St Helens Together, the strategy has been developed following the largest public consultation and engagement event the council has undertaken for years.

The vision set out in the strategy is: “Working together for a better borough, with people at the heart of everything we do by improving people’s lives together, and creating distinct, attractive, healthy, safe, inclusive and accessible places in which to live, work and invest.”

Our priorities are to:

 Ensure children and young people have a positive start in life
 Promote good health, independence and care across our communities
 Create safe and strong communities and neighbourhoods for all
 Support a strong, thriving, inclusive and well connected local economy
 Create green and vibrant places that reflect our heritage and culture
 Be a responsible council

Council Leader David Baines, introducing the report, said: “Alongside the budget and particularly the capital strategy agreed earlier this afternoon (see https://www.sthelens.gov.uk/news/2021/february/24/cabinet-back-financial-plans-ahead-of-council-meeting/ ) and other strategies including our economic recovery plan, our heritage and arts strategies, and forthcoming plans on localities, libraries and the voluntary sector, the publication of this report is a key milestone and sets out the future strategic direction for the Borough.

This will be the overarching plan for our Borough, setting out our vision and priorities for the council and our communities.

The strategy has been developed based upon an extensive consultation and engagement exercise with residents, council staff, community groups and local businesses, and I want to thank everyone who has taken part in helping to shape this strategy. It’s the first time we have undertaken a largescale consultation about the strategic direction for the borough for several years and we’re clear we want it to signal the start of a new conversation and relationship with residents.

The findings from this engagement have been used to make sure that we have the right vision and priorities for the Borough, that we understand the experiences of residents throughout the pandemic and the appetite of communities to become more engaged in service delivery in the future.

We know from the amazing community response to COVID-19 that residents can and want to do more in their communities, and so the strategy introduces our “bonds for a better Borough”, which set out clearly what the council will do, and what residents can do, to help us achieve our priorities together.”

An outcomes framework is set out in the strategy and this will form the basis of new performance management arrangements that will monitor progress against delivery.

Read the full strategy and find out more at www.sthelens.gov.uk/together.