Agenda item

Prior to consideration of the report, the Chair of Council welcomed Jon Gleek, Head of Research, Evaluation and Intelligence, to the meeting to present a short video introducing Doncaster Growing Together.

Mayor Ros Jones introduced the report and outlined the background behind the Strategy.  The Mayor reported that Doncaster had made a lot of progress over the last few years and with a growing economy, over 10,000 new jobs had been created between 2013 and 2015, and with a number of exciting new developments in the pipeline, this would bring even more jobs to Doncaster.  However, the journey of recovery for the economy, families and public services in Doncaster was a long one, and this was reflected in the report with a delivery programme leading up to 2021.

The Doncaster Growing Together Strategy was the next step on the improvement journey for Doncaster and was so called as its central aim was to grow the local economy and Doncaster as a place, and develop public services in order that all of Doncaster’s local people and communities benefited.  It was a confident and bold ambition for Doncaster’s future, but one that would confirm its recovery.

The Mayor reported that the Doncaster Growing Together Strategy was a partnership strategy based on collaboration from a wide range of public services, voluntary and community sector organisations, and the wider business community in Doncaster. It proposed new ways of working whereby public services would work together and target their attention and resources on the issues that mattered the most, and most importantly, it was noted that Doncaster’s citizens would play a key role.

Elected Members across the Council had played a key part in the development of the Doncaster Growing Together Strategy, with it having been considered in detail by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee as well as discussions at a dedicated Members Seminar and in a series of engagement sessions.

The four themes contained within the report mirrored those within the State of the Borough Assessment, these being:-

·         Doncaster Learning – The aim of Doncaster Growing Together was to prepare children and young people for a fulfilled life, infusing their education with powerful life experiences;

·         Doncaster Working – This theme would look to enable people to pursue their ambitions and contribute in the societies in which they lived, working in a job with purpose and meaning;

·         Doncaster Living – Doncaster Growing Together would look to create an environment that was vibrant and be full of opportunity where people enjoyed living and were able to make the most of the opportunities it provided; and

·         Doncaster Caring – This looked to develop a collective responsibility to care for the most vulnerable people within society and would transform the way the Council supported vulnerable children, families and adults, and elderly people as well as those with disabilities, veterans and any other individuals facing disadvantage.

Members noted that Doncaster Growing Together; the Four Year Borough Strategy, set out a clear and deliverable programme for the Borough, which would help to drive it forward, benefiting local people throughout the Town.

Members welcomed the Doncaster Growing Together Borough Strategy and felt that it was a positive move for the Borough, and the ambition and drive within it was what the Town needed. 

Following the Mayor’s recommendation of the Doncaster Growing Together Strategy to Council for approval, the Chief Executive paid tribute to the work undertaken by Lee Tillman, Assistant Director, Strategy and Performance and his staff, who had been instrumental in the production of this Strategy.

RESOLVED that the Doncaster Growing Together Strategy and Programme, along with the draft prospectus document, be approved.